Babble

Babel with Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and assorted foreigners. An alternate title for this film is "Stupid People Doing Stupid Things", I get the message (I think) the director was trying to give. In our globalized world the deeds of people thousands of miles away have drastic effects on the world we know. It's a message I can approve of but something about the film just didn't stick right with me. Maybe it was the fact that virtually all viewers needed subtitles since the likelihood of someone being fluent in English, Spanish, Japanese and Moroccan are slim. It smacked of the pretentiousness of a director who thought making a film almost exclusively in foreign languages would make him (and the film) seem worldly and intelligent. Also, one can't help but notice the odd unintended moral of the story: the carelessness of Mexicans, Arabs and Asians end up in the near death of beautiful and innocent white Americans.

In other news, I went to a career presentation at the U of A for the Foreign Service. I went in with an open mind but didn't think the program would ultimately appeal to me. But after the presentation I'm giving it some serious consideration. It's a hell of a lot more exciting (and lucrative) than the Peace Corps, which I had also considered joining, and as a diplomat I'd get better accommodations than a thatch hut on an anthill. They mentioned something to the effect of four years of service would finance grad school and pay off student loans. I'd learn languages of the countries I'd be sent to and interact with cultures on diplomatic missions. If I hypothetically made a career of it I could retire at 50. The only problems I see with this is a lack of autonomy; I go where they need me to be and I stay there from anywhere to weeks or years. Which means sure I could get a request to be stationed in Sweden approved then 6 weeks later, "Oops, we need you in Gambia." Also, they said one of the jobs is to explain US foreign policy. Now does that mean I have to advocate Imperialism or just merely diplomatically explain it to the locals while mentioning I personally disagree? There are some places you're not allowed to take children, or even one's wife. That, combined with moving every few months or years to foreign lands might get lonely after awhile. I never got a chance to ask about that part. The diplomacy and traveling bit sounds pretty sweet, and quite compatible with my goals of being an anthropologist. The hang up, as I gather is true in all jobs, is choosing higher pay or higher autonomy. Also, I wonder if doing one for a few years and then doing the other later would impact my chances of getting either job? Would the universities want to sponsor a former government pawn, or would the US government consider someone with potentially years worth of international contacts too great a security risk? Hmmm, things to consider....