It is interesting how memories can be triggered and brought to the surface of our consciousness at times. Frequently these experiences happen when least expected, and also when a certain sense of vulnerability is present. This happened to be the case for me a few nights ago while I was attending a film screening for an Italian movie at the Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman. The film being shown, Un Ultra Mondo (in English Another World), followed a recently turned twenty-eight year old Italian man, Andrea, as he travels to Africa to visit his dying father, whom he had not seen since he was eight years old. Upon his arrival in Nairobi, Kenya, Andrea finds his father in a coma and is greeted with the news that he has a brother, the product of a marriage his father had with an African woman who had passed away a few years prior. Not long after this, Andrea’s father dies, leaving Andrea as the only next of kin to his eight year old brother. Andrea is then shocked to find out that he is the boy’s legal guardian and is legally and financially responsible for him.
As the movie continues to show Andrea and Charlie’s story being played out, it reveals the difficulties the two have bonding with one another and in coming to terms with the reality of their situation. One of the first instances in which they are able to bond and solidify their relationship is when the Land Cruiser Andrea had rented breaks down on the two of them in the middle of the savanna outside Nairobi in southern Kenya. It is nightfall when this happens, and as a result they are forced to spend the night sleeping inside the vehicle, which makes for a somewhat frightening experience for young Charlie. To help appease Charlie’s fears and unease, Andrea tells him they should pretend they are hunters and explains they will do things ‘that only hunters would do.’ Almost immediately Charlie begins to feel better and is suddenly excited at the prospect of sleeping in the vehicle in the wild. He then thinks he is ‘going to become a man’ and no longer feels paralyzed by his boyish fears.
There is another scene later in the movie that revisits this memory for Andrea and Charlie. It is once they have returned to Italy and are living in the city, but again the two of them (at Charlie’s request) sleep in their vehicle and pretend to be hunters. Despite being surrounded by only an urban jungle, they fully imagine hyenas and lions lurking about the dark surrounding their vehicle, and dare not leave its safety. It was at this precise moment in the movie when I was reminded of experiences playing with my younger sister, Emily, and her friends when she was around eight years old. Many of these memories involved playing ‘explorers’ in the pasture surrounding our farm in South Dakota, and almost always saw me emoting the role of a foreign explorer (frequently with a heavy Australian or British accent) and fully immersing myself in the ‘play’ that we were engaged in. I did this not only to make it more enjoyable for Emily and her friends, most notably Zoe, but also because it allowed me to lose myself in the moment and relive the childhood joys of imaginary play. In our time as explorers we also had to deal with potentially dangerous beasts skulking around us the same as Andrea and Charlie did.
This flood of memories brought with it several waves of emotions too, and as I sat in the theater at the Cultural Centre, the waves turned into real tears in celebration of these fond remembrances. No matter how many thousands of miles/kilometres I am from the FARM in South Dakota or my darling sister Emily, these memories bridge the gap to bring me right there. From my new home in Amman, all of those memories and the experiences they contain seem like ‘Another World’ for me, though one that is very dear and always at hand in my thoughts and heart. Just like Andrea in Un Ultra Mondo, I also have a completely new set of life circumstances I must adapt to, but this does not mean that I must leave behind these memories and certainly does not mean I should forget what it is to feel uninhibited by life’s responsibilities from time to time.
I knew I had to write about this experience as soon as I was able to, lest the intensity of it should wane and I forget to do so. In sum, this post is dedicated to Emily and the wonderful memories I have of you. Thanks for helping me remember what it is like to really be a kid and for inspiring me to be myself. I encourage all of you to find the ‘kid’ in you and to really let loose in life, get lost in the moment, and not take yourself too seriously.
24 February 2012
21 February 2012
Is there such thing as a Humanitarian Superpower?
I have recently watched several documentaries about the United States’ military invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have read many articles and opinion pieces on the subject as well. I have made efforts to watch and read things from both sides of the situation: those honoring and celebrating the efforts as well as those in opposition to the involvements and any further military actions in the world. My own personal views regarding these wars has remain mostly unchanged, but I do believe I am much more accurately informed regarding these occupations. In the end, I do not agree with the invasions and consider myself a pacifist who prefers things truly done in the name of peace, which I believe is impossible to do under the guises of war, though George W. Bush would argue otherwise. An example of his contrary views were given in a nationally televised address on the 2003 invasion of Iraq when he said, “America will seize every opportunity in pursuit of peace, and the end of the present regime in Iraq would create such an opportunity.” A glance at any daily newspaper would raise questions about any such ‘peace’ having been achieved in Iraq as a result of the US invasion and subsequent war there. It could even be argued that the situations in both Afghanistan and Iraq are worse since the US began their operations there in 2001 and 2003, respectively.
I am not trying to argue that the regime of Saddam Hussein was respectable or that it was not oppressive, nor am I trying to praise the efforts of the Taliban in Afghanistan. I simply do not agree with war and believe it is counterproductive to human relations and all efforts to improve the overall human condition on our planet. I also believe far too much money is spent, or perhaps more accurately ‘wasted’, on much of the military engagements the US has become involved in. While it is true that terrible violence has been inflicted as a result of terrorist activities, the events of September 11, 2001 being no exception, it just does not seem to make sense, at least to me, to return violence with violence. A quote I came across by a Jordanian woman who lost her husband, a reporter for Al-Jazeera, when the Baghdad hotel he was staying in was fired upon by US military in 2003, adequately sums up my feelings about this. She said, “Hate breeds hate. Who is engaged in terrorism now?” Indeed, it seems much of the world’s governing powers have forgotten one of the central teachings at the heart of nearly all the world’s religions. It is commonly known as the Golden Rule and can be found in various forms in no less than twelve of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In some ways this rule is playing itself out in its exact opposite form: various groups apparently want others to attack them, so they first attack them to show that that is how they wish to be treated. It seems strange, but apparently it works, as there are plenty of examples to see as evidence each day.
