It really is a pretty cool site. And when I say 'cool' I mean 'full of 45-50 year olds addicted to their laptops', but there's a lot of interesting and intellectual conversations going on there. I seem to have this habit of going on once every 3 months or so for a full-day forum binge, then avoiding it completely and not even thinking about it for weeks and months. Whenever I DO think of it and decide to go on, it has this horrible ability to suck me in for hours and hours, thus effectively keeping me from getting ANY work done whatsoever. I managed to become entranced by it this last Sunday. I was glad, it seems as though most of the fundamantalists lost interest since last time I perused. It's kind of tough having very conservative Christians on such a theologically liberal site. I mean, I think ecumenical dialogue is definitely a good thing, but how on earth do you find common ground with someone who says 'God says suchandforth, it's in the bible' when you have a totally opposite view of the nature of the book in question? I mean, how can I even try to convince someone who says that God condemns gays of anything different, given that their belief is based on a conviction that the bible is an infallable, accurate account for all time and the absolute word directly from God's lips (if you believe God has lips, which is another discussion), whereas I (and I think I can fairly safely say the vast majority of the United Church) see the bible as a collection of written accounts from particular places, times, and sociocultural contexts, with a rich array of theologically enlightened verses, yes, but also open to criticism and historical analysis just like the published works of any modern day theologian? It just gets too messy. And I think people have kind of realised that now, with the number of conservative posts in liberal discussions that just kind of get ignored. Which sounds terrible, but you know, it's often the most peaceful way to do it. Sorry about all that, I kind of didn't mean to write that much on the subject :)
I wish that I was more thankful for the blessings I have in life. Seriously, I am so stupidly priveledged, it's actually mindboggling to try and face the whole scope of it. Not even looking at the big stuff, all of the ginormous benefits I received simply for the cosmic accident of me being born in North America (I was born in a giant, sterilised, latex-gloved, disposable-gown, million-dollar technology-equipped hospital. There are places in the world that have never seen running water. Sounds cliche, but just think about that for a moment.) Even in North America I was born to well-educated, white, middle-class, english-speaking parents; some other lottery wins that have afforded me powers that I don't even know. And within that, my parents wanted children, they loved me and were able to care for me, had been afforded good family backgrounds themselves, allowing them to become excellent parents. Because of things that I did not choose nor did I earn, I grew up with EDUCATION, and I never appreciated it. School was a chore, while there are kids all over the world who work like stink and love doing it, being so grateful to have the opportunity to be in school in the first place. Now I'm in UNIVERSITY, taking a FREE YEAR with money enough in the bank for at least another year, probably two, which is absolutely, unfathomably ridiculous from so many points of view. People I know want to be in university but can't afford it. Others I know are in university but struggling to afford it. Others I know are in university but working half their time to afford it. Still others are in university, working half their time to afford it AND providing for a family. So obviously I'm in a crazy priveledged position, even in CANADA. Not only in Canada, but in ALBERTA, where there is WORK. There are so many places where there is no work to be found, in Canada and around the world. And in so very many places, in Calgary, in Alberta, in Canada, in North America, on the rest of the PLANET there are people who would give anything to go to university. And yet, here I sit, at my laptop computer, after midnight, avoiding a paper that is overdue. It's absolutely ridiculous. How many of the aforementioned people, who would be in heaven if they found out that there were finances and resources and circumstances allowing them to go to university, how many would EVER be caught dead taking such reckless advantage of that gift by procrastinating on an overdue assignment? Just try seeing this situation from the perspective of a young girl in the Southern hemisphere, in a country of the two-thirds world, whose culture barely recognises women, whose government doesn't fund schools, whose parents struggle to find jobs, whose country is basically owned by the world bank and IMF and impoverished by colonial-era trading practises- it is absolutely ridiculous.
Now, that isn't to say that everything in North America is rosy and heaven. I really do question the whole "they have nothing" thing that one so often hears, when it is obvious that with the amount of deep community and belonging that exists, and the cohesiveness and not-even-questioned generosity and selfless sharing that I hear about from every single person coming back from these areas, that "they" have something incredibly precious that "we" have no concept of. Taking all this into account- the immense, immeasurable value that exists in the lives and cultures of people around the world, even in impoverished or 'underdeveloped' areas of the world- I think we can say that there is some really amazing stuff in my life, in terms of education and health services and more food and water and electricity than we know what to do with, but also some really crappy stuff, like the rampant individualism and stark institutional, impersonal, sterile, don't-talk-to-the-people-on-the-bus, fear-the-people-downtown situations that I live in. And many people who don't have access to the education and healthcare and food and water and electricity that I was born with live in community with the people in their lives, to the point that the things we see as 'good things to do'- talking to the neighbours, playing with the other kids, attending *religious institution*, visiting friends, looking after family members- are just things that people do. And I don't mean the self-righteous 'that's just what we do here *mental pat on the back*', but *confused look* 'yeah...of course that's what we do...how else could we live' (I mean, would the word 'community' even exist, I wonder, if it's so intrinsic to your life that you are aware of nothing BUT community?) But out of these two situations, only one of us is overtly taking advantage of the good things that the other has limited access to.
Ugh. That took a ridiculously long time to write. *dies*
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3 comments:
I'm too lazy to write out a real comment, so here are a few scattered thoughts:
I have never known anyone who has worked 14 hours a day in a salt mine.
"Over there" they are afraid of the men with guns because they can kill you.
W.H. Auden said "we must love one another or die".
We actually had a similar discussion in anthropology the other day, with the different theories of economic development, and how they too are very culturally based. For example, modernisation was a theory that was developed in the US, I believe, that all societies are moving in the same direction, and will all follow the same steps in the same order to arrive at the same point, and it's backwards beliefs in undeveloped countries that are holding back progression.
Then there's the dependency theory, which was developed in Latin America, that argues that thrid world countries cannot become first world countries because first world countries are created through colonization and the exploitation of the indigenous people of said colonies. It's a matter of first come first serve - no other countries can follow the example of, say, England using India or the US and slavery, because there are very few countries left that are worth subjugating. And the imbalance isn't even fully grounded in the colonization thing - the first world countries over developed, which led to the UNDERdevelopment of third world countries.
So yah, needless to say, I haven't decided whether or not globalization is a good thing, even though it is universal and unstoppable.
And I hope you followed that, because your post flowed into my comment (in my mind).
If only my actual posts were this long.
Ugh, yeah there was some time ago when I wished to spiel of how I am so fortunate etc. but yes, twould have been distinctly less skillfully written than that. But yes.
Okay, now off to read your other post and then go to bed since I feel like I am getting sick and the right side of my jaw hurts *inform*
Hermy
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