Traveling to Greece while Building My Worldview

I usually don't post blogs about myself. Let's be honest here, I don't care about any of your personal lives, and I know none of you care about mine. But tomorrow I'll be leaving for Greece, and I figured I could pull some progressive ideas into this personal blog. And, of course, there will be politics. Yes, lots of politics. Also, I figure that spending seven weeks in a foreign country will give me a new world perspective.

However, it turns out that there's already a lot of similarities between Greek and American politics. Perhaps I won't perceive much difference after all.

Over there, they're caught in the throes of an overly socialistic economy. Here at home, we have certain politicians who advocate nationalizing (a euphemism for socializing) health care. Not much difference after all.

Over there, Greece has similar problems as America regarding illegal immigrants. Their immigrants usually come from Turkey or Albania. A lot of them are of the Roma ethnicity, better known as "Gypsies" (though they consider that term derogatory). Like the US, Greece deports its illegal immigrants, though there have been some scandals involving mistreatment of deportees, such as cramming them into shipping containers rather than adequate jail facilities. Some would argue that while Greece treats its illegals too harshly, we in America don't treat them harshly enough. Still, not much difference after all.

And of course, Greece is the birthplace of Western civilization, while America is Western civilization's current trend setter. For instance, most of the top money-making films in Greece and around the world were filmed in America, by Americans, and with American actors. That's globalization for you, and one of it's sustaining components is the very medium we surf upon now: the Internet.

What, then, can I possibly learn by spending weeks over seas, if there is not much difference after all?

Well, for one thing, I will certainly experience firsthand the effect of not separating church and state. I know that's an oft discussed topic here on ProU, and as it turns out, many European countries have state sanctioned churches. In Greece, it's the Greek Orthodox Church. About 89% of Greeks belong to the church, which is partially supported by tax payer dollars. Something tells me that I'll notice little difference in how their government functions and their people behave.

And another new perspective: while I live in an affluent suburb outside of a major city, my family in Greece lives in a mountain village, where they take care of goats. Actually, it will probably be a welcome break from hectic American society. Greeks greatly value their leisure time, and are much more laid back about keeping appointments or adhering to a schedule. Come to think of it, that may be my favorite aspect of visiting Greece. It is an entire nation of "hakuna matata" folk.

So, while there are quite a bit of similarities between Greece and America, I think I'll experience enough differences in order to come home with a more rounded Weltanschauung.

Anyway, consider this my farewell blog, Oh, I'll be back alright, just maybe not very soon. I'll be sure to enlighten (and by enlighten I mean force my opinion upon) the rest of you as often as I can while I'm over there.