We're Rich!
These days I’m riding my bike. That’s pretty much what I do. I get up in the morning, pack up my tent, and then go for a bike ride, in the stunning range of the Andes, or in the desert, or wherever I get the urge to go. It’s fantastic! My only responsibility is to do whatever I feel like doing. What a life!
But to be honest, I'm not really being all that useful. I mean, all I’m really doing is transporting myself from here to there, looking at stuff, burning calories, and eating like a whale.
So why do people keep feeding me? People cook me hot, three course meals two or three times a day. And before that, they spend months growing the food they’re going to cook. They till the earth with their hands, dig canals to bring water, and carry the harvest on their backs. What am I doing in return?
This is something you learn when you travel, if you're an American, that you already knew but never really realized. You're rich. Unreasonably rich. Most of the people in the developing world, which is most of it, will happily cook for you, drive you places in their buses, and prepare you a bed in their hotel for almost as long as you like. You can simply enjoy yourself, have every need catered for, without ever lifting a finger to do anything other than distribute sparingly your almighty greenbacks.
I'm not necessarily saying that this is wrong. The economics are not all smoke and mirrors. The simple fact is that in the States we have a culture that stresses innovation, efficiency, and productivity above all else. We produce a lot of stuff, with efficient labor, and it's stuff that people all over the world want. A farmer in Africa or Peru will voluntarily trade a million pounds of coco or bananas, representing thousands of hours of relatively inefficient labor, for a car or a computer or a cell phone, representing only a few hours of more efficient labor. (I'm making the numbers up here, but I think the general concept is sound.) So we're rich.
Nevertheless, it's pretty tough not to suspect some sort of subtle trick when you consider that a coco farmer in Ghana might make $500 a year, while a middle class American might make $50,000, or a CEO $5,000,000. Does one man really have the productivity of 100, or of 10,000? (These numbers I'm not making up.) Can a man, a human, who works in an air-conditioned office really ask another to sweat in a farm growing his bananas for 1% of the salary, or .01%? Can he go on a cycling vacation for months or years on end while others grow and cook his food, set his table and wash his dishes?
I’m no revolutionary. I'm not attacking capitalism. I personally happen to think that it is the best of the many flawed systems that we have come up with, and I am a supporter. But I do think it is, like all rational systems, flawed, and I don't think it can be fixed. I don't think that if you write the rules carefully enough, you can create a perfect system.
Here is the great strength of capitalism- it assumes that I will act in my own interest, that everyone will play by the rule of selfishness. It paradoxically puts selfishness in the service of all. But here is the greater strength of capitalism- it does not confine me to the rule. Where the system fails, where the rule is too small and too brittle to reach, I am free to go above it. I am free to be human.
So when the man who grows the coco for my Hershey bar can barely feed his family, let alone send his children to college, I think the system has fallen short. It makes me want to break the rules.
I can't pay this guy more for his coco, because I buy my coco from Smith's grocery. But here is what I can do: I taught high school for two years in Ghana, West Africa, and have contacts in the education system there. I know of many students who have the desire, ability, and ambition to go to college, but simply don't have the money. Maybe their father works hard on a coco farm and just isn't paid much, or maybe he is negligent and has deserted his family. Either way, if someone doesn't break the rules, that student has no chance of going to college, and a very great chance of repeating the cycle. Without the education he or she needs to to take it on, that kid is going to get steamrolled by the inescapable machine of capitalism.
Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Here is something I can do, so I'm going to do it. I'm going to pay that student's tuition. I think it's worth it. I think it can make a difference.
I’m already supporting a few students that I know personally. Over the last year I've gone through a process of distributing scholarship applications in Ghana, with the help of my good friend Paul Nyagorme, to other students who have been recommended by local teachers I know and trust. I now have 9 completed applications, with personal statements and references, of qualified students who could go to college if they had the money. $150 or $200 per semester can make it possible for any one of them. I'm going to take on a couple more myself, but I can't take them all.
I am looking for sponsors who would be willing to commit to support a student through four years of college, by sending them this amount of money as well as two letters of encouragement each year. The student would commit to send two letters per year as well, and to keep the sponsor informed of their academic progress. I would act as a cultural translator, and deal with any issues that might arise.
If you would be interested in sponsoring a student, please contact me at kofimarc@gmail.com. I will not take this as any kind of commitment- I will simply give you a call with more information, and then let you decide. No pressure. To sponsor a student would be a big commitment, and not without risk. But I think it would be worth it. You wouldn’t be sending your money to some organization’s headquarters in DC. You’d be sending it directly to a student who will know your name, who will know that there is a person who cares. It would be a chance to change someone's life forever, and to make a personal connection that could last a lifetime.
But to be honest, I'm not really being all that useful. I mean, all I’m really doing is transporting myself from here to there, looking at stuff, burning calories, and eating like a whale.
So why do people keep feeding me? People cook me hot, three course meals two or three times a day. And before that, they spend months growing the food they’re going to cook. They till the earth with their hands, dig canals to bring water, and carry the harvest on their backs. What am I doing in return?
