Monday, November 14, 2005
Lump
I think it's pretty easy to lump everyone I disagree with in the same category as "idiot." It is silly, of course. There are plenty of people with whom I disagree who are intelligent people willing to weigh all sides of issues. And also there plenty of people with whom i agree about things who agree with me out of ignorance and not because they have really thought about the issue. One of the things that really scares me about going back to the states is the obvious polarity, seen easily in almost all media that comes out of the US. If someone is a "liberal," they tend to go about bashing anyone who is "conservative" and vice-versa, all the while standing steadfastly by whoever they align themselves whether they are right or wrong. I know of very few people who ever allow for their opposition to be right or have a better idea than their own ideas...or even a good idea. If I'm a southern Christian, then obviously, I must agree 100% with the republican party and must believe conservatively on every issue, but the problem is that I don't. I am more than can be summed up in one word. I am more than can be summed up by a party affiliation. I hope that most people are. I have often in the past been accused of thinking too much, but I am so thankful that my problem is not the opposite.
Also, I'd like to thank Pat Robertson for helping encourage the belief that all Christians must be idiots. And I'd like to give a shout-out to the media for paying any attention to him at all.
Also, I'd like to thank Pat Robertson for helping encourage the belief that all Christians must be idiots. And I'd like to give a shout-out to the media for paying any attention to him at all.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
An actual update
I sit now in a quickly-emptying apartment as I try to pack all my stuff this weekend so that I can move in with the Wests for my last 10 days in Nicaragua. Packing is frustrating and sad. Packing reminds me nothing of the great Thanksgiving and Christmas times spent with family that is just around the corner or the wedding of friends that i will actually be able to attend this coming summer. Instead, every book, paper and peice of clothing remind me only of leaving. I called the airline to make sure I was correct in my assumption that each passenger is allowed: 1 carry on piece, 1 personal item, and 1 musical instrument. Yeah, that's not true. First of all, "musical instrument" means "guitar," they do not intend for any passenger to bring a djimbe onboard. So it has to go below, but in what case? I have two djimbes and I have no clue how to send them back. If I put them in footlockers, they are both going to take up the majority of the space in the footlockers. I can see it now: I'm going to have 6 bags plus a carryon and personal item. I am so in trouble.
Lately I've been reading articles like this one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/americas_summit that talk about the Free Trade Agreement talks in Argentina. Does anyone understand economics enough to explain to me why Chavez et al are so opposed to free trade, besides a mere anti-American sentiment? What really kills me are the riots. Really, these riots have nothing to do with economics. Free Trade protests don't end in the smashing of 30 storefronts. These people are just mad at the US for their presence. The protestors don't understand that the police officers they injured are Argentine and are all the workers in the shops whose storefronts were smashed. Even if it was a McDonald's, owned by an American Corporation, McDonald's always hires all positions locally. So many times extremists want so badly to make a statement that they don't mind doing so against the wrong people, just so long as everyone knows that they aren't happy. And really, how selfish is that? Someone in the article above pointed out that Bush may not even hear about their riots. I'm sure he is unaffected by it. Latinos have been, for so many years, building up a growing hatred for the US which is odd as, if I were to tell any Nicaraguan on the street that I'm about to go home to the states, they would ask me if I would sponser them for a green card. It's a jealousy thing, kinda. There's a latin american concept that if you get one, I should get one too. A concept that works really well with socialist revolutions (see Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela). Capitalism, as a concept, fails in latin america (see Argentina for a macrocosm or any latin american city or town for a microcosm). There is no desire to work any harder than I have to get by. Hard work doesn't pay. Working for a rich man and stealing when he's not looking does pay. Case in point: in a small store in Costa Rica, a man offered an item imported from the States that wasn't being offered by any other local store, so his sales, especially for that item went through the roof. One day, someone walks in looking for it and it isn't there and the store owner tells them that he stopped ordering them because he just couldn't keep them on the shelf and he kept having to restock and he didn't like restocking that much.
I still haven't blogged about my trips in the Rio Coco because I'm a little insecure about the trip. I'm not sure that we did the best thing and I don't know how to categorize the trip on the scale of success/failure. It makes me fear that I wouldn't be able to last in aid work because I walk away angry with the people for being so dishonest and selfish, instead of being grateful to have been able to helped someone whether they appreciate it or not. I will say that it was gorgeous. If you click on the "myspace" link over on the left, my main picture is from the area as is the picture of the lady with the bucket on her head. It's a place that I can take pictures of, but that pictures can't really tell the story.
I hope to see you states people soon.
Lately I've been reading articles like this one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/americas_summit that talk about the Free Trade Agreement talks in Argentina. Does anyone understand economics enough to explain to me why Chavez et al are so opposed to free trade, besides a mere anti-American sentiment? What really kills me are the riots. Really, these riots have nothing to do with economics. Free Trade protests don't end in the smashing of 30 storefronts. These people are just mad at the US for their presence. The protestors don't understand that the police officers they injured are Argentine and are all the workers in the shops whose storefronts were smashed. Even if it was a McDonald's, owned by an American Corporation, McDonald's always hires all positions locally. So many times extremists want so badly to make a statement that they don't mind doing so against the wrong people, just so long as everyone knows that they aren't happy. And really, how selfish is that? Someone in the article above pointed out that Bush may not even hear about their riots. I'm sure he is unaffected by it. Latinos have been, for so many years, building up a growing hatred for the US which is odd as, if I were to tell any Nicaraguan on the street that I'm about to go home to the states, they would ask me if I would sponser them for a green card. It's a jealousy thing, kinda. There's a latin american concept that if you get one, I should get one too. A concept that works really well with socialist revolutions (see Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela). Capitalism, as a concept, fails in latin america (see Argentina for a macrocosm or any latin american city or town for a microcosm). There is no desire to work any harder than I have to get by. Hard work doesn't pay. Working for a rich man and stealing when he's not looking does pay. Case in point: in a small store in Costa Rica, a man offered an item imported from the States that wasn't being offered by any other local store, so his sales, especially for that item went through the roof. One day, someone walks in looking for it and it isn't there and the store owner tells them that he stopped ordering them because he just couldn't keep them on the shelf and he kept having to restock and he didn't like restocking that much.
I still haven't blogged about my trips in the Rio Coco because I'm a little insecure about the trip. I'm not sure that we did the best thing and I don't know how to categorize the trip on the scale of success/failure. It makes me fear that I wouldn't be able to last in aid work because I walk away angry with the people for being so dishonest and selfish, instead of being grateful to have been able to helped someone whether they appreciate it or not. I will say that it was gorgeous. If you click on the "myspace" link over on the left, my main picture is from the area as is the picture of the lady with the bucket on her head. It's a place that I can take pictures of, but that pictures can't really tell the story.
I hope to see you states people soon.
