Can I blame my incompetencies on Lazy Monarchs?
A little back story...
The other day, I was talking to inspiracion about the similarities between Pakistan and Venezuela. It turned out there are a lot.
The first time I realized this was when I caught a scammer who was pretending to be a Pakistani but was actually a Venezuelan. I believed him because he resembled a lot to Sindhis(Sindh is a province in Pakistan). I was flabbergasted by his features.
Later on, I found myself attracted to Venezuelan cuisine. It looked familiar because I read a recipe that was prepared just like we cook dishes in Pakistan. Once I tried making arepas at home which they eat like we eat chapati with almost everything. They turned out delicious. There was this user marlyncabrera whose recipes I used to bookmark. I think she's not active now.
Then, there was another renowned user who used to talk about moving to Argentina because it was getting difficult for her to survive in Venezuela. Apparently, there were fewer opportunities and a lot of socio-economic and political issues. It was like she was telling me the problems of a Pakistani.
inspiracion and I were casually chatting about issues in the Newcomers' Community. The conversation turned towards poverty. I told her that poverty makes people do unbelievable things which privileged people can't understand unless they go through the same situation. However, this can't be the justification for any crime, be it abusing rewards on Steem.
Then I talked about the mindset of people, to which she remarked, I think we had the same kind of leaders in the past because we have similar issues.
"Venezuela was colonized by the Spanish."
"We were colonized by the British. But I think it was the lazy monarchs who ruled over us (Indian sub-continent) for thousands of years, who have a big hand in shaping our present."
I can't say for Venezuelans...
But it's not my fault, if I feel like a princess, right? 😅
If I feel lazy, can I blame it on my lazy ancestors?
As I write this post, the joint of my hand hurts so much. My cleaning lady is on leave because she's sick. So, I decided to deep clean the house which I couldn't do in a day. I left in the middle when things got beyond my physical strength.
I belong to a poor nation but the above conversation made me realize that no matter how much I blame my leaders for the issues of my country and my people, I'm one of them, I live like a princess, be it in my own capacity. But, I do.
I took this picture while wiping my bedroom window and sulking over the unexpected workload.
Two days ago, I was on a call with a dear friend in Munich. We did bachelors together and then she moved to Germany for her Masters and later got married and settled there. I was telling her that if it weren't for my kids, I would have joined her. She blatantly told me that it was late. You can't survive in a foreign country. You will have to do "everything" yourself.
She's now a mom too but when she moved, she was in her early twenties - energetic, ambitious, and free. Whereas, I'm not energetic anymore and bound by responsibilities.
Then there's another friend who says life abroad is easy. I somewhat agree with her reasonings...
It's needless to highlight job security, better education, and a good healthcare system. It's a given in first world countries.
In Pakistan, we have bigger homes which need cleaning every single day. Where I live, there are dust storms every other day. If I clean in the morning, there's a fat layer of dust on everything by evening.
The kind of food we cook, it's not in the power of a dishwasher to clean those utensils. We manually wash our dishes.
These two chores cooking and cleaning take the whole day and don't leave much room for another activity.
Besides, labour is so cheap on my side of the world. People find it more convenient to hire help. It's kind of an established system that is forced by the economic state of the country.
There are fewer job opportunities even for highly qualified people. The lower class can't afford basic education; to make both ends meet, the whole family from the father to the smallest kid starts looking for work.
That gardener you saw in the previous picture wasn't privileged enough to get an education, but he's exceptionally great at gardening. He transformed this barren piece of land into a lush green lawn. He makes enough money through gardening to provide food and shelter for his family.
Then comes my cleaning lady, she didn't have the privelage of getting an education too. She can't get any other job and she doesn't have resources to make use of her skills (if she has any). Whatever money she makes with cleaning, she saves it for her kids because unlike herself, she wants them to get an education.
So, privelaged people have become a source of income for underprivileged people because the government is unable to give them relief even in basic necessities.
No, I'm not rich like Raj's dad in The Big Bang Theory - a good chunk of our income goes to the helping hands we have hired. They can't survive without us and we can't survive without them. Yes, you can call it co-dependency.
Coming back to the topic, whom should I blame for my incompetencies? Lazy royal ancestors, culture, cheap labour, or myself?
