I am amazed at how many pats on the back I get for trying to support Elaine Allan’s efforts to help Burmese refugees here in town. All these people, all Obama supporters. All clamoring for change. Few choose to step up and actually help out.

Awareness is great. People willing to “get their hands dirty” are so much more useful though.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I suppose awareness is better than indifference. But when I see a kid who is a year old who isn’t wearing a diaper because his mother can’t afford them, and I meet a man who doesn’t have a job, can’t speak English, and has sought political asylum here in the States, I have a hard time settling with awareness. I met a family that was down to six eggs to eat right here in Austin, Texas.

How excited should I really be about the new iPhone apps? Why should I follow your dogs on Twitter? I love geeky people and feel they want nothing but the best for this world. I just don’t think they quite get the disparity in our world, and how little effort it takes from each individual to fix it.

So please support Obama. Support change. Just appreciate that you, and not your government, are responsible for the change that this world needs. Whether you believe that we need to find the cure for cancer, or bridge the digital divide, or solve world hunger, you cannot rely on your government to fix these problems. It doesn’t matter how many tax dollars you throw at it. Anyone who’s dealt with the government knows that their programs are wasteful, inconvenient, and run by people who are rewarded for being tenured rather than competent. Try this on for size: I am still dealing with crime victim’s compensation paperwork A YEAR AFTER the the situation that warranted it. When I asked a woman who worked for this division to just email me a fax number, she said she was unable to do this. EVERYTHING IS PAPERWORK WITH THE GOVERNMENT, AND THIS IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY.

Change isn’t just a buzzword. It is an action that we all have to take to make society better.

BTW, if you want to improve the Burmese people’s situation here in Austin, please email Elaine at borntohelp(at)earthlink.net. She will tell you everything they need.