"Have an Affair...Act Like an Adult for Once..."

The title of this post does not mean that A-i-T has gone rogue and abandoned his senses or his wife, but was chosen because it nicely captures what seems to be a growing trend of infidelity in society these days. The title comes from a line spit by Jay-Z on Mya's only memorable song "Best of Me." Infidelity is nothing new but it seems to be rampant these days. Part of this observation is based on the numerous scandals within our recent collective memory among celebrities and other public figures, but another part of the inspiration for this post is much more personal... 

A good friend of mine was recently cheated on by his fiancee (yes, women cheat too, they just get caught less often) and it pierced me to my core to hear his story. The worst part about the whole situation is that his fiancee's partner in crime was A MARRIED MAN!!! A few days after hearing his story, I was watching TV and around 12:30am, when a commercial came on for a dating website I had never heard of called, AshleyMadison.com. (Check out the video at the bottom of this post). This website bills itself as, "The World's Premiere Discreet Dating Service," and it's slogan is, "Life is short, have an affair." 

For Surrious?!?! 

I felt sick, outraged, and momentarily dumbstruck, after this commercial was over, and then I remembered that I was in America, where almost anything is possible. A-i-T is not naive enough to think that married, engaged, and dating adults were not already using match.com, e-harmony or other "singles dating" websites to help them violate their vows or relationship commitments, but to see a website 100% dedicated to facilitating adultery...it just blew my mind! I apologize if I'm late on this since the site's CEO has been on a bunch of daytime talk shows (like The View) but I couldn't keep my fingers off the keyboard...

We all know that the divorce rate in the US hovers around 50%, and sites like AshleyMadison are going to help drive up that statistic, but there are so many other influences. What is it about today's culture that seems to make infidelity appear not only more prevalent, but almost forgivable, or seen as a minor offense? While politicians effectively dig their own grave when they are caught in an affair, celebrities of screen and sport seem to rise from the ashes like the phoenix if they apologize well and often enough, and then release a good movie (hello Brad Pitt & Jude Law) or win a championship (what up Kobe). How quickly do we forgive and forget their "transgressions" and moral failings once they begin entertaining us again? Let's see how long our memory is once Tiger wins another golf tournament. This is obviously not the case for the average John or Jane Cheater, but society doesn't tell them otherwise...

To me, cheating epitomizes some of the worst aspects of human nature. It's an act whose ultimate purpose is to satisfy some unmet need of the actor, with complete disregard for their gf/bf/spouse/partner, whatever. It is immature, spiteful, and completely selfish/self-serving...but can it be seen as a reflection of the society we currently live in? Our world is the instant gratification of the "Buy Now" option on retail websites and the swiping of credit cards. It's the personal electronic devices from mp3 players to laptops that we matrix -- I mean plug ourselves into that connect yet at the same time allow us to get lost in our own world of personal entertainment. Everything these days seems to be geared toward the individual...but what about the collective? What happened to family, friends, and significant others?

Think about the 2-5yr-old that has just learned the meaning of the words, "NO," and "MINE." And the phrase "BUT I WANT IT NOW!." Now picture the contexts they would use those words in. Now think about a grown adult stepping out on their gf/bf/spouse/partner, with their years of growth and intelligence. Jay-Z was right...having an affair is mos def an adult decision, but this A-i-T would argue that underneath it all are some pretty selfish, child-like impulses...

Marriage is a beautiful thing, but ultimately it's about making sacrifices and putting the needs of the other person you love first. True Love = Willing, Daily Self-Sacrifice. If you have not yet arrived in a place in your life where you are ready, willing, and able to do that, then if you were truly acting like an evolved A-i-T, you wouldn't have gotten married, and wouldn't need to have an affair in the first place... 

Adults-in-Training, is AshleyMadison.com the sign of a society that increasingly accepts cheating? 

Peace,

A-i-T

Does Where You Live Influence When You Have Kids?

My wife and I spent this past weekend visiting her cousin (we'll call her Nadia) + family down in Stafford, Virginia. Being an A-i-T who has spent most of his life in big cities, Stafford is a whole other world, but in a good way. Life is more spread out, everyone drives everywhere, and most people live in houses (as supposed to throwing money away in rent *A-i-T sheds tear*). I believe the technical/scientific term for places like this is, "suburbs."The air is cleaner and I actually saw stars each night, which you sometimes forget exist living amongst the bright lights of NYC. What made the biggest impression on me, however, was the prevalence of young families, defined here as couples who haven't quite hit 30, with at least 1.5 kids. It got me thinking, what is it about that environment versus NYC (and possibly other big cities) that facilitates and/or encourages families to get started earlier? 

