Jessica Weiss on "A Small Place" and "Life and Debt"

Both “A Small Place” and the film Life and Debt made me realize how negative globalization can be, and also what it means to be a world traveler. In high school, I used my part time job to save up enough money to go to Europe twice. I went to Austria and Germany with the German language club. I also went with my two older cousins as they backpacked to Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales. Both trips opened my eyes not only to the differences of other countries, but also how much globalization there was in these countries. Reading Kincaid's take on tourist was bitter sweet, because I remember feeling what she describes here: “...so that when tourists turned up they could buy all those awful things that tourists always buy, all those awful things they then take home, put in their attics, and their children have to throw out when the tourists finally die” (48). I really wanted to bring my family something from Germany that they couldn't just get at home, but everything I picked up in all the little shops and boutiques was made in China! Germany has one of the best economy's, but they aren't even making their own infamous cuckoo clocks anymore because they are more cheapily made in China!

Everything is made in China today because of the cheap costs. I don't follow current global events, but I have heard that China doesn't allow their people to watch youtube. The censorship seems to be a way too keep them from the knowledge that there may be a better way that the Chinese way. I worry that the Chinese people are getting exploited and over worked if they are able to produce the cheapest goods and ship them globally. It reminds me of the Asian workers who were shipped to Jamaica's clothing factories, outsourcing jobs for the Jamaicans who were already making such small wages, that I wonder how could they have paid the Asian workers cheaper than that?

My parents went to the island Sandals which is off of Jamaica for an all-inclusive vacation. I was very young when they went, but I remember they told me that while they had a great time, they could see the slums of the natives who lived in Jamaica. The resort people told them to stay strictly within the limits of the resort because of problems of violence and theft with the natives. My parents took the trip to Sandals because there was a great deal where they only had to pay 500 dollars for four days including airfair. This deal sounds like it is too good to be true because the Jamaican country was getting exploited. I've heard there are very cheap vacations to Mexico as well. It saddens me to hear about the library in “A Small Place”that couldn't get renovated, but that the government officials always had bran new Japanese cars. The paler Jamaican government official seemed to be not corrupt, he seemed to be fighting for the people, but it is hard to know for sure. I often wonder if there is a place in the world where there isn't corruption.