A Lesson in Empathy
As someone who has travelled to and lived in many countries over the years – including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, United States, Bahamas, Costa Rica, United Kingdom, France, Turkey – I know that when you get past the “image” of what you think a country and its people are like, in fact they are very much like “us”.
What do I mean? I mean that when you strip away the facade of race, nationality, religion and culture, you find some basic human traits which all humans appear to share. And theses include such things as simply wanting to lead a happy life, to fall in love, to bring up a family, to want the best for one’s children, to enjoy the company of good friends, to be successful – and any number of other common human goals.
And it is in this way that travel broadens the mind. When you travel you get to meet people in other countries first hand – not through the eyes of some magazine, news report, or political utterance. You find that when you get past the official “image”, and understand where such people are coming from, you come to the realisation that if only we could remove the barriers of misunderstanding between people of different nations, then perhaps we could have true peace.
I was reminded of this fact when watching this video – which is a delightful account of an American travel writer who visited Iran to see how ordinary people live and to mix with them.
Watch the video, then ask yourself if you would want to bomb Iranians.
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I check http://www.brasschecktv.com everyday, they have some excellent videos that you will battle to find on your own.
Having done some travelling myself (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Argentina) I know exactly what you mean.
I would, however, draw an exception when it comes to Africa. I was born and raised in South Africa, and have travelled throughout Southern Africa. Despite this I have never been able to get my head around the mindset of the vast majority of Africans. I have never had this problem with any other racial/ethnic group.
I regard as a simple fact of life that some people just simply don’t get along.
Do you mean most Africans don’t want to be happy, don’t love their children, don’t hope for a better future for themselves and their families?
@David
I’d say that most will say they do, but actions speak a lot louder than words.