Western (Twisted) Logic

Old Beggar, Louis Dewis (1916)

Last week, I was enjoying the beautiful weather outside on my lunch break. I work at a coffee shop downtown, surrounded by large government offices, law firms, fancy restaurants and luxury hotels.

I remember sitting outside in my barista uniform, surrounded by many well to-do adults: graduate students, civil servants, retired couples, tourists... Everyone was in their own bubble, looking busy and/or indifferent to the people around them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an old man  walking towards where I was. He was short and slightly hunchbacked. He had a long, apparently filthy beard and was dressed in rags. Without knowing who he was, everyone knew what he was. A homeless person. Or, as some would say, a hobo.

I could see about 20 people staring at him, most of whom I knew were professionals. People stared as he walked towards the garbage can. People stared as he took the lid away. People stared as he went through the content of the garbage, and took a banana peel. People stared.

The scene was rather shocking. How could so many people bear the sight of this poor man degrading himself so as to look for food out of a public garbage can? How could we just stare at him?

I felt indignant and ashamed. How can people who have a well-paying job, a house, a car and a retirement plan just watch this humble man and not feel personally called to give a hand to a person in a degrading situation?

We are often very judgmental and indifferent towards people who live on the streets.

If you are not convinced, watch for how many people will pass by a beggar without even looking at him when you go downtown. How degrading, disrespectful and devaluing that must be! If you ask anyone whether all humans are equal in worth and value, chances are the answer you will get is yes. Most of us will agree to that statement. But do we live up to it?

Beggars, who are, by definition, beggars, and do not have a home of their own or food for tomorrow, seem to be often perceived as thieves, trying to use your hardly-earned money for the sole purpose of buying drugs. Some consider them completely responsibile for being on the streets, like it was their career choice or something.

It is true that some of them may use charity money for drugs, but this situation only highlights their misery, and should make us more compassionate. But is this an excuse to not give? We don't have to give money, we can give goods, such as food. Besides, some of them are completely sober, and do not misuse the money they are given.

Our reasoning seems to be an excuse to not take action, most of the time. But beyond our assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes, there is much to learn and discover.

The times I have had talking with people living on the streets have been some of the most enriching in my whole life. They taught me so much about how they conceive and live life. They gave me a perspective on the world I had never had before.They opened up to me and gave me more than I gave them, it seems.

Instead of suspecting the worst, we should hope for the best.
Compassion. Love. Generosity. That's what's truly important.

 In what practical ways can we help the people who live on the streets? There are many ways we can give them assistance in a safe and respectful way.

I think that's what it means to love our neighbour as ourselves. If a brother, another human being, is needy, we should try to meet their needs.

Remember the old man who was going to eat the banana peel?
Someone walked up to him and gave him lunch.

Portrait of Sir Francis Ford's Children Giving a Coin
to a Beggar Boy,  Sir William Beechey (1793)

On Being Young, Traveling and Escapism

Luncheon of the Boating Party, Renoir, 1881

I decided on the title of this article before I even started writing it. I wonder if the article is necessary at all; "Being young, traveling and escapism" sums up everything I have to say. (After a thorough reflection on this matter, however, I came to the conclusion that summarizing is what titles are for, and so I should still write this article).

I am not writing about being young in general, but about being a young adult in Western society. It seems that in this society, there is a transitory stage between the teenage years and "full adulthood."

In some other parts of the world, people get married and start having children earlier than in the West. In 2009, the age at first marriage in the United States was of 28 years for men and 26.5 years for women. In Germany, it was of 33 years for men and 30 years for women. (Source: UNECE)

Now, this post is not an analysis of marriage trends. I do think, however, that getting married and having kids is related to the topic of being young, travelling and escapism. When you get married and have kids, you usually start to settle down.

As a North American, when I think of being young, I think about a certain Western conception of being young and a student:

1.       Graduate from high school, and take a gap year to travel the world (or go straight into university).

2.       In university, have a part-time job. Make a couple grants a year, and travel in the summer.

3.       Do a semester abroad

4.       Repeat steps 2 and 3 until graduation.

5.       If you graduate and still don’t know what you want to do in life, do a Master’s degree.

6.       Repeat steps 2 and 3 until graduation.

I admit this was a little extreme! Mea culpa. This sequence of events was meant to be caricatural. I am aware that a lot of students do not have the money to do all this, and many do not choose this path.

There is some truth in my caricature, nonetheless. Many students work during the year and travel in the summer, and many do semesters abroad.

I would venture to say that this is a relatively new phenomenon: students nowadays are richer and more comfortable than their parents, it seems.  And they travel more.

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, Frederick Childe Hassam, 1888

Why do young people travel?

The quick answer is: "To see the world!"

And it is true. We live in an integrated and cosmopolitan world; reading about other nations and cultures is not enough to satisfy the thirst of our curiosity. And even seeing is not enough: We have to go, feel, touch, taste, live.

The second quick answer is: "Because we can!"

The World is becoming more and more accessible to students. Universities make it easier for their students to go study in another country for a couple of months. And although in debt, students are willing to spend money on traveling.

I’m wondering if there is another reason why young adults travel, or want to travel so much. I do believe the reason sometimes is escapism.

Escapism is probably one of my favourite words in the whole world. I like the way it sounds, the way it looks on paper, and the idea it conveys. But let’s rationalize and look at what this word actually means:

Merriam-Webster: Habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.

Oxford: The tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.

Traveling is not included in the definitions above, but my idea is that it can become a form of escapism. But escapism from what?

How would I know? Different people want to get away from different things.

Even if there is nothing in particular we wish to escape from, traveling gives us the opportunity to escape from our familiar environment and routine. Everything abroad is exciting, because it is new.

Traveling provides the novelty and excitement we sometimes cannot experience as much in our normal environment. 

The people are friendlier. The food is better. The buildings are nicer. The nature is more beautiful.

Life is better.

For the time our travel lasts, life is amazing. It seems like we live life at its fullest: we make the most of every smell and taste.

The days seem to last forever, and it’s like our entire life is on hold.

Every day is the fulfilment of a dream.

We are so fully human. 

Cafe Terrace at Night, Van Gogh, 1888

It never lasts. Ultimately, the trip comes to an end, and we return home, though we’re not sure where home is anymore. It seems to me that coming home is always hard. Everything seems to be not-as-good-as-it-was-there-and-then. We become intolerant to the usual, the typical. Life could be so much more than what we know!

And the only solution to this First World problem is to go traveling again.

I think that Robert Louis Stevenson put it well when he wrote: ''For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move'' (Travels with a donkey in the Cévennes, 1879). 

In my opinion, this is what traveling is about for many young people nowadays.

Whether or not we are conscious of it, escapism is probably one of the reasons why traveling is so amazing, and so addictive. Escapism is not bad in itself! It can be very positive.

My concluding thought is more of a question: I wonder how the culture of traveling will influence this generation in the long term. I wonder if this generation will ever be able to be satisfied and settle down, or if it simply never will.