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Connor Stevenson
Professor Green
EXPL 292
11 February 2016
Reflection B: To Hell With Good Intentions & Starfish
Have you ever thought that your good intentions to help others through service actually
had no influence and may even caused your actions to recoil? In these articles, To hell With Good
Intentions, and, Starfish, comparably they talk about the good intentions that we think we are
committing but ultimately the intentions of service do not better the lives of the served. Both
articles discuss the idea that jumping into service with emotional feelings leaves us vulnerable
and we may be better off not barging into these situations.
In Keith Mortons, Starfish, he first discusses if these service situations we satisfy
ourselves with really make a difference in the big picture. He provides us with the example of the
starfish that have washed up on shore, then a person walking along the beach notices these
creatures and believes it is in his duty to do good by placing them back in the sea. Did this
person take into account what he might be disturbing in the environment such as interrupting the
food chain? This is a similar point Ivan Illich makes in, To Hell With Good Intentions, saying do
we really think about the consequences of us serving and the possibilities of making these people
that are being served feel uncomfortable within their own culture. Many people Im sure have
never taken into account this possibility of creating more harm than good when serving. What
the tale Starfish does not discuss according to Morton, is the shadow or dark side that service
involves. Who really deserves our help, is a question that Morton asks. This is an important
question prevailing throughout this article, are we really helping people that deserve and are in

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want of our help or we throwing ourselves into a situation because we believe well make an
impact. By helping these starfish out of sheer emotion we are unaware to the threats we enable in
the ecosystem. Just like birds may lose an outlet of nutrition, similarly by involving in service we
may be creating an unwanted change within a society. Morton concludes his argument by saying
the Starfish tale, ultimately tells us nothing about service. It avoids talking about the sense of
community; in order to successfully partake in service it is important that we build relationships
to create an environment that is effective and not defective.
In the article, To Hell With Good Intentions, Ivan Illich outlines two main subjects of
reasoning when talking about his philosophies on service. His first point he makes is people that
are volunteering overseas or in a third world country have alienated feelings about helping out
and are prone to culture shock. When embarking on our trip to Peru in March without a doubt I
am now skeptic to whether our good intentions we are carrying with us will create a positive
outcome on the people of Peru. I think this is seen within every person on the team but its our
hope that carries our desire to help others. Illich goes on by explaining we are hypocrites to our
own service because of what we learn about these areas in which we plan on serving. He backs
this up by saying we are incapable of reopening our minds to the presumptions we have
embedded in our intellects. He describes the quote To Hell With Good Intentions from
knowledge from an old Irishman that states, Hell is paved with good intentions. Illich believes
we dont have the power to create a difference amongst people from just our good intentions
alone. One of Illichs main points throughout his argument against service is that we are barging
into these peoples lives without accepting they may not be interested in us being there. He goes
on by saying we are susceptible to creating disorder within these areas because their outlooks are
changed and may even feel degraded with the presence of service. Its difficult to grasp the

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arguments Illich makes because never before did I reason my role in serving and to not abuse my
power. Ivan Illich remains grounded throughout his argument that we are incapable of helping
others by serving them, he believes we should only travel to these countries to enjoy the land
rather than going to serve.
Have you ever thought about the relationships youve created in your life that have
shaped the person you are and also have the capability of influencing the person youll become?
This is a difficult topic to wrap your mind around but relationships are everywhere. From the
smallest associations you have with others to the biggest relationships youll never know the
power in which these relationships could have in influencing your life. In Starfish, relationships
are discussed in which we need to be cognizant of the importance of relationships when serving
others. The most important part when involving in service for Morton is that we need to be
willing to talk to others, build relationships, know yourself and the environment in which youre
setting out in. Morton says we have the power to build these important relationships that we can
share knowledge about experiences of service between others and this is where youll learn the
effectiveness that service can entail. In To Hell With Good Intentions, Illich discusses
relationships and how they are difficult because we dont always see eye to eye with the
individuals we are serving. You may think youre doing something good for somebody else but
in reality they feel degraded because you are there serving them. These individuals are looking at
this situation as the servers having power over them because they may money which enables
them to be there serving. Additionally Illich adds that when we are serving people in other
countries, most of the time there is a language barrier that prevents from taking any step forward
in helping others. With all this being said, we need to understand that with the opportunity to
serve comes great privilege in which we are able to serve others.

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Both of these articles have similar ideals about service and what it involves. When we
think about service do we really ever think about the possibilities of creating disturbance in a
community? When we first talk to someone else about serving others we are overcome with joy
about doing a good for somebody else but this joy is washed over by the points made in these
two articles form Keith Morton and Ivan Illich. When serving others its important to be aware of
the mindsets of both parties, yourself and the people being served. Relationships are a huge part
of learning, with this being said we can learn about service and how its effective through others
experiences. Volunteering isnt immediately believed to be harmful; these damaging experiences
can be eradicated if we understand the power that we carry within our hands and to not misuse it
when serving.