I think the problems started with the monarchs, these are now inseparable parts of society, it will take generations to change a system that has become a culture.
I think this whole conversation came about because of the problem that we observed in many users who seek income on Steemit, and we fell into the topic of poverty, which is very painful for those who suffer from it.
And trying to delve deeper, where does this poverty come from? We fall into the issue of mentality and culture, but we know that it is also a set of circumstances: few or no opportunities for children, young people to study and prepare, families that cannot find jobs worthy of a salary that allows them something more than survive...
And then we see that the economic structure of a country is formed by those who run it. It is true that individually we can make changes, but we have less capacity for action at a macro level.
Lazy leaders... we still have this in my country, and if we go back, it is a culture... I have always been fascinated by the History of France, the French Revolution and how they insisted on changing the system, if something was established you want to change radically, violence is inevitable, I suppose that's where "revolutions" come from.
But I'm getting way off topic...
I think that there is definitely a great influence on culture exerted by leaders, and above all that influence is very strong depending on their power... the more power, the more influence. Lazy kings, indifferent rulers, with a lot of power, equals oppressed, backward people.
If instead of powerful rulers, there are educated people with the capacity to influence, the panorama is more balanced... this is the case of many developed countries in which the governments do not have all the power but only channel the desire of the population into Congress... That's how it should be.
Hopefully in our towns there will be more opportunities for decent jobs so that there is space for economic freedom that also allows living dignified lives.
Perhaps, we need exactly that - a revolution. I don't support violence but a radical change can either be forced or it will take centuries to see the outcome.
And when the power and influence come in the wrong hands - nations suffer, like we do.
"States will never be happy until rulers become philosophers or philosophers become rulers."
I guess, Plato was right.
I can't even say that I'm hopeful for my country...
TEAM 5
Years ago, I read this joke somewhere (I interpret it in my own words): Eh, what a pity that we were not lucky enough to be conquered in the past by the Germans, for example. Unfortunately, we were conquered by the Ottomans, who ruined everything. Then this trend, but in a different direction, was continued by the Russians, during the next liberation/conquest.
Of course, everything starts with the rulers. I myself have come to the conclusion that the current state of any country is the result of its overall history and its rulers or conquerors (which is why I often blame... our lack of historical luck😁). Therefore, each country has its specificities. Thus, all poor countries are similar, but at the same time they have their distinctive inherited features from one era or another, one tradition or another, one event or another.
It was interesting to me to see in your post this expression "to make both ends meet", which I never knew was used in other countries, nor that it was an idiomatic expression in the English language. 🤭 Because in Bulgaria, as the poorest country in the European Union, it is used very often, in the literal translation, and means exactly the same thing.
😅
Oh yes. We are a culturally rich country. Those cultures give us identity but at the same time some ridiculous traditions make us suffer too.
I was hoping you would comment about the poverty because I read your post on it a couple of days ago. I wanted to say a lot but somehow couldn't. I can't relate to what you described but I am a witness to that poverty. And when I say, "to make both ends meet", I also say in literal sense. There's a big percentage of people in my country who struggle to survive. They don't have access to clean drinking water, food and shelter.
Well, poverty is a relative term actually. And seeing things from different angles and different perspectives, one actually sees different things. I remember years ago (and this is a bit off topic) an acquaintance told me how an American friend of his wanted to come visit him in Bulgaria. He tried for a long time to dissuade him, with the arguments that the country is poor and ugly, unmaintained, without order, no law, etc. But the man did not give up, he insisted and came. And he was shocked. He said to him: are you crazy, how is this a poor country when in just one day, I saw on the streets of the capital the latest models of cars that are still standing in the prestigious salons of other countries and no one dares to buy them? 😂
Similarly, if any resident of the capital who has been lucky enough to find or have been found a good job, reading my posts, they may say that this cannot be true. Because life in the capital is completely different, it is a separate planet.
On the other hand, I think that the poverty of individual poor countries is also different and experienced differently. It consists of different things and looks different.
In Bulgaria, people simply survive. This is one of their main abilities - to find a way to survive and this is what they are known for. The rulers know this too, that's why they didn't bother to increase the miserable pensions or the minimum wage. They know that with joint efforts, people will survive without it. Or they will die. A lot of people die in the winter (this is my personal observation), I think just because it's hard to get through every single winter looking for money for firewood, electricity, etc.
