Growing up, I got to spend most of my weekdays with my grandfather who enjoys telling me stories and crafting thought-provoking examples to foster my assessments of different social situations. I remembered walking with him to crowded markets as he challenged me to observe the surrounding activities or events, and map out the rationales behind those occurrences as well as different human behaviors. Interestingly, such actions are stimulated by distinctive motivations, necessities and relevance. To be an effective social changemaker, he said, one needs to deeply study and understand their society, while standing on a balanced position that provides a clearer picture of the motivations behind each social phenomenon that creates real-world impact; it is fundamental to learn those motivations in order to change the outcomes.
The cohort had the opportunity to tour West Covina City Hall and the police department on Friday. We explored different political viewpoints among West Covina’s councilmembers as we listened to their approaches of advocacy for the ideas they believe in. As I tried to figure out the motivations behind each councilmember’s suggestion of social implementation, I also realized how rewarding it is to stay in a somewhat balanced position, to observe the situation and study the rationales behind each idea.
Oftentimes, it is too simple to put a social policy on a scale of good vs bad when each implementation serves legitimate interests and groups. For example, an idea of raising minimum wage will generally create a direct benefit to workers, at least in the short run. However, realistically it often harms employers, increases their reluctance to hire more people, and results in a dangerous spike in unemployment while prices of consumer products soar. Therefore, social changemakers such as elected officials and politicians need to carefully study the motivations of the problems existing in their community in order to reach effective and appropriate solutions.
It is phenomenal for the CAUSE cohort to explore multiple political standpoints throughout the program so that we could fill in the puzzle of the bigger picture, in which different motivations are formed to produce their respective outcomes. Constructing future leaders, CLA has given everyone the opportunity to pursue a balanced position, leaving more room for better assessments and less for biased assumptions. To achieve the dismantling of a broken system, the changemaker needs to wear the shoes of the assemblers. It is essential to understand how a machine got broken in order to fix it. Everyone might takeaway discrete aspects from the tour in West Covina. For me personally, it was a valuable learning experience where I could find a way to balance my scale of political perception and see a more transparent picture of social problems, as well as the root causes of certain social phenomena and the impacts of implementing certain policies. This helps me reach a better assessment of what solutions are accurate and applicable to both present time and to ensure a promising future in the long-run. For motivating young leaders to success, it is essential to touch the coldwater in a shivery political arena, uncover the motivations to disassemble the malfunctions.