--------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** http://www.GOANET.org **** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5th Annual Konkan Fruit Fest Promenade, D B Bandodkar Road, Panaji, Goa
16-18, May 2008 http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073789.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all let me preface this by saying I have nothing against Wendell. Ofcourse I can't afford his designs but I don't hold that against him :-) This post is only to prove how convoluted our thinking has become. If we take all of Wendell's suggestions onboard, each village will have their families tending to the field, the rich will get together and provide a garbage compactor, the rich will also provide first class education to the village, a health-centre and a pharmacy that operates 24 hours, a "todden" that harvests all the rain-water will make the village self-sufficient in water. And oh yes, the government should give-away 10 computers to every village to surf the net in the time not spent harvesting water or tending to the fields. We can convince some of those Colva Bamons who are currently teachers at Rosary, Presentation and Monovikas, to give up their time to set that "standard of education as good as a city in any part of India??" As for deciding who those "wealthy people" are that will contribute to the garbage compactor, health-care center and pharmacy, we can put an "X" mark on the door of these people. Incidentally, just to inform NRI Goans, I happen to have spied Wendell's house in one of those HOME magazines. It is splendid, nay, resplendent. He humbly acknowledges that the only concession he has made to modernity, is the BIG FAT SWIMMING POOL in the backyard. Maybe that's the place, we can do that water harvesting. The reason I take great umbrage at his article, is because when Goa had an opportunity to add crores of ruppes to Panjim's municipal exchequer on account of a proposed mall, Wendell was very vocal opposing it. A project of that size would have provided Panjim with some financial relief to address the problems of infrastructure that it faces. Goans have repulsed every suggested industry and investment project, which ironically makes land the only viable commodity left for sale. If the issues of land could have been resolved by simply making it available to those that don't have it, then the Mundkhar's Act would have done just that. It didn't because whatever else may change, human nature never does. All enterprise is driven by self-interest and strangely enough self-interest delivers if not a fair and equitable distribution, one that is most acceptable. The entity that pays for education, health-care, water and electricity, low cost housing, roads and every other infrastructural need, is called The State and it does this most effectively by taxing industry. You can't have one without the other. selma