Limited exposure to other cultures

Although contemporary technology has given virtually every community daily access to knowledge about the trends, events and possibilities of global society, through television, radio and the news media, most people are either consumed with the daily routine of subsistence labour or spend leisure hours chatting. The result is that most of the world's population has little or no access to the events and trends outside the local community. The difficulty of travel and functional illiteracy blocks many others from even vicarious exposure to the world beyond their own village. This pervasive emphasis upon living here and now not only stunts relationship to the future and to the rest of the world, but also hampers appropriation of the individual's own culture and that of others.