Two kinds

Arrived at the airport in Quito late last night, then at the hotel early this morning after waiting in line 2 hours for immigration after getting off the plane. Brought more stuff this time including a travel guitar, climbing shoes and harness, a laptop (which it looks like I'll need for the volunteer work here) and more books. So much more that my backpack was over the weight limit and had to quickly shed a few pounds.

On the plane and during the 6-hour wait at the airport in Houston, I continued reading a book on Latin American history called "Born in Blood and Fire." The period of history I read about was the 19th century from the independence wars through the end of (officially sanctioned) slavery and the rise of economic and cultural liberalism. The description in the book of the transformation of the old caste system, based primarily on race, into a new class system, based primarily on wealth and image, seems to echo what I see now in the 21st century. The author refers to the two classes as the common people and the "decent" people, roughly corresponding I think to the postcolonial version of the poor and disadvantaged on the one hand and the rich or privileged on the other. The latter had abandoned the religious conservatism of the Iberian "Peninsulars" (Spanish and Portuguese) and sought to imitate the liberal mores and styles of the English and French. And of course this class looked down upon and exploited the common folk.

This reminds me of another distinction I read about in the book by Wendell Berry, referring to a book by Wallace Stegner on the American West - that between "boomers" and "stickers." Boomers are the exploiters who seek to make it rich and get theirs regardless of what happens to everyone else, and stickers are those who remain faithful - to their roots, principles and traditions.

Is it too simplistic to categorize people in such a binary way? I think of the dichotomies in the Bible. A person cannot serve two masters - one serves either God or Mammon (money). In Proverbs, the fool follows a path of callous self interest that leads to death and a person who serves God follows a path of love and forgiveness that leads to life.

written by  cjones on January 7, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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