Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Conquering fear and ethnocentrism through world exploration rewards the traveler with
a grand and global perspective.
Read books that explain the economic and political basis of issues you've
stumbled onto in your travels. A basic understanding of the economics of
poverty, the politics of empire, and the power of corporations are life skills
that give you a foundation to better understand what you experience in your
travels. Information that mainstream media considers “subversive” won't come
to you. You need to reach out for it. h e following are a few of the topics (listed
in chronological order) that have shaped and inspired my thinking over the
years:
Bread for the World
(Arthur Simon),
Food First
(Frances Moore Lappé),
h e Origins of Totalitarianism
(Hannah Arendt),
Future in Our Hands
(Erik
Dammann),
Manufacturing Consent
(Noam Chomsky),
War Against the
Poor: Low-Intensity Confl ict and Christian Faith
( Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer),
Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with h ird World Eyes
(Robert McAfee
Brown),
h e United States of Europe
(T. R. Reid),
h e European Dream
( Jeremy Rifkin), and
h e End of Poverty
( Jef rey Sachs).
Find ways to translate your new global passions to local needs. Like the
bumper sticker says: h ink globally…act locally. Travel has taught me the
reality of homelessness. Talking with a proud and noble woman like Beatriz
in El Salvador—which does more to humanize the reality of poverty than
reading a library of great books on the subject—inspires you to action once
back home. h
inking creatively, my wife and I used our retirement savings to
