12 ms·

> People just don't get how callous same cultures are about the environment; it cannot be believed until it's been experienced since it's so far outside of the

> People just don't get how callous same cultures are about the environment; it cannot be believed until it's been experienced since it's so far outside of the wealthy Westerner's experience If Mad Men[0] is to be believed, there was plenty of littering in the US in the 1960s.[1] It took many public awareness campaigns by government and private industry, in a country far richer with nearly universal literacy, over multiple decades to make littering socially unacceptable. And I still see plenty of litter in the US today. Change takes time. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roREnVhd_og https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roREnVhd_og 1. https://www.reddit.com/r/madmen/comments/4oie71/how_accurate_was_the_betty_draper_picnic_scene/ https://www.reddit.com/r/madmen/comments/4oie71/how_accurate...

jlawson 7y ago
There was littering, yes. But in 1959 America you generally wouldn't see: -Mothers supervising their kids as they defecate on a city sidewalk, or in the garbage bin in a busy train station. -Dead mules left rotting and bloated in the sun for days right beside busy streets, with drinking water flowing nearby. -Restaurant owners throwing garbage out the front door of their establishment onto the street right in front of the restaurant. You're relating what I said to your own experience, which is Mad Men-style "littering". Only once you actually go outside your bubble can you understand that humans can do so much worse - and billions do. I think to find a Western example you'd have to go back to horse and buggy days at least, and possibly to before widespread plumbing (e.g. late 1800's London cholera epidemics, the Thames literally full of shit).
- jogjayr 7y ago
  > Only once you actually go outside your bubble can you understand that humans can do so much worse I'm well aware of that. I grew up in India. I'm just asking you to place this behavior in the context of the prosperity and levels of education in the places where it happens. America, for all its advantages in material and human development, did not develop an anti-littering culture until very recently.

jlawson 7y ago

There was littering, yes. But in 1959 America you generally wouldn't see: -Mothers supervising their kids as they defecate on a city sidewalk, or in the garbage bin in a busy train station. -Dead mules left rotting and bloated in the sun for days right beside busy streets, with drinking water flowing nearby. -Restaurant owners throwing garbage out the front door of their establishment onto the street right in front of the restaurant. You're relating what I said to your own experience, which is Mad Men-style "littering". Only once you actually go outside your bubble can you understand that humans can do so much worse - and billions do. I think to find a Western example you'd have to go back to horse and buggy days at least, and possibly to before widespread plumbing (e.g. late 1800's London cholera epidemics, the Thames literally full of shit).

jogjayr 7y ago
> Only once you actually go outside your bubble can you understand that humans can do so much worse I'm well aware of that. I grew up in India. I'm just asking you to place this behavior in the context of the prosperity and levels of education in the places where it happens. America, for all its advantages in material and human development, did not develop an anti-littering culture until very recently.