A Simpler Life?

A few days ago I was looking through the news when I found this story, in which I found a couple of issues which seemed to undermine the general integrity of the story and somewhat insulting to the individuals profiled.

He wanted a healthier lifestyle for his family, less anxiety, fewer 14-hour days. So he recently traded his deluxe apartment, the pickup truck, the dishwasher and $4.99 McDonald's combos for life in a place he considers relatively better: sub-Saharan Africa.

"Right now I'm no stress, no anxiety," said Odhiambo, 34, relaxing in his family home in this western Kenyan city along the shores of Lake Victoria. "Think of it this way: When I was in the U.S., I was close to 300 pounds. Now, I'm like 200. The biggest thing for me was quality of life."

While that may seem counterintuitive to Americans accustomed to bleaker images of Africa, recent studies have documented the flight of immigrant professionals from the United States to their home countries. Chinese and Indian workers increasingly say they see better opportunities and lifestyles at home. And diaspora associations of Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans and other Africans say their members -- mostly from middle-class backgrounds -- are joining the exodus, choosing life in the land of slow Internet connections and power outages over the pressures of recession-era America.

A quick search of Wikipedia reveals a country whos fraudulent elections have sparked waves of violence, bordered by Sudan, home of Darfur, the "Second Most Politcally Unstable Country in the World." Kenya is also bordered by Somali, the "First Most Politcally Unstable Country in the World." Kenya is not a paradise. While I can understand an individual family's desire to move back to their homes in light of the difficulties the current economic crises, I take extreme issue with the context the writer of the article places this occurence in. In another place in the article, McCrummen says

His family lives in his mother-in-law's tidy -- and paid for -- one-story, cinder-block house. There are no credit cards in Kenya, and mortgages are just catching on, so life mostly runs on cash.

"Here, you really can live on about $5 a day," Odhiambo said.

I feel this description of the people of Africa attempts to engage the reader in a sort of romanticism of African life which I think is simply insulting and undermines the authority of the writer. It is sad to think that a writer for the Washington Post thinks that the average reader will accept the notion that life in Africa is simple and idealized, hearkening back to easier times.