Individualism vs. Politics

I don't generally consider myself an activist of any kind, and politically, I certainly am opinionated but I haven't quite figured out what camp I belong to, although I'm sure other people would class me as liberal or even radical. I operate as my heart and mind see fit.

Anyway, day 2 of the cruise, we docked at Nassau, Bahamas. I was eager to get off and go exploring, without the help of Carnival's Keep-the-White-People-Safe shore excursions. My mom, who I have to realize is getting much older as far as activity levels are concerned, hobbled along the intimate and dusty streets, leery of any person who approached her to solicit their tours.

I have never understood my mother's approach to other people. She manages to be simultaneously friendly, rude, ignorant, and patronizing in any given situation. What irks me in particular is how she bargains. There is nothing wrong inherently with bargaining, but she starts off assuming all are crooks, and tries to undercut the prices of everything, and doesn't do it in style. If she doesn't like the price of something, she'll be mad rude and just walk away, carrying and expression of pure insult.

What got me mad was when I was buying a hand crafted toy turtle, from a Haitian woman. My mom knows they're Haitian and rather than simply taking the $5 price for them--which I felt was perfectly reasonable--she tried to get me to bargain down to $3. Why? Was I really that strapped for cash that I couldn't just help this woman sell her wares? Same thing with the conch I bought later. These kids were selling conchs for $5 and she tried to bargain down to $2! The last straw was a bottle of Bacardi Breezer. She was dismissive of the $2 price tag--"If it was $1 I would've bought one." Um, in what universe would it cost $1 for a bottle of alcohol?

It's like she doesn't get that people have to pay bills. They're all trying to simply steal from tourists. At the same time, she outright blames the local people for their economic misfortune. In an argument with a local Bahamian, my mom told us to stop blaming other people (the US) for misfortune. Stop trying to talk about import taxes and government corruption--if local Bahamians wanted to make money, they could. They just don't work hard enough. Oh is that so. So when you, dear mom, try to bargain down a price to the point where the person might be selling it to you at a loss, that's really supporting their ability to be self-sufficient. They're all crooks, but don't work hard enough as crooks.

That's what I mean about politics. I don't consider myself political necessarily but I don't like being hypocritical or contradictory. Actions should match words. If we live in a selfish, individualistic world, then how can we ever stand up against a steamroller like the US?

My mom would benefit from remembering the national motto of Haiti--"l'union fait la force" (Strength in Unity).



- Posted using BlogPress