Nadia has a great and some would say extraordinary family. She has two sets of twins: 1yr-old boys and 3yr-old girls. She calls them her "Four Under Four," and she is waiting for her show to get picked up by TLC or Bravo (nah, we all saw what happened to John and Kate). Anyway, she and her husband are about three years shy of 30, but are fully established as a family. My wife and I are excited about having kids, but are in year two of a five-year countdown toward popping out that first kid (I said that like it's easy...my apologies A-i-T ladies). We have our reasons: desire to switch/start new careers, hence grad school for us both, wishful travel plans as a young married couple, the notion of being somewhat "established," etc., finances, Finances, and did I mention FINANCES?

I love living in NYC because there is absolutely nowhere else on the planet like it, but I feel like it might discourage/delay young people in starting families...

New York is a great place to be young whether single or married. It is the "concrete jungle where dreams are made," but what Jay-Z and Alicia conveniently glossed over in NYC's new official anthem, is the price tag associated with being a New Yorker. I've always told people that we pay a premium for the privilege of calling ourselves New Yorkers, but I propose that one of the true/tangible costs aside from dollars, is impacting when it makes cents to start a family. 

Let's start with the basics. We all need a roof over our heads, but in NYC, these roofs are half-sized and twice the price. Nadia and her husband recently bought a five-bedroom house with a deck, on one acre of land, for around $200K. What' sad, is that their mortgage is the same as the rent for my one-bedroom 650sq. ft. apartment. Do you feel my pain yet? A family of four (not even six) in NYC will eventually need a three-bedroom apartment, which will run at least $3.5K (in Manhattan), and that's a conservative estimate since a one-bedroom apartment in the right zip code can cost that much. If you factor in food, clothing, school fees, and all the other expenses related to raising children + NYC's wonderful 8.875% sales tax, it almost seems like no one could afford to raise a family here. But people do...so who are they?

One thing that has caught my attention recently is the prevalence of old(er) families in NYC, defined as aged 35-40+ usually with just one young child. Graying fathers with toddlers seems to be a very common sight for me of late, and I'm guessing some of the factors mentioned above might feed into it. Older couples are likely to be more established in their careers and therefore financially stable, making having a family in a place like NYC a little easier. This is not to question anyone's family-planning decisions, but to examine factors behind what might be a trend. 

Another potential issue is the fact that NYC and other big cities are transitional. People come for the experience, the career, the "money," but eventually leave to return to wherever home/family is. When deciding to start a family, aside from the expense factor, proximity to family can be critical. Aside from a markedly lower cost of living, Nadia is rich in family in VA. This means that there is no shortage of trustworthy, not to mention free, babysitters to take care of her kids. Grandma and grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins for many NYC or big city dwellers, are not a subway ride away, making childcare a very important consideration. For this A-i-T and his wife, our parents reside, not in a different zip but rather a different country code!

One could argue that previous generations (PGs) planned their life around having a family, while recent generations plan having a family around their life. Recent trends show couples marrying and starting families later than in PGs in order to establish their careers, accomplish goals, and secure their finances before having children. This shift in focus toward personal accomplishments preceding starting a family is clearly evident in big city environments and in wider contexts as well. While all these considerations are fundamentally sound, the flip-side argues that you can never be truly "ready," for kids, which is what I have to keep telling myself. I think of myself as a pretty logical person and would like to see certain things "in place" before a child enters my picture...but were you to paint a different scene around me like Stafford, Virginia...would Adult-in-Training become Father-in-Training sooner...? 

Adults-in-Training, if you currently live in a big city...what are your plans for starting a family? Would those same plans change were you to live in a different environment? 

Peace,

A-i-T

If You Really Want to Do It, You Make It Happen...

