Posted on 01/15/2007 10:23:01 PM PST by goldstategop
I am writing this week's column from Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea where I have been on a cruise ship lecturing to 75 listeners of my national radio show.
Some thoughts:
I have traveled outside of North America at least once a year for nearly 40 years. These travels have taken me to some 82 countries (yes, I admit to keeping count) and have taught me more about life than anything I learned up through Ivy League graduate school.
That is why I so strongly advocate that high school graduates not go straight to college, but take a year to do anything except attend school. Travel -- especially when done alone -- can confer much more wisdom than college.
This is my 12th cruise. Thanks to these trips with my listeners, I have cruised from Antarctica to the Baltic, from Indonesia to Peru. It has become by far my favorite way to travel. Having your hotel take you from city to city is almost too good to be true. Sometimes, as in the case of my visit to the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea, there is no other way to get to a place, let alone in luxury.
Why have I never met one American (outside of a handful of entertainers) working on a cruise ship? I have met young people from almost every country in the world working on cruise ships -- except Americans. Do young Americans not know about this unique way to see the world and interact with peers from around the globe? I wish I knew the answer. I would suggest to any person in his or her 20s to spend a year working on a cruise ship. It is an incomparable experience.
Whenever I go abroad I am struck at how superior the international editions of Time and Newsweek are to their American editions. This superiority provides a clear illustration of the American media's dumbing down of almost everything they touch. The American editions of Time and Newsweek are largely infotainment.
I have visited some of the world's poorest countries, written a book on happiness and lectured on happiness around the world. Once again, on this visit to a remote part of New Guinea, where I saw few homes with electricity and where people live essentially on the food they grow and sell, I am reaffirmed in my conviction that being poor is no more a guarantor of unhappiness than wealth is a guarantor of happiness.
In this extremely impoverished area of New Guinea, there was no begging whatsoever, and the people were among the friendliest and happiest I have ever encountered. What accounts for these facts? Why is one national or tribal or ethnic or religious group largely happy and another largely sullen?
My waitress in Townsville, northeast Australia, was a charming young French woman studying zoology at the local university. I asked whom she would vote for in the upcoming French elections. She responded that she knew absolutely nothing about politics and would, if she were back home, vote for the Greens. Why? "Because they are a small party and they are for the environment."
She confirmed my longstanding belief that while there are many people on the Left who know history and think about social issues, the default position for those who know little history or think little about social issues is with the Left. All you need do is care for the poor or care about the environment.
This is my 5th visit to Australia, and once again I am struck by the remarkable friendliness of Australians. It seems to hold true for the many Asian immigrants I met, as well. If so, we need to learn how Australia succeeds in passing its best values to immigrants from other cultures.
Finally, I followed no news events for 10 days. As a radio talk-show host and columnist, that is somewhat risky. But, I believe, worth it. I return with a clearer mind and a lighter heart. Vacations are not luxuries. They are necessities.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
How can you tell that a person went to an Ivy league school? Wait 15 minutes, and they will tell you.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
This doesn't say much for travel, LOL.
So when is Dennis Prager paying for my vacation?
(sound of crickets ...)
It sounds like he's an advocate of "adultescence" - I was married and had a child at the age when he suggests people should take a year off for travel (who's paying, again, honey?) and THEN college, grad school, blahblahblah.
Oh, well, somebody has to do the work ...
Prager isn't paying for his own, LOL. Get 75 folks to sign up for a tour, and you'll get a free ticket, I'm sure.
As far as travel, it is beneficial. I don't advocate sending your recently graduated high schooler off on a year by themselves though. That's a scenario for disaster, IMHO.
We send our teenager to Central America each summer, in order to practice his Spanish and help out some friends who work with the rural folks in several countries.
It does make one appreciate what we have in the US and Prager is right, ask a poor Central American if he's happy, and that question won't have crossed his mind. He's more concerned about where the next meal is coming from or where he'll get medicine for his child, than wondering if he's happy.
I'm thinking my high schooler needs a year working at Wal-mart, to make her appreciate the advantages of higher education!
It does make one appreciate what we have in the US and Prager is right, ask a poor Central American if he's happy, and that question won't have crossed his mind.
Oh, I agree with that! Even visiting Europe made me appreciate what we have in the United States ... things like working toilets, jobs, and people who take baths!
I do think, though, that he's illustrating one of the distortions of our society: the elevation of leisure and expensive recreation to a "necessity." With his plan, young people *might* reach adulthood by 30; presumably Mommy and Daddy are covering the costs until then.
The reason why Australians get on with most immigrants is that the general attitude of Aussies is that you are a mate until you prove otherwise.
Of course once you prove otherwise your likely to receive a severe ass-kicking -see Cronulla riots
Mel
Vacations are a necessity. That's one area where the US does lag - Prager's privileged situation aside, it isn't surprising that so few Americans travel broadly with only twoi weeks a year leave. Who wants to spend a day or two traveeling out of such a meager allotment.
Personally I favour longer breaks - the productivity payoffs are worth it.
Great point. Sending your 18 year old on a year of travel is a great way to keep them immature (because they can't pay for it). Be better to have them in the military (travel, and you get paid), or get a job and learn to appreciate college. Vacation is a luxury.
The military is the other course that I'm encouraging for my teenager! Or, if one is a good administrative assistant, there are a surprising number of cool overseas Civil Service jobs in the DoD and State Department. (I applied for a typist post in Oman, when I was with the Army Corps of Engineers, but got married before the job was filled :-).
I've been on a couple of trips abroad with my parents, but I think you can get a good exposure to *reality* without leaving the U.S., too ... especially if you're having to pay your own way!
Why ain't y'all never been to Kentucky yet?!
Oh, come on, Dennis ... how do you know what it's like being a waiter or cleaning worker on a cruise ship? Or a waiter or cleaning worker on dry land in the U.S., for that matter?
Redgolum, notice how he expects the person "in his or her 20's" to have a year for cruise ship work. Now how old is this person when he *finally* settles down to a real job and family?
This is an example of why we red-state cleaning folks are outbreeding Dennis Prager's New York elitists by such a huge margin.
Do they speak English and accept dollars there?
Should we bring bottled water or is the water there safe?
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