Rather than return hatred with more hatred, or violence with continued violence, would it not be better to instead focus on what good can be done in the world by focusing on meeting the needs of our seven billion fellow human beings? Right now, a host of central African countries, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, are experiencing one of the worst droughts in years and are in danger of facing a terrible famine that could become a major humanitarian crisis. At the same time, the public education system in Pakistan, if it can be called that, is perhaps the worst in the world, and millions of Pakistani children are forced to attend schools that are essentially outdoors and have one chalkboard which must be shared by all classes. Without serious intervention or humanitarian assistance, these Pakistani children will grow up to be the next generation of Pakistanis and will be largely uneducated, which makes them equally easily influenced to join a jihadist path. And those starving African children will either succumb to the effects of malnutrition and not grow up, or will face severe and permanent damage to their health as a result of it, unless something is done by those holding the power cards in the world.
This all brings me to my main point, which is why the United States should transform itself from being a military superpower to a humanitarian superpower. This idea was inspired by a quote I heard from Howard Zinn, the famous American historian who shed light on the sometimes ugly truths of American history and its foreign policy throughout his life’s work. His quote also challenges the idea that America’s current foreign policy does not value the lives of other countries, specifcally those America invades, as much as it does its own citizens. His quote is the following:
“If we believe that people all over the world have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as us, we would be taking these billions and billions of dollars for war and we would be using it for medicine and for food and we would no longer be a military superpower, which is a really disgusting thing to be, but we would be a humanitarian superpower.”
I certainly like the idea of coming from a country that can claim to be a humanitarian superpower as opposed to one of military might, and imagine that the majority of Americans would as well. In order for this to be achieved, I believe it takes a very strong and informed public, as well as one that will not stand for the injustices that are being done in the name of ‘American’ peace. I encourage all of you to also become informed and at least reconsider some of the actions our country takes instead of simply accepting it as the gospel. I do not mean to discredit everything American, and assure you that there are many things about the United States I am proud of. There are just some that I can not be silent about. Here is to a brighter future and one where (hopefully) the humanitarian budget can surpass the military one.
I am not trying to argue that the regime of Saddam Hussein was respectable or that it was not oppressive, nor am I trying to praise the efforts of the Taliban in Afghanistan. I simply do not agree with war and believe it is counterproductive to human relations and all efforts to improve the overall human condition on our planet. I also believe far too much money is spent, or perhaps more accurately ‘wasted’, on much of the military engagements the US has become involved in. While it is true that terrible violence has been inflicted as a result of terrorist activities, the events of September 11, 2001 being no exception, it just does not seem to make sense, at least to me, to return violence with violence. A quote I came across by a Jordanian woman who lost her husband, a reporter for Al-Jazeera, when the Baghdad hotel he was staying in was fired upon by US military in 2003, adequately sums up my feelings about this. She said, “Hate breeds hate. Who is engaged in terrorism now?” Indeed, it seems much of the world’s governing powers have forgotten one of the central teachings at the heart of nearly all the world’s religions. It is commonly known as the Golden Rule and can be found in various forms in no less than twelve of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In some ways this rule is playing itself out in its exact opposite form: various groups apparently want others to attack them, so they first attack them to show that that is how they wish to be treated. It seems strange, but apparently it works, as there are plenty of examples to see as evidence each day.
Rather than return hatred with more hatred, or violence with continued violence, would it not be better to instead focus on what good can be done in the world by focusing on meeting the needs of our seven billion fellow human beings? Right now, a host of central African countries, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, are experiencing one of the worst droughts in years and are in danger of facing a terrible famine that could become a major humanitarian crisis. At the same time, the public education system in Pakistan, if it can be called that, is perhaps the worst in the world, and millions of Pakistani children are forced to attend schools that are essentially outdoors and have one chalkboard which must be shared by all classes. Without serious intervention or humanitarian assistance, these Pakistani children will grow up to be the next generation of Pakistanis and will be largely uneducated, which makes them equally easily influenced to join a jihadist path. And those starving African children will either succumb to the effects of malnutrition and not grow up, or will face severe and permanent damage to their health as a result of it, unless something is done by those holding the power cards in the world.
This all brings me to my main point, which is why the United States should transform itself from being a military superpower to a humanitarian superpower. This idea was inspired by a quote I heard from Howard Zinn, the famous American historian who shed light on the sometimes ugly truths of American history and its foreign policy throughout his life’s work. His quote also challenges the idea that America’s current foreign policy does not value the lives of other countries, specifcally those America invades, as much as it does its own citizens. His quote is the following:
“If we believe that people all over the world have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as us, we would be taking these billions and billions of dollars for war and we would be using it for medicine and for food and we would no longer be a military superpower, which is a really disgusting thing to be, but we would be a humanitarian superpower.”
I certainly like the idea of coming from a country that can claim to be a humanitarian superpower as opposed to one of military might, and imagine that the majority of Americans would as well. In order for this to be achieved, I believe it takes a very strong and informed public, as well as one that will not stand for the injustices that are being done in the name of ‘American’ peace. I encourage all of you to also become informed and at least reconsider some of the actions our country takes instead of simply accepting it as the gospel. I do not mean to discredit everything American, and assure you that there are many things about the United States I am proud of. There are just some that I can not be silent about. Here is to a brighter future and one where (hopefully) the humanitarian budget can surpass the military one.
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