First World Entitlement, Hollywood, and Getting into Heaven

Note: These are my observations about some specific mannerisms and beliefs in Ghana. Some (though certainly not all) of them are negative. That does not mean that there are no good things about this country or its people. I'm just examining some world issues as I see them - really complex ones, without easy solutions :)

So, first of all, no, this isn't going to be a blog in which I decry everyone in the United States for being spoiled children. However, based on what I see here, we definitely take things for granted. Running water, for instance, or electricity or the stores having plentiful amounts of safe food. Everyone knows about those. But there's more. In the U.S., if a bus is coming at 10:12 AM, it will almost always be there at 10:12 AM. And if there are a lot of people waiting for that bus, you wait patiently in line, knowing that another will come at 10:18. If you sell hot dogs on the street, you know that you'll always have lots of customers, despite the hot dog vender a block away. If you get in a car accident, you know that police will be on the scene in minutes ready to fix you up, get your car out of the way, and hold the responsible driver up to the law. You know that you will be reimbursed by your health insurance and drivers insurance for damages that aren't your fault.

None of this is the case in Ghana. Here, I am frequently pushed and shoved by Ghanaians (women with babies on their backs, middle aged businessmen, children, old ladies) who want to catch the 4:00 trotro to Madina as badly as I do. I push and shove myself, or else I stand at 37 Military Station for hours until the long, long rush hour traffic dies down (you think the US has bad traffic? I can walk home faster here. All roads lead to the one main road and that road is a parking lot from 6:30-10:00 AM and 3:30-7:00 PM.

Here, I am constantly fighting off pushy (understatement) people trying to sell me blankets or soda or toys in the streets, competing with the guy two feet away selling the exact same thing, as this is one of the few jobs that you can do with little to know education.

Here, people use the vigilante culture to enforce justice, because there is not infrastructure to ensure safety, good health, and due process during all emergencies. I once rode in a trotro past the scene of a motorcycle accident. Passersby were running into the street to drag the injured man to safety, while others looked around and rolled their sleeves menacingly, searching for the hit and run driver who had hurt him. I've heard stories about drivers who hit pedestrians and are dragged from their vehicles and beaten up by bystanders as punishment. I know that if someone steals my laptop or a friend's bike on campus, I can go to the rowdy boys that live in the Commonwealth Hall and they will track that person down and beat the crap out of them.

Ghanaians take care of each other and keep each other in line, but at the same time, there is a need to push your boot off your neighbor's face in order to get ahead. There is only so much to go around here and the squeaky wheel gets the grease, etc etc. Coming from a country where there is (or, arguably, was) plenty for everyone, it's easy to see this behavior as vulgar and unmannered, especially when it comes out in little ways.

The first time I tried to get a busy tro-tro, it was funny. The 6th time, I was mad. How dare that man, twice my age, shove me into the door! Similarly, no one holds doors, gives up seats, or steps aside for others here. It's just not considered necessary manners. I'm certainly not of the camp that believes that men should always stand aside for women and push in their chairs and open their car doors. But it's noticeable that that kind of thing never happens. I believe this is the idea that you have to push to get ahead, working its way into day-to-day life. It's easy, I think, especially to foreigners, to decry the way many people here can be forceful. But if you consider their background when compared with someone in the first world, you see a need for that pushiness and putting one's self first. This is not to say that there is no room for friendliness, kindness or hospitality. On the contrary, I have seen a lot of that in Ghana, often more than in the U.S. But it's important to note that that is countered by a necessary selfishness for survival.

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Now, Hollywood. I have been to the movies twice since being here. The theatre is in a very air conditioned, very Western, very clean, and very expensive place known as the Accra Mall, about a 20 minute walk from my hostel. We go there to buy European cheese and wine, use their fancy bathrooms ("fancy bathrooms" here means that they flush and there is soap and water afterwards; if you're REALLY lucky, there is a hand dryer!), and see a movie. We do not go here to shop. I cannot understand why anyone would go here to shop, because the prices are INSANE. I bought a small carton of milk there once for 12 cedi ($8; Ghana, you should note, is not big on dairy. This milk was from South Africa). A friend looked at a purse once for 80 cedi ($60). That is crazy. I can get a purse for 3 cedi in Madina. The Accra Mall is for rich Ghanaians who want Western styles (not that overpriced traditional styles are neglected; only here you pay quadruple to purchase them in a Western setting, rather than out the window of your cab).

