K2 I see you
Today I leave for a 5 day trek. It crosses a glacier and ends at a peak of over 5000m with a view of K2.
I would like to say, that how the media has portrayed Pakistan is unfair. There is always a distiniction to be made about the action of a few representing the many. For example U.S. foriegn policy is not top notch in the middle east especially for the innocent people here who get caught up in the "crossfire". Despite this somewhat negative showing for the U.S., many people make the clear distinction that the U.S. goverments actions and people are two seperate entities. No coutry in the world, no matter what its size, shape, or population can be summed up in a label such as "bad people", or "sexest values". America is very diverse when it comes to the people, beliefs, and thinking, and Pakistan is the same. There are areas in the west that are dangerous, where clashes between secular Muslim groups are violent, but this is highly contrasted in the north. Of course the child who screams louder gets the attention, so if the U.S. draws a picture of Pakistan it looks like a dangerous place, with horrible treament of women, and religious fanaticsim. This is similair to maybe some areas of central asia whose only really contact and information about the U.S. involves a war whose reasoning has changed signifigantly since it began. Ultimetly, I feel Pakistan is a great example of something I have learned on my trip. No country in the world is simple enough to be generalized because all people are distinct. Their is never a homogenous hive mind driving the will of a people, even if a governemnt attempts to function in such a manner.
Here is an exprience in China I didn't post while I was traveling. It was the deal breaker in making me feel done with China.
I witnessed a despressing event before I left Chengdu. The hostel I was staying at was located on a great little street. While many of the buildings were in disrepair, they were extremely charming Qing Dynasty houses. The street was in some ways a slum, but housed a good deal of artists, musicians, and cafes. The street impressively had more culture in it than almost every city I had been to, combined. Sadly, the day before I left I witnessed large groups of policemen sweep through the street, destroying laterns, and threating the residents. Following the policemen was a group of contractors surveying the sites of their future mall/appartment complex/office buildings. While the police weren't actively kicking people out of their houses, they were deleiving notice that if people where not out soon they would be forced out. There was complete chaos in the street while residents yelled things like your destroying the last bit of culture in this city, and families sat in the street crying. This has been all to indicative of my experiences in China. Certian landmarks are considered historical, glossed over, turned into almost a disneyland style theme park and then sold to throngs of Chinese and Western tourists. Places outside the complacent consumerist culture of malls are paved over, and destroyed. Everything that is happening now is in fact a less pronounced but more enduring capitalist driven cultural revolution.
This is the difference between China and what I have seen of Pakistan so far. The Chinese government and culture, do consumerism, and materialism better than the U.S. could ever hope to. This is a scary thing with China growing in power and lacking a visible concious when it comes to the environment, minority people, human rights, etc. Paksitan is more like home. People seem to take into account their surroundings and a more long term view of the world, where as China seems a little bit like a child with it's now, now, now, gimme, gimme, gimme, actions. I was told something in Lijang that has really heald true throughout my travels. China is 3% communist, 40% capitalist, and the other 57% is just too poor to care. Don't get me wrong, I loved China, I met many wonderful people, it just came down to the fact that their value system around money became very draining after 3 and a half months.
I'll write again in about 5 days.
I would like to say, that how the media has portrayed Pakistan is unfair. There is always a distiniction to be made about the action of a few representing the many. For example U.S. foriegn policy is not top notch in the middle east especially for the innocent people here who get caught up in the "crossfire". Despite this somewhat negative showing for the U.S., many people make the clear distinction that the U.S. goverments actions and people are two seperate entities. No coutry in the world, no matter what its size, shape, or population can be summed up in a label such as "bad people", or "sexest values". America is very diverse when it comes to the people, beliefs, and thinking, and Pakistan is the same. There are areas in the west that are dangerous, where clashes between secular Muslim groups are violent, but this is highly contrasted in the north. Of course the child who screams louder gets the attention, so if the U.S. draws a picture of Pakistan it looks like a dangerous place, with horrible treament of women, and religious fanaticsim. This is similair to maybe some areas of central asia whose only really contact and information about the U.S. involves a war whose reasoning has changed signifigantly since it began. Ultimetly, I feel Pakistan is a great example of something I have learned on my trip. No country in the world is simple enough to be generalized because all people are distinct. Their is never a homogenous hive mind driving the will of a people, even if a governemnt attempts to function in such a manner.
Here is an exprience in China I didn't post while I was traveling. It was the deal breaker in making me feel done with China.
I witnessed a despressing event before I left Chengdu. The hostel I was staying at was located on a great little street. While many of the buildings were in disrepair, they were extremely charming Qing Dynasty houses. The street was in some ways a slum, but housed a good deal of artists, musicians, and cafes. The street impressively had more culture in it than almost every city I had been to, combined. Sadly, the day before I left I witnessed large groups of policemen sweep through the street, destroying laterns, and threating the residents. Following the policemen was a group of contractors surveying the sites of their future mall/appartment complex/office buildings. While the police weren't actively kicking people out of their houses, they were deleiving notice that if people where not out soon they would be forced out. There was complete chaos in the street while residents yelled things like your destroying the last bit of culture in this city, and families sat in the street crying. This has been all to indicative of my experiences in China. Certian landmarks are considered historical, glossed over, turned into almost a disneyland style theme park and then sold to throngs of Chinese and Western tourists. Places outside the complacent consumerist culture of malls are paved over, and destroyed. Everything that is happening now is in fact a less pronounced but more enduring capitalist driven cultural revolution.
This is the difference between China and what I have seen of Pakistan so far. The Chinese government and culture, do consumerism, and materialism better than the U.S. could ever hope to. This is a scary thing with China growing in power and lacking a visible concious when it comes to the environment, minority people, human rights, etc. Paksitan is more like home. People seem to take into account their surroundings and a more long term view of the world, where as China seems a little bit like a child with it's now, now, now, gimme, gimme, gimme, actions. I was told something in Lijang that has really heald true throughout my travels. China is 3% communist, 40% capitalist, and the other 57% is just too poor to care. Don't get me wrong, I loved China, I met many wonderful people, it just came down to the fact that their value system around money became very draining after 3 and a half months.
I'll write again in about 5 days.
posted by Robert at 9/27/2005 02:04:00 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Robert,
Thank you so much for your insight on China and Pakistan. In my travels, which has been mostly tropical, I have found such diversity between say Haitians and Jamaicans. The media has sure done a number on both cultures. When submersed in these two cultures they are wonderful and of course very diverse just as our own country. Have a great 5 day treck. I look forward to hearing about it!
Love Becka
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