Staying Far-Sighted & Rational

[Mimpy]

I recently went to India for a couple weeks to visit family. I had a great time and saw some interesting things. Of course, the standard of living in India is much lower than the United States', but I can honestly say that the country's economy is booming. That can probably be found to porportionally equal the extent of capitalism in the country.

If there is anything you remember about an Indian summer (besides the deathly humidity and monsoons), it is the poverty. The streets are crowded with businesses, animals, vehicles, and of course: beggars. They approach you like a swarm of bees, and if you give a coin to one of them, the rest will naturally demand some for themselves. There are some places that are worse than others: tourist locations, airports, and train stations are the worst. I was just thankful that at least I could pull off looking like a native. The foreigners are pesterd twice as much as everyone else.

I don't give out money to beggars, even if they have no legs or are carrying a crying baby. People mutilate themselves to evoke pity from others. Mothers pinch their children to make them cry (I've seen it!). It's pathetic, especially when you see a person with two working legs and hands and a brain. Then there are others who look incredibly poor and sit on the streets, selling something, anything. Those are the kind of people I value and even consider buying something from. There is a difference between a business, however small, and begging. I saw a man with no legs, walking on his elbows, selling hair clips. I bought one. It made every beggar with legs look disgusting.

Many poor individuals choose to work in people's homes, as servants. My family in India has several servants, one that cooks for my grandparents, one that washes the clothes (by hand), one that takes care of the garden, one that cleans the house, etc. These people have difficult lives, but still, it is a life. The last servant I mentioned, who cleans the house, has been with my grandmother since before I was born. She has a tremendous loyalty towards my family because we have always treated her well. She has two children and a husband. The husband was useless. He did not work and when he occassionally did, he drank the money away. He eventually died from liver faliure a couple years ago. She, however, was extremely hard-working and generally smart. Many servants do as her husband did, waste their money away on instant gratification. She did not.

She saved up what she earned. She wanted to send her children to school. She did not waste her money on unnecessary clothes or expensive jewelery. Her son is now entering law school. Her daughter is in college. They are going to have much better lives than their mother, and they will most probably take care of their aging mother, as well, who was far-sighted enough to know that education is priceless, that it would provide them all with a much better life.

It was a heart-warming story to hear. Who says that without the government, the poor people would not be able to survive? They can do it perfectly well themselves. Of course it is difficult to achieve, but so is everything else we truly value.