Participating vs. Spectator

Winford Gordon, Assistant Professor of Psychology, wrote a commentary in the Asheville Citizen-Times on Friday, September 5. The link to this commentary is
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880903083
In the article he reports incoming students at WCU were required to read Three Cups of Tea and proceeds to encourage students to participate in life instead of watching from the sidelines. I found the commentary engaging.

The World is Flat - More of the Same or a New Approach

In Chapter 1 of The World Is Flat, Friedman recalls the voyage of Columbus, colonization, and industrialization. Are the motives behind 21st globalization different from the ones recorded throughout history?

Can we change the world - one cup of tea at a time

At the heart of Three Cups of Tea is a powerful but simple message: we each, as individuals, have the power to change the world, one cup of tea at a time. Yet the book powerfully dramatizes the obstacles in the way of this philosophy: bloody wars waged by huge armies, prejudice, religious extremism, cultural barriers. What do you think of the "one cup of tea at a time" philosophy?