I’ve been enjoying some of the classic books lately; the most recent being White Fang by Jack Landon. The book got me thinking about perspective and what we take for granted as westerners who are “entitled” to whatever our hearts desire. It got me thinking about the modern conveniences that so many people still go without and can barely fathom as possible! I think that’s what still blows my mind. Some people in this world do not understand the wonder of a freezer or a refrigerator, they cannot enjoy leftovers that taste the same as the first time you ate them. They do not understand what a high-rise is or the dependence on an automobile; much less one car per person… there is this great part of the book, which is about and from the perspective of a wolf, where the wolf moves to California with his man-god and is surrounded by the power of man; huge buildings, streets, cars, trains, people and things everywhere- that one day in san Francisco haunts him forever, it is a terror; a display of the power of his man-god and he does not understand it. Have you ever thought about how there are still peopling out there like that? People who cannot even fathom how to use a car, they don’t understand a plane; they are scared of elevators and escalators. We are so lucky as Americans to have all of those things and to wield them for our own purpose- do we abuse that power? Are we using it for good? For His glory? There is a store here in the city that has an escalator going up 3 floors; I could sit there all day and watch people get on and off it. Grown men hesitate before getting on and some almost fall over when it continues to move up or down with them on it. They see what it is doing, but they are still scared of it. They have never seen anything like it! My favorite is when someone gets on without an example go right before them, they almost jump on and then hang on for dear life to the railing while looking around to make sure no one noticed. Even though this city is more crowded and seemingly scarier than any city I’ve been in, they still do not comprehend the splendor of other cities, the electricity, AC, lack of trees that accompanies cities in America. We are the leaders of the world, not because we have more people or the right way of doing things, but because we have a greater show of power and the world mimics us. The sad thing to me is that the things we show off the most are poor examples of how to treat each other and the earth. People are willing to lose their culture in favor of the western ways, they want to show more skin, use degrading language, and hold power over others- all from our example. Why are we lifting those aspects up if we do not agree with them? And although you might not personally agree with those things MTV is publishing, what are we doing to counter that image. I have always pretty much ignored that image; neither agreeing nor disagreeing- sometimes laughing at it or with it, but since I have been here I have realized that my inactivity has left me no choice. I am associated with that image because that is the only image they have of the States and I am from there so I must be like that. I have never had to work so hard to safeguard and defend my own honor and morality. … I don’t know how I got from perspective of an outsider to this but there’s my thought for the day.
