Hi Mario, Roland and others who may have commented on the perennial topic of the Goans and the crab mentality.
Perhaps, I am one of the few who is highly sceptical of this supposed 'syndrome'. Increasingly, more and more people are involved in the process of democratisation and professionalisation within societies. Thus, the evaluation of a person's worth is undertaken by peers within professions, and also by the wider public that has phenomenal access to the media through the use of transparent yardsticks, and not by the layman with perhaps an uninformed and narrow agenda. Today, it is the wider knowledge-based and highly consumerist global community that determines a person's worth and not some in a tiny parochial community trying to 'pull others down' because of some absurd notion of envy in our open societies. These societies are predicated largely on individual endeavour, achievement and success and negligibly on former assumed or real background 'pedigree' any more. Of course, outside occupations and professions, there will be an opportunity to make judgements about personal integrity, judgement and worth but there is a diminished opportunity for one 'crab' to belittle another! This is especially true when a small community like the Goan community counts for less and less in the wider diverse world community of which we are all members. In short, the 'crab mentality' may have been around in the past. Today, it hardly matters at all outside parochial confines and could not be revived, with any effect, even if we tried hard to do so! Just some very quick thoughts. Cornel DaCosta --- Mario Goveia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The crab mentality is like obscenity. It's hard to > define precisely to an absolute legal standard > because standards of morality vary from place to place, but most of us can recognize it when we see it.
