Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Travelers recognize that the results of an election here in the US can have a greater im-
pact on poor people half a world away than it does on middle-class American voters. My
travels have taught me that you don't want to be really rich in a terribly poor world. With
this in mind, I think of it not as noble or heroic, but simply pragmatic to bring a compas-
sion for the needy along with me into the voting booth. I like to say (naively, I know) that
if every American were required to travel abroad before voting, the US would fit more
comfortably into this ever-smaller planet.
Once you've met these girls living on a garbage dump in El Salvador, it's hard not to
take them along when you enter the voting booth.
Share lessons, expect more from your friends, and don't be afraid to ruin dinners by
bringing up uncomfortable realities. In a land where the afflicted and the comfortable are
kept in different corners, people who connect those two worlds are doing everyone a ser-
vice. Afflict the comfortable in order to comfort the afflicted. By saying things that upset
people so they can declare they'd fight and die for my right to be so stupid, I feel I'm con-
tributing to the fabric of our democracy.
Get involved. After observing alarming trends in other countries, it's easier to ex-
trapolate and appreciate where small developments in our own society may ultimately
