Musings in Search of a Muse

BBC News has to be one of the finest organizations of its type anywhere in the world. Professional, thorough, exacting, and now we can say "depressing."

States 'not run by people's will': "Sixty-five percent of citizens across the world do not think their country is governed by the will of the people, a poll commissioned by the BBC suggests."

"The figure is 55% for the US and Canada and up to 82% in EU countries - but just 24% in West Africa."

That's two stories today that the Beeb has brought to my attention that have managed to put me in a rather foul mood (see the 8:08 PM post below). I suggest you read the whole article anyway because it is rather enlightening. It made me hark back to the Five Themes of Geography, particularly place and region.

PLACE "Every place on Earth has special characteristics that make it different from every other place. Every place can be described in terms of its physical characteristics, including weather, land features, plants, and animals. Every place can be described in terms of its human features. These features include a place's peoples, their cultures, and their ideas" (4, Sager). The figures in the articles clearly show that place is an important factor in how much control people think they have. With the exception of the United States and Canada, mostly people in 3rd world nation felt powerless. But then again who controls many of those governments? Dictators, war lords, drug cartels, and puppets of the economic elite. That's an understandable feeling with all things considered.

REGION "A region is an area defined by common characteristics. Regions can be defined by more than one characteristic" (7, ibid). Ideas: language, climate, religion, etc. There are more commonalities than differences. A 'uniform region' is "an area distinguished by one or more common characteristics." A 'nodal region' "is an area distinguished by the movement or activity that takes place in and around it" (101, ibid). Examining the findings leads me to believe that the greater the uniformity and the greater in variety shared characteristics are the greater the sense of empowerment. The more people have in common the better they understand one another and the more secure they feel.

Would that we could spend more time with issues like this than with war and rumors of war. :::sigh::: Oddly enough, one of the songs playing in iTunes as I write this is singer/songwriter Randy Newman's "I Love L.A.," possibly one of the best interpretations of harmony despite differences as people celebrate shared values. Thank you, Mr. Newman for cheering me up.

Bibliography
Sager, Dr. Robert J. and Dr. David M. Helgren. World Geography Today. (Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997).