Two Worlds in One

Two worlds in one is a very extreme point of view. It is not necessarily the case, but it sometimes is necessarily the case. Working in development you see this two sided coin. Tails: life is hard, necessities are in short supply and the only future thought is where your next meal will come from. Heads: life is filled with conveniences and luxuries, necessities are easily accessible and there is no thought about the next meal until you feel the slightest twinge of hunger that can be satiated with something from the cupboard. The hungry and the non-hungry is how I am starting to see the world. It leaves a pang of guilt when you get a meal large enough for two or three or a family. It leaves you feeling even guiltier when you throw that food away. It makes you wonder even further if it is the responsibility of the non-hungry to feed the hungry. Some societies do, this one I am living in is a case in point. If you have no food to feed your family you ask the neighbors. At least in the village that is how it is. In town there seems to be a different MO, if you have money isolate yourself from those who could potentially need it on a regular basis, it is impossible to provide for your immediate family’s needs and save for your own future when people are constantly coming to you for money. Which is right? It is actually impossible to ponder the question of right and wrong of a core belief. It would be like saying the Christians, the Muslims, the Jews, the Hindus, the Buddhist, the Baha’i, the Taoists, the Pagans, the Wickens, the Athesists are ALL wrong or ALL right. They are just different. If you belong to a different camp the other camp, or camps, cannot possibly make sense to you. If you believe that family and friends hold a moral responsibility with each other when times are slim then it is impossible to understand those you feel more obligated to save for their future and the future of their children to avoid being a burden on society, family or friends. And, vice versa. So how is it that we are all supposed to exist in this world together if each camp is convinced the other camps are wrong and they are right?


How is it that this exists:

Just down the road from this:

How is it that this type of boat is a luxury to own for some:

While this is another person’s luxury is clustered down there in the bay:

Mom always said life is not fair, this is way more true than she could ever explain. It is also just a matter of luck it seems. I would like to think that reincarnation is real, that each time we come back we experience what all the other camps experience. One life we are hungry. Another life we are not hungry. One life we are Muslim. Another life we are Atheist. Another life we are Jewish. Another life we are Christian. And in one life we are sympathetic to it all. Maybe there is some universal fairness to it all. Who are you to say this is wrong? Or right?