I've been thinking a lot about why people do what they do. And the conclusion I have arrived at isn't one that surprised me nor do I think it will surprise many (or any if there are any) of the readers out there. People are almost always motivated by self-interest. While that probably isn't a revelation of any sort, I wonder why so many people couch it as some sort of altruistic thing.
There have been many recent narcissistic activities I have seen including the minister in the Indian state of UP who has decided a police force is in order to protect statues of herself. Statues that apparently cost $1 billion. I don't know about the math, but this cult-ish activity of erecting statues of oneself usually ends up with someone else coming in and taking down the statues by force. Remember Saddam Hussein's statue? So, why do I care about all this? I guess I don't really. I feel bad for the tax payers of UP for their money being spent on such silly activities, though I suppose the statue makers and the statue erectors and the ribbon cutters benefit with employment. I've noticed such activities closer to home though, that's why I thought I'd write about it.
You see, in about 4 days (this coming Friday!) Vancouver will be hosting the XXI Winter Olympics. As expected, there is a lot of celebrating going on here. Vancouver is an amazing place almost any day of the year (that's my yardstick... many people disagree with me about the rain but I don't care), of late, it has been especially more so. The officials who are organising the games have worked hard and we as a city have benefited a lot from the games coming out here. The cost of all this is a round 6 billion Canadian dollars. Of course, no one will really know the cost just yet, but I figure 6 billion is a good number. That's a lot of money. Keep that number in mind for a second.
Now, like any good event we have that brings out the revellers and the politicians, so too, the protesters show up. Many years ago, when I was in Canada for about a year, then Prime Minister Jean Chretien invited leaders from the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) to come to a conference in Vancouver. He chose a university campus as the venue. In fact, it was my future alma mater. I don't know what prompted such short-sighted judgement from the planners, but typically, university campuses are not exactly the place where you want to invite a bunch of politicians with questionable pasts. Like one fellow named Suharto. When that show came to town, all hell broke loose. Protesters were pepper sprayed, beaten and what not. At the time, there were many decent protest leaders who were protesting worth social causes. Or so we thought.
Fast-forward many years. Vancouver has grown tremendously. Property prices have sky-rocketed. The population has grown. We're a vibrant little city walled by mountains, Americans and the Pacific ocean. And we love living here. Some things haven't changed. Our climate is as mild as it was before. Our homelessness has not gone away. Our drug addiction problem has not gone away. Our solutions have not worked. So it was little surprise that there were honest people out there questioning the logic of spending 6 billion dollars to stage the largest event we've ever had when we also have Canada's poorest neighbourhood in the same city. There's barely 2kms between Shangri-la and the centre of misery in this city
There have been many recent narcissistic activities I have seen including the minister in the Indian state of UP who has decided a police force is in order to protect statues of herself. Statues that apparently cost $1 billion. I don't know about the math, but this cult-ish activity of erecting statues of oneself usually ends up with someone else coming in and taking down the statues by force. Remember Saddam Hussein's statue? So, why do I care about all this? I guess I don't really. I feel bad for the tax payers of UP for their money being spent on such silly activities, though I suppose the statue makers and the statue erectors and the ribbon cutters benefit with employment. I've noticed such activities closer to home though, that's why I thought I'd write about it.
You see, in about 4 days (this coming Friday!) Vancouver will be hosting the XXI Winter Olympics. As expected, there is a lot of celebrating going on here. Vancouver is an amazing place almost any day of the year (that's my yardstick... many people disagree with me about the rain but I don't care), of late, it has been especially more so. The officials who are organising the games have worked hard and we as a city have benefited a lot from the games coming out here. The cost of all this is a round 6 billion Canadian dollars. Of course, no one will really know the cost just yet, but I figure 6 billion is a good number. That's a lot of money. Keep that number in mind for a second.
Now, like any good event we have that brings out the revellers and the politicians, so too, the protesters show up. Many years ago, when I was in Canada for about a year, then Prime Minister Jean Chretien invited leaders from the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) to come to a conference in Vancouver. He chose a university campus as the venue. In fact, it was my future alma mater. I don't know what prompted such short-sighted judgement from the planners, but typically, university campuses are not exactly the place where you want to invite a bunch of politicians with questionable pasts. Like one fellow named Suharto. When that show came to town, all hell broke loose. Protesters were pepper sprayed, beaten and what not. At the time, there were many decent protest leaders who were protesting worth social causes. Or so we thought.
Fast-forward many years. Vancouver has grown tremendously. Property prices have sky-rocketed. The population has grown. We're a vibrant little city walled by mountains, Americans and the Pacific ocean. And we love living here. Some things haven't changed. Our climate is as mild as it was before. Our homelessness has not gone away. Our drug addiction problem has not gone away. Our solutions have not worked. So it was little surprise that there were honest people out there questioning the logic of spending 6 billion dollars to stage the largest event we've ever had when we also have Canada's poorest neighbourhood in the same city. There's barely 2kms between Shangri-la and the centre of misery in this city
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So, out come the protesters. I understand why they question it. But it seems to me that these people are interested more in being in front of the cameras of the estimated 10,000 media who are expected to be here. Many (not all) of the protesters seem to be activists who seem convinced that they are fighting hard for the downtrodden, the forgotten, the ones who made a pact with the devil as it were. Fine.
