Virginia Hoyt
asked:
My question is actually one the author herself asked in the Author's Note; on page 248, she queries "After all, there are more poor people than rich people in the world's Mumbais. ... Why don't more of our unequal societies implode?"
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity,
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Adora Myers
Very good question. I wish I had a happy answer. Sadly, the rich vs poor scenario has existed for thousands of years and can be found everywhere in the world. There are 100s (thousands?) of examples of governments that dissolve under the weight of their own corruption - severe inequality being a big part of that. Personally, I suspect ALL unequal society eventually impload - they are just replaced with another slightly less unequal society until that replacement imploads...and so on.
With massive amounts of scientific and historic data at our fingertips, you would think human beings everywhere would see this and change. Yet, it continues. Why? (shrug) I don't know. I could offer suggestions about individuals acting in self-interest and...similar ideas...but that's just me waxing darkly-philosophical. I on't actually have a hard or solid answer to this question: Why does the human race refuse to act in a manner that is beneficial to the entire species? I wish I knew.
With massive amounts of scientific and historic data at our fingertips, you would think human beings everywhere would see this and change. Yet, it continues. Why? (shrug) I don't know. I could offer suggestions about individuals acting in self-interest and...similar ideas...but that's just me waxing darkly-philosophical. I on't actually have a hard or solid answer to this question: Why does the human race refuse to act in a manner that is beneficial to the entire species? I wish I knew.
Reet
It does, and it will. Look at Rome.
mpn
Read the non-fiction describing life in a 21C slum; where the author asks “ Why don’t places like … , with cheek-by-jowl slums and luxury hotels, devolve into arrant violence? Why don’t more of our unequal societies implode?” and then goes on to observe “In places where government priorities and market imperatives create a world so capricious that to help a neighbor is to risk your ability to feed your family, … , the idea of mutually supportive poor community is demolished.” And further that “ … in undercities governed by corruption, … , it is blistering hard to be good. It is astonishing that some people are good…”.
Should it be concluded that it is because the family largely remains intact, breeds some goodness, and prevents the implosion?
Should it be concluded that it is because the family largely remains intact, breeds some goodness, and prevents the implosion?
Ladybug
Greed, hunger for power, money and the desire to be better or at least the envy of your neighbor. The answer to your question is that simple and proven in the book itself.
Celia Barry
As the author says, the very poor turn against each other believing that their neighbors are taking away from the small part of the pie that everyone is trying to get a piece of.
In my mind this means that as long as there is some hope, people will continue to invest in their current strategy. From our distance, we see people fighting over crumbs but from the slums, they can't imagine or begin to see how substantially large the pie is and how they can reasonably participate in having more pie.
If the people in the slums decide to band together, it has to be because there is no other strategy forward. And if they band together, how will they survive while they fight on? I think it comes down to food and clean water - how will they eat and drink while they protest and given the situation in India, so well described by Boo, it's hard to imagine being able to overcome the deeply entrenched system of theft by government workers on every level. Too many have a stake in the current system, no matter how cruel.
In my mind this means that as long as there is some hope, people will continue to invest in their current strategy. From our distance, we see people fighting over crumbs but from the slums, they can't imagine or begin to see how substantially large the pie is and how they can reasonably participate in having more pie.
If the people in the slums decide to band together, it has to be because there is no other strategy forward. And if they band together, how will they survive while they fight on? I think it comes down to food and clean water - how will they eat and drink while they protest and given the situation in India, so well described by Boo, it's hard to imagine being able to overcome the deeply entrenched system of theft by government workers on every level. Too many have a stake in the current system, no matter how cruel.
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