Three ass for Service and Community

J T

UI427-01

Dr. Stokes

February 1, 2005

Course Perspectives

The five course perspectives for our class and all aspects of our lives are mutual interdependence, interconnectedness, interrelatedness, reciprocity, and transactions. All five of these perspectives are connected and very important to understanding life.

Without each of these perspectives, volunteering and servant leadership would not mean very much.

Mutual interdependence means that all people, animals, communities, and everything else in life rely on each other to survive. Each person or thing provides something that someone else can not. For example, everyone is interdependent on farmers to produce enough food so that we can eat whenever we want to. On the other hand, the farmer is interdependent on people in communities to go to the grocery store and buy the food that was produced. This cycle continues each and everyday of our lives. It does not just happen in the United States, it happens all over the world. There are some foods that are better grown in other regions of the world. In this case we are interdependent on those regions and those farmers to satisfy our needs of certain foods. As I was reading my management and organizational behavior text book, I came across the definition of globalization. The definition of globalization is the worldwide interdependence of resource flows, product markets, and business competition. We are globally interdependent upon each other. If something was missing we would not lead the same lives that we do today. I think the definition of globalization illustrates just how important the factory in the movie, Gung Ho was to the town. Without the factory, the people would not be able to make money which in turn would cause the people not to be able to eat. The factory was interdependent upon the town. Without the town there would be no place to set up a factory and have workers work in the factory. If either part had been missing, then the town people would have starved and there would have been no cars produced.

Interconnectedness is a relationship between two or more things. We are all humans. When a tragedy occurs, we all feel the pain and suffering. An example of this would be the recent tsunami. We have been connected to these people that we do not even know through the news reports. As a culture, we have been compelled to raise money and collect supplies for these people. The interconnectedness between everyone involved in this tragedy is very powerful. Another example occurred in the movie Gung Ho. In the movie, there were goals set out by the town’s people and by the factory. The town’s people had a goal to make money. The factory had a goal to produce cars. By pairing the two up, there was a relationship in which both could be satisfied. The town’s people worked in the factory and made money and the factory was able to produce cars, because the town was able to provide people to work in the factory. If we use our interconnectedness towards each, we can satisfy the needs of the overall goal that is trying to be achieved.

Interrelatedness is similar to interconnectedness. Interrelatedness involves relationships in which each person or thing is affected by others. We are all human beings and are interrelated by our actions and the way that they affect others.

An example of this would be pollution problems that are created during our lifetime. Pollution is a major problem. Although we may not be able to say for sure what affects it will have on the future, we know that it will not be good. Our actions today affect the quality of life that will be experienced twenty, fifty, or hundred years down the road. If our soil becomes contaminated and polluted, how will we grow the food that each of us needs to eat? This is just one example of how our interrelatedness and pollution affect each other. The point that I am trying to make is that each and everyday we take actions that affect ourselves as well as others. Another example of this would be the relationship between minimum wage and the price of food. As Americans, we are the cheapest and best fed people in the world. If the minimum wage was increased, then the affect would be that the price of food would increase as well. These two factors are interrelated upon each other and so are we as humans in everything that we do.

Reciprocity is a relationship among people that involves an exchange of goods, services, or some other thing. This is based upon the exchange theory in that you do something for someone so that they get what they want. In return, you receive something that you want. I think that a great example of this was in the story, “How Knowledge Was Earned” By Idries Shah. In this story the man goes to the Sufi because he would like to receive knowledge. The man goes on a great journey in order to get what he wants. Along the way there are many exchanges that take place between the man and everyone that he comes into contact with on his great journey. When the man least expects to receive knowledge, he discovers it. It was through his exchanges with the people that he was able to get what he wanted. Through our volunteer experiences, we do not expect anything in return for what we do. However, an exchange takes place that is far greater than money or any material good. I am talking about personal growth and a sense that we do make a difference in the world.

Transactions are the interactions that occur between two or more people that have an affect on all of them. This is done through direct and indirect exchanges that influence the people and the communities that they live in. Transactions are the nature by which we treat others. Many times there become stereotypes between different cultures, regions of the country, races, religions, and so on because people do not take the time to get to know each other. An example of this would be someone from a small town visiting a big city. This person from the small town is lost when they get to the city and are unsure of where they are going. A person from the city that is in a hurry gets impatient and passes the small town person. As the person from the city passes the small town person, they honk their horn and give them the finger. Now the person from the small town develops a stereotype that all city people are rude. There are some people like this everywhere we go, but to make an assumption because of one person’s actions is a bad thing to do. Another example of this is to associate people from the south as hillbillies and red necks. This is unjustified behavior. The people from the south are no different than people from any where else in the United States. They just have a different background. We can learn a lot from each other about different cultures and backgrounds. All that we have to do is understand that the transactions between each other can be a learning experience. We should all go into new experiences with open minds and an acceptance of everyone.

As you can see, the five course perspectives are related to each other. They are all in the ecological and social systems theories. We can learn a lot from these theories about the course perspectives. I believe that we must look at all of the perspectives to fully gain the meaning of each. The whole is greater than its parts. This is definitely true with the course perspective. Our community service experiences will be greatly enhanced through our knowledge of the course perspectives. If we look at the perspectives when we volunteer, we can more fully appreciate how we are helping people and communities. I look forward to learning more about each of the perspectives, because it will definitely take the rest of the semester and my life to gain a fuller and deeper meaning of each.