- Why do Americans shoot each other?
- Why do Americans hate each other so much?
- How can your president not believe in climate change?
- Why are Americans so fat and greedy?
- Most Americans hate muslims, too? Right?
- Why do people protest so much?
- What do you think of Trump and why cannot Obama just be president again?
Most Fijian citizens have not been outside of Fiji, and often have never been outside of their own villages or corridor of their island. There is a long history of hatred between the Itaukei ethnicity (people who have lived in Fiji for a very long time) and Indo-Fijian ethnicity. The Indo-Fijians were typically brought over from India through indentured servitude during the times of colonialism. Most of the Itaukei race considers themselves to be Christian, while the Indo-Fijian race is much more diverse with people who are Christian, Hindi and Muslim. There is a lot of stereotyping and negative history between both ethnicity. There is also a lot of tolerance and love.
Fiji has around 900,000 people, whereas, the United States of America has a population of over 325 million. That is almost 325 times the size of Fiji. The entire country of Fiji is slightly smaller than New Jersey (http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Geography/Area/Comparative). Fiji has no guns, with the major exception of the Army and Navy. The police do not even carry guns! There are villages in Fiji, literally being forced to move because of climate change. Their homes being washed away with the incoming and ever-rising ocean tides. In fact, there are entire islands of Fiji that are disappearing. So I can see how it is difficult to understand that there are people who do not believe in climate change.
The Fijian government is complicated and based on the British system, but they also have the chiefly system, too. From what I understand, there is both a President and Prime Minister. They also have the Ministry of Itaukei Affairs, which represents the chiefly system. Each village is part of a family, clan and land. Fijian culture dictates a lot of sharing. Many times, the family systems will share wealth; some families still live entirely off the land. There are less costs here. Most people do not drive or own a car. Family houses can get handed down or they buy them piece by piece, literally. I have had several conversations about how the "story of the girl who goes to work in home healthcare in the USA and sends back millions of dollars back home" is not actually applicable. After all, I worked in healthcare all through college and could rarely make ends meet. It is difficult to understand a lifestyle that you have never been a part of, but what keeps me here is those who try. The internet is new, and while the younger generation is being inundated with westernized lifestyles, there are parts of Fiji that still have zero signal for cell phone service.
With this being said, these questions are very rarely said in a negative tone. It is very difficult to understand a life outside of your own when you have never traveled. In fact, this is just as true with many of the people in the United States! I have learned that when someone believes they are right, they will often act passionately on these subjects. Opinions and beliefs are rarely a facts, but this idea of "righteous indignation" can often cause the uncompromising differences and unwillingness to be empathetic. I give up a lot of my culture as an American to assimilate into Fijian lifestyle. Although, I believe this has fluctuated over my two years of service.
I'm at a place right now with the relationships and rapport that I have built in my village, where I am comfortable asking them to meet me in the middle on some things. I do not feel like I have to give up all of my culture in order to be accepted. I feel like I can speak my mind and people will truly listen. Even though "hearing what you want to hear" happens everywhere in the world, including Fiji. But, at the beginning, I felt like I was more "Fijian" than American.
The USA is seen as a role-model for other countries. When these things horrible happen, people do not understand how a country that is "supposed to have it together" can have such horrible things happen. When I am asked these questions, I remind them that as much diversity and difference in beliefs that there is in Fiji, there is 325 times that in the United States. That citizens from the US walk all sorts of different paths and it is a much bigger place. Part of the beauty of the US is that there is so much diversity and differences, but the downside is the bigger proportion of hate and violence. However, I cannot answer every question. It's a lot about statistics and probability. The more people there are, then the more likely things are to happen. Just like sometimes in Fiji, the people with more limited access to the outside world are the ones who are the last to accept new changes and they are seen as intolerant; it is the same in the USA.
What kills me, is when the primary school children or my students ask these things. It is so sad. I do not have all the answers. But, I find that it is inspiring that people are fighting for what they believe is right. I do not know why people shoot each other, other than to stress the importance of mental healthcare and tolerance. I do not understand why there is so much hate, other than the fact that there are many more people in the US. I do not have a good enough answer. All I can do, is to keep trying to spread Love and Tolerance wherever I go. Never give up. Keep resisting the hate. Keep understanding that even as a country of entirely different personalities, we can learn to get along. It comes down to communication and empathy.
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