Advice for Gen Z: Avoid Cocaine and Learn to Sew – UnHerd
October 18 | Posted by mrossol | Critical Thinking, Interesting, PhilosophyThere are more than a dozen pieces of advice [I would say some of the advice should be avoided at all costs] given in this article, but I share what I think is the best. mrossol
October 18, 2024. Source: Advice for Gen Z: avoid cocaine and learn to sew – UnHerd
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Writer and Activist
In 1997, I was in university. On the summer break some Dutch friends and I settled on going to the Gambia and Senegal. I remember early discussions about appropriate behaviour; how to deal with risk; did we read the relevant sections of the Lonely Planet? They were white, wealthy and young. None of them had visited a developing country. Inevitably, they were shocked by the heat, the chaos, noise, filth and constant warnings of theft and robbery.
Dirty toilets, swarms of flies everywhere, the smell of cooking food in the air was mingled with odours of decaying trash and wafts of open sewers. The only thing that seemed to cause excitement was the white tourists who were pestered by hordes of young men peddling useless items as souvenirs. None of this was new for me. Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are full of scenes like that. It is daily life for millions of Africans.
I watched my young friends transform from rosy-eyed adventure seekers to ill-tempered complainers.
It was interesting to watch my friends from the very wealthy Netherlands not only survive in Africa but also to hold heated debates about the IQ of the locals and the role colonialism played there. They were strangely ignorant when they arrived, but in a way it was refreshing to hear them acknowledge that the poverty and discomfort they witnessed were the products of culture. They left with an awakened awareness of difference, and a fresh understanding of how lucky they were to have been born in a culture that generated wealth and comfort, and respected human integrity. So take a Lonely Planet trip to Africa and have your eyes opened.
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