Chile wrap-up

~ Special to Southeast Missourian

Much can be said for staying put, not straying far from home. There is comfort and security in familiarity and routine, and many of life's pleasures can only be realized with stability.

The danger, of course, is the possibility of taking those very same pleasures for granted. Our world view can narrow to encompass only the most readily apparent problems and dissatisfactions. Appreciation for what we have can diminish.

Having returned from six months in Chile just in time for the holidays, my appreciation for the little things has skyrocketed. Many aspects of life in America that I had never really contemplated now seem extraordinary. For example, the selection, quality and prices of the products at the average shopping center are overwhelming. The efficiency, honesty and transparency of our political system are comparatively superb. We enjoy, on average, good public schools, roads and civil services such as garbage collection, water and electricity. Unemployment is low, wages are good and social safety nets like welfare and unemployment benefits ensure a decent life for most Americans.

So good are these aspects of our day-to-day life, in fact, that they are easy to ignore until something goes wrong. We have gotten to the point where we practically consider them God- or Constitutionally-given entitlements. But if we look outside of the United States, we see that our country is unfathomably exceptional. Take the recent presidential election, which was preceded by one of the most contentious campaigns in American history. Those on both sides of the political aisle poured unprecedented amounts of time, money and energy into swaying the outcome. Commentators and pollsters noted that America had rarely been so politically divided.

And yet, when the votes were counted and the election decided, the loser and his supporters graciously conceded and we are now in the midst of yet another peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next. In short, everyone respected the rules of the political game. Its orderliness was even more impressive considering the uncertainty following the 2000 election. Despite the stakes, there were no riots in the streets, no storming of governmental buildings, no military intervention.

Of course not, you're thinking, because this is America. But the fact is that this is not what happens in many other parts of the world. The recent election in the Ukraine, where one candidate narrowly survived a disfiguring poisoning and his supporters brought the country to a literal standstill protesting the widespread vote fraud, is only the most recent example.

And it is not the case that people elsewhere are any less desirous of the political stability and economic prosperity that we enjoy. Nor are they any less intelligent or less hard-working. They simply haven't had the historical advantages (a well-written Constitution and early politicians like Washington who respected its sanctity) and simple luck (such as abundant natural resources and peaceful neighbors) that have conspired with the universal longing for freedom to make our country what it is.

Yet we shouldn't forget the considerable black marks in our own history books: The atrocious treatment of Native Americans, the exploitation of slaves, the long history of legal and extra-legal oppression of minorities, immigrants and women. We, too, have had our growing pains. But each struggle -- the Civil War, the civil rights and women's movements -- has brought us closer to those ideals articulated in our Declaration of Independence. Much room for improvement exists -- with regards to the rights of gays and lesbians and religious minorities, for example -- but today one can say that the principle that all people are created equal in the eyes of the law has never before been more fully realized.

Thus, I contend that living in the United States is a privilege unparalleled in this world. And unless you are an immigrant, you have not had to work for this leg up; it was merely handed to you at birth, a metaphorical silver spoon that accompanied your social security number.

And what have we done with our membership to the exclusive political entity that is our country? Outside of the United States, Americans are rather notorious for discounting this privilege and treating it more like an entitlement. Rather than attempting to share our bounty with those born outside our borders, we are seen as trying to maximize our own material comforts with little regard for others. Unfortunately, there is plenty of support for this viewpoint. As a percentage of GDP, the amount we give in foreign aid lags far behind nearly every other industrialized nation. Though we represent 4 percent of the world's population, we consume 25 percent of its resources and produce 25 percent of global greenhouse emissions. We complain about high gasoline prices and pressure other nations to boost production while ignoring the fact that it's our gas-guzzling SUVs, poor public transportation and lifestyles that steer global demand for petroleum. We have pulled out or refused to sign international treaties meant to protect global air quality, reduce nuclear proliferation and promote global justice. We attack a long-time (albeit evil) nemesis in Iraq with too few troops to insure the security of the Iraqi people while allowing Afghanistan to fall back into disorder and ignoring the ongoing genocide in Sudan that has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands and displaced at least a million. We have tried to divide the world between "us" and "them," cavalierly dismissing the value of open and honest discussion concerning differences of opinion, the bedrock of our own internal political system.

In short, given the responsibilities that come with our power, the United States has not been a particularly good global citizen of late. And the backlash is well underway. In nearly all corners of the globe, foreign opinion of the United States is at previously unrecorded lows. And as we bear the brunt of the costs of rebuilding and securing Iraq, we see that this resentment is costly, both in dollars and in the lives of our brave military men and women serving there.

If you are concerned, as I am, about the current state of affairs, what can you do? That's not an easy question to answer. Though I've just returned from a volunteer trip, I know that not everyone has the time and resources to go to a developing country to offer personal assistance (and upon examining my bank account, I realized that I didn't really either!). But claiming impotence in the face of such wide-ranging concerns is the easy way out and only facilitates its perpetuation, making accomplices of us all.

The first step, I think, is the recognition that each of us is a citizen not just of our locality, state and nation, but of the world as well. Each of our actions -- from our choice of lifestyles, leaders and vehicles -- has an imperceptible impact on everyone else. Add up all the little decisions made by 300 million Americans, and you have a powerful force for shaping the world -- for good, bad, both or neither. The short answer to the question of what each of us can do, I think, is simply this: whatever we can. We all have skills, knowledge and resources that can be used to benefit those that lost out on the cosmic roulette wheel of birthplace. The old environmentalist motto is apt: think globally, act locally. Appreciate the bounty found only here. Yes, we've earned what we have, but transport the same amount of effort that you've put into your career to another part of the world and you are not likely to get the same results. Plain and simple, we are lucky to be American.

I am completely aware of the fact that I am merely a 23-year-old, idealist young man from rural Missouri fresh out of college, and that much of what I've written may sound naïve or contentious. But my experiences here and abroad have only reinforced my idealism. And maybe -- just maybe -- it takes a little naivety to effect change.

Justin Cox is a graduate of Scott City High School and Washington University in St. Louis. E-mail him at jcoxer@gmail.com.