Capitalism vs. Environmentalism: A Neo-Marxist Lens On Why America Refuses to Embrace Truly Clean Energy

Many students and philosophers of Karl Marx will observe in his writing, particularly in Volume 1 of Capital, that man and nature are one; they are inseparable. In that sense, doing damage to the earth is comparable to doing damage to one’s own body. The earth nourishes us and is our home. Why then are there such divisive conversations here in the United States regarding the use of clean energy vs. fracking for oil and natural gas? 

A progressive view would be to immediately phase out all fossil fuel usage and replace it with truly clean energy, which we know as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro energy. One might even have the opinion that nuclear energy, while not fossil fuel, still produces toxic waste, which endangers the environment and also needs to be phased out. Capitalists push nuclear power as a fossil fuel alternative for energy, though we know that the aforementioned genuinely clean energy generators are cheaper in the long run and are obviously less harmful to the environment. Why is there such a global problem with resolving natural energy exploitation? There are a variety of reasons, but my thesis aims to prove that there are three main issues which stand out, and they are capitalism, global demand, and media manipulation. Careful analysis shows that demand is fueled by consumerism, which is fueled by our media (contributing to ignorance on the part of the population), and capitalism is fueled by competitive greed. 

First, there is the issue of demand and consumerism, which is what drives capitalism to exploit the environment at a ravaging pace. In the United States, some 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is consumed each year, while almost 3 trillion cubic feet was consumed in Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The production from shale gas in North America is expected to increase as much as fivefold in 25 years measured from 2010 up to 2035. Due to the constant demand, conventional natural gas is in decline, non-conventional shale gas will be exploited in order to meet and maintain the rates of consumption, and social and environmental concerns will be neglected. As Marx noted, the more a country starts its development on the foundation of modern industry, like the United States, for example, the more rapid is this process of destruction.

One might wonder why more of the general population here in the United States, and even globally, is not making a more concentrated and aggressive effort towards environmentalism and conservationism in regards to the use of natural energy. A big explanation and area for concern to ponder is that the media is possibly suppressing, misdirecting, and even outright manipulating news coverage about the exploitation of natural energy. According to the Business Insider, 90% of American media went from being owned by 50 companies in 1983 to being controlled by 6 major media corporations in 2011. They are GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS (Lutz). Why are there not more conversations in the mainstream media about climate change?

It is reasonable to think that big media conglomerates and other capitalistic multinational companies are bedfellows. Big Money needs Big Money in order to stay wealthy and in power. They benefit each other. It is all about money, and they do not want to disrupt a system that is working for them. A scrutinizing look at the assets and holdings of these various media company’s owners and CEO’s could reveal who may have invested in fossil fuels or plastics and what their political persuasions are. For instance, Sumner Redstone, the majority owner and former chairman of Viacom and the CBS Corporation, endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 election, despite previously calling himself a “liberal Democrat.” Allegedly, it was because he argued that Bush would be better for the economy and for his company. In Hong Kong, where some of America's and Asia's top executives gathered for Forbes magazine's annual Global CEO Conference, Mr. Redstone declared: "I look at the election from what's good for Viacom. I vote for what's good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom. We believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.” And in response to this, Steve Forbes, CEO, president and editor in chief of Forbes and a former Republican presidential aspirant, replied: "Obviously you're a very enlightened CEO” (Wall Street Journal). It is interesting to note that George W. Bush was linked to Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oil field service companies, via his Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of this multinational company. 

Capitalism is fueled by greed, power, and the need for short-term profit. There is little question now that the dominant capitalist economic system is not able to be sustained. There is a harrowing connection to be made between the increasing inequality between the very rich and the very poor which is causing social tensions with the severe breaching of ecological boundaries and biodiversity loss. Private enterprise and free market have been given too much reign over the global capitalist system and not enough aggressive measures have been taken to shift levies from income to waste and pollution. One possible conclusion for this is resistance from those in charge who have vested interests and large control of the voting percentage of their shareholders. “This is made worse by how even the progressive investors and companies who see the need for change remain largely silent. Not rocking the boat, they mainly go with the flow, even as they drift toward collective disaster” (Juniper). This ties in with a quote made by Marx which implicates that capitalism is exploiting the fertility of the earth to the point of its eventual ruination: “Capitalist production…disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and earth, in essence, prevents the return to the soil of its constituent elements consumed by man in the form of food and clothing; it therefore violates the conditions necessary to lasting fertility of the soil…all progress in increasing the fertility of the soil for a given time is a progress towards ruining the more long-lasting sources of that fertility." Capitalism, such as is seen in industry-driven nations, like the United States, is pushing the environment towards disaster.

Climate change is all the more impossible to resolve without the cooperation of the worldwide community. A good start to improving this situation is by making others aware of what is going on, assist them to become conscious of it, which leads to research, which leads to increased passion, which leads to a strong desire to want change. As noted by Robert C. Tucker in Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx, “knowing is spirit’s means of reintegration or ‘return to itself’ out of the state of self-division that obtains when spirit as conscious subject (man) is confronted with spirit as external object (the world). Hegel calls this state ‘self-alienation’ or ‘self-estrangement” (Tucker, 49). Indeed, if man and the natural world are one, then causing damage to the natural world is causing damage to ourselves…our innermost self. 

