It Speaks
So yeah.
Uhhhh, my picture’s the other one up there…. yeah, the good-looking one. Annndd I’m still in Nicaragua. And I have lots of other stories that nobody wants to hear. But I shall put all of those aside for a story of the exploration of the most hellish land of all – my brain.
This is the eve of my return voyage to the USA. Voyage is the correct term, because it’s going to take just about 24 hours exactly to get from the beginning to the end… and that’s a long time in a world where I can go from looking up porn to reading bible verses in hebrew in less than a second via the magical portal of cyberspace. A lot has changed for me; I’ve seen dying horses, dying people, really rich people screaming at really poor people to get a job before rolling up the windows on their mercedes and driving off to some diplomat’s house, I’ve seen mountains of garbage with rabid children searching for something to eat, be it rotting egg shells or a piece of leather, and when they look at you the look in their eyes is only hunger, mad crazy cannibalistic hunger that I can’t fathom. I’ve heard stories of one horrid government followed by war followed by horrid governments and war… long story short, shit’s fucked up down here. And yeah, it makes me mad. My government is on a solipsistic crusade to take over all of the oil in the world, and a fellow Texan is at the reigns. Ortega is a big dick. And, to top it off, Joe Biden, the only good candidate for president, dropped out of the damn race. So why even go back?
I don’t know either brother, I don’t know either…
Actually, I do know. It’s because I’m a total hypocrite and the exact image of the American Nightmare that I despise… “I want to make money doing what I love to do” – as if this is my Big-Bang-given right. And also, I miss “the people that are close to me” – boo hoo hoo, I emailed them like every 8 hours anyway; if I had said that to Javier, the tongueless veteran I met at the museum of heroes and martyrs in Esteli, who told me about how his brothers (all 9 of them) and his father all died next to him fighting the Contras (… the US FUNDED contras, you may recall), he probably would have slapped me in the face. But it’s true. I got all giddy like a little girl realizing that my band was back, we had a full-length album, and we were going to be playing shows again. I got all happy thinking that my girlfriend now lives in my same town and I can see her whenever I want. I got a frenetic feeling of joy doing the math for how much money I would need to make 1000 eco-friendly CDs of my band… and I haven’t even left Nicaragua yet. What am I like when I get back?
And no, it’s not OK. Globalization is happening, and that means we need to think about how completely absurd the distribution of resources and lifestyles is in the world. But we don’t… I don’t anyway. I worry about whether I can afford the Semi-gloss or the glossy finish, and I worry about whether my uncle will be able to help me get my CD into the hands of America’s own 1%. Absurd. Insane.
As Tears for Fears put it, it’s a mad world. And yeah, I quoted an 80’s new wave band for a reason – all of that cocaine, spandex, hairspray, culture club, etc. ad infinitum, it was happening while that famous molotov-cocktail sandinista was fighting for his fucking life. Cry me a river America, your problems are nothing. It’s the Karma Chameleon I guess… and to thing someone in the city the US air-raided a couple of weeks ago, a Nicaraguan sang to me “Don’t worry, be happy”.
malculo 
While I don’t disagree that America has an essentially blind eye to the rest of the world, I think there are a couple of things that are worth thinking about. One, it’s inherent human nature to want to better their own lives. As far as I can tell, it’s ingrained into us all. Desire, the act of wanting, it will always be around, no matter how we live. While I can’t imagine what he would be concerned about, I’m sure Bill Gates says to himself “man, I really want that new electronic gizmo” or something. The difference between him and us is that he simply goes and buys it, then he is left wanting something else. Nothing is perfect, so we are always left to improve it.
Also, it’s true that a lot of Americans lead incredibly cushy lives- I’m one of them, that’s why I have time to write pages and comments on this blog. But even America has poverty and homeless. I was outside in downtown Burlington today for less than five minutes and I saw at least one homeless guy pushing his cart. I’m sure there were others that I just didn’t notice. The poverty and homeless rates aren’t even close to those in other countries, like the one you are in, but it still exists.
So the problem lies within basic human circuitry. As a species we are made to, for the most part, better our own lives and think mostly about ourselves. America isn’t really different from any other rich country in the past- we think about ourselves, and so has everyone else. The difference is that before, there wasn’t any internet to stream information, and the world was much bigger. Now, if I wanted to, I could wire money to anyone in any country in almost no time. I could ship food to anyone. But I’m probably not going to. I’ll donate to charities and vote so that we don’t get any more presidents like this, but I’m not really going to do much of anything. It’s not ok, but I’m not alone. And I don’t think that people decades, centuries, or even millenniums ago would have either.
