THE WOMAN OF A THOUSAND AND ONE INTRIGUING STORIES
Let me quote:
Tina Rosenberg was the first freelance journalist to receive a five-year MacArthur Fellowship "genius" award. Her writings have appeared in The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Harper's, and The New York Times Magazine. She is the author of the acclaimed Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America, and The Haunted Land, Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Archive, and a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute.
Though no one would describe me as a bubbling optimist, beneath my crusty exterior I hold the absolute belief that the answers to most of our problems are out there—and that our primary fault as human beings is that we don’t look hard enough (if we look at all).
To prove my point there exists Tina Rosenberg—who is not only attractive enough to die for (she seems very happily married)—but who, again and again, comes up with stories about people (and methodologies) who originate solutions to our travails; and which, mostly, are not conventionally commercial.
Her latest piece in the New York Times concerns a Doctor V. who gave up his regular job as an eye surgeon in order to do something about blindness in India—whether you could pay or not. The result was the Aravind Eye Care System System, which—to date—has treated more than 32 million patients and performed more than 4 million surgeries—and which is financially sustainable in itself.
Awesome.
Well, that is just one story, but Tina Rosenberg comes up with similar stories again and again to the extent that one has to wonder how well we are served by the conventional news media—and whether winner-take-all American-style capitalism is really the best possible answer to the human condition.
It is not that capitalism is perfect because it is not but it is the best we humans have to offer until something better comes along.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it does work for the U.S. Capitalism needs educated citizens and a majority middle class. That is why is can not work everywhere, e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan.
It is easy for foreigners to criticize it, especially those from a more socialistic society. That's fine as part of what makes up U.S. freedoms - freedom of speech; however, may be more difficult to understand since they were not raised in our environment but somehow think they know it better than those born under that system.
A system which has allowed the U.S. to be the economic powerhouse and free nation that it is and where foreigners continue to migrate.
Also, the most charitable nation and citizens on earth - check the stats. We are a compassionate people and more so than Europeans, and even more so than Asians - based on my experiences and stats.
Even our poor have colored TVs with cable, remotes, computers, air conditioning, cars, and cell phones. Compare that to other nations. Yes, materialisms but also compassionate people in general due to capitalism and higher standard of living.
We know the other systems that have been tried are not better, e.g. communism, socialism, fascism and all other "isms".
Why is that? It is because we are human and thus not perfect and do not as sentient beings have the desire to put humanity first and we never will.
So, we continue to make mistakes but over the centuries, we have made slow progress and I think the glass more than half full.