Why I Love Living in Savannah: Reason 85

The Psychotronic Film Society of Savannah

THE place to watch the films, documentaries and fringe movies you wouldn’t otherwise see in the theaters. A Couple nights ago the wife and I saw “Ralph Nader:An Unreasonable Man”, a bio doc on the man on whom a lot of people seem to have a lot of strong opinions. I’d definitely recommend any and everyone see it regardless of your political views. What I took from the evening, though, had less to do with the subject of the pic than the general moral of the story:

One person can make a difference. Yes, as sappy as that sounds, in light of all the stuff we’ve been reading, discussing and sharing on this blog about sustainable practices & graphic activism, I think it’s important to occasionally remind ourselves that our size is independent of the size of our influence. That the cliche can actually work in the real world.

What does this have to do with design or the business of design? It’s growing harder for me to see my profession in isolation from the world, and my practices as having no significant consequence. The arguments surrounding the recent National Design Award White House snub underscore, for me, the same thoughts inspired by the documentary: we are all professional citizens which means non-participation in the political, economic, etc. issues around us is not acceptable. We’re going to be writing our thoughts on the topics mentioned above in more depth as we delve into them for ourselves. Social entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability and other big words, seem daunting but the example of Mr. Nader gave me hope that they’re not just unavoidable, but possible.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
-George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903)
“Maxims for Revolutionists”