Actually, not fine. I hear a lot of drumming and chanting and complaining. I don't hear any solutions. Now, I can't really conduct an experiment here and give these people 6 billion dollars and see how they convert the downtown east-side into some kind of homeless utopia or somehow fix all the people who have substance abuse issues or are just plain unwilling to be helped. I don't even know if using the word fix is correct. None-the-less. I am very happy they live in a city and a country where their views are heard and covered by the media. But what are these drumming hoards going to do about it? Let us not just shake our fingers at the various wise men who spent 6 billion on this Olympic farce as it were, let us also hear how you will fix this issue. I'll go one better. Let's see you do something about it other than protesting. In addition to make a big deal about how you're fighting for the poor and the downtrodden, why not do something for them? And by that I mean something concrete and tangible. Not giving a homeless fellow a loaf of bread while the cameras and looking and then buggering off to your warm comfortable homes and telling yourself that you did good.
If you are that committed to your cause that you are willing to fly in people from other parts of this vast nation to make noise (all the way from Ontario apparently!), I want to see you also make them clean the streets and sidewalks, I want to see you try your hand at helping the drug users and the prostitutes and the homeless do something better. I want you to provide solutions that are practical and do-able. And I want you to stick around and make it happen. If you truly believe in all this, I think you will.
Call me sceptical, but I think many of these people are more interested in making noise and seeing themselves on the evening news than they are of really fixing the issue. I realise that fixing an issue as complex as the one we have in the downtown east-side where this country's poorest destitute people live isn't going to take place in a week, but doing _something_ is important. It makes me very sad when I see so much poverty out there. I don't know how to make it better. My solutions involve playing Santa there... running about town throwing money on the sidewalks in the hopes that these people get a meal and maybe a place to sleep. But that's not going to fix the problem. I suspect a good chunk of that money would be spent on making many drug dealers and criminal organisations rich.
Anyway, I know this is becoming a bit of a rant, but the point I am trying hard to make while not falling asleep is that a lot of people do stuff that is in their self-interest. But somehow they feel the need to make it look like they are doing some kind of favour to the world. Not all of us can be Mother Teresa. But if you're going to pretend to be one, try your hand at it before you make speeches and stuff.
If you know how to make things in the downtown east side better, I am listening.
Actually, not fine. I hear a lot of drumming and chanting and complaining. I don't hear any solutions. Now, I can't really conduct an experiment here and give these people 6 billion dollars and see how they convert the downtown east-side into some kind of homeless utopia or somehow fix all the people who have substance abuse issues or are just plain unwilling to be helped. I don't even know if using the word fix is correct. None-the-less. I am very happy they live in a city and a country where their views are heard and covered by the media. But what are these drumming hoards going to do about it? Let us not just shake our fingers at the various wise men who spent 6 billion on this Olympic farce as it were, let us also hear how you will fix this issue. I'll go one better. Let's see you do something about it other than protesting. In addition to make a big deal about how you're fighting for the poor and the downtrodden, why not do something for them? And by that I mean something concrete and tangible. Not giving a homeless fellow a loaf of bread while the cameras and looking and then buggering off to your warm comfortable homes and telling yourself that you did good.
If you are that committed to your cause that you are willing to fly in people from other parts of this vast nation to make noise (all the way from Ontario apparently!), I want to see you also make them clean the streets and sidewalks, I want to see you try your hand at helping the drug users and the prostitutes and the homeless do something better. I want you to provide solutions that are practical and do-able. And I want you to stick around and make it happen. If you truly believe in all this, I think you will.
Call me sceptical, but I think many of these people are more interested in making noise and seeing themselves on the evening news than they are of really fixing the issue. I realise that fixing an issue as complex as the one we have in the downtown east-side where this country's poorest destitute people live isn't going to take place in a week, but doing _something_ is important. It makes me very sad when I see so much poverty out there. I don't know how to make it better. My solutions involve playing Santa there... running about town throwing money on the sidewalks in the hopes that these people get a meal and maybe a place to sleep. But that's not going to fix the problem. I suspect a good chunk of that money would be spent on making many drug dealers and criminal organisations rich.
Anyway, I know this is becoming a bit of a rant, but the point I am trying hard to make while not falling asleep is that a lot of people do stuff that is in their self-interest. But somehow they feel the need to make it look like they are doing some kind of favour to the world. Not all of us can be Mother Teresa. But if you're going to pretend to be one, try your hand at it before you make speeches and stuff.
If you know how to make things in the downtown east side better, I am listening.
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