There is a reason the movie theatre is in the mall, and it isn't just convenience. The first movie I saw was Friends with Benefits. Stepping out of the theatre into the African sun was, honestly, depressing. I was dismayed to find myself still in Africa. In the movie, people sat on comfy couches, and went to their luxurious beach houses. They had iPads and recessed lighting and pet dogs and big kitchens. If you live in New York, the movie told the Ghanaians sitting behind us, this is where you live:

[Here I wanted to put a picture of Justin Timberlake's luxurious apartment from the movie, but I can't because, even though American audiences appreciate that it was really nice, we aren't astounded enough by it to have film stills of it on a google image search]

It's easy to see why well-to-do Ghanaians leave the theatre dissatisfied and go downstairs to buy ritzy home decor items. I certainly felt dissatisfied. It's easy to see why they play literally 20 minutes of commercials before every movie, for the people who can afford 10 cedis to see a movie and who will soon feel like they need to buy more to be happier, like Americans. It's easy to see that people think life is always better in America, so much so that easily 80% of the people I meet tell me they love America and want to go as soon as they can (plenty hoping - and asking - if I can get them there, by marrying them, or getting them a visa or whatever: "We are friends, now, right? So you will take me to your Embassy to get a visa. And they will give it to you, because we are friends." sorry lady I just met, but no.) And what do these people think they will DO when they get to America? Oh, you know, whatever. The films have them believing that you really don't have to do a whole lot once you're there to live in luxury. Mila Kunis's job seems to consist of picking JT up from the airport and then frolicking around New York with him. Justin just drinks a lot of coffee and gives a couple pep talks. I talked to the woman who did my hair, who (big shocker) wanted to be a hair stylist in New York. She said she heard that people pay a lot to get their hair done in the U.S. Certainly they do, and she was very talented, but it's clear that no one told her how much it costs to LIVE in New York. No one ever does.

The second movie I saw was Contagion. That was much better to watch, because I was not very homesick at the end of it. It was perfect for showing that in times of crisis, when our infrastructure breaks down, and first world people start dealing with the uncertainty of survival that the poorest people here deal with, we feel that push to survive at the expense of another person just as keenly, if not more so because we were ENTITLED to that vaccine, to health security and a good life, as well. It is not that Ghanaians are rude or ill-mannered. It's that they need to take what they can get, because it won't be given to them.

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Finally, getting in to heaven. I've wondered a lot about the religious fervor that Ghanaians have. A couple mornings a week I'll be woken at 6:00 (not much earlier than I get up anyhow, with this sun) by someone in a bullhorn calling us all to repent and come to a revival meeting or the Healing Jesus Crusade or to just march around speaking in tongues for a bit. I've been invited to church (which lasts anywhere from 2-6 hours, and is had several times a week) more times than I can count and it is not uncommon for be asked "Where are you from?" "How do you find Ghana?" and "Are you a Christian?" as the first three questions when you meet someone.

'But you guys all HAD a religion before!' I want to shout. 'What happened? Why would you take on the religion of a people that oppressed you for so long?' There isn't really an easy answer. I've talked about it with people studying history, and religions (granted, these were mostly white exchange students, don't have the courage to ask this of any of the Ghanaians I know). We've talked about the tradition of incorporating aspects of new religions into traditional religions, we've talked about appealing to those with power or money by worshipping with them as well as with your family (example: Sub-Saharan peoples worshiping with Muslims of North Africa for trading purposes), etc etc.

But I still feel that, for all the fervor, Christianity is still somewhat foreign. I am going totally off conjecture here, so take this all with a nice big grain of salt. People here spend a lot of time doing church-related stuff. Sometimes its humanitarian and Bible Study, but mostly its worship. A friend told me she's having trouble finding a church home here because so many of the Ghanaians are preoccupied with getting into heaven, not with building a relationship with God. Not to fault my friend, who just wanted some like-minded Christians, but this idea is distasteful to Americans, I think. Spending too much time worrying about heaven is akin to counting your presents over Christmas - you're missing the point. But I think this goes back to entitlement. Christianity has been the white man's religion for centuries. White Christians know they're good. They know they are going to heaven, no problem. They take it for granted (I'm being v. general here, bear with me). In Africa, Christianity is new, and it came with the message that Africans are inferior. God loves everyone, but you might just have to work a little harder to get Him to love you as much as He loves us. Ghanaians have to work to get into heaven, I think, as hard as they have to work to get into a Madina tro-tro at 4:00. There just won't be room for everyone.

I've been musing about these things for the last month or so and just wanted to get my thoughts into words. Let me know what you think! (International Students and friends at home both!)