Day 10 - Las Vegas

Las Vegas was a lot bigger than I expected. My brothers and I had a Nintendo game years ago in which one of the car racing courses was Las Vegas; you could drive around the city, crash and burn, and even shoot down the ½ scale Eiffel Tower. It was rather entertaining. But, it only had one big strip and a few side roads.

So that was my impression of Las Vegas: small town, kind of junky, in the desert (minus the armed race cars). It’s funny how experiences from your youth can really shape your perception of the world without you even realizing. (Yet another thing my parents were so right about!)

Leading up to our arrival in Vegas a few people were talking a bit negatively about the whole idea of a “Disneyland for grownups.” The hyper-sexual advertising and legal prostitution really disgusts me, and gambling isn’t really my thing (although if it’s someone else’s money I’m sure I could have some fun for a short time), but the whole idea of Vegas as a little break from real world stress isn’t something I’m totally against. Most everything is okay in moderation.

I wouldn’t spend more than a weekend there every now and then – the flashing lights, noise, excessive stimuli, personal unproductiveness on my part, and the cost (!) would get to me. But I did enjoy the experience of walking down the strip and exploring some of the mega-hotels and their many chocolate shops and high-fashion boutiques. I could definitely see myself lounging blissfully by one of the giant pools and drinking pineapple margaritas!

Something that seems to go hand in hand with Vegas is capitalism; in fact, we’ve seen it in play in every city we’ve visited. Capitalism is an integral part of America. However, I sense a general vibe of displeasure with the capitalistic system from some of my friends, both here on the trip and at home. Some of the more outspoken individuals tend to voice that being in certain places (such as the big store next to the Grand Canyon or an extravagant high-end mall in Vegas) “disgusts” them because of all the commercialism and capitalism.

One of the main arguments is that capitalistic corporations, like Wal*Mart (a recurring topic of discussion on this trip), take advantage of people in foreign countries. Okay, so don’t shop at Wal*Mart, but ask yourself: “Does its unethical practices really have anything to do with capitalism?” Unethical businesses exist all over the world in all different types of economic structures. I’m no economist—economics is something I still have yet to master—but I’ve been enough places to know that capitalism generally promotes a higher standard of living for everybody.

One of my most vivid memories of encountering a system other than capitalism took place in China, last summer. I went to China having learned a little bit about communism (China’s goal) and socialism (the reality). I know that socialism is based on the principle of collection and equal redistribution of resources by the government. The goal is that everyone receives equal opportunity and equal access to resources. (I don’t think that an equal voice in the government is something they try to provide for their citizens….China is far from a Democracy….a few leaders control everyone else.)

Anyway, I went to China expecting to see a more or less equally rich/equally poor people; I expected to see a society in which every individual put the good of the group before his/her personal gain. Instead, what I saw was a wealth disparity the same as—if not larger than—the disparity we have here in the U.S. And it’s not like this is a newly instated program—the wrinkles should have been worked out by now.

I still have a lot to learn about both systems. But for now, I’m not convinced that capitalism is evil….in fact, I like the whole “reap what you sow” idea. It only seems fair.