Once we know of the facts and ramifications of how much environmental damage is being done by companies exploiting natural energy, and perhaps even realize we have been complicit in the global consumerism for these natural commodities, particularly oil and gas, what might we be motivated to do about it? Well, again as noted by Marx on his eleventh thesis on  Feuerbach, “the point is, to change it." That begins by turning to search inwardly “of a solution for self-alienation” and indeed, when one realizes that he/she is one with nature, then damaging it is a course of self-alienation (Tucker, 101).  A good form of taking action could be by writing letters to one’s local paper when environmental exploitation is witnessed. Activism is another form. A good example of effective protest happened this past year in British Columbia against Kinder Morgan, the largest oil and gas pipeline company in the U.S. Their motivation to stop Kinder Morgan was in defense of the indigenous peoples, fish, and water which would have been harmfully affected. The residents of eastern Georgia took similar action recently in protest against Kinder Morgan condemning their land in order to continue its Palmetto Pipeline project, and as a result, were able to get the project suspended. It is interesting to note that Canada has used far less natural gas by cubic feet annually in comparison to the United States. In addition to protesting and writing to local papers, it is effective to write and call your local and state representatives and to be aware of which political candidates are 100% anti-fracking, CLEAN ENERGY supporters, as well as proponents for the removal of special interest money in politics. It is only by the cooperation of the global community to resist exploitative capitalism that damage to the environment can be reversed.

Resources

Marx, Karl. Capital, Volume I. 1867.

“Guess Who’s a GOP Booster? The CEO of CBS’s Parent Company Endorses President Bush.” The Asian Wall Street Journal. Web. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Lutz, Ashley. “These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.” Business Insider. Web. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Juniper, Tony. “Capitalism v Environment: Can Greed Ever Be Green?” Web. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
Tucker, Robert C. Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx. Transaction Publishers, 2001.

Final reflections of my semester study abroad in Italy

I thought that this would be the easiest piece for me to write, but it’s turning out to be the most challenging.  I hardly know where to begin. I was not sure I would even be able to go on this study abroad for 3 months, mostly in part to a family crisis that happened in the previous Fall semester that almost ended up being a tragedy. I will explain more about that in a bit. Ultimately, it made me appreciate and savor my experiences in Italy - the good and the “could’ve been better” - all the more. This was one of those big opportunities in life that I had at my grasp to make the most of, and I didn’t want to take a single moment for granted.

Over a year ago, when my philosophy professor first told me about this “experimental” 3-month study abroad that Armstrong was going to be trying out with the Dante Alighieri Institute in Siena - a school they had partnered with in the past for shorter programs - I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to do and for the next few months, I continued to think about it, even in the midst of getting ready to do a 2-week study abroad in France.

My last spring semester went by fairly smoothly, and I felt rewarded by ending another grueling semester successfully with my 4.0 GPA still intact by going on a study abroad trip to France. It felt deserved, and I was also going with several good friends and a few other acquaintances from French class. It was a fairly large group - 13 of us, plus our professor - but we had a great chemistry among us and bonded enough that I believe several of us will be friends for a long time; maybe even beyond our days at Armstrong.

I started the summer off equally well. Immediately after returning from France, I departed for Los Angeles where I would begin a coveted summer internship with a production company founded by producers and executives who had worked for the biggest Hollywood studios and won major awards for their film and TV projects. I completed it successfully (with a job offer on the table post-graduation), came back to Savannah to enjoy the rest of the summer with my boyfriend, and also to resume the last of my flight training needed to finally earn my long-sought pilot’s license. I received it in August near the end of the summer. It was another hugely important lifetime goal that I had successfully achieved for myself in 2016, but the year was not over.

As well as the first half of 2016 went for me, the second half went in nearly the complete opposite direction; it was almost a disaster. Very early morning on September 26th, I woke up to a text notification from my sister that my only brother and youngest sibling, Vincent, had been in a catastrophic flight accident while piloting a small aircraft. He sustained severe injuries, and it was not certain if he would even make it past the next couple of days. I immediately flew to Jackson, MS, and sat in between two other passengers with tears silently streaming, unsure if my brother would even be alive when I got there.

To shorten what could become a longer story, my brother pulled through. Despite the ordeal of severe blood loss, multiple internal broken bones, a developing systemic infection, and ultimately a right leg below-the-knee amputation, my tough younger brother survived, and he did so despite refusing to accept a strongly urged blood transfusion. It had almost become a nightmare for us all. The ordeal wasn't over for him or any of us who had stayed close by his side for several months, but he made it through the worst and so had we. Due to the crisis, however, I had to drop two classes so that I could stay near my brother and help out the rest of my family to support him. It had also taken a toll on us financially. At the encouragement of friends, I later created and promoted a GoFundMe campaign for Vincent to help raise money for him and my parents with social media community funding. After all of this, I had serious doubts that I would be able to go to Italy. Not after everything my family had sacrificed, including my boyfriend with his help getting me back and forth from Savannah to Jackson, and most of all, knowing what my brother would be facing with the stark reality of his new circumstance.

Once I realized he was on his way physically and that the rest of my family might be ok as well, I started to consider my own life, and I began to think about Italy again. After several conversations with my professor who was directing and coordinating the program, I bit the bullet, and I made my first deposit. I was committed.

Around that time, the general campaign for the Presidency had come to a close, and Donald Trump was elected. Fast-forwarding a couple of months, I began my journey to Italy on January 20th, the date of Trump’s inauguration. My first few months in Italy would be his first few months as President.

I’ve covered a lot of the details about my various travels within Italy as well as outside it when I traveled briefly to Greece and Switzerland in addition, but I wanted to follow up with some of the highlights of my time there in this final reflection.