Maybe it’s ignorance, but I really don’t think it is. Getting the world to care about other people and not think of other nations as numbers and pictures isn’t going to happen overnight, if it happens at all. It will take (most likely) multiple generations, or some huge shockwave event that will change the world (like global warming?) before we start really thinking outside our comfortable shells. It’s inherent to not care, and almost all of us are guilty of it. Yeah, there are varying degrees- some people don’t care about anyone, others care about friends, some do think on a bigger picture, but we don’t care enough. Of course, in an hour I’ll shrug the whole thing off and say “hell, I’m only human.”
No, that’s not it. It’s not human to not care – that is learned behavior. We are hard-wired to help out others – our families, our communities. Human survival is based on living and working together in the spirit of cooperation. Isolation and the urge for power support and breed the worst part of human nature. Bettering ourselves and the world is not mutually exclusive – consider the phrase “put on your own oxygen mask first.” Finding a way to connect with and improve the human condition, even if only in your own small corner of the world leads directly (or sometimes indirectly) to your own self-awareness. No, we cannot change everything, but we must start with ourselves and those around us. Better to spread compassion and joy than apathy and pain. As for Bill Gates, check out the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bettering ourselves is more than buying stuff, and much more fulfilling.
That seems to be more idealistic than realistic; but let me say I like your ideals- they just don’t happen. Humans are inherently self-centered. It makes sense, really- it’s basic survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, we have outgrown ourselves. We don’t need to worry about surviving anymore (in America, at least) but the trait has transformed into other needs. Instead of worrying about being killed by a lion, we fret over how nice our car is and the size of our house. Also, while you don’t like buying new sweaters and other shiny crap, you’re a supreme minority there. Ever been to a Wal-Mart?
Anyway, you’re right- of course most people car about those they know. That’s not the problem that’s causing Blaine (as far as I know) his distraught. It’s that here in America (and I argue any country with money) the general populous (not you, Cathy. I know you’re kinder than most) can’t think outside their own bubble. Helping close to home only goes so far. It’s all good, but what I’m saying is that after that, most lose interest. The election strife in Kenya doesn’t bother most, nor does the famine and poverty that sweeps the globe. If people can’t see it, if it doesn’t directly effect them, it doesn’t exist.
By the way, I know Bill Gates is a wonderful guy. He’s an exception, to be sure, but what I meant is that even for the rich, there is something else that they want, the difference being is that they can always buy it, but the cycle just starts over. I used Gates as an example, since everyone knows who he is. Maybe I should have used Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft), who seems like a nice guy, but bought the Seattle Seahawks for essentially the hell of it.
What Cathy was attempting to say, I think, but didn’t express clearly, is that your cynical expression of the human soul does NOT represent reality for most of this world. The culture of hospitality that exists almost everywhere in the world is just one proof of that. Man is a social being. We all need social interaction or we go crazy. Unfortunately, you have grown up in a time where this country has lost its sense of community within its borders. We have never had much sense of community for the rest of the world. Part of this is due to mankind’s fascination with scandal which our media loves to report. As a result, the visionary leaders are less inclined to do their thing here because no one really needs to put their lives under the kind of scrutiny our elected officials get. That said, a charismatic leader like MLK could revive much of the idealism of this country in short order. And idealism does lead to activism which leads to progress. As ridiculous as our current administration is, a small shift towards respect for mankind would be a huge change of attitude. I believe that would help change everyone’s view of the world.
I just don’t see evidence of humans caring about others that they don’t know. Also, you need to read everything I said, not just parts of it. I acknowledge that people have concerns about issues that effect them directly. The problem with empires like America and those before it is that its citizens don’t consider problems outside the borders of their own country. It’s hard to fault other countries for the same thing, since their problems are far more severe and need more attention, but it happens everywhere. Also, you two grew up during the tail end of the flower power movement and the sixties, during which you had these radical leaders like MLK. That time, however, was wholly unique. I’m not trying to romanticize the past, because I think some of it was insane, but the entire summer of love and the rest of the original hippy movement was different than anything before that or since. So if you’re going to say that I’ve never seen community, care, and peace like that, it’s because it’s only happened once. Also, how can you deny that people inherently want more? Why else would giant malls be so ever present?
Also, let me say AGAIN that I don’t like the way the world seems to be- I want it to change as much as anybody.