Journal Stargoat's Journal: Natural Human Condition 2
I woke up last night thinking about the natural human condition. I was asking myself whether or not a western life-style was so much an anomaly from the rest of humanity (modern, historical, and prehistorical) that people today, though undoubtedly human, misunderstand what it is to be human.
Certainly, poverty and starvation (or the threat thereof) is the standard situation for most living today. It was also the norm for almost all people before the 20th century. Consider a peasant in China earning eight hundred dollars a year with someone in the United States earning thirty thousand dollars a year. The fears of the person in the United States are so far removed from the fears of the person in China as to almost make them separate beings.
The person in the United States is concerned with losing weight to prevent diabetes, repairing the roof, finding entertainment, saving for retirement, and a host of other concerns that, though valid, are not those of most other people in the world. To contrast, the person in China is concerned with not having enough food for Wednesday, affording his child's basic education, and that strange growth on his wife's ribcage.
Though these issues may sound the same, they are not. The person in the United States is not threatened with utter disaster on a daily basis. He is not one broken arm away from starvation or worse. There exists a safety net that, although in many cases flawed, is effective.
So we see a difference in diseases, in thoughts, and in behaviors. Does this separate the two men? Certainly it does, though they are both men. Is the Chinese man's experience more human than the American man's experience?
Or does it even matter? Is the human experience regardless of whether or not a person has safety, technology, health, and possessions, but only based upon being made up of certain strands of DNA? Both men may feel the same physical pain. Both may lust after women. But beyond these initial desires and avoidances, their experiences and thoughts are essentially different.
What does this difference mean?
Certainly, poverty and starvation (or the threat thereof) is the standard situation for most living today. It was also the norm for almost all people before the 20th century. Consider a peasant in China earning eight hundred dollars a year with someone in the United States earning thirty thousand dollars a year. The fears of the person in the United States are so far removed from the fears of the person in China as to almost make them separate beings.
The person in the United States is concerned with losing weight to prevent diabetes, repairing the roof, finding entertainment, saving for retirement, and a host of other concerns that, though valid, are not those of most other people in the world. To contrast, the person in China is concerned with not having enough food for Wednesday, affording his child's basic education, and that strange growth on his wife's ribcage.
Though these issues may sound the same, they are not. The person in the United States is not threatened with utter disaster on a daily basis. He is not one broken arm away from starvation or worse. There exists a safety net that, although in many cases flawed, is effective.
So we see a difference in diseases, in thoughts, and in behaviors. Does this separate the two men? Certainly it does, though they are both men. Is the Chinese man's experience more human than the American man's experience?
Or does it even matter? Is the human experience regardless of whether or not a person has safety, technology, health, and possessions, but only based upon being made up of certain strands of DNA? Both men may feel the same physical pain. Both may lust after women. But beyond these initial desires and avoidances, their experiences and thoughts are essentially different.
What does this difference mean?
Well... (Score:2)
If you were a starving peasant in China you would be too busy starving to worry about some guy on the other side of the world :-)
Difference (Score:1)
That we, as a human race, are far from enlightened. Also, capitalism has a price. Just because it's halfway around the world doesn't mean somebody isn't paying it.