> the material comforts of living in the rich West are more > important to him than intimacy with boys. Connor likes his > flat-screen, bandwidth, SUV, iPhone, and McDonalds so much > that he's willing to give up any access to boys for them I live in a "non-English speaking third-world type country". I'd have to look, but I would guess per-capita income here is a fraction of America's. I have faster internet than anyone I know in America or England. Even far away from the cities, I have internet equivalent to "broadband" in America. A lot of people here have iPhones, but more people prefer the better and less expensive competitors to Apple. Phone's aren't locked (an issue when Americans visit here on business), so you can use any provider you want. The different mobile phone companies let you carry your number if you change companies. We have McDonalds, of course. And Subway's, Carls Jr., and all the other American fast food restaurants that are common everywhere in the world now, even Harare has them on every corner. We don't like them - the food is junk, and people care about their health. I don't think they sell anything BUT flat-screens here, and everyone I know has them. Even poor people have them, at least in the cities. Out in the sticks it is a different situation. SUVs are very normal. Why not? I do not really understand why so many people prefer the horribleness of English-speaking countries. I do not enjoy even visiting them anymore. America is very different than ten years ago, and it is not fun in the major cities now. You can't smoke in a fucking bar in the "center of the universe"? Or a hotel room? Hope the Americans and British enjoy their little paradises. I enjoy mine. |