I alluded in an earlier post (click here) to the fact that being "busy," seems to be the current buzzword for the A-i-T generation. It is not longer a transient state or sporadic event, but has somehow metamorphosed into an actual state of being. These days, the question "how are you," seems to more often elicit the response of "busy," which ideally should only refer to work, rather than answering how your life outside your cubicle or classroom is going. I think we could all see our friends (new and old) much more often if we stopped hiding behind this buzzword, which is arguably just a weak excuse and a way to be non-committal and blow people off...whether we like them or not (unless true). When any A-i-T wants to do something, they take the necessary steps to make it happen. It doesn't matter if it's a trip to Japan or the cafe that is the half-way point between where you and your friend(s) live. Why should life get in the way of your friendships...? 

Last week I was browsing my Facebook homepage when I came across recent pictures of some old friends. By old, I don't mean from college or even high school. I'm talking about people I've known since middle and elementary school -- some literally since first grade. We all attended the United Nations International School (affectionately known as UNIS) for the better part of our childhood. Some of us even proudly carry the title of "survivor," a badge of honor given to those who went through UNIS from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade -- can you imagine?!?! I was there from first grade through 10th, and would have made it all the way (minus the "survivor" badge) had I not moved home to Ghana.

As I clicked through an album from a recent gathering I saw many old but familiar faces, and found myself overcome with a wave of nostalgia. I'm only 26 but sadly possess the new found ability to say that I hadn't seen some of these people in ten years. What struck me even more than my emotional reaction was a feeling of admiration for the fact that the UNIS family was still very much together -- and I use the word "family" with purpose. This group of people has grown together in every sense, from the physical to the relational, and therefore there are no judgments. They met each other as snot-nosed kindergarters/elementary kids, navigated the awkward middle school phase, and blossomed into "no one on the corner had swagger like us" high schoolers. There is next to nothing that they don't know about each other, haven't seen, done, or experienced together and they therefore have a bond that once established, I doubt can ever be broken, by time, space, or geography. When I was done looking at that album, all I wanted was to get plugged back in!

I immediately sent one of my good friends in the pictures a facebook message basically saying that I couldn't remember the last time that I had seen him so we needed to fix that. He agreed, and in the time it takes to post a really witty status update, we had set a time and place to meet the following week. We met this past Tuesday for a drink at chill bar on the upper east side and picked up right where we left off, literally ten years ago. We talked about the new, reminisced about the old (T.R.O.Y. - for my hip-hop heads) and just caught up on life in general. About 30 minutes into our chat, guess who rolls in, but two more blasts from my UNIS past, turning this face-to-face meeting into a full on mini-reunion! One of the guys who walked in the door was actually in my first grade class, and the other one suffered with me through an ogre of a teacher in third grade, and we're not talking Shrek!

All in all, it was a great time and none of it would have happened had I not sent that email. Let us not forget, however, it takes two to play catch. My friend and I wanted to meet up and we made it happen. During our conversation, we even talked about how hard it can be to see your friends living in a busy metropolis like NYC, but we both realized and said: "If you really want to do it, you make it happen!" 

Adults-in-Training, I dare/challenge you to email, text, or call an old friend(s) that you haven't seen/spoken to in a while and arrange to meet and see what happens... 

I'll be playing indoor soccer for free in the UNIS gym with my old friend starting this Sunday thanks to this meet-up...Your friends are your blessings...Count 'em! 

Peace,
A-i-T

Exposing the Hilarious Hypocrisy of Stereotypes...

Let's just openly acknowledge that we all know of and use stereotypes. It's no one's fault, because socialization is an inevitable process, unless you have successfully sequestered yourself in a culture-proof bubble (congratulations...how are you reading this blog?). At best, stereotypes are an efficient way for our brains to process and organize the multitude of information we encounter each day about people, places, and things. At worst, they are incredibly offensive, truth obscuring mechanisms that serve to keep certain people/groups in their "place," whatever that place might be. The scariest thing about stereotypes, however, is their ability to creep and settle unchallenged into society's collective consciousness, and their resistance to logic in the face of truth. I feel that as A-i-T's trying to become grown-folk, we should make the conscious effort to counter stereotypes beginning with ourselves and those around us...

I could wax poetic and write an entire dissertation about stereotypes their genesis and effects, but sometimes the most effective weapon in the fight against the "isms" of society  is humor. Combating racism is not an intellectual exercise, but is rather an active lived experience. I recognize that racism is as serious as cancer, and not because it is a nice sounding written analogy, but rather because it is a literal description. There is nothing funny about it until you realize how stupid and senseless the whole enterprise really  is. Stereotypes just serve to prove the point. Think of them as four contradictory walls erected by mainstream society to box an individual/group in. Once the "oxy-moronic" nature is exposed however, the walls Berlin down...CRASH!!!

