I started writing this on the plane ride that completed my circumnavigation of the globe, back in early December. I worked on it over several writing sessions, never quite finishing it; thus, I kept putting off posting it. It’s not finished still, but I chose to post it anyway, lest it never left my desk.
After looking forward to being home for weeks, at the final moment before my voyage came to an end, as my plane began its descent into the glittering Bay Area below, I was suddenly struck with trepidation that I’d overhyped it to myself, that the disappointments and difficulties I’d encountered in my travels had caused me to wax nostalgic about my life at home, exaggerating the good beyond their true nature and discarding the bad.
Thankfully, I found that I was grateful to be home, reconnecting with people that I hadn’t seen in half a year or more. We were warned on SAS that it can be difficult to cope with “reentry”, struggling to convey our experiences as more than just nice stories and readjusting to the American lifestyle. However, I didn’t experience culture shock going into Ecuador or any of our ports on SAS, and I didn’t experience “reverse culture shock” coming back home (unlike my experience going directly from Ecuador to SAS). I’ve been disturbed by how easy it has been to settle back into life in the US, with luxuries like reliable high speed internet, hot showers, and water you can drink out of the tap. For all its shortcomings, growing up in America is an incredible privilege. We complain vociferously about our government, the two party system rife with corruption and politicking. We have our share of problems, but we are still a functioning democracy, guaranteed the right to air our grievances.
One of the more insightful questions I’ve been asked is, “are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the state of the world and its future?”. I suppose I am cautiously optimistic. I’ve seen many causes for hope – the generosity and patience of perfect strangers everywhere, the amazing work that RIDE is doing with microcredit in India, and countless NGOs like it. The interconnectivity and unprecedented prosperity of the world gives me hope that we can end extreme poverty – if we have the political will to do so.
At the same time, there are many hurdles that not only challenge the fulfillment of such an idealistic vision, but also threaten the stability of world as we know it. The state of the environment is a cause for grave concern. Global warming itself could cause major displacement of peoples, food shortages, and a loss of biodiversity, but it is only the most visible issue amongst a slew of environmental problems, such as the imminent collapse of many fisheries (the main source of protein for the people of many poorer nations) and farmland soil erosion. The HIV/AIDS epidemic, most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, is devastating communities, disrupting the social fabric as teachers can no longer teach, health care workers can’t help, orphans are left to fend for themselves and a lack of basic knowledge about prevention allows the virus to continue spreading rapidly in a vicious cycle. As resources become scarcer, nationalism rears its ugly head, fueling resentment and justifying violence against neighbors.
What is to be done in the midst of these overwhelming challenges? Some people think that to help the people in Southeast Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa, we in the Global North have to make large, permanent sacrifices in our living style. While I think there are many compelling reasons for us to change our consumeristic lifestyles, the belief that development is linked to foreign aid in a linear fashion is erroneous. Economic development can occur when a complex set of factors are favorable, and capital is only one of these factors. Moreover, economic development does not result simply from the dispersal of concentrated wealth. Foreign aid can help catalyze the process initially, but economic development should be self-sustaining. In addition, aid can actually exacerbate the situation, because it provides a perverse incentive for mismanagement and corruption if not properly distributed and monitored.
While China and Vietnam are enjoying tremendous growth rates (around 9-10% GDP annually), some places are not developing along with the rest of world. Burma is an example of a country that has cut itself off from the global community, whose economy languishes while its people suffer. Within countries that are developing at a respectable rate, marginalized populations are often being bypassed and do not see their standards of living increasing along with everyone else. Child labor and other forms of exploitation are major issues in the new global economy. Development always leads to greater disparity initially, as those with resources are the first to take advantage of new economic opportunities. Historically, disparity then decreases over time with the rise of a middle class. The question is, how long it will take for these trends to trickle down to the poorest and most marginalized populations?
Nothing is a panacea – not microfinance, nor technology, nor debt relief. The issues are much more complex, and therefore the solutions must also be so. Addressing the issues facing the modern world requires concerted effort and resources.
The stakes are high. It feels overwhelming to attempt to hold all these issues, the hopes and terrors of the world, in my mind at once. But in the end, we cannot afford to ignore the issues of the developing world. Addressing them is not just for idealists. The grievances of frustrated people in the Middle East, for example, threaten to destabilize societies wherever they have influence, sending shocks throughout the entire global community. People become desperate and resort to desperate measures when they see no stable and attainable way to improve their situation and their children’s futures. If we wish to maintain (and hopefully improve) global security, it is imperative that we step up and use our considerable influence to engage constructively. My hope is that through supporting initiatives to provide people with education, health, dignified means to improve their lives, and the security to pass the fruits of their labor onto their children, we can together create a stable, prosperous world.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