It has always been one of my biggest dreams to visit Italy. There are many places still that I would love to see, and I’ve already been able to knock a few off my traveling wish list. However, Italy was at the top. It is the country I’m the most closely connected to because of my ancestry and also because of the fascinating and complicated (even controversial) history it has as a world leader in art, science, and civilization.

I have always been a fan of the Renaissance Age and, in particular, Leonardo da Vinci. I admire how he has always been the foremost historical figure at the intersection of art and science. He is known not only for painting masterpieces such as The Vitruvian Man and Mona Lisa but also for being an early engineer of sorts, with sketches of his found that show prototype designs for aviation machines. In many ways, I have tried to model my own life to be the same way. In my social networks, I am known for being an actress and artist and in more recent years, a writer, but I am also known as an aspiring pilot and aviation and space science enthusiast. I actually had serious considerations about pursuing aerospace engineering or physics, but due to some life circumstances (and an intense 4-week pre-calculus course that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped), I decided to instead pursue an English/Professional Communications major and maybe make my contributions to science by developing writing and filming projects inspired by scientific topics, thereby doing my part to increase public enthusiasm and support, especially for the aerospace sciences.

During my art history and appreciation course, I learned how art and science complimented each other with Renaissance artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Botticelli inserting “codes” for other artists within their paintings to show what they had discovered about the human body after secretively opening up cadavers, which was forbidden by the Catholic Church. For instance, in Botticelli’s La Primavera, behind the Roman goddess, Venus, the leaves of the garden form what appears to be the shape of human lungs. Another example is the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, which is an artistic study of human anatomy and physiology. Finally, there is what may be considered the mostly widely viewed and celebrated masterpiece: the scene of God and Adam with their fingers outstretched and almost touching each other at the center of Michelangelo’s majestic frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. There is what seems to be the unmistakable outline of a human brain formed by angels and red robes surrounding God. Some theorists have proposed the hypothesis that this scene is symbolic of God, the head of all creation, bestowing intelligence on the first human.

During my anthropology course, which was a study of the history and sociology of Siena, I learned a lot about the Etruscan civilization, which pre-dated and influenced ancient Rome, and it made a big impression on me, especially what I learned about Etruscan women. They enjoyed eating well, dressed extravagantly, and lived freely as equals among the men. I even bought some big bold jewelry while I was there, including a few sets of earrings that were mismatched but still meant to compliment each other. (One of the sets is a “lock” on one side and a “key” on the other, made in Rome from recycled aluminum; it suits the bohemian environmentalist in me.) Learning about the Etruscan women influenced me to feel more confident about living life fully and freely, making my own informed and independent choices, being a strong leader when the occasion calls for it, but also being comfortable following others when they have good ideas and clear direction.

Although not part of the course, I was motivated to study more about ancient Greek civilizations and art history while I was there because of how much the Greeks influenced the Roman culture. After reading and learning about important sculptures like The Calf-Bearer and The Kritios Boy, which were found around the Acropolis, I decided to go to Athens where these masterpieces were kept so I could see them for myself. I especially appreciated The Kritios Boy. It made an impact on me. The young man is missing the lower half of his right leg, which reminded me of my brother. He stands straight and tall, and his eyes gaze ahead calmly and self-confidently. What is interesting about this sculpture, dated around 480 B.C.E., is that it represents a transitional piece between two major ages of Greek history: the Late Archaic period to the Early Classical period. I reflected on what could represent a transitional moment in a person’s life; that time when you could see the effects of change on someone, for better or worse, after they’ve been through a significant event.

The hardest part for me about being in Italy was being away from my loved ones and feeling guilty. I felt guilty that I was able to spend this time learning and studying other cultures with few responsibilities except completing my assignments, and even those deadlines had a certain amount of flexibility. But I realized that this was part of the transition of life; sometimes things go from difficult and challenging to pleasant and rewarding and then back again. It is like that for the entirety of life, but every experience, good and bad, is something that can be learned from to apply to the next.

My studies of the various states of flux that the civilizations in ancient Greece and Italy induced me to reflect deeply, not only about my own personal transitions from one phase to another or that of my nearest and dearest, but also of those happening within my own country and outside it. I saw a lot of parallels about the disputes between Athens and Sparta which led to the Peloponnesian War, as well as the events leading up to the dissolution of the great Roman Empire, which left it vulnerable to invasion from outside forces. Where it will all lead to, what we will lose in the process, and what will be the ultimate result, I don’t know. However, I feel sure that after my experience abroad, where I was able to devote most of my time undistracted to study and make connections, I will be more observant than ever before to watch how things unfold and to see if worldwide civilization today is possibly at the end of an age and in transition to begin a new one. We are creatures of re-invention, after all. It will be interesting to see where we go next and what we will become.

Language

“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” CESAR CHAVEZ

“Learning a foreign language, and the culture that goes with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and the imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children.” MICHAEL GOVE

“To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.” CHARLES BAUDELAIRE

“Yankees don’t understand that the Southern way of talking is a language of nuance. What we can do in the South is we can take a word and change it just a little bit and make it mean something altogether different.” LEWIS GRIZZARD

“Even in the deepest love relationship - when lovers say ‘I love you’ to each other - we don’t really know what we’re saying, because language isn’t equal to the complexity of human emotions.” DUANE MICHALS

“Welsh is my mother tongue, and my children speak it. If you come and live in this community you’ll work out pretty quickly that it’s beneficial to learn the language, because if you’re going to the pub or a cafe you need to be a part of the local life.” BRYN TERFEL

“We have our own history, our own language, our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans.” MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI

When traveling throughout Italy, I found it to be a curious matter that English was not as universal throughout the country as I thought it would be, even in larger cities such as Rome and in particular, Naples. For me, this was a welcome challenge - a thorn on the rose stem, so-to- speak - as I navigated my way down the meandering pathways one takes to explore the diverse gardens of foreign language. At times it is uncomfortable and even tiresome, but it is mostly rewarding.

