/lit/ - Literature

>>15327432
Become a police officer and write on the side. You will have opportunities to directly help people in a concrete way every day (whether you choose to take them/are resilient enough is another thing). Your experiences will directly fuel your art and improve the chances of you writing something that will help the world.

Most police officers are exposed to the true nature of reality in a way few others are, yet few police officers possess the creative spirit to transform the raw experience into meaningful art. Conversely many poets and writers lack the constitution for real world experience, therefore their work tends to lack depth. Detectives are realistically the people out there actually catching murderers, rapists and serial child predators, if you get to that level there is no doubt you are having a net positive effect on the world. It's the active love Dostoevsky talks about, and it's hard. It's incredibly difficult to think of the merits of active love when you're shivering cold at 4am in the middle of a bleak winter breaking up a fight between stinking, pus-ridden drug addicts. But luckily the Truth, the real Truth, has never been dependent upon feelings.

It's also worth noting that the sense of Justice you feel is a good thing, and a noble calling. More people feel that than you know. You've just got to be realistic about it; there's a difference between being realistic and being disillusioned. I used to want to change the world, but if on my deathbed I know that I've changed only one person's life for the better, given them one small helping hand towards redemption, I'll die happy. Even in my own filth, when I'm consumed by my vices, I think back on the time I persuaded a coworker not to cheat on his girlfriend as one of the finest moments of my life, and proof I can be saved.

>>15327859
thanks for your insightful post. i have respect for policemen who have to deal with seeing the most disgusting things. i went to school for a STEM major though and recently i realized that i care much more directly about people than i thought i did (i thought i would prefer to be away from people). i've also realized that tech is a double-edged sword and as much as i love it i also hate it. is there something i can do that's relevant towards that?

>>15327859
yeah this or just become a police officer so you can assault minorities wahoo taze the stinking, pus-ridden drug addicts in the buttholes, over, and over!

>>15327432
Unironically, if you have a real drive and passion for justice, get into investigative journalism. Or work in journalism in your small towns, your regional papers and such, many of these types of papers are really struggling and it is having a negative effect on the communities which they used to serve. There are stories there not being told, voices that you can give voice to. It won't be glamorous work but you will be able to do good.

>>15328088
I feel you. I think I also agree as far as tech is concerned- I considered going the engineering route but in my heart I subscribe to the romantic pastoral ideal and can't really bring myself to agree with hyper-industrialisation. If you want to directly benefit people, you're in a great position to. My first thought is you could go to second and third world countries and help improve infrastructure- engineers without borders type thing. Improving access to drinking water, sanitation and providing a form of a power network will genuinely transform hundreds of lives. Alternatively you could go into biotech, design and develop technology that will aid many around the world.

In terms of writing, it's a double edged sword I'm afraid. I too dream of writing things that will change the world, great fiction novels that will inspire and change other people. But realistically, how many people do you know who even read at all? And how many people would willingly believe they need to change? The human reaction is to be defensive. Every person thinks that they are in the right, and the rest of the world needs to change. Regardless I think you should write alongside your career.

Perhaps identify what you hate most in the world, then focus on changing that. As my last post might have betrayed I'm a police officer, so obviously I'm biased. That's because I read about organised child abuse rings here on 4chan back in 2009, read about the dutroux affair, looked into all of the children who go missing, and it just moved something inside me that has never moved back. So that motivates me- to take my detective exams in march, pass Investigators probation, get into the child abuse unit, progress onto the specialist paedophile team and eventually a national agency that deals the organised child abuse. That way I will help change the world and I can write alongside.