Facades and Revolution

    Life and Debt and A Small Place got me thinking about debt and tourism. Jamaica Kincaid and subsequently the narrator of the film give an extremely negative perception of the tourists visiting their countries. They are described as ugly, racist pigs, completely oblivious to the misery around them. They see only the facade of the country; the surface details given to foreigners to entice them to visit and spend their money. I have travelled extensively (Israel, Russia, Norway, China, and most of Europe), yet I have avoided as much as possible being labelled as a tourist. Why? Because as a tourist you only experience the surface details - the publicized monuments and towns and beaches - and you may as well just be watching a movie in panorama. I feel that the only reason some people go abroad is to be able to tell their friends they did it; to boast and feel special. My idea of traveling is to go to remote places, areas away from cliches, and immerse myself in the culture by living, eating, and sharing stories with the native people. Luckily I am able to avoid being perceived negatively with my British passport, as it is Americans that have such a bad reputation as tourists. I am sometimes even embarrassed to admit that the U.S. is my country of residence. In reading A Small Place however, i was reminded that the British can also have a bad reputation, a remnant of the reign of the British Empire. Kincaid describes her hatred of the English extensively. She says that the civilized and traditional perception of England is false, and instead they act like animals and "they look sad; sitting on the rubbish heap of history" (30-31) since the empire collapsed; they are old and wrinkled and ugly and piggish. It goes to show how history still affects the relationship of nationalities years and years down the line, generations after the people who created the turmoil are dead. 

    My reaction to the topic of debt is that it is something to which everyone can relate. Of course the hardship of living in a country like Jamaica vs America is very different, but the people in each country still experience this hardship relative to their own lives. In class discussion, the topic of student loan debt came up, something I am very passionate about. The statistics alone are enough to panic any college student: In the U.S. there is $1.3 trillion in student loan debt, well exceeding credit card debt (and us kids have BOTH on our plates). 54% of college graduates are unemployed or underemployed, working in an area outside of their field of study and earning a maximum salary of $28,000. 85% of graduates move back home and join their parents in the struggle. 90% of the U.S. population earns less than $40,000. The awareness of the unequal distribution of wealth was made more public recently with the occupy movement. Although it's pretty much died out, it is still a stepping stone to the revolution this country needs. I have always had a lot of faith in my generation, even though before now i couldn't tell you why. I realize now that since we are the most socially connected generation to ever exist, and since we make up around 35% of the population, we could effectively change the world together as one entity. This really excites me. Watch out world, we're coming!