Yes...I'm still alive

I know, it's been 2 weeks since my last post...I'm a horrible blogger :(

Today I submitted my group assignment AND my individual essay, so I hope you can understand how swamped with work I've been lately (hence my lack of blogging).

So what's been going on in the world of Dee for the last 2 weeks? Well, it's official. I'm on my Easter Break. And to celebrate, Mel is coming to visit in a week, and we'll be spending the following 2 weeks in Venice, Paris and Munich! The flights and hotels and trains and buses are all booked and I am in dire need of a vacation (although, I don't think Mel has been on a vacation for over 4 years so I really have nothing to complain about!). Her and I have been friends for the last 9 years now, and this is our first international excursion together. It's so strange to think that we were these two kids not too long ago, merely fantasizing about what our adult lives would look like. And now here we are, actually living those lives, still sharing them with one another. We're beyond excited for this trip.

And the fun just keeps on coming, because after Mel leaves, my brosin Darin (that's brother-cousin...I know, I'm a dork) will be visiting for the following two weeks! He wants to see the U.K. so we'll most likely be visiting Scotland or Ireland, as well as some of the more 'developed' cities in England like Bath and Cornwall. So even though I won't be coming home for the break, it will still be five incredible weeks of traveling and bonding - awww

I guess you've probably caught on to the downside to all this - and that's the fact that my blog will most likely not be updated for the next little while. I'll post something the following Monday but after that I'm quite certain I won't be around much. I'll do my best to upload pictures and details of all my travels once I'm back though - as soon as I find the time.

I know last week I took a pretty big stab at American culture 'invading' other cultures of the world when discussing my essay on globalization. Since doing all my research and actually writing the paper I wanted to clarify a few things. First of all, I've come to the realization that it's not really America that's the culprit in all of this. It's capitalism. Even if you look at the way we categorize the world: developed nations are those with consumerist economies and developing nations are not. We see development from this Western, Marxist lens...that in order to be a self-sustaining country, you need to be a society that consumes. America is merely the best example of this. And advertising only fuels the desire to consume further. So if the entire world is bombarded with Coca-Cola ads telling you to drink coke because it will make you happy and 'cool' then of course people are going to think that consumption is the answer to their problems. And sure, there is room for resistance, room for manipulation - but to what extent really? So maybe the McDonald's in India doesn't sell Big Macs - but there's still the yellow and red buildings with the golden arches - the McIdeology of quantity over quality still exists.

I think the point I was trying to make in my essay was that we need producerist economies just as much as we need consumerist ones. Why do we look at China or India and see them as less developed than the US? They're just following a different model to development. They know what resources they can offer and have made the most of them. Who are we to label them as a developing nation? And this isn't just a theoretical problem, it's a practical one too. We need only look at situations with certain 'packaged goods companies' in the 1980's to understand the implications of 'forced consumerism'. How can we encourage poorer nations to invest what little local capital they do have into baby formula or soft-drinks, when they don't even have adequate water systems? It's counter-productive to their development. Maybe the 'developed world' does it on purpose, to keep the poor poor and the rich rich. Who knows.

And I guess I have the habit of always bringing things back to a spiritual perspective and equating it with religion, but it just seems so clear to me. We all find different ways to reaching divinity, and they're all equally acceptable. So why can't we also respect the different paths to economic development? Sometimes I wonder, how developed can we be if we still have this superior attitude? That's anti-development...it's backwards.

Speaking of religion actually, I just wanted to bring your attention to an issue that I think truly requires global attention - and hasn't because of the lovely media filtering newsworthy material. Essentially, in 1995, Chinese authorities kidnapped the youngest prisoner of war in history - a six year old boy that the Dalai Lama declared as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. In his place, the Chinese nominated a different boy as the 11th Panchen Lama, and have persecuted any Tibetan who still worships the 'true' Panchen Lama under house arrest in China. To this day, him and his family's whereabouts are unknown - and the Chinese government has refused to submit to requests from the U.N. which would allow direct contact with him, ensuring his safety. Last year if the Panchen Lama is still alive, he would have turned 18, and as such he has the right to speak on his own behalf. Although an entire year has gone by, still nothing has been done. Please visit this site and sign the petition that would assist an investigation into his whereabouts. LINK

It's really unfortunate to see religious freedom in Tibet restricted and controlled by China. I hope we can collectively make a difference in whatever small way. Thanks for taking the time to participate.

I'm actually feeling kind of drained at this point, so I'm going to take a cat-nap before the celebrations tonight. Happy St. Paddy's!