 |
| My wife and I at the Equator monument. |
Previously I made reference to "My Reluctant Ecuador Vacation" and briefly told about our trip with some photos and a video. That document will suffice as a record of our trip. If you missed that post and want to know about my trip then check it out. In this current post I want to explain a bit about my reluctance to embark upon the Ecuador excursion and how the United States government added to that reluctance.
Yes, controversy Monday comes on a Wednesday this week.
My Summer Vacation Plans
My wife came up with the Ecuador trip plan in May. My reaction to the suggestion was one of disappointment as we had originally planned a trip back east to New Jersey and Tennessee to visit our grandkids and my family. Since we rarely get to see any of them I had been looking forward to this trip. Going to Ecuador was pretty much going to mess up those plans as far as I could see. One trip was probably all we could afford.
My disappointment was very evident as I made it very clear that going to Ecuador was not as important to me as visiting family. Since my wife was now set on making the trip to her home country I tried my best to get into a positive mindset about going. I wasn't doing a very good job at this, but I tried to put it all in the most positive light I could. I began to do research on the internet in order to prepare myself for the upcoming trip.
State Department Deception
The website of the United States Department of State seemed like a reliable place to go for information. What I read there about traveling in Ecuador began to make me have second thoughts about going and my reluctance on taking the trip was rekindled. From the website I gained a perception that Ecuador was not necessarily the best place to go. Not wanting to go probably made me read more into the website warnings than was there, but still I was seeing all sorts of cautionary flags waving before me. Thinking more on the idea of the trip I told my wife I wasn't going to go.
After further consideration, as I was on the web arranging my wife's flight, I decided that it would be wrong for me to let my wife go without me. I booked tickets for both of us. In the end I was glad that I did because it was a great trip. While in Ecuador we encountered none of the problems mentioned on the Department of State site. Maybe there was some fact there, but I think the dangers were greatly exaggerated. I would go to Ecuador again if the opportunity arose and I would highly recommend the experience to anyone.
How Much Are We Being Deceived?
My experience with this trip combined with all of the things that have been coming to light in the news of late makes me ask: Can we trust our government?
Actually this is a question that has been asked for quite some time by many. In the past I've often had a sense of paranoia about our government. Then after 9/11 I got caught up like many others in a certain aura of patriotic fervor. My job loss in 2009 began to send me back into a sense of doubt which has been heightened in the past few years. Government agencies instill fear of travel outside our borders while doling out trillions of dollars to dubious countries like Egypt, Syria, and Pakistan. Government agencies are intruding into lives of individuals and organizations that are not in a favorable light with the current administration.
There is increasing evidence that the government is spying on all of us. For what purpose? The sadder story is that many of us don't care much and even if we do there isn't much we can do about it. Call me a conspiracy theorist and you'll be telling it like it is.
What do you think about the U.S. or any other government for that matter? Can governments be trusted? Are we heading toward one world government domination by powers that are not in the interest of good? What government propaganda hogwash have you fallen for in the past only to discover you've been duped?
 |
| View at the Equator Museum |
