Craig and Marc Kielburger are brothers and founders of the groups Free the Children and Leaders Today. Their book describes how they became involved with helping others on a large scale. They weave in many personal stories of both famous and unknown people who have performed acts of giving toward others and their motivations for doing so. The book attempts to show how a motivated individual of modest means can make (and have made) a difference in this world. Free the Children was founded in 1995 and is the largest existing network of children helping children though education. Thus far, it has organized more than a million young people in education programs in 45 countries. It has also built more than 450 schools in the developing world. Leaders Today was founded in 1999 and provides leadership programs for 350,000 young people each year through community groups, schools, and international training opportunities.

The authors talk of the search for meaning and how it is often elusive: "many of us fall into a trap and work long hours because of a sense of responsibility to others, not being able to say no at work, or trying to provide 'only the best' for our family. We make these choices with good intentions, but in the end they are not the best for our family, or ourselves. We get sucked into a way of life that does not fulfill us." In traveling around the world with volunteers doing work in developing countries, the authors found that "many of the people with whom we worked had very little in the way of material possessions yet expressed a sense of happiness more powerful than anything we had experienced ... empathy for others, a willingness to feel for the less fortunate and reach out to help. Happiness and joy in small things. Strength in community."

The "Me to We" perspective described by the authors looks for individuals to assess objectively their own situation: "in our current culture, we constantly receive messages that success is about the things we have," material goods, a competitive outlook, a preoccupation with the self or "Me." On the other hand, the "We" perspective focuses on gratitude for what you have, empathy for others, redefining happiness by aligning your goals with your values, and forging a stronger connection to others in the local and global community.

The book is filled with practical suggestions for actively living a life with meaning by focusing on "we" rather than on "me." Quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, they conclude,

"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choices that we make, and those choices are ultimately our responsibility."

Questions

1. If a life of meaning is characterized by many little-noticed deeds, rather than a few immortal deeds, how can these small deeds make a difference in huge social problems such as educational opportunity, poverty, and injustice?

2. What would the major ethical perspectives (of Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) say about the desirability of performing small, unseen ethical acts? Are ethics more meaningful when practiced among the less fortunate?

Do you believe that a judge's sentencing decisions should be focused on the past, present, or future?

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