tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26717801.post5683608763690051414..comments2023-12-15T01:18:40.855+11:00Comments on Expat@Large: Blind Optimismexpat@largehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01250623536121293636noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26717801.post-41447993430283534342009-03-06T02:40:00.000+11:002009-03-06T02:40:00.000+11:00Dibab: me too.Dibab: me too.expat@largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01250623536121293636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26717801.post-37205075186939366972009-03-05T23:43:00.000+11:002009-03-05T23:43:00.000+11:00I work a lot with colleagues in India. Hell, my e...I work a lot with colleagues in India. Hell, my employer has spent (quite literally) billions there in recent year. They're a nice lot, no better or no worst than the European, US and Aussie colleagues I work with. However I can't help thinking, almost daily, that here's a country without decent health care, without sufficient public sewage and clean water with an overburdened infrastructure such that it is and they have the Bomb, and want to go to the Moon? Nehru spent heavily on the IITs so that India could raise itself up to the level of the west but I really think their government needs to spend money on improving their own lot in life first if they're ever to be taken seriously as more than just cheap labor.<BR/><BR/>Sorry...it's a sore point with me.dibabearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05160261542703053377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26717801.post-63265906229123191972009-03-04T18:41:00.000+11:002009-03-04T18:41:00.000+11:00Sav: yes our instintual survival mechanism when fa...Sav: yes our instintual survival mechanism when faced with such poverty is to look at how lucky WE are. This can even make us feel good - the Schopenhauer idea of our happiness being relative to the crap that the next guy has to live with.<BR/><BR/>Mark: There's a huge <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Empathy-Gap-Building-Bridges-Society/dp/0670020443/ref=pd_sim_b_4" REL="nofollow">Empthy Gap</A> between economic extremists and the real world. Doubling the salary of the Bangladeshi worker would add 17c to the price of your Nikes.<BR/><BR/>How much MORE happy are we if we are MUCH better off than others? Surely, if they could be better off than what they are now, and we were still able to stay ahead, wouldn't we still be happy enough? Rather than have extreme peaks of wealth, wouldn't it be better to have a general raising of the level?<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying redistribute the wealth or the love, I'm saying redistribute justice, fairness, education, health and opportunity.<BR/><BR/>One problem with having a lot is that due to habit or accustomization we soon become dissatisfied with what we have, so we think we have to hunt for more. We should instead hunt for different things, for ways to help others get ENOUGH not more. Often they haven't got any! Stop thinking of ourselves and our possessions and acquisitions. It's a form of meditation really, a way of focussing outside your own desires.<BR/><BR/>Having said all that, what new phone should I get?expat@largehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01250623536121293636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26717801.post-59605953876739285432009-03-04T16:00:00.000+11:002009-03-04T16:00:00.000+11:00different field, but the same sort of problem the ...different field, but the same sort of problem the MITM has in africa. it isn't enough to as you say, <I>count your blessings</I> it what are you doing to help. we have so much and we have much to do. you'e a good man, sugar! xoxoxsavannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04310843901371718758noreply@blogger.com