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To answer your final question, no, I don't think so. As a kid, I went on trail camp. We would hike for about a week, walking about 10 miles a day with a heavy

by scott_s 12y ago

To answer your final question, no, I don't think so. As a kid, I went on trail camp. We would hike for about a week, walking about 10 miles a day with a heavy pack. You get into a routine: rise, eat breakfast, take down the tent, pack up, start hiking. Stop for food. Continue hiking, make camp in late afternoon. Go down for the night, start over. Getting into the routine was easy, and eventually "civilization" felt very, very far away. To the point that you would think about simple things like soft beds and flushing toilets as incomprehensible luxuries. Getting back into the real world was always more of an adjustment than leaving.

pavlov 12y ago
For most of the people on this planet, soft beds and flushing toilets are unattainable luxuries. As the majority, maybe their world is actually the "real world"?
- tmmm 12y ago
  Not having a toilet is nothing meaningful, it's just inconvenience.
  - pavlov 12y ago
    Lack of toilets is not just an inconvenience, it's actually a huge health problem in densely populated developing countries. For example in India it's (finally) being taken seriously at the highest level. The new prime minister promised 5.2m new lavatories would be built in the first 100 days of his tenure: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/oct/08/india-narendra-modi-toilets-education-hygiene http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matter...
    - Jach 12y ago
      It's not lack of toilets that's the problem, it's defecating in the open, which many Indians even prefer. Your linked article notes that, and notes that it takes an absurd 6-8 months to educate a village. http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-asia/toilets-alone-wont-fix-indias-public-health-problem http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-asia/toilets-alone-won... also provides a bit more information. