Gall-Peters projection of the Earth, with land masses closer to actual size.
In its most basic definition, geography is the study of the physical features of the earth and of human activity as it affects and is affected by the earth, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries. Geography, and the related study of cartography, can be a useful tool for understanding how reality butts up with misconception, and how little we really know about our fellow human beings.
One of the best ways to see how our fellow humans live is to imagine a much smaller population on a much smaller planet. Think of it this way - if the world had a total population of 100 people, the continent with the smallest amount of people would be North America. Five people out of that 100 live there, while 9 live in Central and South America. Eleven in Europe, 15 in Africa, and finally 60 in Asia and the Middle East. There is an equal number of men to women, and six of the men would not be able to read and write, as opposed to 11 of the women. Four people total would have a college degree. Fifteen of these 100 people would be undernourished, and almost half of those 100 people would be living on less than two dollars a day. Out of the 26 kids in that 100 that are younger than 15 years old, one out of every two of them would be living in poverty.
Because of the way maps are seen by most of the population, we in this country have a skewed view of our footprint on this planet. Distortions on the maps that most people see all through pre-collegiate education show Alaska looking as big as Brazil, but in reality, it is actually only a fifth the size of that country. Greenland appears 14 times too large for its actual landmass, so it looks like this giant invader is about to attack Canada. Of course, if we Americans saw our country and our world as it actually is, we might ask ourselves some dangerous questions, like why does that small country need all of that firepower and global influence? Those are dangerous questions, and as Upton Sinclair once said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
And here we get to the real understanding of geography, that the great bulldozer that remakes the countries and shifts borders is powered by two fuels – war and commerce. How we talk about history is directly associated with how we see geography and how we see those fuels – for example, do we refer to them as military campaigns in Nicaragua and Honduras starting in the early 1910s, or do we call it the business plans of the Standard and United Fruit Companies?
When 64% of the US population have never been abroad, the lesson that we can impart from geography, cartography, and how they relate to history is that we try to let people know, for example, that the cultures and languages of Ukraine and Russia in actuality are as different as those of Spain and Portugal, so the noise about “reclaiming” Ukraine is as dishonest as it was as when the Crimea was “annexed”. Maybe the unique view that we can relay to others is that the world is much, much smaller than how we perceive it, and our neighbors are hurting. Suffering, in Mariupol or Moscow, Aleppo or Jerusalem, South Central Los Angeles or South Philly, is all the same, is happening to our neighbors, and is the responsibility of all of us.
[Based on reflection for Interfaith Community United for Justice and Peace forum]
