Geocentricities - Part Two

Let's move further north to territory that should be more familiar to all of us. Should be. The land called China. Home to ancient history, terra cotta soldiers, silk, tea, Tiananmen Square, cheap goods and 1.3 billion people.

Australians, particularly mineral-rich Western Australians, have a keen eye on China. Where its fortune goes, so does Australia's. The global economic crises has demonstrated that. China's economy has not stalled, just slowed to single digit growth. Which means, due to lower demand for mineral resources, WA's economy has slowed. Is it because of the closer proximity or the direct commerce that this relationship is seen so clearly? Is it because of the further proximity and indirect commerce that makes it harder for North Americans to clearly see their relationship with this burgeoning financial giant?

It is by far easier to coach than play and Aussies fondly fondle the whistle. There are weekly reports in one medium or another analyzing what other countries are & should be doing, in their opinion. Some give real pause for thought. The financial relationship of China and the U.S. comes to mind. Twenty-five years ago I wondered why U.S. businesses were so eager to lay down at the feet of the Chinese government. Did they hope that all 1.3 billion people would be buying their stuff? Didn't think so then but hadn't given much thought about it since then. Like my fellow citizens, too busy moving along in the machinations of my own tiny world to give lots of thought to the big picture. "Made in the U.S.A." , "Buy American" and the anti-WalMart campaigns didn't quite penetrate the national psyche deep enough. Did the global financial crises do it? Do my fellow Americans see what appears much more clearly to me now from a distance; that China is well on its way to owning the U.S.'s financial soul? In my experience, northern Asian populations have been terrific savers and that excess money has been bailing out the living-on-credit American population. Someday, the piper will need to be paid. Have we figured out yet that we need to: reduce personal & collective debt, keep jobs within our own shores and, for pity's sake, stop shopping at places like WalMart?
As a Global Citizen, China leaves much to be desired. As Banker, we can all learn from it.

I have been to China twice--actually the same corner twice. Fascinating, it is. And very different from it's other three corners we see in the National Geographic and Lonely Planet publications. I'm going to need a few more lifetimes to catch it all.....or many friends that travel there and send me lots of letters, postcards & pictures.

Geocentricities

It is not coincidence that "egocentric" and "geocentric" are almost the same word, they are almost the same thing--the lens is just wider on the latter. And I, like most people, are guilty of both. Don't think you are? Draw a map of your country, freehand--no tracing and without looking at a map. Now compare your drawing to a real map. Look how you have magnified your little corner of the nation and in such greater detail than everywhere else!

Now think of drawing the world. My freehand tracing of this part of the globe was pretty pathetic. How could it not be? In the eastern half of U.S., the word 'international' conjures up images of Europe (the South thinks further south and the West coast can more easily picture the other side of the Pacific.) No different here in Australia, particularly in Western Australia where the population is far from anybody. In fact, it's cheaper to fly to many SouthEast Asian countries from Perth than to fly to Sydney or Melbourne. Or to buy lots of gasoline and drive to the opposite side of this huge state. That's why everyone gets so excited about vacations in SE Asian hotspots. Woo hoo! We're going to Vietnam! Holidaymaking in Indonesia! Thailand, here we come!

Still catches me up short. My mental images of most of these places comes right out of the pages of National Geographic...in the 70's. And the occasional glimpse through the Economist doesn't actually help the imagery much. Go ahead...I'll name a place and you say the first thing that comes to mind: Vietnam (rice paddies, refugees) , Cambodia (mud people) , Saigon (helicopters) , Jakarta (jagged metal shadow puppets) , Laos (ah...rhymes with louse?) , Bangkok (dangerous place) . Burma (shave) , India (cattle & elephants) and Thailand (child sex trafficking) . A far cry from the typical Aussie who thinks: RESORTS! BEACHES! RESORTS! FUN! BEACHES! EXOTICA! MORE BEACHES!

I am trying to replace these mental images. Jakarta (hotel bombings), Myanmar/Burma (rubies, but the people dealing them still have pained refugee expressions on their faces), India (nasty smelling/tasting curries). Not much of an improvement. But I working on it all the harder. Kev has booked us for a trip to Laos in October. People who have been there like it because it is cheap and not yet overrun with tourists. I am debating whether to wipe the mental slate clean and let whatever pops up fill the void or read every possible guidebook and compare reality with literary. The empty-slate method worked on the detour through Malaysia on my way here. We'll see....

And don't fret, I'll faithfully report back on my findings, as always.