Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Confessions of a Martian Pt. 3

"..I can mingle with the stars.. and throw a party on Mars.."

..The Martian is back, lol.

As you all know I am currently living in Liberia, a country so vastly different from the nation of my birth that I might as well be on fucking Mars.

Liberia is such a unique country in Africa because its' history is intertwined with the United States . Liberia was founded by expatriate freed American slaves; the name Liberia itself denotes 'liberty'. It is the only country in West Africa without roots in European colonialism, and its government is based on that of the United States. The freed slaves were also responsible for the creation of a new ethnicity, 'Americo-Liberian'. This, however, is where the similarities stop.

Fourteen years of civil strife demolished the tiny West African nation. The war is known for its sheer brutality and destruction of infrastructure. War lords were unmerciful and showed no remorse as they killed hundreds of thousands of people (look up General Butt-Naked on wikipedia - seriously, do it, it will give you an idea of how crazy this war was). Child-Boy units of soldiers, some no older than 13, roamed the streets, murdering, pillaging, and raping. Liberia was in a state of mayhem and anarchy for over a decade. The war ended in 2003 and Liberia has been struggling to find peace, stability, and economic growth ever since.

The nation has been on a gradual path to prosperity, and the election of the first female African president brought hope to a nation where the will and spirit of the people had been crushed by prolonged conflict. Coming here for the first time, being able to interact with the Liberians, and hear their stories was incredible. I was amazed at how optimistic people were for their country. I though hopelessness and despair would describe the mind of the people, it was refreshing to hear that they were all very positive. Still, the war manifests itself in the mindstate of the people in a different manner; a mindstate so prevalent that it would be impossible not to notice it. I am going to use a simple story, just happened to me the other day, to give you an example of what I mean..

See when I walk out on the streets here I really am a fucking Martian. Even though I'm black, Africans can tell when you aren't African, and it doesn't help that I am walking out of a gate with a big United States emblem on it. The other day I decided to venture out, I needed a phone card because I wanted to call my girl (it only costs like 10 cents a minute here to call the U.S.). Of course soon as I start walking, I see a man see me and his eyes light up. He was a beggar, and I was a potential client. He started following me and talking to me in Liberian English (broken English, their 'slang' version of English). Since I don't have it in me to be rude, I chatted him up, asked him where the nearest place I could get a phone card was. As he led me, he went on and on about how he is struggling, his parents died in the war, that he has been saved by Christ.. it was pretty much going in one ear out the other. I just wanted him to hurry up and show me the place so I could be on my way. Too bad even when we got to the place he kept following me, waited until I bought my phone card, and kept walking with me home. He started to act like he could draw, claiming he went to school, and drawing me these lame-ass stick figures on a piece of paper that were half-ass excuses for art. At that point I had it, I looked at him and said, "Your drawing is fucking horrible, so stop it. You don't have to fake like you can do some shit you can't just to get some money. You were giving me your sob stories, and I know you want some money. I plan on giving you some money, but you need to get a fucking job. Your struggling because you refuse to work; you wouldn't need to beg for money if you worked for it." Of course, he claims he has tried, that he can't find one. I know that's bullshit so I kept chastising him, and when I finally got to the gate I gave him five bucks. He was jumping for joy.

Thing is you would think I'd feel good about helping out the less fortunate. But you don't; he is not going to try and get a job and me giving him money is just encouraging him to keep begging for a living. Beggars are typical in third world countries, and Liberia is no different. Where Liberia is different is that a "beggars mentality" is characteristic of a whole generation. Just the next day, one my of guards that I play ball with, just about my age, hit me with another sob story about how his mother is sick and he needs $40-$50 to help her. I am an easy target because I entertain that bullshit because it is in my nature to always hear someone out, even though I know good and well that my guards' mother is definitely not sick. The way they prey on kindness and generosity is sickening.

A whole generation of people were wiped out by this war. If you were born in the 1980s, and stayed in Liberia, your whole life was defined by war. There was no education and you had two options - join the fighting, get what you could from your leaders, and steal the rest to survive - or you could run, jumping from camp to camp, taking advantage of all the goods international NGOs provided for your survival. The common denominator in both cases, is that nobody was working for an honest buck, and working for a living. What's left is a nation of ex-combatants, and ex-refugees who refuse to progress and learn how to make a living. They would just rather beg, because since you got it, they feel that you are entitled to help them. It's insanity.

I used to complain so much about all the house servants that we had. They refuse to let you do anything for yourself. I didn't need them, and I didn't want to get used to someone doing everything for me that I should be doing for myself. Shit, I just graduated from school, I am about to be back in the States where I am going to have to do everything for myself anyway; I can't have them being responsible for making me lazy. It hurt their feelings to know that I felt that way. Now, I don't give a fuck. I let them do everything. At least they are working for a living, trying to do their jobs as well as possible - as opposed to begging, and stealing everything they get. You really learn to appreciate something as simple as someone working hard for a living once you bear witness to the mentality of most of the people around here.

I probably will never stop entertaining their bullshit, and they will continue to prey on my kindness. It is just apart of who I am, if you need it more than I do, I try to find a way to give it to you. Though I hope one day, for the sake of the country, that the mentality no longer exists. Speaking to a Liberian the other day, he called it a 'disease', and it truly is. A 'disease', which will take another generation to cure.

..A truly interesting social dynamic, brought to you straight from the eyes of an alien.. until next time earthlings. I'm signing out.

The Martian

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