"The world is drowning in a sea of words..." (functional humility)

Whenever I say anything of "strong opinion" I always feel a little weary because I'm torn between feeling like I MUST speak and yet not wanting to bash others over the head with my views. I really value respecting every human being's right to feel how they feel and think how they think. At the same time, I cannot just sit idly by and watch other suffer needlessly due to the ignorance and affluence of others. I can't stand it. I read a quote though today by one of my absolute favorite authors, Derrick Jensen, that brings me back to what I call "functional humility"

He writes, "The world is drowning in a sea of words, and I add to the deluge, the hope that I can sleep that night, secure in the knowledge that I have "done my part." Sometimes I don't know how we all live with ourselves. What can I say that will give sufficient honor to the dead, the extirpated, the beaten, the raped, the little children--"I can hit the son of a bitch. Let me try him"? I don't know. In the ten minutes I have stared at this computer screen, trying to fashion a conclusion to this section, more than sixty women have been beaten by their partners, and twelve children have been killed or injured by their parents or guardians. At least one species of plant or animal has been permanently eradicated from the face of Earth, and approximately a square mile of the planet has been deforested. In the time it took me to write this last sentence, another woman was beaten by her lover" (pgs.50-51) From "A Language Older Than Words" chapter titled (LOVE THIS!) "Cultural Eyeglasses."

The reality Jensen points out does manage to keep me humble and at the same time, sufficiently pissed off. Yet I think what he's getting at here is the tension every activist faces, in knowing what to do to effect the most good and what to do to cause the least harm (to yourslf, others and the environment). How do you find that balance?
I think of this as functional humility because it keeps me rooted in the realization that the world is far bigger than me and yet you and I do share many of the same fears and same loves and same desires. There is nothing alive that does not want for its own well-being and happiness. There is nothing alive that does not suffer. These are basic truths (paraphrased here) that the Buddha taught and you can hear (if you listen non-judgementally) echoes of this across all major religions. What you neither hear nor see if any of those is the proclamation or commandment that man should only care about himself and his own happiness at the expense of his environment and of the rest of humanity or to please his God. It is easier not to think about the reality of suffering that we all endure to varying degrees of functionability. It is easier not to think about the beaten, raped, starving, bombed, mutilated, kidnapped, tortured, illegally detained/arrested...It is easier not to think about any of that at all. Statistics prove Jensen is right and yet we all like to think another world is possible. So what is stopping us?

peace!