A Life of Privilege

Luang Prabang, Laos - March 25

As I was riding on the bus yesterday from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, some things more coherently coalesced for me that I've been thinking about for some time. Laos in particular has made it more prescient because of it's apparent poverty. Here's how it stacks up to other places we've been in the last 15 months -

National GNI/GDP per capita -
Laos $440 / Vietnam $620 / Cambodia $380 / Thailand $2,750 / Nepal $270 / India $720 / Spain $25,360 / USA $43,740

Population below poverty line -
Laos 30.7% / Vietnam 19.5% / Cambodia 40% / Thailand 10% / Nepal 31% / India 25% / Spain 19.8% (2005) / USA 12% (2004)

(These figures are based on a combination of stats from the CIA's World Fact Book and the World Bank. Note that poverty line is VERY difficult to assess as many rural economies have worked on a barter system for centuries, so though they may fall below the poverty line because they have no monetary income, they have good quality of life.)


I look at the string of villages along this newly paved highway (funded by the Japanese). Young children run around naked + shoeless for lack of clothes, bellies distended from malnutrition. The adults are lean + muscular and it's rare to see excess body fat, except in the cities. As our bus cruises past, people turn to stare at what is one of the more varied sights in their day. I feel like I'm on TV. I wave in an attempt to create a more human interaction in our brief exchange. The haves and have-nots.

There are so many times in the past year that I've felt disdain for how heartily the rest of the world is embracing our western ideal of materialism. It's seemed so easy to judge because I'VE been the one to indulge all my life and I can see that the model is flawed. But looking at the way the developing world lives and struggles to survive - Would I trade places? Not in a million years! Sure, I've longed for their strong sense of community, how people work together and still retain the virtues we've lost of sharing + being a good neighbor. Our lives may SEEM difficult + stressful, but it's about problems WE create and can control, namely work + money. In contrast, for any in the developing world, the days are spent farming or trying to sell a few bits of food or goods, just so they can put food on the table for their family. From what I've witnessed, there is never an abundance and NOTHING is thrown away (at the very least it's used to feed the animals). In contrast to the starkness of simple existence here is that of just being BORN in a first-world country. That fact ALONE has given me access to money (and making it fairly easily) and all the luxuries I've come to take for granted - A comfortable home (You can argue that a thatched hut is too, but there are no fans for reprieve from the sometimes unbearable heat, and the mosquitoes can be pretty voracious too), foods from around the world (Would you give up your imported olive oil + Hawaiian pineapple for a diet of rice + beans, or a measily bit of meat, EVERY DAY?), Travel (Some people have never been farther than the neighboring village), reading a book (There are no libraries or bookstores in MANY places, even if you HAVE had the luxury of an education and can read). SO many things I accept as my RIGHTS that these people will NEVER KNOW.

The grand ideas I have about educating them about sustainability - Not burning the fields, deforestation, limiting the use of plastic bags, not throwing garbage on the road... These idealistic notions are the LEAST of their concerns. And what of the growing materialism (for those that are even lucky enough to have the extra cash)? What is the first thing they'll buy? #1 - A moto - Practical, and at least not a gas guzzler. #2 - A TV - There goes the neighborhood, literally! But wouldn't I be starved for entertainment without anything else?! And once you have that, the flashy images you're exposed to - Things to buy, sex + violence... I could go on, but suffice to say that we've created a self-perpetuating downward spiral. No one WANTS to live simply. The future is consumerism, packaged in it's promise of happiness, with little to no regard for the ramifications. The future is not about "Us", it's about "Me".

This leads me to a conversation we had with a girl the other night who's working on a film about the ineffectiveness of "Aid". That people throw money at the worlds problems to ease their conscience, or even with good intentions, though the very nature of foreign aid is flawed. First, how can we even PRESUME to know what these people REALLY need (sometimes they're not even asked), and Two, so much of the money actually gets funneled into people's pockets and affording both administrators at home + expats abroad a pretty cushy lifestyle. In my opinion, this certainly isn't to say that you should do NOTHING. An organization she's found that seems to be doing work that is more cost-efficient + effective in the long-term is Ashoka, that's based in funding social entrepreneurs.

Also on a positive note, I was excited to see that back at home, the BurningMan spirit is continuing to spread and we've now got our OWN outreach organization, Burners without Borders. And THIS new news too! Wow, we're bummed to be missing out on this exciting time of positive change in SF.