My experience is that people who come from small countries, or far away countries have a much wider knowledge of what is going on in the rest of the world, because their own small country does not seem to have everything.

People who come from such a big leading country, tend to have endless multiples of everything within arm’s reach or walking distance, and therefore do not realise that there is a massive world out there.

I did in fact hear this on an American programme, I think it was Larry King live, that an international survey proved that the general knowledge of children is the best in the smallest and least leading countries of the world, and the worst in the biggest and most leading countries. I remember one thing distinctly: a selected group of children from hundreds of countries were tested, and the average number of countries and their capitals that children from Singapore were able to list off the top of their heads, in their correct continents, were 88 of the 246. I think that is massively impresssive.

I think part of this may be due to the fact of cost here and distribution centers. I for example am a professional flutist (well… finishing my degree, but I’m competing a lot and taking a lot of gigs and auditions…), and the closest sheet music store that has a wide array of flute literature is a good 8-10 hour drive from here. And because America doesn’t really have a thorough transportation system (like the train system in Europe for example), you either drive a long way or pay for shipping (and that gets expensive very fast). Unless you live in a metropolitan area, there is very little public transportation that goes from city to city. Much less from state to state.

So when I want sheet music, I usually order a lot at once, and shipping costs can be very expensive. Furthermore, if I am importing something, the shipping time takes FOREVER, and it is outrageously expensive. I remember that I once paid almost $80 USD for ONE concerto. A foreign order I placed in Bolivia once took almost two months for delivery (and the item was IN STOCK).

So it’s not necessarily that things aren’t available here, but rather that the process of obtaining something may be complicated and expensive. (Also I seem to think that there are certain countries we can’t get things from… like Cuba **laws and embargos etc. preventing trade** but I may be mistaken).

Cuba also offers a significant programme of eye surgery.