(October 16, 2015 at 6:22 am)Alex K Wrote: While it is fun to ironically complain about first world problems, I realize that I've always had my problems with this joke - and I was reminded of that when we met a group of syrian refugees who live in a pastor's office in a neighboring town. Someone told me that they heard villagers complain that these refugees have cell phones. I realized that it is a very pervasive sentiment in the rich western world that we kind of expect refugees and inhabitants of poor countries (*) to only have unsophisticated needs and thoughts.Forget the guy I mentioned above, most people who eagerly donate for good causes I suspect kind of don't expect the recipiants in, say, sub saharan africa, to think about anything but where to get some grains and water. How disappointing would it be (and I'm being deliberately cynical here) to discover that the guy you just bought a sack of produce for actually spends time thinking about writing some poetry, where to get a good internet connection and how cool landing probes on comets is. That's not the kind of dirt-dwelling victim that is satisfying to donate to! People in third World countries if I may use this stupid obsolete term, do think about "first world problems". It is in my mind a subliminal racist sentiment that wants "us" to think of "them" as simple characters with simple needs.
What do you think, am I going to far here?
(*) I don't necessarily mean syria here
There are certainly quite a few stupid people to which your comments apply.
But I must say, your grammar is slipping. The question you should be asking is, "What do you think, am I going too far here?" One might almost start to believe your ridiculous claim that English is not your native language. But maybe that is what you are intending for us to believe.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
