We sit in our own world, with our own issues and problems and we can lose track of life in other places in the world.
“Life is nasty,brutish and short” Thomas Hobbes
So true in many places
With an obesity epidemic in this country, with the “poor” being equally or overly represented, I think Americans have forgotten how good we have it. Americans have become spoiled to the point where the biggest problem is misuse of one’s pronouns.
Did you just assume that because I live in America I identify as American?
Next time a homeless guy here asks me for some money I plan to ask to see his smart phone.
If his phone is older than mine he will receive some spare change - If newer he will get the dogs put on his ass and I will get to see how fast he can run…
Only in America can we see ‘poor’ people that are overweight (and with smart phones). Sad…
Forum induced DT
We have poor people in the US who are fat, have an $800 cell phone, 4 TV’s in their home with cable, and they have the internet. The Gov gives them money for booze, drugs, and gambling.
How’s that for perspective?
Then they really aren’t poor. They have less money than others, but poor I don’t think so. Everyone in that video dreams to be American poor.
Being poor in the US means only owning one TV. People in the US have no idea what poor really looks like. Having said that, some legit poor people I have met outside the US were generally happier than the miserable whiny entitled D heads we see in the US. Cultural context is everything there and we in the US tend to automatically assume what we think is important and our values must apply to everyone else, and they don’t. Being poor can really suck (BTDT) but it’s not always in itself the cause of unhappiness.
Even before I clicked I knew it would be Africa. People in complete hell holes need to stop reproducing.
And yet…
Thats a real world bug out.
Bingo.
I’m in India right now and most of our Country ain’t seen poor.
But on the present trajectory they will soon enough.
Yes, it’s 4am here and I’m wide awake.
India is a trip! Literally. Haven’t been there since COVID. Had two 10 year visas before that. Almost had to go over Thanksgiving and I told my boss “no”. Amazingly, I can do the presentation via Zoom. Sorry United!
Rainy season now? Right?
I love India because of the people. Most speak good English. I love rolling with my Sikh buddies who remind me of Texans and drink whisky like it is going out of style. A guy from southern India was darker than most American African-Americans. I guess there is a bit of a stigma against southern Indians, so I taught him to yell “South’s gonna do it again!!!”.
The poverty is something that you have to make your peace with. The manual labor to do silly stuff like sweep a highway construction site with a straw broom to carrying your bags is so they have a job and get paid.
The one thing I say about India is that looking around at the state of the infrastructure you can’t tell if it’s being built and moving towards the 21st century or if it’s some post apocalyptic ruins. They’re in that middle state of construction that could have the time arrow pointing both ways.
Usually when I was coming back from India I’d have a US business trip to take also for a few days before I got home. The one time I came straight back my wife almost made me sleep in the other room because I was still sweating out all of the spices from the food. I’m getting to the point where I don’t know the rules of cricket but I have a big understanding of what are good and bad plays.
My good friend over there worked up the perfect drink. We call it the Bharat after him and I guess that’s a slang term for India itself? But it’s half 7-Up, half bubbly water and a healthy dose of vodka. Not too sweet, but the sugar gives you a little bit of a kick to help with the jet lag and the vodka sneaks up on you. Perfectly refreshing and a hot New Delhi day.
You seen what’s coming across the Southern border lately (on the news)? They haven’t missed many meals either…
Its Africa. Nothing good comes out of Africa, its always been a shithole, and most likely always will be. As someone stated they should stop reproducing, they contribute nothing to the world.
Much closer to home, many African’s trying to come to the US have to try and navigate one of the most dangerous places on earth, the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. You go in there, you very likely will not come out. It’s one of the few places in Panama I have not been and would not go without a well armed security detail armed to the teeth. It’s the focus of Part II of my thriller series, and the only place I write about in those series I have not been to personally. We have SOF, DEA, etc skulking around in there also. I bet it must be one of the most miserable places to operate on the planet:
Harsh overgeneralization given the history, variables, and shear landmass involved.
Reminds me of my days bird hunting in mexico…we would drop off the bird boys in these remote very small colonias ranging from 10-20 patched together one room homes. Tin, cardboard, twine & anything else to hold them together.
Some of the nicest most content folks I’ve ever been around. Some would insist on inviting you in & offer you whatever they had…3-4 beds front to back on dirt floors & a small stove / table in a corner is how most were set up.
Still, humbling as it was these folks likely never missed a meal, had steady work for farmers & would be considered well off on the worldwide poverty scale.
If you want to see Third World standards of living in the CONUS. Visit some of our Indian Reservations. Absolute multi-generational abject poverty with no longterm solutions being implemented. Just corruption, rampant alcoholism, hard-core drug use, high crime, and horrible substandards if living.
It is the end result of government intervention in those peoples lives and it shows what ultimately happens under authoritarian rule.