I’m sure it was brilliant and insightful. Thank you.

I’m trying to find the right way to say this…but blindly praising a culture without an in depth look at it cannot yield any reliable conclusion. For example, reading history shows that our ancestors were not necessarily bright nor did they care much for earthly resources enough to be kind to them. But I used to pine for those days not realizing that I would be just as annoyed living in the so called good old days as I am now.

I am starting to believe in the idea (even though I dislike it) that some level of homogeneity is necessary for any level of success in a society. When there are too many outlying/unexpected factors it results in friction. In my limited readings and experiences this rules seems to hold true.

Thanks for these insights!

Sue

Arduous: I did most of my growing up in a big city (complete with mini skirts/bars/internet cafes in the mid 90s/etc). I was referring to Kerala and the attitude I experienced. I know I shouldn’t, but I get annoyed when people talk about how wonderful Kerala is. And I don’t think it is. I would have liked to walk out by myself and take the bus by my self without having the wrath of societal expectations regarding the role a woman plays land on my head. Maybe the place has changed. Maybe its paradise on earth right now and I’m just being mean.

The underlying concern with skin color seemed more to do with marriagability and how attractive any prospective babies would be coming from a dark person. Now that I’m happily married and could have all light skinned babies I want, will my skin color be forgiven? I mean…its not like I had any control over the number of melanocytes I was given (force feeding me tomatoes was certainly not going to fix that problem).The thing is I look back on my childhood and think about how cruel it was to say the things that were said to a young child. I think all children are beautiful..so how does one decide that one is better looking than another? How could anyone think to say such hurtful things to someone who is so mouldable? My reaction now is that these people should be kept far, far away from me.

CindyW: I have alot of self-hate issues that I am working on. Since I think being happy and loving yourself is the most important goal in life, its not worth sacrificing.

So I totally understand where you are coming from - you have to be yourself foremost and love the people around you.

But anyway the cities I do know … Bombay and Delhi, there has definitely been a huge shift in attitudes. People wear shorts on the streets. Not short shorts, but shorts. People wear jeans. Women seem to be allowed more freedoms. Of course Bombay and Delhi are not known for their low resource consumption!

The obsession with being white is a national obsession though. My SO who is Tamil was going to do a mockumentary interviewing people on the street asking them what they thought about the phrase “Black is Beautiful.” I’ll have to ask him whatever happened to that project.

I would mind having to give up personality to live in a low resource community. It’s your identity and who you are. Why would anyone want to trade that for less consumption living? I think you can keep your identity in a high resource consumption society by practicing what you believe. That doesn’t make much sense but you get my point …