Random encounters

I'm biking through the villages on a Saturday afternoon, through these peaceful and innocent villages of Malawi. Where people have nothing, but still everything. Where people always smile. Where nothing is dangerous, nothing is unknown. Where time is just another thing passing by. Where nothing is wrong, where there is no shame. The kids run as freely and safely around as the chicken and the goats do. This is where everyone greets you, where you can always have a conversation, even without words. This is where people will treat you as you were their family even though they have never seen you before, even if you don't speak their language. Even if you are just passing through it will hit you; the curiosity, the friendlyness and the interest.

Is this what we lost with the invention of cities, the invention of roads, cars and escalators? The invention of high-rise buildings, the invention of TVs, cellphones, sunglasses and computers? The invention of property, borders, money, weapons, universities, hospitals, books and courts? What have we gained, and what have we lost?