This is something you learn when you travel, if you're an American, that you already knew but never really realized. You're rich. Unreasonably rich. Most of the people in the developing world, which is most of it, will happily cook for you, drive you places in their buses, and prepare you a bed in their hotel for almost as long as you like. You can simply enjoy yourself, have every need catered for, without ever lifting a finger to do anything other than distribute sparingly your almighty greenbacks.
I'm not necessarily saying that this is wrong. The economics are not all smoke and mirrors. The simple fact is that in the States we have a culture that stresses innovation, efficiency, and productivity above all else. We produce a lot of stuff, with efficient labor, and it's stuff that people all over the world want. A farmer in Africa or Peru will voluntarily trade a million pounds of coco or bananas, representing thousands of hours of relatively inefficient labor, for a car or a computer or a cell phone, representing only a few hours of more efficient labor. (I'm making the numbers up here, but I think the general concept is sound.) So we're rich.
Nevertheless, it's pretty tough not to suspect some sort of subtle trick when you consider that a coco farmer in Ghana might make $500 a year, while a middle class American might make $50,000, or a CEO $5,000,000. Does one man really have the productivity of 100, or of 10,000? (These numbers I'm not making up.) Can a man, a human, who works in an air-conditioned office really ask another to sweat in a farm growing his bananas for 1% of the salary, or .01%? Can he go on a cycling vacation for months or years on end while others grow and cook his food, set his table and wash his dishes?
I’m no revolutionary. I'm not attacking capitalism. I personally happen to think that it is the best of the many flawed systems that we have come up with, and I am a supporter. But I do think it is, like all rational systems, flawed, and I don't think it can be fixed. I don't think that if you write the rules carefully enough, you can create a perfect system.
Here is the great strength of capitalism- it assumes that I will act in my own interest, that everyone will play by the rule of selfishness. It paradoxically puts selfishness in the service of all. But here is the greater strength of capitalism- it does not confine me to the rule. Where the system fails, where the rule is too small and too brittle to reach, I am free to go above it. I am free to be human.
So when the man who grows the coco for my Hershey bar can barely feed his family, let alone send his children to college, I think the system has fallen short. It makes me want to break the rules.
I can't pay this guy more for his coco, because I buy my coco from Smith's grocery. But here is what I can do: I taught high school for two years in Ghana, West Africa, and have contacts in the education system there. I know of many students who have the desire, ability, and ambition to go to college, but simply don't have the money. Maybe their father works hard on a coco farm and just isn't paid much, or maybe he is negligent and has deserted his family. Either way, if someone doesn't break the rules, that student has no chance of going to college, and a very great chance of repeating the cycle. Without the education he or she needs to to take it on, that kid is going to get steamrolled by the inescapable machine of capitalism.
Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Here is something I can do, so I'm going to do it. I'm going to pay that student's tuition. I think it's worth it. I think it can make a difference.
I’m already supporting a few students that I know personally. Over the last year I've gone through a process of distributing scholarship applications in Ghana, with the help of my good friend Paul Nyagorme, to other students who have been recommended by local teachers I know and trust. I now have 9 completed applications, with personal statements and references, of qualified students who could go to college if they had the money. $150 or $200 per semester can make it possible for any one of them. I'm going to take on a couple more myself, but I can't take them all.
I am looking for sponsors who would be willing to commit to support a student through four years of college, by sending them this amount of money as well as two letters of encouragement each year. The student would commit to send two letters per year as well, and to keep the sponsor informed of their academic progress. I would act as a cultural translator, and deal with any issues that might arise.
If you would be interested in sponsoring a student, please contact me at kofimarc@gmail.com. I will not take this as any kind of commitment- I will simply give you a call with more information, and then let you decide. No pressure. To sponsor a student would be a big commitment, and not without risk. But I think it would be worth it. You wouldn’t be sending your money to some organization’s headquarters in DC. You’d be sending it directly to a student who will know your name, who will know that there is a person who cares. It would be a chance to change someone's life forever, and to make a personal connection that could last a lifetime.
posted by Marc at 11:59 AM
2 Comments:
Hola Marc. Estoy segura que ya puedes entender mi mensaje en espanol. Estoy muy feliz de que estes bien y lo mas importante, de leer acerca de tu crecimento como persona. Como tu ya sabes, a mi se me dio la oportunidad de ir a la universidad cuando pense que no iba a poder hacerlo. Se que no puedo comparar mi situacion con los chicos en Ghana, pero entiendo muy bien de lo que hablas. Tu idea me parece muy buena y me gustaria ayudar a alguien a ir a la universidad. Como dijo el "Che": "Si quieres cambiar al mundo, deja que el mundo te cambie." Y eso es lo que esta pasando en tu vida. Disfruta cada segundo y que Dios te siga bendiciendo. Te queremos mucho.
Marc, I loved your blog entry. The procession of thought, the photos were profound when joined with the text. It was great, just great. And it didn't fall on deaf ears. I'm sure that people aren't posting comments because they're emailing you about how to help. What you're doing is wonderful and useful. Very well thought and tactfully written. Thank you for presenting us with this opportunity.
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