My quest to become proficient in several tongues apart from my native one began years ago when I had a Canadian tutor, Ms. Agnes Manbourdon, who taught me French. I would meet with her at her apartment near the water at the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Jackson, Mississippi and over café au laits we would conjugate French verbs and exchange common French expressions for approximately an hour. Afterwards, I would go to my second job at St. Dominic Hospital to transcribe radiology reports - medical terminology is a language to learn in itself.

Before meeting with her, I had an early morning job at the Jackson International Airport working as a ticket agent, and it should be mentioned that at this time I had begun to take pilot lessons, so I was also learning the language of aviation. After some time, Ms. Manbourdon went on her annual trip back to Canada for a month or so, and we lost track. I never saw her again. Later that same year, I began taking Japanese lessons with Ms. Eiko Tashiro, who became my sensei for a little while. We would meet at her house for a lesson in Japanese language and a Japanese tea ceremony. Sometimes we would practice origami. Along with learning her language, I was learning her culture. Again, due to certain circumstances which I do not remember, we also lost track, and I never saw her again either.

Two years ago, I began taking French lessons formally at the university level. I have since traveled to France to study abroad for several weeks and am most likely going to pursue French for my college minor. While in France, I discovered that there is more to learning a language than memorizing vocabulary and verbal conjugations, and it is not enough to merely practice vowel sounds. There is a cadence and a rhythm to being French that is sensed in more than the language and speech itself; it is embodied in the culture of France, and the sooner one picks up on that rhythm, the easier it will go for them to learn the language.

I found this to be the case also while I was in Italy for several months and because of the lessons that were ingrained while learning French and being in France, I found that picking up Italian came much swifter to me. I embraced the nuances of the language and the cultural rhythm of Italian daily life which varies throughout Italy. The fact that the majority of my ancestry is French and Italian motivates my enthusiasm to learn both of these languages the most, because I want them to be considered part of my identity.

There was a young man I met from Ghana, Africa in my last few weeks of being in Siena, Italy named Mr. Nartey. He specialized in International Relations and Language and was working on getting his Master’s Degree while in Tuscany. He shared a paper with me that he had written about Pidgin English, which is commonly spoken in Ghana. He explained to me that Pidgin English lacks inflection but is a more efficient language. Where standard grammatical structure and inflection for past tense in a verb has been dropped, it has evolved to become a more simplified language to get the point across. For instance, instead of one saying “I went there,” they might say “I go there.” This has been found to be a growing trend particularly in schools in Ghana. In order to avoid grammatical errors, students will resort to using Pidgin. It is a more straightforward English. I inquired as to how Pidgin English was developed and why it started to be used in Ghana. He explained to me that “those who write the books” - or the history of Africa - threw out tradition when Africa was colonized. The colonial masters decided to document certain things down. They claimed that the language was simplified. This is the way he put it to me: “The person doing the writing will write it in a way that you expect it to be written.” Over the years, it was almost as though there were two languages in Ghana: the language that was taught, and the one that was acquired. The first language is the one you use to reflect certain ways you were influenced (British colonialism). Pidgin was acquired to reflect a language that is closer to the native tongue. During a military regime, students also observed soldiers in the streets using Pidgin English and therefore they began assigning machoism, aggression, and power to the usage of Pidgin. Therefore, the trend of students in Ghana using Pidgin began to grow and increase as a means of adopting an identity and also to defy the performance pressures put on them to use proper English.

In the United States, there are similar debates and differing opinions on what is or should be considered proper standard English and what has evolved into deviated versions of it. I recall reading a passage of critical theory written by Lois Tyson regarding Black Vernacular English (BVE, also called Ebonics or African American English), which fulfills all the grammatical criteria of a genuine language but is still dismissed by many white and some black Americans as substandard or incorrect English rather than recognized as a language in its own right; a language that may have evolved due to what is known as double consciousness or double vision, the awareness of belonging to two conflicting cultures: the African culture, which grew from African roots and was transformed by its own unique history on American soil, and the European culture imposed by white America.

It has occurred to me that a regional or local language can evolve into more than mere vocabulary from the root words it shares with the original language. For example, even though each region in Italy has its own pride and claim to what is “the best” - “Napoli has the best coffee and pizza,” “Liguria has the best pesto and anchovies,” etc. - it is common opinion that Tuscany boasts the usage of the pure Italian language. Whereas a native Tuscan might use the formally taught phrase “Sono di Firenze,” a Roman would shorten the phrase a bit to a more efficient “So di Roma” to express where he or she is from. Recently, I grappled with the choice of whether to use the spelling of “favourite,” which is the proper English way to spell the word to express my preferred flavor, versus “favorite” which is the more popular American spelling. Although I was tempted to use “favourite” as my preferred spelling of choice, I instead went with “favorite” so as to not falsely identify myself as British when I am, in fact, American. So language - by way of spelling, inflection, gesture, nuance, rhythm, and pronunciation - is the foremost way of identifying oneself and, in some ways, his or her worldview.

