Another thing on my mind of late is that while the West is notoriously blamed and convicted for its material greed, the rest of the world is not far behind. Sure, in the West it is easy to point out the greed, with our $300 jeans, million dollar homes, etc. But the only difference I see is that we have the access to that and the developing world does not.

Case in point, on my plane ride to Guatemala, I sat next to a retired teacher who three times in the past two years had travelled to China to teach English to college students. What was his impression? None other than the fact that Chinese students seek to study and work for the purpose of garnering a gig at one of the those large engineering or other such firms for the sole purpose of being consumers. They want stuff! He couldn't stress that enough.

Likewise, in Guatemala, those I spent time with were very concerned about the accumulation of stuff. Guess jeans, cell phones, handbags, vacations, etc. Those who had the means took advantage, even though they were Christians, they had no problems spending.

Finally to Kenya. The greed really stood out to me this time, particularly in the Kitale area, but others as well. Another thing that struck me is that those who have means do very little to help those around them, that is what the foreigners are for. Of course, this is a vast generalization, but one I found to be true in my travels.

What do I conclude? Westerners are very greedy and materialistic, but we are not alone. It seems that greed is more of a problem of human nature rather than an epidemic in the Western world alone.