Ding Dong Vs. The Rat Race

Let me first premise this post by saying I am talking in terms of the general public. Of course there are always the outliers who jet-set from place to place and not really affected by economic hardship;) see: Orange County.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about common measures of success and fulfillment (as it appies to countries on the whole). It's a really interesting debate. Those who have traveled to areas of the world that are "poor" monetary, yet "rich" in culture, family, religion, etc. often raise an eyebrow in their economics class when the professor starts talking about Standards of Living tiers in "GDP/capita" rates. It's like when I spent one Friday afternoon laying in the sun, in the heart of Budapest on Margaret Island, listening to beautiful classical music, GDP per capita WHAT? Suddenly, the poor unemployed guy next to me, yeah that one kissing on that beautiful girl with a beer in his hand, well his life didn't seem so bad...

But I think Digs' email drives home my point a lot better. Yesterday he had me laughing..haha..only Digs..

"I have a buddy, crazy ol' Ding Dong who lives on Tioman island, wakes up on Sunday morning and starts drinking / singing / and motor biking at the same time. It's like Tom Cruise's "Cocktail" to the nth degree. The guy is broke as sh*t but has more fun than Trump on TV saying "you're fired."

Are we really just being naive romantics or are we perhaps missing the boat? An interesting POV comes from Robert Pirsig. He writes:

"Its sometimes argued that there's no real progress; that a civilization that kills multitudes in mass warfare, that pollutes the land and oceans with ever larger quantities of debris, that destroys the dignity of individuals by subjecting them to a forced mechanized existence can hardly be called an advance over the simpler hunting and gathering and agricultural existance of prehistoric times. But this agrument, though romantically appealing, doesn't hold up. The primitive tribes permit far less individual freedom than does modern society. Ancient wars were committed with far less moral justification than modern ones. A technology that produces debris can find, and is finding, ways of disposing of it withouth ecological upset. And the school-book pictures of primitive man sometimes omit some of the detractions of primative life- the pain, the disease, famine, the hard labor needed just to stay alive. From the agony of bare existence to modern life can be soberly described as upward progress, and the sole agent for this progress is quite clearly reason itself."

So maybe the rat race and jobs isn't so bad after all? Or maybe it is? I don't pretend to have answers. When Saki was over a couple of weeks ago we had an interesting discussion about GDH/capita. The Gross Domestic Happiness (or Gross National Happiness) of a country. It's an interesting concept although I've yet to see how it's actually measured and if anyone actually cares. Maybe that's the problem, it must be difficult to measure! But certainly, something other than money, education, life expectancy, (e.g. the normal measuring sticks) etc. could be used. It reminds me of Drew's blog about a place having "soul". I don't know how to describe it, but you know it when you see it.

Well, I really don't have a lot to say about the topic, I'm still bouncing thoughts around in my head. I'm was always struck when I saw poor Mexicans working in the US for low wages. Why would you ever leave your culture and family (extended) to have such a tough life? I guess it boils down to providing a better life for your family..and maybe the returns on your investment won't come this generation, but perhaps your children's generation...and I guess in that sense, it makes more sense. But, as we all know the grass is always greener on the other side, and we should always, be careful for what we wish for. With that, I will offer these parting words to all the Turks dreaming of better days in Germany: Twirling Dervishes Aren't that Bad!