In a way, it almost seems as though Pidgin is used in some measures in Ghana to defy the colonial influences and to reclaim their native tongue and therefore their culture. Mr. Nartey’s opinion is that though Ghanians speak Pidgin, English is their official language, and it should not be compromised. At the same time, he reflected that someone else’s point of view might be that Pidgin English is part of a Ghanian’s identity and that they need to be proud. Indeed, after I said goodbye to this intelligent young man, I observed him walk to his bus stop with a quick long stride as efficient, straightforward, and proud as the hybrid makeshift English language he had described. 

Dark Star Safari

I have very mixed feelings about this book. For starters, I wasn’t able to complete it; I got about halfway through it, with detailed notes in the margins, but unfortunately I left the book in my apartment the day that I left to return back to the United States. So for the purposes of this short reflection, I will try to recall the highlights of what stood out to me from my reading of this novel.

One thing that I can definitely say about this book is that it is a page-turner. I found it to be a lot more interesting to read than the other two travel writing novels I read while in Italy - Perseus in the Wind by Freya Stark and certainly more than Italian Hours by Henry James. Paul Theroux gives a riveting personal tale of his journey from Cairo to Cape Town with a dry, sometimes cynical, humor. I laughed at some accounts and shook my head at others.

This book is a bit controversial and maybe even problematic for some to read, which is expected to be the case when you have a white American or European author describing his experiences of traveling throughout the countries in Africa, especially with the tone of being an “authority” without having actual lived experience. No matter what he encountered while there, he speaks from the vantage point of a privileged older white male and cannot separate himself from that nor could his reader. I recall a classmate saying “I would like to read a book like this that had been written by someone else.” (In other words, not a privileged white male.) I couldn’t help but think to myself “If someone else had written this book word-for-word, verbatim, even in the exact style that Paul Theroux wrote it, your reader-response would likely be different and maybe even more accepting.”

This novel is a great text for critical analysis using reader-response or even deconstruction theory. I feel almost certain that the people who felt a negative response to Theroux’s text, to the point that they found it problematic, were influenced more by the fact that they could not separate Theroux himself from his text rather than his writing delivery. But that is my reader-response on the people themselves who read this book, which is why my thoughts are subjective and neither right nor wrong, just like Theroux himself and others who read his accounts.

All of the above having been said, here are some of the things that I did question about Theroux’s judgements on what he and others may find problematic about Africa. One of the issues Theroux brings up frequently throughout his book is that of the aid programs in Africa which are monuments to European and American failure. (I did not put that phrase in quotes, because I cannot remember if those are his words or mine, but that is the implication that I got from Theroux when I read his accounts.) He rants and makes sardonic comments about aid workers in “white cars playing loud music” who don’t offer to give him rides. (He mentions this a couple of times when encountering other white travelers from Europe or America.) Theroux talks about the failure of aid programs as though he is an authority; however, unless he brings it up later in the book, which I only got through half, I don’t believe he ever mentions even visiting one of the aid projects or program offices.

Another thing that stood out to me was the text Theroux uses to try to convey the tone and pronunciation of the way someone from Egypt or the Sudan would talk to him. For instance, if someone said “There is no work here,” the text Theroux would provide to the reader would be something like this: Dey eez nuh wuk heah. (That is my best attempt to give an example since I do not have the book here in front of me to transcribe exactly as it is written; that is just my recall.) I made a connection to how Europeans and Americans perceive people from Africa based on the communication delivery and grasp of English language when I met a young man from Ghana who is living in Siena to finish earning his master’s degree. He specializes currently in the study of the trend of using Pidgin English in Ghana and how he believes it is compromising the official standard English among students there. He expressed to me that he feels it is lowering the intellectual potential of Ghanian students who use Pidgin English shortcuts to avoid the grammatical constructions of standard English.

I wish I could have gotten further with the book, and I may continue to read it and maybe finish it at a later time, but one quote that stood out to me was the expression “not yet” which I came across while reading. It made me think of a scene in the film Gladiator when the supporting character, played by Djimon Hounsou who portrays a hunter from Africa, tells the main protagonist, played by Russell Crowe, that Crowe’s character will see his family again in the afterlife but “not yet.” I feel like this has been a running theme for Africa, in general, for the centuries of colonization and imperialism it has endured. It has so much potential with the mineral resources, the vastness of the continent, and the intelligent minds that have emerged from there, such as the young man I met while in Siena. Perhaps one day Africa will have its time to flip the script on the western civilizations that have colonized it for centuries and emerge as a superpower in its own right but not yet, it seems...not yet. 

The Parthenon

On a previous memoir that I wrote describing my weekend experience in Athens, I mentioned that my visit to the Parthenon merited a write-up of its own. I wanted to write about all of the ways I connected with this structure honoring an ancient culture which represented the power of the people but also how reflecting on its history could bring up memories of rivalry and love which would never be fully realized and only remembered for what it could have been. The Parthenon is a monument to remember not what it was but what it could have been.

It was a monument to Athena, to Athenians, to democracy, and in my opinion, it was a monument to love. Pericles loved his city of Athens. He commissioned the building of the Parthenon not only to honor Athena, as popularly thought, but as a tribute to the people of Athens; to honor the power of the people. Athens was a democratic city and is widely considered to be the cradle of democracy. After all, the word “democracy” is based on the Greek words “dēmos” (common people) and “kratos” (power).

The monument is also a reflection of rivalry. There was a rivalry between the two Greek gods, Athena and Poseidon, both of whom desired the city. The competition to settle who would lay claim to it was held on the rocky outcrop where the Parthenon was built. They both offered gifts. Poseidon struck a rock causing a geyser of salt water to gush out, but Athena offered an olive branch, which was received more favorably, because the olive branch is a promise of peace. Therefore, she laid claim to the city; hence the name “Athens.” Athena is the goddess of wisdom, intellect, war, and peace. She desires peace first but will wreck vengeful havoc on any who cross her. (She once turned an Athenian woman who boasted of her weaving skills into a spider!)

