I was painting with a broad brush, and for that I apologize. It was a swift - perhaps too pointed - response to an exasperated whine from someone with an expect

I was painting with a broad brush, and for that I apologize. It was a swift - perhaps too pointed - response to an exasperated whine from someone with an expectation of luxury when none was necessary, or deserved. "Why isn't there someone else to clean this up for me?" just wreaks of entitlement. Japan has its share of problems, but their culture teaches the importance and value of clean common spaces, and the individual citizen's part in keeping them that way, from childhood. [1] 1. http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/04/04/396621542/without-janitors-students-are-in-charge-of-keeping-school-shipshape http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/04/04/396621542/without-... In India, dung is used as fuel, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes ritualistically.[2] 2. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/Indias-Newest-Internet-Sensation-Cow-Dung-Patties-180957650/?no-ist http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/Indias-Newest-Inter... Politics in india pits ethnic group against ethnic group, caste against caste, in order to keep power and accomplish as little as possible. The economy is improving, but it appears to be stratifying, with radical divergence between the lifestyles of the richest and poorest. The wealthy are able to live in bubbles of luxury private development, blissfully unaware of the suffering just outside the gates. [3] 3. http://ideas.ted.com/skyscrapers-but-no-sewage-system-meet-a-city-run-by-private-industry/ http://ideas.ted.com/skyscrapers-but-no-sewage-system-meet-a... I'm bringing a lot of baggage, coming from a country where labor isn't cheap and the population isn't over a billion, but there is something to the value of human life here that I thought was universal. Maybe the expectations flip around when there are so many people that it would be cruel not to offer more garbage pickup jobs. That smells a bit like a broken window fallacy though.