Week 3: The Blight of Western Consumerism

Tuesday, September 18 – Monday, September 24

First of all, my apologies go out for not getting this blog up earlier. It is a testament to my new lifestyle, which usually consists of an uncontrollable feeling of tiredness which sweeps over me around 10 o’clock, making any sort of activity after this time nearly impossible. I think I underestimated the amount of energy and brainpower it takes to speak, listen to, write, and take classes in a foreign language. My college days of staying up until 2am without even blinking an eye are definitely over! In fact, my weekday routine is very reminiscing of my high school days: wake up early to get ready for school; sit in classes from about 9am – 4pm (without really too much movement in-between); return home to my family to do homework, eat dinner, and watch some television; and, of course, hit the hay early. Nine hours of sleep per night certainly has its perks!

Second, I’d like to send out a quick thank you to everybody for the happy birthday wishes. On the 18^th, I celebrated #22 and had a very enjoyable day!

Speaking of lifestyle, another theme that popped out at me over the past week was the way Western consumerism, driven of course by the United States, has impacted Ecuadorian culture in the bigger cities such as Quito and Guayquil. It is important to note that when I speak of this phenomenon, it does not apply to the greater Ecuadorian culture- I have been told and briefly witnessed the stark cultural differences that exist between urban and rural areas. Another important disclaimer to make is that when we talk about culture, the generalized statements we make surely do not imply to ever person participating in that dominant culture- there are always exceptions or varying degrees no matter the country.

Contrary to many assumptions that people may have about third-world (or developing) countries such as Ecuador, very modern cities do exist within them. Quito, with a population just short of 2 million, is a great example of such a city. For a city about 20 times as long as it is wide, the bus system is can be a bit confusing to the foreigner, but once known it is undeniably easier and more efficient to navigate than Minneapolis’ public transit system. State-of-the-art hotels, centros comerciales (malls), restaurants, and cars can bring you back for a moment to that familiar American luxury. The presence of multi-national corporations such as KFC, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, and Ralph Lauren, just to name a few, is having an effect on the way Ecuadorians consume. In fact, when walking through one of the centros comericales the other day, I felt like I was in Ridgedale, Maplewood Mall, or Mall of America with the number of American brand-name stores present.

Ecuador’s economic emphasis on privatization and free-markets over the past decades has led to the presence of a number of Ecuadorian-born corporate giants a well. For example, there are 4 major banks in Ecuador that control over 50% of the credit market yet only compose 8% of all banks in Ecuador. The result in a country with underdeveloped credit and banking regulations has been exploitation through unreasonably high interest rates, especially to the poorest of clients. Another example lies in SuperMaxi, Ecuador’s dominant supermarket chain. With this are other large retailers popping up, some argue that the infamous “Wal-Mart effect” is inevitable- meaning a lot of the small street-corner stores that make the marketplace unique will be put in jeopardy of going out of business.

Whether trends such as this are beneficial or detrimental to the economy is up for debate and not something to bore you with in this blog. However, what is interesting is how the trend of modernism, privatization, and free markets has impacted the lifestyle and culture of people living in areas of this consumerism influence. I can say this with at least some confidence because I can see how it impacts the values of my own host-family here in Ecuador. Again, I want to disclaimer that my following observations are meant to be just that- not criticisms on the way my family lives their life. In my preparation reading for living with a host family, I was given the precaution to be flexible with the set of values my family may hold and an overall more simple style of life that I was used to in America. Therefore, it has come as a surprise that the individual values held by my family have, in many ways, mirrored the values of many living in America or the rest of the ‘developed’ world.

What are these values? From my perspective, it can be a focus on consuming and owning material goods to give one’s self happiness. Or, if one gets caught in the cycle, consuming and producing can be done just for the sake of doing it. Sometimes, it’s putting things such as watching television, movies, or playing video games ahead of sharing time and conversation with family or friends. Lastly, it can be the accumulation of wealth for motives of feeling secure, powerful, or wealthy. In some way, everybody living in America or other parts of the ‘Westernized’ society has followed these values to some degree or another, not excluding me.