Later on, there was a rivalry between Athens and its neighboring Greek city-state, Sparta, incited by The Delian League, a financial organization that was supposed to be neutral, but a lot of its funds went toward Athenian projects. Eventually this rivalry lead to the Peloponnesian War, which Pericles died at the beginning of, and the full completion of the beloved Parthenon he had envisioned was never seen.

There is a lot of the unknown which comes to mind when observing and studying the Acropolis. Did Pericles use funds from The Delian League to build the Parthenon? Did he take from something that was not actually his or his city’s in order to sponsor this great project that would later be a credit to him and to his city? Was this monument, which was intended to be a tribute to democratic fair society, actually built in the beginning with misappropriated funds? Does it have its historical roots in corruption? Can we still admire what it meant to represent — democracy, strength, and power of the people — in spite of the possible corruption?

Millions of people go to visit the Parthenon every year. Why? Is it to admire a beautiful structure? It is not actually that beautiful of a structure. It might have been and most likely would have been, but right now it is faded and in decay and rubble. In all likelihood, it began with corruption and ended due to war. It is a monument that represents, in addition to aforementioned attributes, unfinished business. The people gave up and lost heart. It is an unfinished work of love.

A metaphorical allegory...

There was a woman with a love story inside of her that was left unfinished. Her own inner Parthenon. She once met a man who might have been her counterpoint. There was a stimulating rivalry between them with palpable tension. And then there was deception and betrayal and then eventually a cold war. Her rival, her Poseidon, walked away out of fear that he would lose the competition and when he could not have her, he tried to destroy her. He struck his trident and spewed a great torrent of distorted truths and outright lies into the community in which they both shared with the intent of drowning her reputation. His aim was to isolate her and effectually protect himself.

Now her temple is in shambles, half standing and half destroyed, but still there. It might’ve been spectacular. No one will come to gaze at her monument and say “I see what you might have been. I can imagine the possibilities. I know the truth, and I still think your story is beautiful. You are beautiful. You are Athena. Goddess of victory and wisdom and peace and gifts.” The spectators of this continuing battle do not know the truth: that she sought peace with her rival and if they could not have love, they could find compromise. He refused to settle for compromise and friendship and instead, he became her enemy. And unlike Athena, she was not able to win over the community of the city that she loved; the community that had at first welcomed her with hospitality and opportunity. It rejected her olive branch of peace and sincere goodwill in favor of his salty lies and manipulative charisma.

A monument is a memory. Love and hate are each built by memory, in small persistent ways. After our first vision of them, and with every subsequent encounter, the persons we care for become composite beings, altered by every interaction as it comes so that they really exist less in the present than in the past, and are embodiments not only of their own but also of our departed days: the nuances of them, from our perspective, are all the occasions, mostly lost in the past and perhaps forgotten, in which our lives were joined, however briefly. The person we love (or hate) now, isn’t the person they are in the present, but the person that they were then. If they walked away from a love that could have been spectacular, then all that is left is an unfinished monument in our hearts that no one visits but ourselves alone. It exists only in the memory of those who contributed to building it.

Athens

While studying abroad in Italy, I was determined to visit at least one other country nearby. Before departing the United States, I called my bank to put a travel alert on about half a dozen countries - Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic - not knowing which ones I’d possibly have the opportunity to see. I ended up visiting Athens, Greece and Lugano, Switzerland. While Lugano was lovely (despite the rainy weather,) I have to say that my experience in Athens made more of an impact on me.

Before choosing Athens, I had been deep in study about the ancient civilizations of the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Romans. I have long been intrigued by Greek culture, particularly of the Classical Age, because of my studies of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. While Rome is connected to my Italian ancestry, I learned how much Rome was influenced by the culture, art, and architecture of the Greeks, and even absorbed it into its own. I studied the timelines of Greece and the important events that occurred within each major age: the Bronze Age, the Heroic Age, the Archaic Period, and the Classical Period. I saw pictures of important ancient artifacts and sculptures, such as the Calf-Bearer and the Kritios Boy, the latter of which is significant as a transitional piece between the Archaic and Classical Periods. Both of these sculptures were contained at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. I wanted to see them for myself.

The night before flying out from Rome, I took a cab from my hostel to get my first look of the Colosseum. I felt sure that I would be coming back to Rome for a longer visit later but due to the unknown circumstances that life can bring, I wanted to seize the opportunity to get a quick look at it that night. I walked around its entirety, peeked through the gate to get a glimpse of the inside and as I laid my hand on its ancient stone, I promised myself I would be coming back.

My flight on Aegean Air was pleasant, and the view of the sparkling Aegean Sea outside of my window was stunning. As soon as I landed at the Athens airport, I took a shuttle to get to the neighborhood where my hotel, the Royal Olympic, was located. I walked past the entrance to the park which contained the Temple of Olympian Zeus and shortly after that, I saw the directional sign to the Acropolis. I quickened my stride so that I could get to my hotel sooner in order to drop off my bag and get to exploring.

