Checklists

Every day in my moleskin I keep a checklist. I'm one of those people that has to write it down and cross it off in order to get it done. I haven't yet checked off updating my blog this week.
There's little to share at the moment. When I'm preparing materials or doing other tasks I listen to podcasts, which has caused friends and family to note that when talking to me I always reference something I've listened to. The past two weeks a lot of news, political, and cultural podcasts that I've listened to mention Amy Chua's new controversial book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. In the book, Chua describes her take onchildrearing that only expects perfect outcomes. I'm thankful that I wasn't raised by a tiger mother though I agree with the author's stance that Americans in general don't expect more from their children.

In listening to excerpts from the book, I couldn't help but wonder how someone in my village would react to this parenting style. Sure, for large parts of the population there are similar expectations for children as Chua's, but not necessarily where I am. When listening to parents and teachers talk about the challenges they face, I think that the main hope of the people that I interact with is that their children will survive. In some ways, yes, this means making it to adulthood without serious health issues. I'm not trying to portray people as desperate, some expect great things from their children. Avoiding suffering is more relevant. For me, this results in more day to day living and less effort put towards future outcomes or dare say, success.

One thing I often discuss with a friend of mine is the suffocating weight of fate on people's lives. Determined fate. I grew up with the notion that I hold the power to decide who I want to be with a little luck and a lot of hard work. Here, often the response is that things are the way they're going to be, they're destined to be the way they are. It doesn't help that professions that take a lot of intellect, skill, and training such as that

of a doctor or engineer make pathetic salaries in Ukraine today. In a way, it feels as though taking the present, no matter how devastating, is better than taking a risk in part because that might change one's destined fate.

Last fall, there was a discussion about how poverty increases the prevalence of religion, the United States being a great exception. Living here I can definitely relate to this argument. Here's a table that I found at The Big Picture.