Since living in Europe, many things have permanently impacted my brain and sometimes I wish I hadn’t learned them at all. In America, we are told as children that the world is compatible to us, that people are basically good, and that if you work hard, you will be rewarded. But I’ve learned that here as well as on the other side of the globe, life is hard, hope is negotiable and sometimes happiness is a luxury for only the few.
So, here are the things I wish I didn’t know:
1. How prejudiced, how racist many people are here in Europe. They see others as a Nigerian, a Turk, a Muslim, a black, a gypsy, a German, a Jew, while I see people (as I think most Americans do) as just people- with all the same needs….security, food, hope, shelter and compassion.
2. How so many people disappear- children here in Eastern Europe, backpackers and alone people in remote places- victims of organ trafficking.
3. How everything hinges on mere survival. Desperation and food, food, food.
4. How fragile our eco-system is and the importance of every person to be aware of what is really happening with our climate.
5. How much politics, the mafia, and the rich rule interaction between nations.
6. How much the media controls propaganda directed against Americans as well as restriction of information to Americans about situations in the rest of the world.
7. How many dark deeds, thoughts, and plots exist in people’s hearts that films just can’t invent.
