Material World

I recently read an article about possessions, and ambition. How, in this world, there are standards and these standards are relative to what our culture offers us. As a result of the lack of education in Afghanistan, women are not expected to pursue a degree, or even go to school. Their ambition too often depends on what their husbands provide.
My initial response to this reality is sadness and pity. I hardly consider my own possessions and fortune. As an exercise to fully comprehend the vast differences between myself and the women living half a world away, I wrote a short overview of my own life, and the standards I am held to.



United States: The Estes Family, At age 30, Kate Bevington had her first child, Sylvia Estes. Kate had already attended Cornell University and UC Berkeley before even thinking about having a kid. Sylvia was born in Berkeley, California where she lived in a house that her parents shared with friends. As Sylvia grew her parents started to think about sending her to school. They chose to move back to Ithaca, New York where there was a good public school system, and less traffic. They moved into a large old home (previously owned by writer Vladimir Nabokov) with 5 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a study, 2 bathrooms and a sun porch. About 4 years later Kate had her second child, a blond haired boy they named Zeke. At this point Kate was working at the Johnson Art Museum and her Husband was an Art Professor at Cornell University. By the age of 17 Sylvia was a National Honor Society student, the captain of the Varsity Soccer Team, and president of the High School club HTAC. Despite her achievements she still faced the pain staking process of applying to a satisfactory college, that could (without financial aid) cost up to $50,000’s a year. The Estes Family would not like to disclose a list of possessions, out of sheer embarrassment, even though David Estes is a "minimalist".