Posted on by meredithkfreeland

Thai Word of the Day

Day 12 in Thailand. Word of the Day: Farang.

It refers to a foreigner, usually of European decent. Basically, “white person”.

It is also the name of the guava fruit.

The locals all giggle as my colleague purchases a plastic bag of sliced guava from a fruit stand. “Farang eat farang,” they snicker. (note: we have been informed that “eat” apparently connotes sexual activity)

As a child, I moved twelve times, including overseas. Now, my family lives in The Philippines, and I’ve traveled/lived/worked abroad every summer in my recent memory. The last thing I expected out of an internship in Thailand was culture shock. Perhaps a little jet lag, but definitely not culture shock. I’m a globetrotter, after all.

Everywhere I go I’m aware of my differences. I’m taller, my hair is lighter and curlier, my eyes are blue, my nose is bigger. There have been times in the US when I was aware of being the only girl in a project group or on a team or one of few in a classroom, but that was always a point of pride- “breaking the glass ceiling”, as Hillary would put it. But the awareness here is a different kind of awareness. Being in Thailand, I’m not advancing any minority population’s agenda, I’m not breaking any historical barriers of oppression. There’s no sense of pride or accomplishment in my presence.

On the metro I stare at my phone pretending to be engrossed in a text conversation, though I have no service, no wifi. I can feel eyes all over me. Let me be clear, they are never rude or mean. I have not once felt threatened or unsafe. They all always willingly try to accommodate my complete lack of Thai language skills. So why do my differences make me so uncomfortable?

I can fathom no other conclusion than my complete lack of experience as a true minority. Growing up, we moved from place to place, but it was from white-majority place to white-majority place. Even visiting my family in Manila, a week or two living in our serviced apartment filled with expats and diplomats is no chore. For the first time, I am living and working in a country where I stand out in every restaurant, on every street corner.

Even so, I won’t begin to understand the challenges of minorities all over, especially in the US. Here in Thailand, I know I’m here for a very finite amount of time, on a foreign adventure that will soon come to a close. I cannot imagine feeling the eyes of everyone around me noting my differences in the place I call home, my place of perpetual existence.

As I stand in the subway or walk through the markets, I do my best to blend in. As someone who prides herself on cultural awareness and appreciation, my worst fear is to be pegged as an oblivious American tourist. This desire to be inconspicuous and downplay my differences makes it alarmingly apparent why advocating for a minority cause presents such challenges; yet, I still say this from a position of no oppression and very little hardship. The true extent of the challenges I will likely never comprehend. Fighting for minority rights requires first standing up and audibly identifying that minority, likely a counterintuitive and uncomfortable action.

So, no inspiring advocacy for action here. Just some food for thought that hopefully makes us all a little more aware of our attitudes and appreciative of our neighbors.

Posted on by meredithkfreeland · 1 Comment

The Tangible Power of Symbolic Victories

No candidate will ever merit a vote by his or her God-given genitalia; however, in 2016, Hillary will have my vote because she happens to be a female who will also happen to advocate for each and every other female.

(and that’s on top of her many other qualifications)

Don’t believe me?

Research shows that women are statistically more likely to advocate for women-centric issues when in positions of power. This tendency results in benefits not only for our female population, however. “Tali Mendelberg, Christopher Karpowitz, and Nicholas Goedert show that ‘when women are many, they are more likely to voice women’s distinctive concerns about children, family, the poor and the needy.'”

I won’t deny it- I was feeling a little Bern. He said what a lot of the millennial generation was thinking, what we were waiting for. While our country may not be ready for a Bernie, we are well past ready for a strong, worthy female leader. Hillary is centuries in the making.

Though I find it hard to believe that there is anyone out there who has not been directly impacted by the gender inequality rampant in our nation, let me give you a few more reasons to seriously consider this history-making candidate in November.

(1) She has already worked under multiple administrations, as well as been a member of Congress. She has worn many hats and participated in our political machine in almost every way possible. If someone knows how American government functions, it’s Hillary. If someone knows how to get things done, it’s Hillary.

(2) Though there may be policy-specific disagreements, she was inarguably one of our best Secretaries of State. Even Republican Senator Lindsey Graham described her as “one of the most effective secretary of states, greatest ambassadors for the American people that I have known in my lifetime.”

(3) It is widely acknowledged that she may not have the raw talent and appeal of past Presidents, like Obama or Bill. More importantly, she makes up for that lack with dedication, hard work, and a commitment to surrounding herself with the most competent advisors and decision-makers our country has to offer.