So how have I witnessed examples of these values here with my family in Ecuador? To start, my four-person family owns three vehicles in a city where the volume of traffic often makes it much more logical and efficient to take the bus. In my three weeks here, I’ve seen one of the cars only driven once, while the others are used more frequently. As I mentioned briefly in a previous blog, my brother is very much into racing 4-wheelers. After my father & I spent most of Saturday fixing his Susuki moto, he took it out to the rough terrain of the mountains on Sunday with a few of his friends. Before he left, I was asking him about some of the gear he was wearing. His moto: $10,000, friend’s moto: $20,000, racing boots: $500, and other gear: a couple more hundred. Finally, I would estimate that in my 3 weeks here I have watched more television than I did over the past 6 months combined (which isn’t saying much, since I rarely watch TV outside of the football and baseball season). In my house, the main TV is located in the kitchen, which also serves as the dining room. The actual dining room, which doesn’t have a TV, is usually coved with random papers and is only used for special occasions or guests. Same with the living room. When somebody is in the kitchen, the TV is always on, even as we share a meal. My host mom says it’s her companion or company, which is understandable when she’s cooking alone but hard to believe when 2 or 3 others are in the room together. Besides in the kitchen, I believe everybody has a TV in their room. The other day for dinner, I was excited to share a dinner with my brother who is usually never around in the evening (passing time with his girlfriend). Needless to say I was disappointed when my mom brought his plate of food up to his room, as I’m guessing he was occupied with watching motocross videos on his computer.

Why has this all been so strongly brought to my attention since my time in Ecuador? A big reason is the perspective I’ve been gaining from classes- some of which have focused on the ethics and philosophy of development strategies in developing countries. It’s one thing to hear about the impact of capitalism and neoliberal thinking on developing countries when you are in the United States where this lifestyle is already dominant. It’s another thing to hear a contra-capitalism perspective in a country where this style of system hasn’t exactly worked in the past. These new perspectives on development, combined with the observations of an increasingly consumerism-based culture, have caused me to ponder the following thoughts.

In our society, are we letting the role of material things replace the role of people in our life? What does it mean when a dinner with the family is replaced by a movie, or when the potential of conversation is deterred by the constant distraction of a television? When our focus is on consumption and money, how do we set our limits? When we can afford that 4^th car, we can always find a reason for needing it. Maybe we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, what is development and its impact on our societies? Surely, in Ecuador we would like a higher quality of life for those lacking the basic necessities of food, shelter, health care, and education. At the same time, do we want the ‘need’ for material things to replace our human need for interaction and true happiness? These are some questions I’ve been provoked to thinking about and I hope you would consider doing so as well.

I would like to wrap up by making it clear that by no means has the Ecuadorian culture been assimilated into that of the United States. I simply want to make the point that no culture, no matter how different, is not sheltered from the influences of other cultures. Ecuador is a completely different in many respects, and I will continue to elaborate upon this in future posts. In fact, one example of this occurred on Sunday the 23^rd, when I had the opportunity to participate in Quito’s Ciclopaseo with my father and sister. Every other Sunday in Quito, a route of roads from north to south is completely shut off to traffic so that cyclists can enjoy the open road and all the spectacles of the city. What better way to pass a Sunday than with friends, family, and fellow residents all enjoying the diversity of the city, its high volume of interaction and activity, and the beautiful views of the Andes. Even in a metropolitan area where it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life, it is refreshing to know that so many Quitoians (not sure if that’s the proper term) take time to enjoy life and their city. Below are some photos from the journey.

On Friday the 21^st, I also got to experience another spectacle of Quito, the Telefériqo. It is a tram built up the side of the Mount Pinchincha and climbs over 1000 meters in just 10 minutes. From the top, we hiked about another 4 hours to the near summit of this mountain. The whole journey offers spectacular views of the city and of the surrounding landscape.