the same reason dogs eat vomit and crap...
Posted on 01/13/2015 3:43:21 PM PST by MNDude
Maybe this is a rant as much as it is a question, but I often find myself astonished by third (and 2nd) world culture from what I've seen of it.
Mexico: OK, this is probably more 2nd world than 3rd world. They do many things like USA. I have inlaws in Mexico, so I've spent some time there. One thing that seems to be consistent, whether you are visiting someone's home or a gas station, is that the toilets are rarely completely functional! So often they'll have a large bucket outside or in the bathroom that you have fill up with water and then use it to flush the toilet. WHY? It's pretty rare in USA that I've found a toilet that way. How is it that everyone's freaking toilet breaks...and there's never anyone there to fix it! If it is working, then there's a great chance that the toilet will be missing the toilet seat. Are they content to sit without a seat? Can't be poverty, because many of these homes I've seen like this are filled with X-box games.
India: Now we are down to 3rd world. I've spent several in India. I have often looked at awe in the lack of inefficiency and the way they do things.
Constructing a building: A person on the bottom fills a bucket with cement, who then hands it off to a person standing on a platform 6 feet above them, who then hands the bucket to a person on a platform 6 feet above them, who then hands it to a person above them (about 4 or 5 platforms high, I can't remember). Have they never heard of the pulley?
Sweeping the floor: I remember at my hotel, every morning about 5 people would come out to the plaza with a handful of thin sticks, that I guess kind of was supposed to resemble a broom. These workers began scratching their sticks back and forth on the ground swiftly, raising a little dust, but mostly just scratching the ground. A few hours later they were done. Have they never heard of a push broom?
Scrubbing the floor: Always on hands and knees with a scrubber. Never heard of the Mop?
I remember I asked an India guy at the hotel why they work this way. He replied "Oh, this way they can employ a lot more people!" I answered "Why don't they just hire them to fix the broken doors, the holes in the ground, and pick up the garbage lying around outside?"
Africa: Last, and YES LEAST. Is there such thing as 4th world? I was in Africa, and one day I was with a tour and we went to visit the tribe where the people worked. These people herded cattle. At nighttime, the corralled all the cows into the center of their village made of mud huts to keep them safe. Of course the cows pooped like crazy in the center of the village and the area was just swarming with flies! The kids had flies crawling all over their faces. I remember as a kid seeing a picture of a starving kid from Africa covered with flies. I asked my mom why they don't shoo away the flies and she answered "They are so hungry they can't even think of brushing away the flies." Nope...these kids weren't starving, they don't shoo away the flies because they don't. In any case, why does it never occur to these people to build a corral outside their village?
While I was in there, I visited a city with the population of probably 50,000, although it's really tough to tell. Guess what the people used for their bathroom. Modern plumbing? Nope. Port-a-Potty? Nope. Outhouse? Nope. Dig a hole and poop in it and cover it up? Nope. These guys had NO bathroom facilities and would just go out and poop in whatever area with no attempt to cover it. I mean seriously!! When I was in Jr. High I went on a camping trip with class, and first thing the teacher told us was what to do with the little shovel. Family of Laura Ingalls arrives by oxcart to Walnut grove in 1877, and first thing Charles builds is an outhouse! Have these people never heard of a hole before?
Anyhow, that's my rant. Anyone else had any experience in 3rd world countries? Any insights?
Why? Education, that’s why.
Why do you think the Rats camp out in all the schools, at every level? Because they know that destroying education is the key to everything they want the world to be. To the Rats, the Third World isn’t a problem - it’s the model of the GOAL. For more info, look up “inner city,” “common core” and “Detroit.”
““The problem with 3rd world countries is that they were not founded on Judeo-Christian values. This is important because our culture is unique in that we uphold honest and decent behavior as the key to mutual prosperity.”
This is true even with ostensibly “Catholic” Mexico.”
Mexico was a very Christian (Catholic) country, which early in the 20th century was taken over by radical leftists who harshly oppressed the Catholic Church, including a period of open warfare called the Cristero War. No coincidence that Leon Trotsky fled to that leftist experiment when he had to leave the Soviet Union, or that daddy Mussolini named his son Benito, after Benito Juarez.
