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Hey folks, planning your next vacation? Were you thinking of visiting the "Islands of the
Gods?" Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but the ancient gods of Bali have fallen to the new
gods; Circle K, Hard Rock Cafe, you name it, the gods of brand-name-ism are taking over these
tiny islands. How can the dark temples of ancient Buddhist and Hindu gods compete with the
brightly lit signs of hyper-consumerism, American style? For me, the difference is stark, in
only the past year, the old-growth culture of Bali has been chopped down, and is rapidly being
replaced with the icons of "Global Trade", Starbucks, Mac Donald's, KFC to name a few. You can
see it in the facade of the brand new "Discovery Mall", a Las Vegas style knock-off of the
Parthenon in Greece, filled with opportunites for tourists to spend, spend, spend, while
orphans line the steps, begging for change. Already, the home-grown resorts of the last decade
are lying in ruins, waiting to be overtaken by the concrete jungle.
How can I say such things, you might ask, having only been to Bali twice, about a year ago, and
about a week ago? Having seen these same effects in Guam, the Phillipines, Western Samoa,
Rarotonga, et al isn't what inspired me to write this. It is the time I spent with some
friends I made on the beach one night. Dani, Jepri, and Hari told me what is happening to
their home. They name it "ABRASION." Hari sits on the beach all night because his home used
to be where the Circle K now provides a gathering spot for the locals to meet and fleece the
tourists, while everyone gets fleeced by the cash register inside. And on that beautiful,
clear night, I watched the stars dim, as the "ABRASION" of flourescent marketting overwhelms
them. "When did Bali change?" I asked. "About 5 years ago," says Jepri. "Do you like it
better now, or before?" I needed to know. "Maybe, I think, it was better before" he says, but
he can only stay away from the ABRASION, he can't stop it.
Last week, a moderate earthquake struck Java, and thousands of people died. It wasn't so much
the size of the quake as the poorly constructed low-rise housing that has replaced the thatched
hut of the peasant class. This is what "ABRASION" is all about, and it pervades the third
world, which lives off the crumbs of "ABRASION", since the corporate class has all but taken
away what they used to live off of. The river that passes through town, where children used to
play and catch fish, has become a slimy green-brown muck where newborns are
thrown away, and the only thing anyone will catch is disease. The simple huts of the last
generation have been upgraded to brick death traps, with satelite dishes. The Mall has risen
atop yesterdaze social detritus, and the sanitation department wasn't sent with the disposable
packaging and plastic shopping bags. Even the once noble profession of fleecing tourists has
been taken over by these outlets for mega-tourism, where you can be overcharged for watered
down booze, while you admire the pictures and memorabilia of your own re-packaged cultural
heroes. From Janis Joplin to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan to the Beatles, they've become the
industrial fleecers of today's tourist. Jepri gets the crumbs.
But, what struck me most is the loss of perhaps the most iconic symbol of these small island
cultures, the wooden phallus. When I visited Indonesia last year, the things were in every
souvenir shop, on key chains, bottle openers, and the like. Now those former, well-hung gods
are all but impotent, tucked away in the closet, as "westernization" brings sexual repression,
like modern day missionaries out to "tame the natives" and make them wear clothes, while the
taxis cruise for oily men shopping for "illegal" sex and drugs. "Hey Mister, you wan' nice
young lady?" Even as the last unexplored places in the world are being helicoptered into, and
all the new species are discovered, and cataloged, and bent to the use of industrial
pharmacology, so too are the last native cultures of the world being cleaned up and turned into
another marketting icon for industrial tourism. Thus was born the new symbol of Bali, the
brightly colored pastel painted surfboard souvenir, available in ashtray form, bottle opener,
key chain, and even shaped into napkin holders. Painted palm trees swaying in the sunset, and
signed "Bali." Take heart, however, since I've only seen Kuta Beach, I hear that other parts
of Bali yet don't suffer from "ABRASION"
Peace - :)
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