Do our actions and decisions make a difference? That is, can we, who are not the Nelson Mandelas, the Martin Luther Kings, the Richard Stallmans and the others who have voiced their opinions against the establishment and altered their world, spur change. None of these were responsible for change. It was only the people who, in supporting these individuals' ideas, affected the change; it is only that history remembers these individuals' names for they become the figure heads and the embodiment of the resulting movement.

There is an irony here: how is it, that on the one hand, I claim we as individuals who support a movement make a difference but, on the other, the leaders of these movements made essentially none. It is the following: change is not affected by individuals working alone; chane is affected by the solidarity of individuals through their actions. An individual's action is only the cause of a change insofar as it is in solidarity with other actions.

I conclude from this the following: actions and ideas in isolation do not affect change. I, an individual, insofar as I desire change, can only affect change insofar as I support a movement, either as its figurehead or as a supporter and, with others, allow my actions to be guided and guide that movement. Any compromise which I make, provides immediate strength for the establishment. This does not mean that compromises cannot nor should not be made only that a cost benefit analysis must be performed and only if the result works in favor of the change can I be said to have helped affect that change.