World of 100

One portion of our YAGM orientation addressed globalization and what it means to be a United States American traveling in the world. The morning began with an awesome simulation called the World of 100. For us it was technically the world of 50 because there are 50 of us in the program. Each person was given a fake birth certificate from a country throughout the world. We were divided up into 6 groups of countries; group F was composed of the wealthiest countries in the world (including the USA and Israel) down through group A which was composed of the poorest. I was in group C. Our annual income was $1,014 and I was assigned to the country Congo.

The exercise went through resources, education, food, water, money and such with different objects representing these resources. For example money was represented through chairs. The wealthiest group had far more chairs than they needed. One guys was sitting on top of 4 chairs and everyone had stacks of chairs sitting around them which they were not using, but had in case they might want them. My group had 3 chairs for the 16 of us and only the guys in our group were allowed to sit in them, allowing for the simulation to include a commentary on gender issues and patriarchy.

It was a powerful simulation that really brought to life the shocking disparities of our world in terms of resources. Here are some things I learned about thought about:

-It is less expensive to pay for a teacher to teach than to pay for a soldier to soldier and yet most countries place far more emphasis on soldiers. Why is our world so obsessed with destroying each other? Soldiers defend but they also attack. A teacher prepares the next generations and makes the world a better place. Teachers build skills such as the ability to care for oneself and one's family. Education is the ticket to a better tomorrow and yet we're more concerned with being able to blow someone else up before they shoot us than we are with making sure our children have what they need to thrive.

-The only jobs that matter according to statisticians are those that receive monetary compensation. Talk about a gender bias! Women are more likely to be doing the type of work that involves walking 3 kilometers to get water for the family. This type of work, while vitally important for the family, is not included in any kind of statistic because no one receives money to do it. Why is that? The things are statistics take for granted are based in patriarchal definitions of work. 

-There are enough weapons in the world to kill every single person in the world 40 times. Think about that: enough weapons to kill each and every person in the whole world FORTY times. Doesn't that seem like overkill? (No pun intended...) It seems to me that the arm's race really never ended and the stakes have only gotten higher. For what? What good has come out of it?

-The entire exercise reminded me of a quotation by the anthropologist Paul Farmer in Pathologies of Power. (An excellent book if you ever have the chance to read it.) Not having the text with me here, I'm afraid that I cannot recall exactly the quotation but in essence it says that the same world system in which you are comfortable and have what you need is exactly the same world system that destroys other people's lives. Like it or not, the very structures and systems that keep you happy, healthy, well-fed and comfortable are the exact same structures and systems that keep others depressed, sick, malnourished and uncomfortable.

Let's try and fix that, eh? :-) Knowing that there is such disparity in the world and that we are actively part of this system is a powerful piece of knowledge. I do still believe that a further shore is reachable from here.