Thoughts on Globalization

As I wander the streets of Merida, I am fascinated and in awe often. There are many things uniquely Yucatan that I admire such as the culture of politeness; the colorful choices they make in house colors, clothes and craft and the work ethic that has them working 12 hours seemingly 6 days a week.

Pretty tile work on this house.

I don’t see this city as a 3^rd world city. I do see it as a culture that makes different choices than Canada about how to operate and I’m certainly not qualified to judge which might be better. In any case, it would be a matter of what works where more than anything else.

There is no doubt in my mind that 1^st world countries need to adopt a more sustainable way of living on the planet. I also believe that the more humans around the world we raise to a standard of living where they have time to think about something other than survival, the greater benefit we will all receive from the intelligence and creativity of human kind.

So I support global sharing of information and technologies.

I object to 1^st world mega corporations parachuting in everywhere and selling poor nutritional choices and technology that creates unhealthy environmental impacts.

 It certainly looks true that 1^st world corporations simply export products unacceptable to 1^st world standards under the guise of offering 1^st world lifestyle choices to new markets.

I’m staying in a friend’s house (which I much appreciate as an unparalleled opportunity) that is an old Yucatan house; which means the walls are rock rubble and cement block covered by stucco. The Yucatan people began building this way before Christ. It is how the cities such as Chitzen Itza were built.

This photo shows the rock rubble inside the walls.

It makes sense because the ground around here is rock and the jungle is small trees and shrubs. The traditional huts we saw were thatch and sticks – not logs.

So, rock and mud is what they have always had to build homes. Not so different from many places in the world. But, considering the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, I can’t help wondering if the Mayans had a better system for water distribution. (I’m reading the chapter on Mayan civilisation right now)

The plant life indigenous to this part of the world is accustomed to finding water in the natural underground water system that supplies the Yucatan peninsula; cenotes and underground rivers. Water pipes underground are an invitation to local trees, shrubs and grasses to come get a drink.

The other way plants drink is through the nightly mists. The humidity here is palpable. Some evenings, it feels like my face is wet; not just damp, but go-get-a-towel wet.

Locals talk about how electronic equipment, regardless of quality, cannot last more than 2 or 3 years. Couple this with the fact that electrical wires look very scary around here and maybe we should look to develop a different system for this climate.

 Am I right?

This idea brings me to my thoughts on cultural diversity and what we’ve lost over the centuries by polluting every society on the planet with western ways of doing things. It’s not as though every member of North American or European society lives the lifestyle exported through TV and breakfast cereal. Many people in allegedly 1^st world nations live in poverty and have no recourse to make their lives better. I know that’s not what we say, but it is the truth and becoming more true every day.

Perhaps if we stop telling all the developing countries what to do; stop the multi-national companies from simply entering the market without regard for what that market might teach us and start learning from developing societies instead of trying to make them into us, we would find answers to some of our problems in the wisdom they contain.

I’m in favour of a global community, but I want it to be a community that fosters maximum human potential and cultural diversity.

 

Valladolid intersection and me.