Hi Roland, You are missing my point completely. This is my last post on this issue.
In the early and mid 1900's the developed West you and others(including me) live in was a far greater mess than Goa is today. Here is a basic refresher course on how regions develop using a very simple analogy between Goa today and New York when the USA was still a developing country in the early 1900's. Immigrant(bhailes) were rushing in droves to seek employment in NYC. They lived in ghettos which are much like the slums you see in some parts of Goa today(actually much worse). Crime was far more rampant and the government was hand in glove with mobsters such as Lucky Luciano(very simmilar to the Goan government). Garbage, disease and sanitation were real issues. Discrimination against blacks and newly arrived Italians and Irish immigants was rampant. Fortunately everyone was not like Roland Francis and didn't take the first boat out of there while encouraging everyone else to do so. They ignored all doomsday predictions and made New York what it is today. In the latter half of the century many immigrants from the rest of the world emigrated there. Few of them were blissfully unaware of what New York had been just a few decades ago(much like you!). However they remained proud of their heritage and homeland while fully integrating into their new adopted country. The Irish, Italians, Poles, etc never took it upon themselves to ridicule their brethren back home our predict doomsday scenarios, even when almost the whole European continent had been reduced to rubble by the Europeans themselves and was gradually being re-built. However there was a small group of people among the many immigrants from a very small place called Goa who decided that there was no reason that Goa, a small state of an erstwhile economically backward India, should not compare with West. Whether this was because they never "fit" into their new homeland or due to some other deep rooted insecurity is unknown. The rest of the Goans it should be mentioned integrated comfortably into their new socities and remain proud of both their heritage and new homeland. The former group of people having worked most of their lives in economically advanced, dictatorial and blatantly racist countries of the Middle East(without complaining!) one day suddenly realised it was their moral duty to tell their brethren back in Goa how miserable their lives in Goa were and that Canada is where every Goan should be. Unfortunately, then came the internet, public forums and finally Goanet which gave these people(and their cheer leaders) an international platform to propagate their seriously misguided thinking. Which is the primary reason this argument is taking place today. It is funny that so many people will endure racial discrimination and living under dictators for a large part of their lives for the sake of money and creature comforts but then accuse their brethren in democratic Goa of greed, casteism and living in miserable conditions. Regards Sunith That latter argument of course assumes that no contribution need be made to any developed country. It will remain developed since it was already developed. Exit the dynamic of nationhood, enter the theory of once a country develops, it will remain developed forever. Makes one wonder why all that solicited immigration is necessary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
