Comment by Tichy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Tichy | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

"I am responsible for it, and if I choose not to do anything about it, then it's my deliberate choice."

What could you do about it? Granted, you could somehow dedicate your life to trying to end it. But even then, you'd need a starting point. Suppose you are extremely poor, how to you start? If you have to spend 20 hours/day to find food, you don't have time to practice becoming a good speaker to rouse the masses.

I don't mean it as patronizing, quite the opposite. I think it is patronizing to say it is the people's own fault for not doing anything about it.

If you were a Cameronian, what would you do? If you chose to work against poverty in India, what would you do?

I wouldn't know what to do as a Cameronian. As the article says, if you try to start a business to improve economics and infrastructure, thieves will take it apart. If you go into politics to try to change the situation, I suppose you will be murdered or something like that. If you start a revolution, there will be lots of bloodshed. I don't see an easy solution.

> If you chose to work against poverty in India, what would you do?

:-)

See, my version of your question is: What would Gandhi (or Nehru, Bose, Azad, Bhagat, Savarkar, et. al.) do?

I don't have an answer to that right now, I am afraid.

I am not fully convinced that everybody could be a Gandhi. Wasn't he from a wealthy family and got sent to England to study?

Probably everybody could do fasting (although even that might require a certain amount of dediction). But to come of with the psychological strength and dedication would be another matter.

Maybe for everybody there is a path of possible actions that would lead him to become like Ghandhi. But that is what I was saying: it certainly isn't obvious what actions that would be. Therefore I think a certain amount of luck is involved.

If you don't have an answer to my question, then why do you disagree with me? How is the poverty in India your fault? I suppose you could at least decide to study and try to find an answer, but there is no guarantee that you would find one.

Not everybody can be a Gandhi, but here is a suggestion. You can light a room with a candle but not a City, you can help by helping in your 'little corner' and I don't mean charity. India has come a long way. I remember when every other year there was a 'Faminine' in India no more. Just by working hard and improving yourself and your family you are helping pull India out of poverty. Don't pay a bribe to no-one. Don't support the system this way. I have a couple of Indian acquaintances that I know made a lot of money out of bribes. Good luck to them. Give your children a good education and good moral support. Help others in indirect ways (ie, give a chance of a job to a kid from a poor family - if he deserves it). I believe education lifts people. If you can find a way to support education do it. Support the small trader rather than the big store.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com