Things We Carry on the Sea

Through processes of trade, colonization, and acculturation, the West has exported its culture and ideology to the entire world. For much of recent history, Western powers have connected their global influence to a process of modernization. This global influence positions Western societies as cultural ideals, and Western economies as models of economic success. The influence of globalization manifests through Ping’s “Things We Carry” in two major ways. First, globalization leads to the denigration and exploitation of non-Western societies. Second, globalization leads members of these non-Western societies to aspire to become part of the West.

The exploitation of the collective speaker’s homelands is one of the major factors driving them to immigrate. The speaker talks about their “scars from proxy wars of greed” (Line 4). Proxy wars occur when external state actors instigate a conflict in another country. The Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) originally served as a battleground for the USSR and United States during the Cold War (1947-1991). In proxy wars, the state actors do not fight directly. Instead, they fund armies in the warring country. Proxy wars often lead to large numbers of refugees fleeing either the conflict or the resulting unstable economy. Proxy wars also devastate local populations, leading to the speaker calling themselves “orphans of the wars forced upon us” (Line 13).