Teachers, Prophets, Dissidents

December 14, 2010

Throughout my life I had role models who inspired me and gave my life some direction and guidance. The names of the role models changed over time as my interests and my perception of the world did. A few weeks ago I decided to compile a definite list of people that I admire and I started to systematically collect possible entries.

The criteria for my choice of list entries are:

My role model shall expose the falsehoods and deceptions, the social injustices, the pain of humans and animals and the environmental destruction that is caused by hubris and greed and reckless egoism of corrupt reigning elites. My role model shall stand firm against discrimination, oppression and exploitation.

My role model shall have the intelligence as well as the imagination, creativity and wisdom to develop visions and concepts that can get humankind out of the quagmire (dear reader, if you assume that everything in this world is perfect and we just have to continue and conduct business as usual, this is not the right blog for you and you should not waste any further time here).

My role model shall be wise and experienced enough, to reach the most people and achieve the maximum positive impact with the least effort. My role model shall be persistent, unwavering and incorruptible.

My role model shall show me how to live a happy and peaceful life in a way that is sustainable and not harmful to other humans and our fellow animals.

Here is an intermediate result of my ongoing efforts. Only few of the entries meet all criteria. The list is not sorted and has no ranking. I would be glad to get suggestions whom to include or omit from this list:

Arundhati Roy http://www.weroy.org/arundhati.shtml
Wangari Maathai http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/2004a.html
Rachel Corrie http://www.rachelcorrie.org/

George Carlin http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html
Howard Zinn http://www.howardzinn.org/default/index.php

Ami Goodman http://www.democracynow.org/about/staff
Maude Barlow http://www.canadians.org/about/Maude_Barlow/
Vandana Shiva http://www.vandanashiva.org/

Harry Belafonte http://www.unicef.org/people/people_harry_belafonte.html
Mordechai Vanunu http://www.vanunu.org/
Peter Singer http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/

Frances Moore Lappé http://www.smallplanetinstitute.org/
Raicho Hiratsuka http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/bio.php?womanid=1450
Alice Walker http://alicewalkersgarden.com/
Cynthia McKinney http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/

Aung San Suu Kyi http://www.dassk.org/
Rigoberta Menchú http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigoberta_Mench%C3%BA
Betty Williams http://www.peacejam.org/laureates/Betty-Williams-7.aspx
Mairead Corrigan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairead_Corrigan
Jody Williams http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1997/williams-cv.html

Sarojini Naidu http://www.liveindia.com/freedomfighters/2.html
Rachel Carson http://www.rachelcarson.org/
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=89
Karen Silkwood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood

Mahatma Gandhi http://www.mkgandhi-sarvodaya.org/main.htm
Nelson Mandela http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php
Martin Luther King Jr. http://www.thekingcenter.org/Default.aspx
Albert Schweitzer http://home.pcisys.net/~jnf/

Shirin Ebadi http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-autobio.html
Toni Morrison http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/
Micere Githae Mugo http://www.wworld.org/about/board/micere_githae_mugo.htm

Khandro Rinpoche http://www.mjkr.org/
Chan Khong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Khong
Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo http://www.tara.org/
Tsultrim Allione http://www.kapalatraining.com/tsultrim.htm
Sulak Sivaraksa http://www.sulak-sivaraksa.org/en/
Thich Nhat Hanh http://iamhome.org/thay.php
Matthieu Ricard http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/index.php/about/