One of the last major points that Loeb makes is that responsibility does not mean having all of the answers -- no one has them. Instead, it means becoming actively engaged in the debates and issues that are affecting and changing our world. They will continue to instigate changes no matter how becomes involved; it is only those who actively participate in their world that have an active hand in shaping it. Loeb quotes Rabbi Abraham Herschel as saying, "in regard to cruelties committed in the name of a free society, some are guilty, while all are responsible." Extrapolating this standpoint even further, beyond the realm of cruelties committed an to the realm of all social action, this means that though not everyone becomes an activist in the causes and issues that are shaping the world, everyone that has the potential for such activism is responsible for the ultimate outcome.
Social workers could use the information contained in this introduction in a variety of ways. First, both Lobe's ideas and his language are hugely empowering, and could be used not only to bolster the social worker's own confidence, but could also be used to show clients their own inner abilities in regards to changing their lives...
In this way, the information contained in the introduction is of great direct and practical use. In a somewhat less direct way, the information given here can also be used by the social worker to develop a more comprehensive view of the interactions between individual voices and actions and larger social institutions. The cynicism and hopelessness that Loeb discusses have crept insidiously and unaware into many people's sub-consciousness, and the information he provides serves as a point of
awakening.
I have often had thoughts along similar lines as Loeb's, including a somewhat outraged sensibility concerning the truth of the
Rosa Parks story once I learned it (it completely contradicted many of the factual details and the entire spirit of the ordeal as I had learned it in fourth grade). Unfortunately, I was quite caught up in a growing cynicism, and though I still feel a great personal responsibility for the shape of the world, I haven't really done much about it. Loeb's introduction to this book is enough to remind one that, while it might be the thought that counts in some situations, action is required to effect real change. A question that comes to mind, though, is what might happen if everyone truly became an activist? There would certainly be many people working at cross purposes -- what would the world look like then?