And in order not to write only things that are off topic, I will say that, despite everything, I do not condone the fraud that poor people do to survive. I mean about the Steemit posts. But of course, in real life too. For example, I often get calls about the same phone scam - professional-sounding women calling after working hours, which means it's their second job they've started to make ends meet. At first I was very kind to them, I put myself in their shoes, I understood why they were doing it, so to speak. But then I thought about it. Well no, I can't justify or feel sorry for them. Even if you don't have enough money, is that the only thing you can work for - cheating people?
I agree with poverty being a relative term. However, I'm talking about absolute indigence. I think it's beyond comparison when the situation comes down to mere survival.
The reaction of the American is completely understandable. Here in Pakistan, not everyone is poor. We have the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor and many classes in between.
There's a Mercedes parked in our parking lot and there's a great chance the guy who cleans it is probably surviving on dry bread and unfiltered water.
It seems Pakistani leaders have similar opinions about their people. Inflation has increased by 150% in the last two years. But we survive. However, the poorest of the pyramid are either dying or committing suicide.
We often see real faces in adverse times. (:
TEAM 5
Thank you for this!
I loved reading it, mostly because I can relate to every single word.
Yes, we have been brought up like princesses, but I definitely blame the harsh weather, specifically the scorching hot summers, for many things. We both live in a place that is extremely hot in the summer, and whenever I ask my househelp if she is still not acclimatized to the weather, she responds with a no. She feels it, is affected by it, and is bothered by it. We may be lazy, no doubt about it, but we are underdeveloped. We still lack basic life facilities like heating and cooling systems in these unbearable weather conditions. It definitely reduces one's capacity to work.
Monarchs or no monarchs.... It's a vicious cycle of laziness and co-dependence, underdevelopment and the "mindset" of under-achievers that would not let us grow as a nation and as an individuals.
I wanted to write a lot more on this matter which included the harsh weather, no heating and cooling systems. The world where people do "everything" themselves have everything automated. We are not there yet. There's a limit to chores that one could do manually and in unfavourable conditions.
Yes, monarchs are long gone but we are stuck in this vicious cycle. Breaking free from it requires a dozen other radical changes.
Hi princess, your gardener has done a great job.
We hear, the grass is greener when you water it
Now i believe, the grass is greener when you sweep it
Of course you should, it takes less energy to blames others.
For instance, look at our elite class(politicians), have they got any spine to do anything for others or themselves? Except making making money as white collar criminals.
When we see them living like kings and queens on our drowning economy, unable to open the door of their cars or hold anything in their hands, what message does a person gets who blindly follows them.
Sara mulk unki wja sy hi kharab h bass. We gonna get better when we get a mehanti politician only.
It's just that easy to blame others:p
From there, our middle class gets the urge to be more lazy.
Elite doesn't care.
And poor people have no choice to be lazy. They've got the work to do.
Jo bhi hai, aise unka rizk to jura hua h sath m💫
Watering makes it green and sweeping makes it clean. 😜
Doesn't sweat to blame yourself too. But here, I'm not blaming the current leaders- just the dead ones. 🤣
Any person has full right to how they use their wealth - they can hire people for opening car doors or even for wiping their noses.
The only condition is...
It.should.be.their.rightful.money.
That's how I justified my incompetency to do any physical work. 😉
Unki rooh tarap rhi honi hai is time😁
Exactly, you have got it.
But.they.have.not.
This was a rather insightful post.
I really appreciate that you acknowledged your own privileges while also recognizing the parts played by those around you like your gardener and house help. Most privileged families depend on such help, but I often see them undermining those beneath them. From screaming and cursing to abuse, the underprivileged have to tolerate all because of their financial situation. They are often taken for granted and not even seen as humans sometimes.
While I think generational change is gradual and will take time, we could play our own individual roles in empowering the underprivileged.
I feel like asking such people, "what's beneath?" Why they don't realize, The One who made them privelaged can take back all these privelages in one swift moment?
Yes, the money should be circulated and beauty of our religion is that we already have the obligation of Zakat to keep this in check. (:
Congratulations 🥳
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