It strikes me that our driving
experience in Fiji is a nice summary of the whole cross-cultural
experience. First, you take the risk. Second, you have to pay
attention the whole time, because your habits don’t serve
you in the new environment. You are clumsy, slow, remarkably stupid,
and quickly tired. Third, you rely on the people around you to
survive.
This is the first time that we have traveled from a Montana winter
into a Vanuatu summer, and we have noticed something interesting
about the tropics. It is hot here. Remember how we used to complain
about cold showers? Now we are grateful, and stand under the shower
at least twice a day, remembering Portland and snowball fights.
Sleeping is interrupted, uncomfortable, and sticky.
Our house survived our absence in good shape, with no rat damage
at all. There was the usual drift of spiderwebs to clear away
and the expected spattering of gecko poop on every horizontal
surface, but nothing that was really amiss. The garden was a different
story. The school cows ate all of Lora’s flowers and vegetables
and half of my banana trees, so we will be starting over in that
department. But the campus had no hurricanes during our absence,
so nothing was destroyed.
I will be teaching math and religious education this year, and
Lora will be turning the kindergarten over to the local vocational
training center, serving as assistant librarian, and working with
the girls on getting through their schoolwork.
You know how missionaries sometimes give capsule summaries to
try to introduce a foreign culture? What would it look like if
we did the same for the United States, based on our visit over
the past two months? Let’s think of the United States as
a developing country, and report on it. The report might look
something like this.
A State of the Union Address from a South
Pacific Viewpoint:
The United States of America is an interesting and wonderful
place, but it is a lot different from living here. The United
States is huge, rich in resources, and wonderfully beautiful.
It is a land of contrasts.
The United States is the most powerful military nation in history.
It devotes immense amounts of money to “defense” and
encourages its young people to celebrate and continue its warlike
heritage. Though it prides itself on being “the land of
the free,” it has currently suspended basic protections
for its citizens. Speaking out against the current war, for example,
can result in subpoenas and investigations, such as those in Iowa
against Drake University.
Economically, the United States is very interesting. It is the
wealthiest nation in history, with a modern, diversified economy,
but the gap between rich and poor is enormous. The nation produces
immense amounts of pollution and waste to maintain its standard
of consumption. It currently favors “free trade,”
which is the policy of protecting some of its industries (such
as sugar, tobacco, and “defense,”) while demanding
that other countries lower their protections. The U.S. government
practices extreme deficit spending. During the two months that
we were there, the U.S. dollar lost 10% of its value compared
to the vatu, Vanuatu’s currency.
The U.S. system of government is a democracy, but so controlled
by wealth that it might be termed a dollarocracy instead. In reporting
the current presidential campaign, for example, commentators typically
report on how much money candidates gain, as if it were a bingo
game. A candidate who cannot attract donations from the wealthy
finds it impossible to speak to either the wealthy or to the poor.
The population is accustomed to being lied to by its leaders.
For example, the current president said that “the vast majority”
of the latest tax cuts would reach the poor. In reality, less
than 15 percent reached the lower 60% of the people. Less than
half the population votes.
In thinking about development, according to author Dudley Seers,
it is typical to analyze three things. First, we look at basic
services such as food, shelter, and health. Most Americans are
fed and housed adequately, though there are notable exceptions.
But the United States, like many developing countries, has found
it difficult to provide all its citizens with a reasonable standard
of health care. Americans currently rank twenty-third in the world
in lifespan.
Second, we look at the jobs (paid or unpaid) available to the
people, the sense that each person has a role to perform which
earns some sense of respect. The United States is currently losing
paying jobs at an alarming rate, so self-respect and communities
begin to erode. The United States also tends to emphasize the
role of pay as a measure of worth, so that non-paying jobs, such
as homemaking and volunteer work for non-profit organizations,
tend to be hard to sustain.
Finally, Seers states that for a developing nation to hope to
survive, it must have some sense of equality, of basic fairness
in its institutions. By this measure, the United States is in
trouble. As in many other developing nations, the educated, urban
elite will need to sacrifice some of their individual wealth and
privileged positions in order to allow the population as a whole
to profit from development efforts. This is very easy for us to
see in a country like Vanuatu, where some people drive limousines
and others walk barefoot, where some people live in air-conditioned
mansions and others in thatched huts. We find it harder to recognize
in our own home.
So, what of the future of the United States? Will it become a
“failed nation?” I don’t think so. We saw, in
our two short months of visiting, the incredible resilience of
the American people. Frustrated by a war they were led into with
trumped up evidence, they still welcomed their soldiers home with
gratitude and respect. Confronted by an economy designed to enrich
the few, Americans still celebrated Christmas with generosity.
And in the face of a political campaign that resembled Super Bowl
entertainment at times, Americans still found honest debate and
thoughtful choices.
They opened their homes to us and shared with us some dreams.
We met a teacher working to develop a new school that will teach
children to appreciate their history. Thank you, Alan! We met
a songwriter who performs for young audiences and encourages them
to share their inner gifts. Thank you, Dave! We spoke at a junior-high,
career-education class that was less interested in earning money
than in making a difference in the world. Thank you, Abby! We
met several congregations which are wrestling with what it means
to be faithful to the radical call of Christ in the confusing
world of today, and everywhere we went, we met people raising
kids, making sandwiches for the poor, and volunteering in the
schools. Thank you all! You are inspirations to us, and we return
to our job here ready to sweat and struggle and laugh some more.
America is huge, but its true grandeur is its people, not its
government. America is rich in resources, but its most valuable
resource is its people, not its economy. America is beautiful,
but its true beauty resides in people, not in scenery. Please
understand that I am talking about you: grand, valuable, and beautiful.
All countries are developing, and all of us are missionaries
in residence. Do what you can, where you are. We’ll make
it.
Happy New Year!
Love and peace,
Bruce and Lora
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
101
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