My hotel, which I had gotten for an inexpensive online rate, was beautiful and elegant. I dropped my bag off in my room and immediately went back out to head towards the Acropolis. As I walked up the hill towards the ancient citadel, I passed some Jehovah's Witnesses. (I saw them in just about every major city I visited.) The two ladies were standing by a cart full of magazines and booklets. They made me think about the Apostle Paul from the Bible and his travels around Greece, including Athens. I imagined him in his ancient world, when the worship of different gods imbued every part of an active Greek's life, and how it must have taken him so much courage to persuade people to take notice of and worship Jehovah, the living God. I wondered if he might've stood near the same path that I was walking on, vigorously trying to talk to people as they were on their way to these great temples which are still visible today.

I also passed by vendors selling roasted chestnuts, corn, and other foods. It was the time of day when the sun was on the verge of setting so there was a rich golden glow on everything. One of the things that struck me the most was a unique scent which I could not place but was fascinated by. It was spicy and herbaceous and reminded me of incense. (I would find out later that it was a type of yellow flower which grew around the area at the base of the citadel hill.)

When I first caught sight of the Parthenon on top of the rocky outcrop which is the site of the Acropolis, my heart jumped and I felt a sudden tingle of excitement. (My experience at the Parthenon itself merited its own blog.) This place crackles with energy and overwhelms the senses. I walked up the meandering path surrounded by trees, shrubs, sandstone and marl, walking quickly with anticipation but slowly enough to absorb all of the sights, sounds, and smells. I arrived close to the top and stopped at the gate short of breath after the hike up.

Unfortunately, I had just missed the last admission, and they were not letting anyone else in due to time of closing. I was disappointed, but I knew I would be coming back the next morning and decided to continue to explore. I went back down the hill, bought a roasted corn on the cob off a grill from a vendor, and made my way to the Acropolis Museum to see some ancient works of art that had been found in and around the vicinity of the ancient wonder on top of that rocky hill. I saw pieces dating from the beginning of the Bronze Age to the Classical Age, including the Calf-Bearer and the Kritios Boy. I saw busts of the various Greek gods and goddesses of mythology: Athena, Poseidon, Dionysus and others. Those three are probably my favorites. I relate to Athena the most as she personifies victory, courage, the arts, literature and intellectual activity, and because she is represented by an olive tree and an owl. (I used to have a pet owl when I was younger, and I also love olives.) Poseidon is intriguing because he is the god of the sea and protector of water, and who wouldn't love the ultimate party god Dionysus, the good-natured purveyor of wine, theater and festivity? I probably spent three hours in the museum taking my time looking at and reading everything I could.

After visiting the museum, I went to have dinner at an outdoor bistro at the base of the Acropolis with my table in between a flaming fire and some green ivy. I sipped on crisp local white wine and made a silent toast to the glowing Parthenon on the hill, and after I finished my dolmadakia and grilled octopus, I decided to go take a little walk around Plaka, the oldest neighborhood in Athens.

Plaka is a charming maze of narrow streets, glowing lamps, and outdoor cafes at every turn. Sometimes I passed under a canopy of vines overhead which connected buildings on either side of the street. I browsed a shop that was being managed by a charismatic middle-aged man named Ares (like the god of war), and he taught me a trick for how to remember the Greek word for “thank you,” which is “efcharistó" pronounced “eff-carry-sto.” He told me to just think “eff, I can’t remember…” and that it might help. (It did!) I also learned and remembered how to write the word “city” in Greek (πόλη).

After a lively conversation with Ares (who also goes by the name of Harry), I bought some jewelry for my mom and sisters and started to make my way towards a little tavern frequented by the Plaka locals which Ares recommended, but I changed my mind when I realized it would be more challenging than I’d thought it would be to find it, and it was starting to rain. I turned back and settled at a tavern outside underneath some trees with a little water garden next to it and had some chilled ouzo, then a baklava, and finally an espresso as I listened to ambient Greek music. A calico cat with a big fluffy tail climbed out of a tree nearby and scampered past me. (A tip to keep in mind: chilled ouzo is better recommended as an aperitif to have BEFORE dinner, preferably something that is seafood. I knew about that but preferred wine at the time.)

On the way out of Plaka, I stopped at the gate of the Temple of Zeus and reflected in tranquil solitude at those ancient ruins. When I got back to my hotel, I went up to the rooftop garden and spent the rest of my night sitting by a roaring fireplace drinking two snifter glasses of Metaxa (a Greek spirit of brandy blended with natural flavors and muscat wine from the Aegean Islands) and gazed out at the rain, alternating my view between the softly lit ruins of the Temple of Zeus just outside to my right and the mysterious Parthenon on the hill (which I still had to look forward to visiting the next morning) on my left. After going up to my room and taking a hot bath (my first in more than a month after sharing a community shower with lukewarm water at my apartment in Siena), I sat naked outside on my tiny private balcony, privately surveying the city lights and traffic below me while I thought about the experiences I'd had so far. I had walked the paths of ancient Greeks and connected on a deeply personal level with this city that had contributed so much to world culture. It was one of the most sensory and profound weekends I’d had in a long time; maybe one of the best in my life.

Efcharistó, Athens.

The Parthenon!

Dionysus Theater

Temple of Athena

These smelled like spicy herbaceous incense all around the Acropolis.

