31–40 of 106 posts
I think a lot of the resentment felt by the rural American poor has to do with their perception that they are constantly ignored or overlooked, while similarly impoverished inner-city minorities are at least given some kind of institutional sympathy. It's hard to say how true this really is, or how much of it is simply further fuel for pre-existing racism, but apparently this perception is ubiquitous enough that it c…
I was born in an African village, literally in a mud hut. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a village. The town I grew up in wasn't far from the village so I spent holidays in the village too. I now work in IT and try keep up with the latest frameworks. That is I am not concerned with starving to death and I have health insurance. If I compare my upbringing with my daughter's, there is nothing to compare. We wa…
I was born in an African village, literally in a mud hut. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a village. The town I grew up in wasn't far from the village so I spent holidays in the village too. I now work in IT and try keep up with the latest frameworks. That is I am not concerned with starving to death and I have health insurance. If I compare my upbringing with my daughter's, there is nothing to compare. We wa…
I was born in an African village, literally in a mud hut. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a village. The town I grew up in wasn't far from the village so I spent holidays in the village too. I now work in IT and try keep up with the latest frameworks. That is I am not concerned with starving to death and I have health insurance. If I compare my upbringing with my daughter's, there is nothing to compare. We wa…
Off topic but I view success as not where you are in life but how far you've come. You've got to have a pretty high score of life's leaderboard.
The interesting thing is how easy it is to adapt and to also get caught up in the environment you are in. Suddenly the next great framework is the thing that occupies your mind the most. At that moment I am just like any other person in IT. I go home once a year because it keeps me grounded. Makes me realise I have come far but life is a bit slower there and people have genuine smiles but own less.
I was born in an African village, literally in a mud hut. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a village. The town I grew up in wasn't far from the village so I spent holidays in the village too. I now work in IT and try keep up with the latest frameworks. That is I am not concerned with starving to death and I have health insurance. If I compare my upbringing with my daughter's, there is nothing to compare. We wa…
I was born in an African village, literally in a mud hut. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a village. The town I grew up in wasn't far from the village so I spent holidays in the village too. I now work in IT and try keep up with the latest frameworks. That is I am not concerned with starving to death and I have health insurance. If I compare my upbringing with my daughter's, there is nothing to compare. We wa…
Very interesting story and perspective, thanks for sharing. If you ever wrote a book about your life, or even a detailed blog post (didn't see anything on your blog about your personal life), I'm sure people would love to read it. :)
I think a lot of the resentment felt by the rural American poor has to do with their perception that they are constantly ignored or overlooked, while similarly impoverished inner-city minorities are at least given some kind of institutional sympathy. It's hard to say how true this really is, or how much of it is simply further fuel for pre-existing racism, but apparently this perception is ubiquitous enough that it c…
There's a double annoyance with inner city residents, though, in that many just expect the government to solve the problems, leaving them without motivation. Almost robbing them of it in some cases. Anyone working hard towards their dreams, no matter how large or small, will naturally resent such mentalities.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does Bangladesh have a systemic prescription opiate problem? How about an illegal heroin problem?
> Does Bangladesh have a systemic prescription opiate problem? If you want to talk about the impact of opiates on Bangladeshi poverty today, you should go back much further in history. Bengal opium, being much higher quality than the product found in China and Afghanistan, was the major impetus behind the British annexing the territory back in 1757. They used this monopoly to extract exorbitant taxes from Bengal, cau…
I feel that's the key here. That oxycontin was over prescribed for about a decade. We are talking people getting in a car wreck and waking up in a hospital addicted to opiates.
I'm assuming we are in agreement that the pharmaceutical opiates are way more addictive than their illegal analogs. Snorting a pill is way less work than shooting up or "chasing the dragon" but once you're addicted and your brain tells you need dope to live, you'll do whatever you need to do to live.
>As for the raw numbers, 0.3% of Bangladeshis consume opiates at least once per year, compared to 0.57% in the US.
I wonder what the opiate use rate is amongst the Appalachian population. A few days ago there was a map posted of heroin overdoses in the US and West Virginia was the hottest hot spot. Anecdotes of OD's and pill heads in WVA abound. When I showed the map to one of my friends, he told me has had 12(!) people that he went to high school with die of pills and/or heroin.
I can't help but feel that the pharmaceutical companies and their executives are complicit in the current US opiate epedemic.
Thanks Obama(care)!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Off topic but I view success as not where you are in life but how far you've come. You've got to have a pretty high score of life's leaderboard.
You make a very interesting point. I would say I am able to adapt to my surroundings pretty well. At work it is all about databases and SQL. When I am back in my home country, conversations are about the rain. Rain determines how crops fare and how much food is available for the livestock. Trying to describe what I do is a none starter. The interesting thing is how easy it is to adapt and to also get caught up in the…
That's a great observation. I think it's hard to argue that someone happy in their life is not successful just because they haven't advanced economically.
I think a lot of the resentment felt by the rural American poor has to do with their perception that they are constantly ignored or overlooked, while similarly impoverished inner-city minorities are at least given some kind of institutional sympathy. It's hard to say how true this really is, or how much of it is simply further fuel for pre-existing racism, but apparently this perception is ubiquitous enough that it c…
Just about everyone is bigoted against some group or other.
The fascinating thing is that this now has a meta-component, that is, the perceived bigotry of an out group is one of the rationales for the moral acceptability of bigotry against them.
Of course to most people who have such bigotry they would never call it such.
I do hope down voting this comment helps others deal with the cognitive dissonance.