(4) She has an undeniable reputation abroad, a critical facet of her candidacy in the era of globalization. Former ambassador to Austria, Swanee Hunt, affirms that Hillary “is really seen as the hope for women worldwide. It’s not just certainly that she’s a woman. It’s that as a woman she brings a certain perspective, and they have never seen that perspective, that compassion and that rigor for policy. They have never seen that in a potential leader of a superpower.” Strategically for the United States, Clinton repositioned our international priorities and acted on them like never before. “As the adage holds, 90 percent of success is showing up — and show up in Asia was exactly what Clinton did. In her four years as secretary, she made 62 visits to Asian countries, accounting for more than a quarter of all of her trips abroad. Condoleezza Rice, Clinton’s predecessor, made 47 during her four years as secretary. Not only did Clinton make more visits, she also visited the region more widely. Rice traveled to 18 Asian countries; Clinton visited 26. Rice never visited Cambodia or the Philippines, and she visited Indonesia twice. Clinton made three trips to Cambodia, two to the Philippines and four to Indonesia — underscoring ASEAN’s centrality to the rebalance strategy.” Clinton brought a legendary component of Obama’s presidency to life through dedication and follow-through. As put by an ambassador who served under Clinton, “to name any one, single event of Clinton’s tenure is to overlook her most important contribution: rebuilding America’s relationships with friends, allies and partners around the world.” In a time where we credit anti-Americanism and our “GloboCop” attitude for the hatred and distrust channeled our way, a politician with a history of bridge building and hands-on diplomacy is a strategic opportunity we can’t ignore.

Don’t be mistaken- there are components of her platform and characteristics of her campaign that are not ideal and require reform, but in a world where our choice is between an unpredictable bigot and a well-trained advocate for progress, is there really a choice at all?

To say that she is getting votes simply because she is a woman is naïve. She is getting votes, and deserves votes, because she is an advocate. Perhaps it does take being a woman to feel compelled to advocate so strongly for women, but I can’t fathom caring enough about what her motivation is, be it her genitalia or a sense of moral responsibility to an underserved population, to dissuade me from voting for the better prepared, more internationally respected candidate in this election.

Whether you’re a republican or a democrat, black or white, rich or poor, a Hillary fan or a Bernie supporter, this is a time to remember. I can’t wait to be 80 years old telling children that I was around when we had the first female nominee (and, please, first female President). In a time when our local, national, and global citizenry is faced with trials and tribulations unlike those of the past, from terrorist bombings and school shootings to gendered bathrooms and marriage rights, we incur a triumph. To every female, feel justified and empowered. To each male, recognize in us worthy teammates.

—

sources: http://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11879746/hillary-clinton-first-woman; http://usliberals.about.com/od/liberalpersonalprofiles/fl/Is-Hillary-Clinton-Qualified-for-the-Presidency.htm; http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-two-front-war-312833; http://thediplomat.com/2016/04/did-hillary-clintons-pivot-to-asia-work/; http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/16/opinions/kounalakis-hillary-clinton-accomplishments/

 

Posted on by meredithkfreeland

It’s Time

Those who know me are aware of how much I cherish silence. Silence breeds introspection. It fosters observation. It allows for reflection. My personal favorite of silence’s many talents is its ability to enable the gathering of thoughts, the creation of a plan and a strategy before action. I’m not sure about everyone else, but my thoughts are gathered. Now, we no longer have time for silence.

I can’t remember the last week that went by without a shooting, a suicide, a blatant, ringing alarm of the hatred in our world and the mechanisms in place that enable that hatred to manifest in the loss of life and the perpetuation of fear. We broke a record today- “Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History!” This is not a record we should be proud of, and it is not a record we should forget. It is time to wake up.

The motives behind these fatal attacks, whether religiously-inspired, hate-driven, or acts of mental instability, are entirely different conversations. Sadly, these causes are also the most difficult component of the problem to control. We, by all means, should be taking action to quell the reasons one could have for shooting a fellow human being, but controlling one’s thoughts, beliefs, and motivations is a daunting task. Fortunately, there is another piece of the puzzle that is both much easier to address and very tangibly significant. Eliminate the ability.

Eliminate the ability for anyone to act upon these thoughts, beliefs and motivations. Eliminate the ability for one human to take the life of another human. Eliminate the norm of waking up in the United States to a news report of another shooting. We have put in place mechanisms in our society that enable us to regulate for the protection of the greater good and for the safety of the masses. It is time that we call upon those mechanisms.

This is a call to action.

To our lawmakers- make law. Regulate the sale, purchase, and use of the deadly weapons that are creating these devastating headlines and fatal wounds.

To our leaders- choose your words wisely. Rhetoric is your most powerful tool. Words spreading ideas can motivate millions. There is such power in the masses, so it is simply illogical to believe that fueling division is the way to power, growth, and achievement.

To our citizens- stop the hate. I challenge you all to identify a benefit reaped from spreading hateful messages and spiteful actions. Though some of our differences may not be as blatantly visible as the color of our skin or the love in our hearts, I am willing to guarantee that no one is immune to the effects of hate aimed at those who are unlike us.

We no longer have time for silence. Each day we spend thinking about right versus wrong or pondering the motivations behind these events is another 50 people shot, another budding star murdered, or another school plagued with death. My thoughts are gathered. Are yours?