distrust.

i was raised to always tell the truth. i was taught to be honest at all times.
while i grasped this concept at a young age, i have never valued the importance of it like i do now.

in tanzania, (and other third world countries i would presume), there is an underlying theme of distrust. a strange paradox then develops between "trust" and "happiness".

as one of the poorest countries in the world, tanzanians all want money. money to eat, money to pay rent, money to buy a pair of shoes and put money on their vodacom phones. at the same time as they are trying to obtain these objects or money, there is a sincere lack of trust as everyone else is feigning for the same things.

i have never seen a community more fearful of one another and because of this there is a constant sense of fear and discontentment.

the novel, geography of bliss, explores ideas and interviews individuals from across the world to identify what drives personal happiness. while his book concludes there is indeed no happy utopia as we all dreamed, there are reasons that some places are "happier" than others. one of the most important of these factors, is trust.

i honestly don't believe the people of tanzania are unhappy people. i think usually, they are quite joyous and appreciative. but i think they are scared.

scared of not having money and fearful of what happens when they do. the one thing they all want, is the one thing that is making them unhappy.

i just visited the home of five new orphans. their mother and father were shot by their brother in law because they found out they had $5000 to their name. mind you, they lived in the mountains and this was their life savings. they were finally building a concrete home and moving out of their mud hut. the mother lived a few days after being shot several times in the stomach, but just passed away two nights ago. the children now have no place to go and no money to call their own. all over $5000.

theives are stoned to death in the street if caught, or wrongly accused. but people lie about seeing theft and about who was the theif. is death the appropriate justice for a man stealing a few dollars to feed their children?

there is no justice in a environment of distrust. people fear their government and know their police will not help them in need. who can they call on?

money doesn't actually buy happiness. it buys things.
things can be taken just as easily as money and without these prized posessions and objects of desire, what are we left with?

it's almost as if, if we had no money we would have nothing to be taken, nothing to be feared. we could be, in some respects, happy.

i don't have any answers, i'm just posing questions.