|
|
|
“Currency is also a weapon of mass destruction, a prized export that is loathed and loved at the same time...” |
Currency is a stange and wonderful thing indeed. It’s an unspoken language between competing forces, flashing everywhere on signs outside banks, chalked on blackboards near the dark booths of shady money changers in alleyways, frantically fingered into oversized, talking calculators at marketplaces and thumbed through hundreds and thousands printed onto brightly-coloured, multilingual pieces of paper and plastic by everyone.
Currency is also a weapon of mass destruction, a prized export that is loathed and loved at the same time, a profound source of economic inspiration and, above all, powerful means of control.
The other day I read a fascinating article on the website Information Clearinghouse entitled “The Fall of the American Dollar Empire” in which the author suggests that the so-called power of the American ‘empire’ has been founded on the strength of the greenback and with this precious commodity now in decline, we could see massive changes to the balance of power amongst the major players – a kind of economic ‘cold war.’ Thinking about currency in this way can be very interesting, especially for frequent travellers who with profit or lose out from the relative strength or weakness of exchange rates.
For my part, for years I’ve either praised or criticised countries as potential travel destinations on the basis of how cheap or expensive the country of concern would be for me and my daily budget. I love poring through the Lonely Planets in the travel section of bookstores, jumping to the ‘How much?’ chapter and saying to myself ‘hmmm… this could work out nicely’ or ‘that much!? Forget it!’
For those unfamiliar with the ways of the thrifty traveller in cheap countries, take a place like Vietnam. With a few hundred US dollars (well, maybe Euros are better, given the dollar is mighty weak on its feet!) you become a millionaire: literally speaking, in terms of the millions of Dong notes that are thrust at you over the counter at the bank; and, figuratively speaking, in terms of your wealth relative to the average Vietnamese farmer, slaving away each day for the equivalent of a few dollars each month.
While this basically sounds like a cheap holiday (and it is – the budget traveller can live quite nicely for about ten bucks a day) the psychology that goes with having ‘cash to blow’ is interesting to say the least. While in Australia, I avoid taxis altogether, stay in run-down motels when I’m travelling and can’t stay with friends and generally buy cheap groceries, cooking at home and eating out on special occasions. How strange, therefore, when I find myself summoning cabs because I can’t be bothered to walk eight hundred metres, eating several-course meals three times a day in restaurants, having massages whenever I feel like them and, heaven forbid, staying in hotels with saunas!
Which, of course, brings me to the inevitable shopping spree. For those who’ve never been to Asia, let me put it this way. That pair of jeans with the $139 label back home costs you $7.32 here. The $79 shirts you’ve held off buying for so long aren’t even as good as the ones you see here for a mere $4.87. Fancy an MP3 player? That one they told you was worth $220? Well here you can have it for less than $80. Perhaps it’s designer goods you crave? Well I have news for you! Gucci and Prada are made here – why not go to the factories and pick out a handbag for mum at less than half the cost of buying it at Myers! Don’t bother messing around with vinyl or crappy imitation leather jackets. Heck, have one made for you from genuine quality leather by a team of expert tailors working around the clock and it’ll cost you less than a twenty-year-old Vinnies hand-me-down.
Perhaps now you can see how this sort of thing goes to your head in no time at all?
This is precisely why I’d only embarrass myself if I itemised what Felicity and I bought during our three day stay in southern China’s shopping mecca, the sprawling mass of sky-high megamalls that is Guangzhou. Suffice it to say that I don’t think I’ll be needing any new clothes for the next five years or so. I think I even bested Felicity’s attempts this time round. Our cargo – two large cardboard boxes posted home to save precious backpack space – consisted of my new wardrobe, Felicity’s additions to hers and a few small Christmas presents. The damage? Several thousand yuan and twenty kilograms’ worth. I guess when something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well, right?
On the other hand, I know that what I’m doing is a microcosmic part of the broader paradigm that is basically capitalist exploitation – the same undertaken by any westerner who walks into a two dollar shop and stocks up on cheapies produced under despicable conditions overseas. As wonderful as it is to shop cheaply, we can’t forget that these kinds of actions carry moral implications.
Here are a few pointers that I try to follow – maybe you have others you can suggest?
- With the money I save buying these clothes, I’m able to afford to sponsor a child.
- I try to remember that nothing to do with having more money makes me better than anyone else.
- Sometimes slightly more expensive fair trade options are available. If I can, I will.
- I used to copy music CDs all the time, but I’ve come to realise that stealing from artists is pretty low. Support artists and creative people – they make the world beautiful!
- Travel isn’t always about comfort and style. My most memorable and enjoyable experience was sitting on a broken wooden stool out on a rainy street in Padang, Sumatera with some musicians and a crappy guitar, singing my heart out. Money can’t buy that kind of happiness (well, maybe the plane ticket to get to it, but… you get the point!)
- Exchange rates work both ways, enabling you to buy jeans cheaply but also enabling you to buy tuition, a pair of glasses or life-saving medication for the cost of a beer.
- Haggling over seven cents is unconscionable, given the difference in significance to you versus the person with whom you are haggling.
previous travel blog entry
Would you like to comment or ask a question?
Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).