MC-DIP

An article I picked up from the Futurist magazine is fascinating. It discussed how the west can learn from developing countries with regards understanding different cultures or some people use the term intercultural understanding. It also shows that the issues of cultures were discussed greatly at the time. the world major problems such as poverty, war and hunger are inherent in the current system of world order based on nation-states and economic competition.
The authors believed that these can be solved if people know and understand one another on a global, grass-roots basis. I couldn't agree more with the author. We are still seeing these problems in this modern world and little has been done to improve the situations globally. We must strive to appreciate and understand other cultures so that we can understand and reform our own culture and use these understanding to help us with a platform from which we can see ourselves.
These concepts of culture understanding could open new vistas for all of us. The authors were astonished with the community cooperation in one of thee visit in the pacific. In Fiji, the villages’ still harvesting, drying and exporting sea cucumber to Japan and all the earnings went to the village elders for community project. This shows that collaboration rather than competition makes more available to everyone.
The authors also discussed the option for our future. "The idea that land is something that can be owned by an individual is almost unique to Western culture". For example, the Australian aborigines have no concept of land ownership. they are owned by the land. The land is also a holy place and the spirits of their ancestors.
We have the opportunity to design our own future and we must find a way to escape the norm and biases that inherent in our current culture and open our eyes to the options for a more positive future.