I have been posting a lot on economics and socialism recently.
The thought process was trigged on Saturday when I met with volunteers working on relief efforts in Mustafabad.
Contrary to my expectation, these weren't all college kids. These were people in their 20s, who need to earn their keep.
What kind of society do we have that cannot support people doing remarkable work for other humans?
This is a question I have grappled with since I was in college. Since I was first involved in experiential education and social work and wanted to take it up full time. Or when we helped star social workers of the time with fellowships.
I have many friends working in domains like mental health - domains where work is not easy to monetise. Or people needing their services are simply not in a position to pay. If you have a disability of any sort in this country, and you were born poor, there is simply no social net for you. You need to depend on the benevolence of others. Very often this benevolence rides on top of religious networks.
We all know of artists - musicians, painters, dancers - who took years to perfect their craft. What systems exist to support people during their struggling years - when they are still figuring things out. And does society not need artists and mental health professionals, social workers and sociologists? If the only skills that people possessed were skills that were immediately saleable - would that be a healthy society?
And so we have our youth. Either they live in penury, chasing their passions. Or they slave in meaningless jobs, while their souls are some place else. Or they get so consumed by this business of making money, that they start dying at about my age, from stress!
The thought process was trigged on Saturday when I met with volunteers working on relief efforts in Mustafabad.
Contrary to my expectation, these weren't all college kids. These were people in their 20s, who need to earn their keep.
What kind of society do we have that cannot support people doing remarkable work for other humans?
This is a question I have grappled with since I was in college. Since I was first involved in experiential education and social work and wanted to take it up full time. Or when we helped star social workers of the time with fellowships.
I have many friends working in domains like mental health - domains where work is not easy to monetise. Or people needing their services are simply not in a position to pay. If you have a disability of any sort in this country, and you were born poor, there is simply no social net for you. You need to depend on the benevolence of others. Very often this benevolence rides on top of religious networks.
We all know of artists - musicians, painters, dancers - who took years to perfect their craft. What systems exist to support people during their struggling years - when they are still figuring things out. And does society not need artists and mental health professionals, social workers and sociologists? If the only skills that people possessed were skills that were immediately saleable - would that be a healthy society?
And so we have our youth. Either they live in penury, chasing their passions. Or they slave in meaningless jobs, while their souls are some place else. Or they get so consumed by this business of making money, that they start dying at about my age, from stress!