The Party of Institutionalized Revolution (PRI in Spanish) ruled the Federal Government of Mexico for over 70 years, downplaying religious values and indoctrinating leftist values. The economy was far from a star during their rule.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the PRI also lost power in the 1990’s. Over the twenty years since, the Mexican economy has grown considerably faster than before, and the standard of living and opportunity has noticeably improved. They also benefited from NAFTA during this time.
Culture plays a role in productivity, but Government policy is the main factor. Given a free market and rule of law, the world will beat a path to their door to grow the economy.
You could argue that the underlying culture and morality ultimately determines what kind of leadership they end up with, and what policies.
That’s because most Mexica sewage systems (outside of the wealthiest parts) cannot handle toilet paper, so that is what they are taught to do.
Well, my father always said, “never crap where you eat and live.”
This reminds me of a man in North Central Arkansas who came into a large sum of money. The first thing he did was build him a big brick ranch style house, WITHOUT a bathroom. He built a brick outhouse out behind.
His words were...”I ain’t gonna s#1t in the same house I eat in!”
This reminds me of my trip to Mexico about 13 years ago.
You had to buy toilet paper from a vendor with an ARMED GUARD behind him, you could not bring your own.
On the wall was a sign telling you to dispose your used paper in a trash can.
The Cubans do that too. It IS gross.
Yes. And losing all the cattle to predators or criminals also occurred.
Flies are better then starvation.
Why would they hire them to fix something that is not theirs?
You don’t think it’s within their capacity to build and secure a corral outside their village?
You really don't understand do you.
The predators I am talking about can jump over 12 feet in the air. A wood fence would be easy for them to climb.
Fire and large groups of people are what keep them out of the village.
The same with the criminals. How many men would you put on guard to keep the cows safe? They are not allowed guns so they would have to stand guard with sticks. And since they will still have their day job to do how long can they go without sleep?
People do the best they can with what they have.
We saw similar attitudes in Papua New Guinea. Women would be trudging down the road to market carrying 40 pounds of vegetables in a net bag on their backs with a tumpline. Young, healthy males would only carry firewood (in a tropical country, this means 2-3 branches), male children (one at a time, usually the oldest) and/or an airline flight bag (which was a status symbol). It was common to see the men walking along unburdened and weaving decorative belts or armbands as they walked. These were then sold to tourists. Also common to see the women doing all the village work while the men sat around a smoldering fire eating roasted sweet potatoes and chewing betel.
Our guide assured me that even if their women saw the freedoms and courtesies accorded Western women and the wives of the few educated elites, they would never rebel or demand these freedoms or courtesies for themselves. He was adamant on this topic.
In many Caribbean countries, there are signs directing you to do just that in the restrooms. The reason is they have primitive cesspits that cannot handle paper.
What?
I have lived in rural America for over 40 years with both older gravity type septic systems and more modern pumped systems. No one puts TP in a separate container. All our systems can handle toilet paper.
What you have in the 3rd world is gravity based cesspit systems. Even modern toilets cannot handle paper in that instance.
Do you think the Africans are really the only human beings in history that have encountered difficult obstacles?
First American settlers put up frontier forts within weeks of arriving in the new land.
The Great Wall of China is about 4000 feet long and is from 15 to 30 feet high.
And your reason why they can’t stand guard is because they might miss out on some sleep? Give me a break!
the same reason dogs eat vomit and crap...
Regarding the cattle in the middle of the town, I would expect that would be to repel predators or discourage thieves.
You are correct. The Corral/Kraal/Boma is located to protect the cattle from rustlers, raiders & thieves and, in some areas, lions, leopards, wild dogs & hyenas.
As to the flies, they come with the herds. I detest flies and the diseases which they carry. However, when the herds are nearby, the flies are so thick and persistent that after a few hours (or less) your arm is about to fall off from the fatigue of continually swatting then away from your face.
Finally, some of the indolence is cultural. However, a good portion is due to poor health. If you have ever had Amoeba, Giardia, or any of the other debilitating parasites endemic to the region then you realized that most people do not have the energy nor the caloric surpluses that we in the '1st World' have.
Nobody says it can’t handle it. The septic tank just fills up with solids more quickly than when the paper is placed with other refuse and burned up separately. If it costs a lot to pump the tank, it’s sometimes smarter to dispose of the paper separately.
I submit the employees knew exactly what they were doing because they knew where the produce was going.
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