Begging Kids - Haridwar, India, November 2001 Copyright Protected
I photographed these kids in a Haridwar bazaar on my way north from Delhi to Rishikesh. They were a cheerful, persistent crew who were amazed by my digital camera.
Haridwar is just south of Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalaya. A narrow, trash infested road goes northeast through Haridwar and on into Rishikesh, a village on the Ganges known for its numerous yoga ashrams and spiritual healing powers.
I have been to India on several occasions over the past 5 years. Every time I go, I am always stunned by the vast scope of the poverty in that country. The poverty is brutal and prevalent.
Every American should go to India. They should go to see the poverty, see the overt contempt one caste holds for another, see the dead bodies of the homeless lying on the side of the street covered by swarming black flies. You never look at the world the same again. And you realize how signifiancant what we have in America is. You appreciate it. So when I see some idealogue from the left or the right begin to spew hate and disconent about this country, I cannot help but laugh at their ridiculousness.
I have only one thing to say...
Go to India. You will never be the same.
6 comments:
I couldn't agree more. You cannot speak authoritatively on America's place in the world unless you have some perspective. And you know what? Spending a summer in Firenze or Marseilles doesn't really change your perspective in any significant way.
Of course one of the reasons why India is so poor is because some countries decide to subsidise their own industries and impose enormous duties on developing nations. No wonder Africa is such a hotbed of political unrest when it has for generations been exploited by so called civilised countries. America for example shipped vast numbers of their people to keep the soputhern states economy operating throughout the nineteenth century.
My visits to New York and Washington have always been spoilt by the appalling gulf between the rich and poor. America could do with a good dose of socialism to sort it out.
A few points...
India is not poor due to subsidization. India is poor because of British colonization. The same can be said of Africa. European colonization (and British in particular) has left numerous countries in a sorry state. When you impose 2000 years of cultural and intellectual development on a country and do nothing to bring its citizens up to the same level as you before you leave, you can expect nothing but hate and discontent after the fact.
Borders, under European colonial expansion and then withdrawl, were not drawn with regard to cultural or ethnic differences. Churchill drew the borders of Iraq in 1929 for example without regard for ethic differences, something very apparent to us today. The borders of African countries were drawn with little to no regard for cultrual or ethnic differences. That is why Africa is failing. Internal strife due to cultural, religious, or tribal differences is ripping those countries apart.
The world today is living with the failed legacy of European colonization foreign policy....
And if you think the poverty in NYC or Wash DC is anything close to what you would see in India, I suggest you get on the first airplane to Delhi...the comparison is, unfortunately, far off base.
Socailism is a failed policy. Look at the vast entitlement classes of Europe. These vast entitlement classes will ultimately bankrupt their respective governments. Europe is breeding a decadent entitlement class at its peril...
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