The other night on John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, I came across a great young comedian named, Hari Kondabolu, who is a man after my own heart. Much of his comedy has a social justice orientation, where he intelligently points out the hypocrisy in past and present race relations. He is someone I will definitely keep an eye on. Check out this clip talking about the ludicrous nature of stereotypes about Mexicans...

Live at Gotham
Hari Kondabolu - Mexican Stereotypes
www.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

Adults-in-Training let's expose stereotypes for what they are...absolutely ridiculous...

Peace,

A-i-T

A-i-T's Letter to His Unborn Daughter

To Zoë...
I loved you even before you were a reality
Your mother is the only other thing in this world as important to me
Know that you are a gift to us from God, and we are so blessed to have you
He is your Heavenly Father and I am him on earth
I will do everything in my power to protect you and your mother and will not allow a single hair on your heads to be harmed
I will let you know that you are loved everyday and that I will be there for you always
You will be daddy's little girl, and I can already feel myself melting when you look into my eyes
Know that the only other person in the world who can also do this to me is your mother
You will be my pride and my joy and I will celebrate you as I celebrate your mother
I will show you what a good husband and father is, so that when it comes time, you will find one for yourself and accept no substitutes
I will teach you that you are valuable because you are God's child, and you are loved and redeemed from day one, and no one should tell you differently
You will learn that you are capable of anything you set your mind and your heart to, and if you do all things prayerfully and for the glory of God, you shall be greatly blessed
I will always be proud of you and I will always be your biggest fan
I loved you Zoë, even before you were a reality...

By A-i-T

*P.S.: My wife and I are NOT expecting. I wrote this a while ago after seeing a movie, which resulted in a conversation about the incredible importance of fathers in girls' lives. I felt it would be a nice follow-up to my last post. I will definitely let y'all know when I'm about to become a father (5-year plan don't fail me now!)*

Daddy Issues...Recognizing the Importance of Fathers

"We need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one," ~President Barack Obama 

I have to admit that my guilty pleasure is reality TV. I am fully aware of how mindless, superficial, and utterly ridiculous it can be, but sometimes that's exactly how I want my entertainment. As a therapist in training and aspiring blogger, however, reality shows are a goldmine for observing a variety of human behavior. Whether genuine or scripted melodrama, it's all information  for me to mull over and discuss. Some of the most disturbing yet data rich reality shows are those surrounding love and dating. They are filled with men and women who seemingly have no clue about what it means to establish, build, and maintain a stable and loving relationship beyond the superficial. As I watch more of these shows, a common thread seems to emerge that binds these wannabe celebreality stars, many come from family backgrounds with issues surrounding their fathers. 

I was watching VH1's, Tough Love the other day, where a mother/son matchmaking duo assist women who can't seem to find "Mr. Right," and have no idea why.  In a recent episode, the show's host asked each of the women to discuss their relationships with their fathers to find out if their past relationship with this important male figure in their lives, may have influenced their current issues/difficulties with men. Not surprisingly, every one of the women broke down and revealed pasts with absent, abusive (in various forms), or inconsistent relationships with their fathers. The impact of these traumatic father-daughter relationships seem to be the steady stream of broken women in this world, some of whom end up on this show and others like the Flava or Rock of Love and the latest awful iteration in the series, For The Love of Ray J. (Side note: I can't believe he and Brandy are biologically related and grew up in the same home...). The flip-side of the coin are the broken men in the world and on TV who have no clue how to treat a woman with respect and as having value beyond the bedroom, and do not understand what it means to raise a family.

I am a self-confessed mama's boy. I love and respect, my mother as a strong, independent and loving woman, and the woman I married shares those traits (maybe a few too many traits, but that's for another post). Mothers are the rock of every family and should be celebrated everyday for the multiple roles they play and the nurturing/teaching that they do. However, there are certain powers that even mothers do not possess:  

Beyond words...there are two key things that a mother cannot do:

1) Mothers cannot show/model for their sons how to be a man, especially relationally, regarding how to treat women or hold his own with other men.

2) Mothers cannot show/model for their daughters how they should expect and demand to be treated and valued or what a good man looks like. 

