Similarities

September 16, 2008

I have tired to find connections between the US and India.  It is obvious that the US has influenced the Indian economy and media.  Every time we go into the city we drive past countless American restaurants (Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds, Baskin Robins and more) and American based companies (Ford, Dell, ATT and more).  As we drive down the road a familiar song begins to play on the radio.  I guess that I didn’t expect to hear “Backstreet’s Back” while in India.  What else do we have in common?  On a more serious note…The United States and India have similar problems.  Our problems may be on a much smaller scale, but they are very similar.  India is 1/5 the size of the US in land but has about 4 times as many people.  We share many of the same problems: Environmental and noise pollution, violence, war, discrimination (racial, class, caste, sexual), corruption in government, lack of jobs, rising cost of living, homelessness, high cost of health care, sickness, lack of educational funding, dietary concerns, drug abuse and more.  Perhaps we are not that different.  The problems we face are similar.  Thinking about them makes the world seem a little bit smaller.  I wish that I could change the way things are in both countries but I am just one person.  I believe in helping when I can but should I help people abroad when we have the same problems at home?  Who do we?  I wonder what the solution could be.  Perhaps we will never really know.