[meteorite-list] Progress or ruination?

[MeteorHntr at aol.com]

Hey MikeG,

First off, the Atacama is a  very large place.  Lot's of meteorites still to 
be found in desolate  areas.  I don't think there will be any concern about 
filling up a fraction  of 1% of it, much less all of it.  There would be room 
for several billion  inmates if anyone decided to build a prison there.

WARNING, I am swerving  off the Meteorite Topic in the rest of my email!

Second, I do want to  take issue with you on your comment:

"But, we also have to recognize that  opinions such as these reflect our
cultural values.  We are trying,  again, to force our views of life
and standards of living on other  cultures.  The wealthy powers have
always done this - we are saving the  savages from damnation and
bringing them the dignity of literacy and running  water.  Sound
familiar?"

I really don't think this is a matter of  western culture's Hollywood forcing 
their morals on the rest of the world people  who are living a more 
traditional life.  I think this is a matter of  letting people make the choice for 
themselves.  There is a reason why  Coca-Cola is everywhere, there is something 
about it that makes people like to  buy it once the pop machine is plugged in.

Actually, I would think  historically there is more precedent for the wealthy 
powers to want to keep the  masses poor, dependent and ignorant, rather than 
prosperous, independent and  educated.  

It seems around the world, it is the local leaders  (often religious) that 
want to stop our western culture from spreading into  their strongholds, and all 
the while it is their people, that they control, that  want the freedom.

Yes, rich people or governments (not that the Chilean  Government should be 
considered "wealthy") will be putting up the hotels and  will cultivate the 
tourism.  Yes, it might encroach on some people that  want the old simple life in 
the San Pedro hut.   But, if the business  efforts are successful, then the 
poor people can sell their hut for $1,000,000  move a hundred kilometers down 
the dirt road, build or buy another $1,000 house,  and put the rest of the 
money under their mattress, or burn it for a cooking  fire.

Ask 500 poor people in the village if they each want $1,000,000 and  the 
choices of life that money would bring, or to be stuck in their  poverty?  My 
guess is that 498 will say they want the money and the choices  it brings.

Such is progress.   I think letting people have  their own choice is 
important.  More often than not, people that are held  back, without the choices, are 
ones that would rather break out of the  restraints of their parents culture.  
After all, it wasn't a child's fault  they were born when and where they were.

The irony is that many in our  modern western culture are tired of it, and 
are looking for something new, or in  some cases, something old.  Cool.  That is 
what choice and freedom are  all about.  And a little prosperity helps one 
have more  choices.

NOTICE:  All these comments come from a guy who lives in  the sticks of 
Arkansas, in a dry county without a single movie theater or even a  single stop 
light, who lives in a hand hewn dog trot log cabin built in 1866 and  who just 
got TV a couple of weeks ago and who home schools his kids.

I  know, such an email as this can incite riots.  

And I would probably  agree with 99% of what people say about how evil our 
culture is, and how it  would be best if the rest of the world was NOT like us.  

Anyway, I  just know how excited I was to get away from the culture of my 
small Kansas town  I grew up in, to get to the big city culture when I got out of 
high  school.  

The grass is always greener, isn't it?

Choices are  wonderful.

God Bless America!

Steve Arnold  #1
Arkansas





In a message dated 1/9/2009 11:36:02 A.M.  Central Standard Time, 
michael_w_gilmer at yahoo.com writes:
Hi Steve and  Mike,

I would be one hell of a pretentious upstart to disagree with  someone
who has actually been there.  My travels in the Atacama are  limited
to armchair fantasies and future pipe dreams. I do hope to  visit
there one day in the future, but I'd like it to look like  ATACAMA
when I get there, and not Orlando Florida.

Steve, I can't  argue with the logic and rationale of what you say here  :

-----------------

"But, also as  unforgettable, was all the  trash strewn about the highway for
thousands of miles  up and down the  Pan American highway.  Somebody forgot to
put up the "Keep  Chile  Clean" signs.  Litter was so abundant, especially at
railroad   crossings.  Burned out cars and buses were sitting on the side of  
the
road  from car wrecks years if not decades before.  What 99% of  people saw
when  traveling on the highway(s) of Chile was the trash, not  the beauty.  
You 
had to get off the highway before things would clean  up.

So to me, my  hunch is that if there are high class hotels  coming in to the
San Pedro de  Atacama, my bet is that they will at  least clean the trash up 
on
and around  their own property.  They  might even pay to have the other trash
in public  areas cleaned up as  well.  So in a way, the development might be a
good  thing.  

And the situation with the residents there, imprisoned in  poverty,  is sad. 
I am sure they, like most anyone else in the civilized  world  would like to
have a good job, be able to afford TV, a nice car, good   health care, maybe 
be
able to send their kids off to college to have a CHOICE  as  to what they want
to do with their life. 
For those of us with  enough  money to travel there, it is fun, but we get to
leave and choose  where we go  next.  To be stuck there for one's whole life,
it  might get to be a drag  after a while. If they can make a buck and  
improve
their life, who are we to say  that is  bad?"

-----------------------------------------------

But, we also  have to recognize that opinions such as these reflect our
cultural  values.  We are trying, again, to force our views of life
and standards  of living on other cultures.  The wealthy powers have
always done this -  we are saving the savages from damnation and
bringing them the dignity of  literacy and running water.  Sound
familiar?  It's the first step  on the well-worn path to cultural
genocide.  Of course Coca Cola is  better than their local concoction
made of who knows what.  And of  course Starbucks expresso would be
a nice treat while combing the  deserts.  And it would be nice to
have a payphone in the middle of the  desert, or cellphone service
to call a tow truck.  But these people have  lived this way for
centuries and they are fine with it.  We, as  "civilized" westerners,
are the ones who have a problem with their apparent  poverty.  At
what cost does one sell a soul?  To be honest, I don't  know if this
represents "progress" to any of the locals.  Sure, it means  a few
more pity dollars thrown their way by wealthy travelistas, but it  
also means the disappearance of another culture that has existed  for
centuries without outside interference and dominance.

Having said  all of that, litter is natural places disgusts me.  And
I have never  understood what it is about being poor than means a
person has an excuse to  be filthy.  I drive past economically-depressed 
areas and see dozens of  able-bodied people lounging around or loitering around 
while they are surrounded  by trash everywhere.  None of them think to take 5 
minutes and pick it up  and put it in a dumpster that is usually 10 feet away.  
Apparently being  poor is
intrinsically related to tolerance of trash and dirt.  Even if I  was
spit-poor, I'd have the cleanest and neatest mud hut in the  village.

Well, I guess when we have a wall-to-wall neon and concrete  world, then
we'll finally be happy....right?  Or will this compulsive  need to 
spread "progress" extend to other cultures we encounter  while
exploring space?

Best regards and clear skies from the  closet-mountain-man,

MikeG  

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