This spring break, I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While there, I of course had the time of my life with friends and family. Throughout my trip I went on tours, spoke to locals, and learned about their culture.
In doing this, I noticed some of my fellow Americans’ attitudes were different from my own. Instead of wanting to learn about Mexican culture, they seemed to want to “save” the Mexican children and people they deemed poor or disadvantaged.
The truth is, as Americans, we seem to think that our culture is best. If people do not live up to our cultural standards, some Americans think it is their duty to save them. This idea could not be more wrong. Of course, I am all for helping people in need. But just because people are from a different country or culture absolutely does not mean that we, as Americans, need to save them.
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When I was on a tour in Mexico, an American woman in her mid-30s, who I will refer to as Jen, said something like: look at the boy there, I should just take him home with me. To which the tour guide responded, “Ma’am, that would be kidnapping.” Jen looked ashamed, but followed up saying she would give the young boy a good home. The tour guide said the young boy already had a good home. The rest of the tour group laughed joyfully as if nothing wrong had just been said.
The notion that some Americans have is that our life as Americans is supreme or best. And for some people, it probably is. But, according to Happy Planet Index, America ranks 108th out of the 140 countries surveyed. Mexico ranks second. If Jen, the woman from my trip, wanted to give the young Mexican boy a happier home to grow up in, it looks as though the United States would not be the answer.
According to Children International, 1 in 7 children in the United States is born into poverty. One in seven. That is absolutely insane. Yet, Americans such as Jen still go to other countries with a savior complex — as if the United States has zero children starving. We are not exactly the gold standard for economic equality.
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Overall, I am sure that Jen is not a bad person. She probably did not think about what she was saying when she offered to bring a young Mexican boy back to the United States with her. But, Jen is not the only American with a savior complex. Helping others is so tricky. People have to do it in the right way. Let’s be clear that kidnapping a boy from Mexico to give him a “better home” in America is not the right way to help people.
The truth is, there are people in America who have a ridiculous amount of money — more money than they need. And yes, these people should help those who are in need: the homeless, the starving, those who struggle to make ends meet. What we must stop doing is assuming that people in other countries have it worse than we do. There are rich and poor people all over the world.
It would be great if there was far less inequality. It would be fantastic if there were fewer people who deem their lives better than others based on unproven assumptions. We should all work on that. Yes, I had a great spring break, welcome back to campus.