Our first day in Melbourne, we head to the supermarket with mum. I'm excited about cooking dinner and we need supplies. I forget that this simple errand can induce culture shock. And it does. There are aisles and aisles and aisles and they're all full of food. At least, I think it's food. Everything is wrapped or canned or otherwise packaged and there's no smell. I compare this experience to that of most Africans and get a taste of the shock of immigration. Not only must it be a hard adjustment to make personally, but also there are friends and family still at home who do not have access to such excess.
On Saturday night in San Francisco, we head over to our old 'hood to play ring toss. On our way back to Muni we pass Marcelo's and find we can't pass up on a slice of pizza. We sit at the window seats watching the Castro scene as a mopey song plays in the background. Again with the excess. There are shops like Marcelo's all over the city, full of food for the purchasing. I remember the pizza Z ordered in Lallibela: a piece of bread with a mainly ketchup sauce and about three small slivers of grated cheese. Not really comparable to Marcelo's at all.
And then yesterday, we walk over to Union Square in search of a watchmaker and I realize just how much capitalism sickens me. There are all these people who have too much money and then these other people who are busy finding ways for the people with too much money to part with their money, all in order to make more money that they can then spend on things and stuff that they don't actually need - but there are people whose job it is to convince them that they do actually desperately need sunscreen for their dog. It's all disgusting. And the worst part is when I realize that somehow they've sunk their barbs into me, too.
Ah, the joys of reentry. I think I'll have some lunch.
4 comments:
What I find interesting is not so much capitalism, but the culture that feeds it. Essentially, it seems our 'american-capitalist' culture is really born of the idea of scarcity. I don't mind so much the idea of there being lots of useless things to buy, but rather the culture that proposes we "need" these things to survive, or be as good as the next person. San Francisco is difficult in that realm as people with money tend to but the latest, greatest gadgets. The gadgets themselves are not at issue (I don't think), but the reckless consumption and lack of awareness of global sustainability.
I may be rambly and off-point, but then I went and consumed a margherita tha kevin made. Mmmm. Goooood!
But I think that the gadgets *do* hurt - if you think about them from an environmental point of view. Do we need plastic dancing Elvises? No? How about trout?
(I guess margaritas are the thing to do this evening as I also had one - on an empty stomach. mmmm...)
don't hate me because i seem to have more money than i really need that i made by convincing companies with money to buy things from our company with their money to do business to get your money.
how about if i use some of that money to buy you spaghetti at emmy's? then will you still love me?
I'd have to weigh in with J on this one, and not just cuz he liked my 'rita =)
Saying capitalism the system is evil is akin to labeling money as evil; they're both merely systems that are used by *people* to make choices.
I agree that the choices, and the consequences of those choices can be sickening, but we're all asleep in our our ways and pounding deep prints into the soil of the global ecosystem.
For us in the northeast, I think about the amount of resources that goes into extracting and delivering the 900 gallons of fuel oil we burn annually to heat our home.
For B, the amount of resources it has taken to bring you and Z on your wonderful travels around the world.
I'm not putting a value judgement on these choices, though I think the closer we can crutinize our own actions and decide if they fit into our values systems for the planet we want our kids and grandkids to inheret the better...
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