Social Justice, Global Citizenship, and NGO's
Summer 2013, Bangalore, India
TIPS Letters - Ideas
Faby - Idea
Dear Exposure,
It’s funny how everything is hidden so “well” in America. We drive in air-tight cars and think there is little to no pollution in our cities unless we can physically see it. In our air-tight box cars, we cannot smell the smoke of the exhaust coming out of thousands of trucks and cars going 60+ MPH at any one point on the freeway.
We buy meat in packages at grocery stores and do not question its origin or the fact that it was a living being maybe a few weeks ago. America claims to live in a post-racial society because we celebrate MLK Jr Day every year and the Civil Rights movement has “already” happened. We throw our trash away only to never see it again or questions where it goes.
American society has taught the average American citizen to mindlessly perform these daily tasks while the government ensures ‘it will take care of the rest.’ It’s not until the raw moment you’re in a rickshaw and have a cloud of coal black fuel exhaust blow in your face from the bus 5 feet in front of you do you wonder if India is just that much more polluted or if its hidden so well from us in America in our air-tight box cars. It could possibly be 10 times worse but we would never know because of the non-existence of rickshaws or the like in America.
You buy your meat fresh in Bangalore and often see your meat live right before the butcher cuts its head off and skins the rest of the animal before selling to you at the open meat markets. The buyer knows exactly what they are getting into and at what cost.
Caste and discrimination that comes with it is not something people keep hidden in Bangalore – it is something that can be identified from your name, where you go to school, where you live, what you eat, and what job you maintain. If someone cannot tell by these characteristics and feels the need to ask, the information is shared openly as fact. (Disclaimer: I’m not saying the caste system is right – just that it’s not hidden or attempts to be unexposed). Most importantly, unlike ‘post-racial’ America, Bangalore does not pretend that caste does not exist.
As far as hiding trash goes, tell me why it took me a trip to India to show me the first landfill I’ve ever seen on earth even though I’ve been throwing trash away for over 20 years… I feel like this trip to the local landfill was long overdue and is something that every elementary school child should go to in order to be more conscious of the waste that individual will be producing for the rest of their life – imagine how much garbage we can save (by recycling or composting) with early education! The possibilities are endless.
To wrap up, while things in Bangalore may not be all perfectly sustainable, clean, and best for this earth, at least they’re not pretending it is and it’s all exposed, American society is probably one of the most sheltered societies that trusts in the government/higher powers to make the best decisions. Sometimes these ‘best decisions’ lead to a cover-up of the truth and misconceptions of the realities we live in.