Last year, President Obama, rightly challenged fathers to step up and play their role, because it is vital for the proper upbringing of a child. This is not to knock single-parent families or say that people are automatically dysfunctional if one parent is missing, but rather to underscore the truth that children are supposed to have TWO parents in a loving, stable, and committed relationship. It is the first significant male/female relationship that a child ever sees, and it is the one they have the most exposure to. How a father treats his wife directly impacts the pattern of future relationships for his son/daughter by creating a blueprint. 

A friend's father once told her that he'd be, "the best boyfriend she ever had!" meaning that any boy/man that came after would have a tough time matching up, and I think that's exactly how it should be. To me this means modeling a good relationship with my wife everyday, and tangible actions with my daughter like "daddy/daughter days," and making sure she knows what it looks/feels like to have a man that supports, encourages, and loves her fully and unconditionally. With my son it would involve the same modeling, but also an emphasis on respecting his mother, which will translate into how he treats the women he will meet later on in life. These things may sound simplistic and are by no means earth shattering revelations, but some of the most powerful life lessons come from the most basic of actions. As a father, literally just being there, consistently, and with genuine effort can mean the world to a child, which was the message of the 2009 Father Involvement PSA ad campaign. It simply says: "Take the time to be a father today..."

There is obviously a need for us men to step up and act like grown folk and take care of our responsibilities. According to Fatherhood.gov: 

1) Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.

2) Studies on parent-child relationships and child well-being show that father love is an important factor in predicting the social, emotional, and cognitive development and functioning of children and young adults.

3) 24 million children (34 percent) live without their biological father. 

Gentlemen...I'd say it's time for us to step up!!! 

Fellow Adults-in-Training, what do you think about the fact we even need to call attention to the importance of fatherhood in the current and previous generations? Shouldn't it be a given? 

Peace,

A-i-T

Avatar -- A 3-Hour Summary of Racial Politics and History -- Who Knew?

DISCLAIMER: If you have not yet seen Avatar and do not want the movie ruined for you, please stop reading. Otherwise, if you have already seen it or don't care, continue and enjoy... 

I watched Avatar the other day and it was visually one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen. The imagination behind the landscapes, inhabitants, and creatures of this alien world was truly breathtaking. Though almost three hours long, the characters and plot are engaging and well played out, all combining to completely capture one's imagination -- or mine at least. The technical wizardry that seamlessly blends live-action with CGI is light-years ahead of anything we've seen. In an interview I saw with the director, James Cameron, he spoke about how this movie was written more than ten years ago and had to be shelved until they invented the technology to tell this story...How ironic that the storyline is as old as the first European ship that ever set sale to discover distant lands...

 Summary: Sometime in the future, we have depleted the Earth's energy resources (shout out to the green movement), and we must rely on distant planets to provide our energy needs (what up OPEC!). We find ourselves on Pandora, a beautiful and pristine planet, reminiscent of the Amazon that is being clear cut and mined to obtain an energy rich and extremely profitable precious metal very appropriately/humorously named "Unobtanium." On Pandora dwell an indigenous people called the Na'vi, who live in harmony with this beautiful world and respect and protect its natural wonders. Through the eyes of a wheelchair bound ex-marine, Jake Sully, we witness a greedy corporation (read: "the West") destroying this beautiful land to obtain the Unobtanium, and of course the Na'vi's village sits atop the richest deposit on the planet. Through his Na'vi avatar, Jake is supposed to infiltrate and become part of the Na'vi people and either convince them to move, or pass on his learned intelligence for a military strike...as expected, conflict ensues... 

Despite its futuristic/intergalactic setting, Avatar is the story of imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism in its historical and modern forms. It is the classic tale of the powerful using, abusing, and exploiting those less mighty and usually darker-skinned. Avatar is the history of Africa and parts of Asia. It is the forgotten narrative of the aboriginal peoples of Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. It hints strongly at being a sharp critique of the war in Iraq and other wars fought over precious natural resources. Avatar is a historical account of race politics, and every war of invasion and conquest ever fought for capital gains, except this time, the natives actually win -- but not without the help of a courageous conqueror turned defender of the good and noble people of the land. It is parts Pocahontas, The Last Samurai, and every cowboy and Indian movie ever made (Dances With Wolves much?). Avatar is a highly entertaining movie, but I wonder if it's creators fully intended it as a wake-up call for a modern world with a short memory of how current circumstances came to be? With all the eye-popping visuals, will moviegoers catch the critical messages? 

