"When Natives People come into their own, on the basis of their own cultures and traditions, then there will a fourth world" a quote by Milando, Tanzanian commisioner.
Do you ever wonder how some expressions come into being? Well there I was in front of our 'first world' dishwasher, something inherited when we bought the house but hardly ever used unless we have visitors. It is that early morning thought as I wander round looking for the plates for breakfast. So my mind questions, there is a first world and a third world but what happened to the second world. Ask Wiki and apparently the terminology stems from the 1970s when the second world represented the communist bloc. Now the world has moved on, communism has slowly fallen off the side of the planet, we live in a Western first world 'paradise'? Won't go there! Except to say that it is getting a bit crowded and very destructive to the environment. The third world perhaps represents in our minds the poor countries, though this is not necessarily true, it represents a bloc of countries that don't belong to the Western world or the communist (turning) world such as China.
Of course the chess pieces on the board are already changing, as the Asian world turns itself into a replica of the European countries, some of which are on the poverty line because of the European Community? Again not going there.
What sparked this thought was witnessing my daughter and Paul arguing about the dress of Muslim woman in Britain. France has banned niqabs and burqas in 2011, so has Belgium, the reason I believe is because hiding the face is worrying to our eyes, actually I agree with this, but banning the dress (as an aside Lillie has appeared at the table with a back to front hoodie over her face!) to me seems somewhat over thetop. What about banishing girls with skirts up to their behinds;) Think I am saying making judgements are impossible and very subjective.
Which brings me to Yorkshire Puddings post, which struck me as very apposite to what we are already having to cope with... and so I close
Interesting post Thelma. One of the (very) few things that pleases me these days is the ease with which one can travel (and through it gain experience) between most countries. When I think that when I was young (yes, I know there was a war) foreign travel was unusual. I first went to Paris in 1952 - my parents were horrified - My grandson teaches in Southern China and has travelled all over the country while he has been there - using very sophisticated trains - and is this week going round Vietnam because he has a week's holiday. All this means mingling with people from other countries on a regular basis, Until all countries can agree on policies to save the planet then the whole planet is in danger. It certainly won;t happen in my lifetime - but one has to hope. There has got to be one world and we all have to be equal. Will it ever happen?
ReplyDeleteWe will see Pat. I think as you say that travelling does broaden the mind, perhaps it makes us more humble when we meet others.
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