Introduction to Maximum Advantage Collection by Travis B. Part 6

I remember when I was sponsoring a 6-year-old boy in Ecuador, named Manuel. Every month for 5 years I mailed a check to subsidize his family’s monthly expenses. Every year the organization mailed me a card informing me of the opportunity and date to send Manuel a personal Christmas card, birthday card, Easter card, etc. It was assumed that this opportunity would serve to maintain a personal connection with my sponsored child, as well as to give him something out of the ordinary that would validate him as a valued individual (as well as perpetuate the prosperity of Christianity in Ecuador). Each year the organization also mailed a letter personally written by Manuel, along with a standardized card from the organization inviting me to write to Manuel in response. In the organization’s standardized card it was requested that I do not tell Manuel of any of my new purchases. It was the organization’s belief that this would make Manuel jealous, and subsequently feel negatively and disappointed of his surroundings. It was apparently assumed by the organization, of which I fairly well have no reason to disagree, that Manuel has very little experience with the American culture. Clearly in any child’s life there is the experiential desire for fun and games. In the American child’s life this includes objects that only money can buy, something that Manuel’s family, earning an average of $20.00 per month can probably not provide.

With the introduction of these Christian charity groups into South America, the indigenous people were introduced to a metaphysical and symbolic language that was independent of their previous life experience. Before the introduction of Christianity these people presumably had little if any previous knowledge of its primary beliefs. After it was introduced by missionaries, as well as various charity organizations, this all changed. What this story provides is an example of “Relative Deprivation”. Within this social construct theory, it is generally believed that an individual or group that lacks a relative level of security, wealth, or power, etc., is usually unaware of this deficiency unless they have something by which to compare its current situation. Without the introduction of Christianity or the Christian charitable organization, these people were unaware of this branch of religion or the possibility to live differently than previous generations. This example of course is not intended to argue that the introduction of these American social constructs is inappropriate; it is merely used to establish the fact that people are usually unaware of what they have never experienced. As a result, people are unaware of what they are missing. This is not necessarily a bad thing.