Roasted corn...nom nom nom

Outside Dionysus Theater

One of the most important sculptures:  The Kritios Boy

Met a local Greek named Ares (aka Harry)

Greek dinner at a tavern below the Acropolis

Baklava and espresso

Chilled ouzo after dinner

Walking around Plaka, oldest quarter in Athens

A snifter of Metaxa, a Greek liqueur similar to brandy

Religious vs. Temporal Institutions: History of Santa Maria della Scala Hospital

One of the most important establishments to visit in Siena is Santa Maria della Scala, once an ancient hospital and one of the oldest in Europe. The history of the hospital is certainly one of “hospitality”: the institution not only cared for the sick but also for the poor, for abandoned children, and for traveling pilgrims needing a place to stay. The hospital was also a storage place for food in the city of Siena, and currently it houses important art from medieval artists which are available for the public to go and view. By looking at these works of art, for instance Birth of the Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti and Betrothal of the Virgin by Simone Martini which depict religious scenes, one can get a sense of the religious institution’s influence over the hospital at the time which also impacted Christian culture for a long time after with the exception of Jehovah’s Witnesses and other evangelists. The hospital has a complicated history of being in between the spiritual and temporal institutions both of which vied for control of this establishment.

Ancient hospitals were often used to house foreigners. Santa Maria della Scala was well known during medieval times for housing pilgrims. In Siena, this was due to two reasons: 1) It was geographical. Siena was on the route for Christian pilgrimages on the way to visit the “holy land.” The route was London-Westminster Abbey to Paris to Luca to Siena and then to Rome. 2) In the 1300s, Pope Boniface established holy land (in Rome) which helped the institution of the hospital. By curing the pilgrim, it was considered to be the same as curing Christ. So in a sense, they were helping themselves by helping the pilgrim who was viewed as a “poor Christ.” By the 16th century, the pilgrim is seen as just a person who wanders and not a normal person.

Santa Maria della Scala was at the center of economy. The hospital acquired wealth due to 1) the dean of the hospital and people who worked in the hospital administration, and 2) everyone had to give responsibilities to the hospital, including inheritances. The same thing happened to the monasteries. This turned out useful when the food shortages came. The city forced the hospital to sell food at certain prices. The hospital received its primary financial assistance from the donations of the wealthy (Baron).

Other duties of the hospital were to take care of abandoned children. Families were actually encouraged to give their children to the hospital due to social and economic reasons. The year during which the last child was recorded to have been abandoned was 1889. Girls in the countryside were paid to breastfeed the children. Then the children returned and were trained to work in artisan shops. Children (girls) were also sent to the hospital to work on textiles. The hospital would give money to the girls so they could get married. In Siena (and other cities), abandoned children would take the surname of the hospital (“della Scala.”)

“Della Scala” didn’t appear until around the 14th century. It is a fashion to describe the narrative of the changing of the times. At the time, the concept was to be complete. So when things were lacking, there were fantasies of the completion of things. It helps to picture life within the hospital. In the 15th century, there was a moment when the administration of the hospital fell into the administration of the city. A bishop tried to extend spiritual assistance into the hospital. The city did not want influence from the church and therefore the hospital became autonomous. In the 18th century, during the Enlightenment, there were radical changes in how people began to see medicine. At Santa Maria della Scala, there were different medical cultures. It was one of the first places to try a medical vaccine: inserted small pox vaccine.

For the purposes of analyzing a civic institution which benefits a fundamentally diverse public, such as a non-profit religious hospital, Santa Maria della Scala is an interesting early example of both the benefits and controversy of not having separation of church and state. As shown by previous examples in this essay, the philanthropic mission of Santa Maria della Scala was to provide hospitality to the poor and needy as well as to further the advancement of medical technology. The emperor of the 15th century was astonished by the technology available to help sick people at Santa Maria della Scala.

The world’s largest non-government provider of medical and healthcare services is the Roman Catholic Church which has some 18,000 clinics, 16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs, and 5,500 hospitals, with 65 percent of them located in developing countries (Agnew). There is no doubt that millions of people around the world since ancient times have benefited from these medical institutions with Santa Maria della Scala hospital being one of the earlier examples. However, there also controversial issues which arise from a powerful religious organization having control over a medical institution providing care to a complex and diverse community with fundamentally different views, beliefs, and values.

At the beginning, charity and healing were the priorities of the institutions but with the influence of the Church, medical advances and progress had to subordinate to the doctrines and dictates of the religious order. For example, because of the sanctity of life views of the Catholic Church, in vitro fertilization (IVF), which is used to treat genetic problems and assist with conception, is a controversial issue due to the series of complex procedures which destroy embryos. In 2012, President Obama received scrutiny due to his announcement that his administration would require religious institutions like hospitals and universities to provide coverage for contraceptives in employee health plans. Obama’s mandate would not have required employers at houses of worship to provide their employees with contraceptives, but his announcement sparked a firestorm in different religious communities, pitting freedom of religion against the separation of church and state. Obama has since said that he and his advisers are looking for ways to make the new requirements “more palatable” to religious institutions (O’Claire).

When evaluating the history and evolvement of Santa Maria della Scala from a religious establishment to a public institution independent from the Church, one can use it as a model to analyze against current medical institutions with religious leadership to see how the institutions can be leaders in medical advancement and philanthropy but also as a hindrance to medical progress if subdued by religious influence. On the flip side, there are also foreseeable problems when the federal government or state forces laws on someone trying to abide by spiritual principles, for instance, if a doctor or nurse is forced to perform an abortion or blood transfusion which transgresses against their deeply held beliefs due to a spiritually cultivated and trained conscience regarding the sanctity and value of human life.

Works Cited

Baron, J. H. "The Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, 1090-1990." BMJ 301 (1990): 1449-1451

O’Claire, Sandra. “Should Catholic and Other Religious Institutions Have to Cover Birth Control?” U.S. News. 9 February 2012. Web.

Agnew, John. "Deus Vult: The Geopolitics of Catholic Church". Geopolitics. 12 February 2010. Web.