The racial issues in this movie are blatantly evident. The corporation though somewhat diverse, is a mostly White enterprise, especially reflected in the main characters. In contrast, the Na'vi are tall, blue-skinned, golden-eyed and beautifully exotic (a loaded adjective purposely used). Aside from their other-worldly features, 'other' being the operative word, the Na'vi from visual appearance to their their way of life  appear as a blend of Native American and African features, cultures and customs (think Apache meets Masai/Zulu warrior). They are a noble people who are connected to their surroundings in a way that is lost to our modern world. Nature and life in general are treated with the utmost respect and as supremely precious. Whatever energy or resource is taken from the earth must ultimately be returned in order to maintain balance. Their way of life may be looked upon as "simple" or "primitive," but by whose standards? 

The corporation, boasting machines, guns, and technology, represent the height of human advancement. They view the Na'vi as "savages" and seek to "civilize" them with the same "benevolent," eternally paternalistic mindset as the European explorers/colonizers of yore that landed on foreign shores with the aim of "teaching" the natives their ways with one hand while taking their natural resources and destroying their culture with the other. The corporation employs the familiar tactics of building schools and sharing technical know-how while pursuing ulterior motives. We must ask ourselves this question, who is the true savage? The one that rapes and pillages the land and destroys the native people, or the one who lives in harmony with their surroundings and respects all forms of life? 

"We are going to blast a hole in their racial memory that they will never forget!" 

This line from the movie made an indelible impression on me. I had to ask my wife if I had heard correctly because I was shocked when I heard it, even though it came from the mouth of the war-mongering, trigger-happy, marine mercenary leader. This line truly highlights the "us" versus "them" storyline in this film. As seen throughout history until today, when indigenous groups refuse to give up their land and resources after being "asked nicely," they must be taken by force. The corporation in Avatar is clearly representative of today's Western governments and multinational corporations, who often work in veiled collusion to exploit the resources and people of the "developing world" (another loaded term). If you don't believe me, please read Confessions of an Economic HitMan, by John Perkins, for an insider's account of how international politics and business play  out (Click here for Amazon.com page). 

The turning point of the story comes when Jake falls in love with the beautiful Naytiri, the Na'vi chief's daughter and his reluctant tutor. As she teaches him the ways of her people, Sully finally realizes that the corporation he has been playing the good soldier for is inherently evil and wrong in their actions. He courageously switches sides, confesses his sins, loses the trust and faith of his exotic love interest and her people, and yet somehow manages to regroup and return to become the chief of the Na'vi by accomplishing the one nearly impossible traditional right of passage worthy of chieftaincy. He returns triumphantly as the White knight riding the proverbial white horse, which in this case happens to be the most vicious aerial predator on Pandora, appropriately nicknamed "Last Shadow." Jake then unites all the Na'vi tribes from the four corners of the planet and successfully defeats the corporation. Hooray!  

This incredibly clichéd ending serves to highlight/perpetuate the  notion that indigenous peoples can never save themselves without the help of the oppressor, turned justice seeking crusader. Or is it pointing out a major truth?  

As some of you may know, A-i-T is Ghanaian and very proud of that fact. As a Ghanaian/African, I was perhaps more deeply affected by this movie because its themes resonate with my inherited and lived experiences. I realize that the solutions to the current issues must come from Ghanaians themselves, but I also recognize that Western governments and corporations still hold the reins of power -- that's just reality. Until they are willing to share those reins, and help uplift as partners rather than exploit the "developing" nations in this world, the status quo will remain unchanged. 

The Native Americans originated the saying: "never criticize a man until you walk a mile in his moccasins [shoes]." Aside from the visual feast that is Avatar, perhaps the most amazing part of the movie, at least to this A-i-T, is that it took Jake Sully literally putting on the blue skin of the Na'vi to understand their experiences and worldview and realize the errors/injustices of the corporation. To me, this is a powerful metaphor, whether intended or not, for what needs to take place on this planet for the betterment of race relations and ultimately for the benefit of our shared collective, as the human race... 

To me, Avatar was kinda deep...who knew? 

Adults-in-Training, this is what I saw when I watched Avatar...what did you get from this film...? 

Peace,

A-i-T