China and South Africa- not quite a world apart
I was just reading an article in June’s "National Geographic"- it was an interview of a fomer Peace Corp volunteer, Peter Hessler, who was in China during his service and remained after to become a writer. The article focuses on "what it means for millions of young people to uproot themselves from their rural villages in the hope of fulfilling their dreams in China’s booming cities."
Though China is a continent away, certain aspects of its development seemingly mirror the situation here in South Africa. I often find few people of my own age group residing in the village: "I think it’s both the lack of opportunity in the countryside and abundance of opportunity along these coastal areas," only here the coastal areas are equivalent to Jo’Burg and Pretoria.
As a result, the successes and failures of this younger generation are mirrored into the village- "sometimes prestige is gained through how many kids you have who are out working and how much money they’re sending." You can see this in a rush for the villagers to use the money to improve their situation and show off to the rest of the community: brick houses with ornate brick decorative details to display the fact they can afford such trivial gestures, tiled roofs, fancy entertainment centers, nice cars. People talk about the families with money- perhaps show them more respect- giving them higher spots of affluence among the village hierarchy.
It is also a matter of purchasing things as rapidly as possible: "it’s the age of wastefulness and profligacy and using resources quickly," You can see this in the litter that consumes the village in the desire to buy ridiculously expensive clothing as a status indicator- but still it’s hard to be critical. "These people didn’t have much for generations. I can understand that desire to improve your life, to live a more comfortable life."
So while we look at countries developing- China, South Africa, Mexico, Eastern Europe- we see this as prosperous and beneficial but we’re also seeing a rush to accumulate all that was missing in the past- a move that places great strain on the world and its resources. With the world’s superpowers already guilty of over consumption and developing countries beginning to fall easily into this pattern, we have to wonder what the repercussions of a more and more demanding society will be on the world. It could be our fatal Catch-22.
Though China is a continent away, certain aspects of its development seemingly mirror the situation here in South Africa. I often find few people of my own age group residing in the village: "I think it’s both the lack of opportunity in the countryside and abundance of opportunity along these coastal areas," only here the coastal areas are equivalent to Jo’Burg and Pretoria.
As a result, the successes and failures of this younger generation are mirrored into the village- "sometimes prestige is gained through how many kids you have who are out working and how much money they’re sending." You can see this in a rush for the villagers to use the money to improve their situation and show off to the rest of the community: brick houses with ornate brick decorative details to display the fact they can afford such trivial gestures, tiled roofs, fancy entertainment centers, nice cars. People talk about the families with money- perhaps show them more respect- giving them higher spots of affluence among the village hierarchy.
It is also a matter of purchasing things as rapidly as possible: "it’s the age of wastefulness and profligacy and using resources quickly," You can see this in the litter that consumes the village in the desire to buy ridiculously expensive clothing as a status indicator- but still it’s hard to be critical. "These people didn’t have much for generations. I can understand that desire to improve your life, to live a more comfortable life."
So while we look at countries developing- China, South Africa, Mexico, Eastern Europe- we see this as prosperous and beneficial but we’re also seeing a rush to accumulate all that was missing in the past- a move that places great strain on the world and its resources. With the world’s superpowers already guilty of over consumption and developing countries beginning to fall easily into this pattern, we have to wonder what the repercussions of a more and more demanding society will be on the world. It could be our fatal Catch-22.
posted by Cait at 9:16 AM
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