Well, many of you may feel, this is a political/controvesial thingi. But I wanted specifically to analyze from an ordinary "Praja's"(Mr.Common Man) view.
Someone said :
Poverty is just a status of mind.
He also said :
Poverty is just a state of mind. It does not mean the scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome poverty
While I do not attach myself with this person or his party or any party for that matter, I do agree to large extent with him. Why?
1) Poverty has broad meaning than just financial angle. So the statement has much more meaning, not sure if visualized while giving that statement.
2) I see so many materially (so called) rich people, but I see poorest state of mind with them, specially if comparing with a descent citizen. Citizen in my view : Who enjoys independence while delivers duties as per principle of fundamental rights and responsibilities.
3) Non-Voters: I am seeing them as poor people. Why? They have such poor state of mind that they cant recognize/enjoy the value of independence. In that process, they spoil entire system
4) Selfish Praja's : While we all agree with common state with respect to government/ admin bodies : We pay taxes, so it *not* my job to any "social/community service". Are they not really poor? Yes, they are. Why? Be cause of this "poor" attitude, they throw garbage, they spit. Coz there is government to correct it..
5) Non-tax payers : They (we) are most poor people. While they dont care while spending lakhs of rupees, they are so poor to pay some taxes. I am not only talking about income tax, just every tax.
Some days back silkboard mentioned a dialog
Shopkeeper : Sir, with bill, you will have to pay more. Do you want a bill(reciept)?
This *poor* customer : Beda , bill beda bidi. (No bill needed, gimme for less).
We know its for some its really *hard earned money*, even then it does not matter, when it comes to tax-payment. But for some one so called "rich" , but poor by state of mind, its soft earned money(got bribe / tax evaded etc), its still still "big" amount. So they too say "Bill beda bidi". To me they are poorest of all.
So many such categories of such people with such "poor" conditions fill up whole of country, though we consider ourselves as rich, just by having money (legal or illegal)..
So wgwwd ;) Whats your thought about yourself?
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Another category
Prajas who dont learn : We are it information world now. We are taught by parents, teachers and others. And we see many good things in TV, we get lot of information from internet, workshops, classes. Tonnes. But we never learn. Are we not poor(by state of mind), as we cant pick up things to create a "rich"(by state of mind again) society?
Questions remain...
- wgwwd : (w)e (g)et (w)hat (w)e (d)eserve...so look at yourself first
One more category
One more category who are poor by state of mind are film celebrities/politicians who are happy to see themselves at illegal wall posters /flex hoardings. What is the use of they being monitorily rich? They are indirectly contributing to ugliness of the city.
- wgwwd : (w)e (g)et (w)hat (w)e (d)eserve...so look at yourself first
@wgwwd
Does this thread really belong on praja, mods? Does not relate to Bangalore or India in anyway. Seems to belong to some "philosophy" discussion forum.
Anyways, to answer the author; poverty is a stark reality for those facing it. Bottom line is that the poor people in most cases are living hand to mouth in most cases without food, water and other basic necessities like shelter, clothing etc. State of mind is an all together different topic for a discussion forum that discusses philosphy; can Mukesh Ambani feel poor because he is not no. 1 on the richest persons list of the globe? Sure, yes, it is a democracy and he can feel poor or depressed all he wants. Is he stricken by poverty? NO. His state of mind (poor/ rich /happiness etc.) is entirely subjective and nobody's business nor does anybody care :-).
Not to argue but to answer is here , with thanks to @blrpraj
Both are true.
First part : As said earlier, Yatha Praja, Tatha Raja, Tatha City, Tatha infrastructure and everything!! So for example, if a Bangalore Praja is poor in state of mind (as explained earlier in short: Not following rules, not working for community etc..)
Second Part: Yes in kinda philosophical too. But as we know, most of actions taken by a Praja(I refer Praja to common man, specicically an ordinary citizen who is basic block of system) is mostly based on emotions which in turn is dictated by (poor) state of mind. What brings state of mind can be attributed many facts. Cutting it short !
I will be happy if mods decide to remove this thread, then it reflects essence of Praja :)
What a nice thought! Appreciate blrpraj's thinking lines. But as explained earlier, all the business/corporate decisions Ambani (and so called such "rich class:) takes is dependant on his state of mind rather than his wealth. And thats dicision decides a company, society and country in large. Look at all the scandles of India. And last sentence is very nice one, indeed. | nobody's business| .A mirror which is reflecting perfectly :) Most of Prajas think that way, but some not!
Well, if its unhealthy discussion, may be I will stop ranting on this thread further. I can see less reactions from mainstream Prajas. Anyway, thanks for this space :)
- wgwwd : (w)e (g)et (w)hat (w)e (d)eserve...so look at yourself first
@wgwwd
>. Look at all the scandles of India.
Till very recently i believed that only third world countries like India, African Countries etc. belonged to this club. But after the 1) Lehman Brothers scandalous collapse; 2) after the California rehab clinic fraud - http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/02/health/rehab-racket-siu-cir-part-four/index.html ; 3) fraud in the UK - http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jul/11/g4s-investigated-overcharging-millions-pounds , 4) and of course the famous Bernie Madoff scandal;........ these scandals make the Indian sandals look like petty corruption going on in a small tarkari angdi or a pawn shop down the street in Malleswaram. I am not justifying scandals anywhere, my point of bringing up this comparison is that greedy & selfish people are everywhere with a so called "poor state of mind" (myself and everybody in this forum included..we are all selfish and greedy for our own purposes and going by the context in this thread are in a "poor state" of mind). Difference is, scandals in developed world are very polished and done by people with suit, boot and tie; the scandals are really really big (millions of $/Euros); the other difference is that there is good infrastructure that actually works for the common man, so, life still goes on for the common man (exception was the great recession where a lot of people were deeply afffected).
Please don't get me wrong, i am not trying to argue, all i am saying is that "poor state of mind" is every very subjective and is very relative (in fact the definition of being poor can also be very relative as in my Mukesh Ambani example..which is why the govt kind of defines a "poverty line" based on an avg income). What can be done to improve praja and overall Bangalore is more enforcement and everybody doing their job/duty. One very good example i can provide is footpath encroachment. Yes, home owners are in a "poor state of mind" if you want to call it that; for trying to occupy every inch of footpath space and build those weirdly shaped gates just to get extra inches of space to park their vehicles. Best way out of this problem is to define standards + laws and enforce them. If we talk to the owner and bring up the "poor state of mind"; he will say hey, i am perfect..you are the guys in a "poor state of mind"; does this line of discussion get us anywhere? No.
blrpraj - a phrase to capture what you said ...
Sounds philosophical, but what I hear you saying sir is that when we decide not to act on so many fronts, we are showing ourselves in "poor" state of mind :)
Beyond this state of mind angle, I like this phrase that best describes what blrpraj may be trying to say. That thing we lack perhaps is best called "Collective Wisdom". Thinking together, thinking as a community etc - we just haven't figured out how to do that. We think as individuals or at best families. And our actions are driven by the thoughts and needs of this small circle. When these get to be in conflict with what "collective wisdom" may prescribe, we often make wrong choices.
A book someday on the subject may be, there is just a lot more to learn and observe right now :)