cynics vs idealists

Something has happened to the field of development.

Idealism, if you had to define it with the FIRST sentence that came to mind, would probably involve an image of a hippie smiling and staring at the stars, talking about, I don't know, impossible things, ending the war on drugs, effective socialist governments (an oxy-moron, historically speaking), and so forth. It would involve an image of naivete, if not downright stupidity.

Cynicism, on the other hand, is "cool." Cynicism is something that the academic with the masters in International Development feels obliged to call their own. It is being "realistic" (which idealism is not) -- it is being "smart," and "informed."

According to dictionary.com,
Idealism: the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
Cynicism: an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.

I have yet to see what cynicism accomplishes in development.
And though I have a conservative-leaning view when it comes to the markets, and particularly, to national defense, I am not going to fall into what I consider this stupidly trendly trap of cynicism in development. At best, it's unproductive, and at worst, its detrimental.

This philosophy that I'm developing is in its primary stages, but it is surely the reason I chose to apply to be a contributing blogger for Idealist.org/Action Without Borders Latin America volunteering blog -- called www.lavidaidealist.org

Check out my first post on the site, posted today.
It's titled "Where we pull apart, we bind together."

Suz