"Without money you are nothing..."

[Sebastian]

But according to someone I know, I am nothing as well...........and have nothing ........and stupid for living this long in this country with a good job and no house.

 

 

But for some reason

 

I thought you had a house. Or Two.. Or Three? Wot Happened? Hang in There - you'll get dat Domicile ya want, and soon.

[griz326]

It's curious how people see different things.

 

In my travels through China I've seen poor people, but I do not recall seeing much abject poverty; I've seen abject poverty more frequently in the USA.

 

For the most part, the poor people I've encountered had difficult but rich lives. They were rich in family, friends and laughter. Unfortunately, I suspect the financial riches of the urban Chinese is robbing the peasant class of simple joys that made it easier for them to find happiness with few material possessions. (...if you don't know the grass is greener...)

 

Perhaps great wealth and a peasant class cannot co-exist within one country.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

It's curious how people see different things.

 

In my travels through China I've seen poor people, but I do not recall seeing much abject poverty; I've seen abject poverty more frequently in the USA.

 

For the most part, the poor people I've encountered had difficult but rich lives. They were rich in family, friends and laughter. Unfortunately, I suspect the financial riches of the urban Chinese is robbing the peasant class of simple joys that made it easier for them to find happiness with few material possessions. (...if you don't know the grass is greener...)

 

Perhaps great wealth and a peasant class cannot co-exist within one country.

 

The one thing you'll see in China is that unlike the US, the poor actually find things to do to feed their families. Quite a bit different than receiving a check every month for doing nothing.

 

For example, a short trip to a rural Chinese area and you'll see hundreds of small farms. The people have lived and worked this way for thousands of years. Most of the Chinese poor seem to know that they must care for themselves, and do their level best to do it. Seems a far cry from expecting a government to do what is your own personal responsibility.

 

--edit--

Also, within the cities you'll find thousands of poor working vegetable stands, serving street food, or working in small shops that provide a need to the public. Still others, collect cardboard and paper. The Chinese government allows the people to do this, and most of the people take advantage of the opportunity.

Edited October 29, 2008 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[LaurenAmber]

My husband and I actually lived in the countryside with his parents. His granparetns (on both sides) are also from villages very similar to this girl in the OP.

 

But as one person said, most of the poor people in our villages were rich in their family, laughter, love. My husband is a great example of "getting our of that" in a way. Everyone from the village treated us like a pleasent freak show because it was the little boy who used to run through the village and live up in the mountains with his grandparents, and now he was a sharply dressed man with a pretty American wife. I thought we would be resented, but actually people were proud of him.

 

However a lot of them even have the ability to move into town or even to a bigger city, and they make a concious choice not to. They do have very poor and (what we would consider) terrible lives, but they happily choose that over moving into the city because they said they can't adjust.

 

I think no one can ever fully understand another culture, even if you're married to it. It's always so sad to hear stories like these from anywhere.

[rogerluli]

I do believe that despite the sadness communicated in Roger's stories, that it's the poor people of the earth that truly do inherit the earth. There is something special that happens in their hearts and minds. It's not all about bitterness and going without. By American standards, my family growing up, was extremely poor. By Chinese standards however, we would have been considered quite rich. If you want to learn something about life, the best people to talk to are the poor.

 

For me personally it's important to remember that not everyone has benefited from the explosive growth China has seen in the past 30 years and that it is still definitely not easy to become any kind of success there...

[rogerluli]

It's curious how people see different things.

 

In my travels through China I've seen poor people, but I do not recall seeing much abject poverty; I've seen abject poverty more frequently in the USA.

 

For the most part, the poor people I've encountered had difficult but rich lives. They were rich in family, friends and laughter. Unfortunately, I suspect the financial riches of the urban Chinese is robbing the peasant class of simple joys that made it easier for them to find happiness with few material possessions. (...if you don't know the grass is greener...)

 

Perhaps great wealth and a peasant class cannot co-exist within one country.

 

It's curious how different people see things...

 

Let's let a white southern plantation owner of the 1850's take us on a tour... "See those darkies over there, singing and dancing around the fire, laughing and talking...I tell you they just love being slaves and working for me from dawn to dusk...they wouldn't want things any different than the life that have right here... "

 

I'm quite sure that poor rural Chinese are very happy with their poverty...with the substandard schools their children go to...with the "hospitals" they have...Ah yes nothing like the simple joys of abject poverty to make a person really happy...

[georgeandli]

If you're born into poverty and have nothing, you don't know any other way of life. Lower expectations. Mainland China gets the TV sets and millions see Hollywood propaganda. Now they become consumers. Just our luck, bad time for the US to shift to a service over manufacturing economy.

[griz326]

Ah yes nothing like the simple joys of abject poverty to make a person really happy...

 

Roger, the terms simple joy and abject poverty cannot exist within the same sentence. Abject poverty is the absence of all happiness and joy; it is pure suffering. Your slavery analogy is also ill-conceived for similar reasons plus the Hollywood influence.

 

Like I said, I have not seen much abject poverty in China but I have seen it frequently in the USA. The Chinese - until recently - participated in the daily struggle known as life. But this begs the question: Is living with abundance really living?

 

Is your life richer when you find joy in your new stereo; or when you find joy in the success of your child learning to read or write?

[rogerluli]

Ah yes nothing like the simple joys of abject poverty to make a person really happy...

 

Roger, the terms simple joy and abject poverty cannot exist within the same sentence. Abject poverty is the absence of all happiness and joy; it is pure suffering. Your slavery analogy is also ill-conceived for similar reasons plus the Hollywood influence.

 

Like I said, I have not seen much abject poverty in China but I have seen it frequently in the USA. The Chinese - until recently - participated in the daily struggle known as life. But this begs the question: Is living with abundance really living?

 

Is your life richer when you find joy in your new stereo; or when you find joy in the success of your child learning to read or write?

 

I stand by my earlier comments...I also am surprised that a person as experienced in China as you does not differentiate in the mask that Chinese wear...

[griz326]

I stand by my earlier comments...I also am surprised that a person as experienced in China as you does not differentiate in the mask that Chinese wear...

 

I've never considered stoic acceptance a mask, Roger.

[rogerluli]

I will add one comment about what you might SEE in China. If I had to rely on what I had seen in China I would be pretty limited. I have seen very small towns in Hunan in which the houses looked very old and poor. I have been inside a few of those and my perceptions were exactly right. But the great majority of what I have SEEN was by watching Chinese TV and specifically Hunan TV which does a lot of work in the countryside showing how many rural people really live... Their homes, schools, hospitals, workplaces...It is often not a pretty picture...

[izus]

some amazing stats here

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS7VOsgRODw

[Mike62356]

The numbers he is saying are outstanding but I could only take about 5 minutes of the bible thumping, sorry.

[izus]

The numbers he is saying are outstanding but I could only take about 5 minutes of the bible thumping, sorry.

thump thump

 

Rob Bells great

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

I will add one comment about what you might SEE in China. If I had to rely on what I had seen in China I would be pretty limited. I have seen very small towns in Hunan in which the houses looked very old and poor. I have been inside a few of those and my perceptions were exactly right. But the great majority of what I have SEEN was by watching Chinese TV and specifically Hunan TV which does a lot of work in the countryside showing how many rural people really live... Their homes, schools, hospitals, workplaces...It is often not a pretty picture...

 

Roger, I know you have a burden for the poor of the world, and it seems that you think they are victims. There are indeed poor in every country in the world. So, what is the solution? Would you suggest that the government create programs for them so that they can have money, food, and an education? If so, where does that money come from? Taxes perhaps?