Hmm... well, I definitely think that governments can change, and so can institutions and ideologies. Every paper that I write seems to be about the changes that various actors force through countries in an attempt to make them more to their liking. Indonesia has changed phenomenally since its 1945 independence - thanks to the military, Soeharto's government, the religious right, and the intellectual left. It might be not a grand change that is readily seen or documented, but you can tell by what the country puts out, what kind of scholars the country produces. Norms change. I really believe that norms change, and I think that's the most important factor in political change. A lot of people think the UN can't do anything and hasn't done anything, but I argue that it has changed things, because it's changed norms, and a change of norms will eventually somehow become a change in situation. And I guess that's also what's different between us - about "I only think that because I haven't lived long enough to see any real changes occur". Real changes occur all the time, just in different places, obscure little places, and it's very easy to be cynical about them. Indonesia's first free and fair elections were actually riddled with problems and funding issues and shit, and international NGOs were overshadowing local NGOs, but at least there were local NGOs, at least there were and are people in the country who believe free and fair elections are a good thing, and at least now they're somewhat empowered to do something to ensure free and fair elections happen. That's a change. The fact that we now have a president who cracks down on corruption so hard that some districts are running out of government officials, and who believes in democracy, is a change. It might not result in much because he's had to spend more time visiting natural disaster crises. But it's still a change.

Almost everything will help someone, somehow. I mean, serial killers will help people in the sense that they may open people's eyes to what humanity is capable of, and knowledge is a good thing, and maybe those people will learn to treasure life or be good to others or whatever. It's all in how direct your change is.

You should talk to Yue, she loves V for Vendetta too. I thought it gave itself too much credit... the issues it broached were the issues that like, The Nation, have been screaming about for twenty years. I also hated V. And... God, I don't know. I have a lot of problems with that movie...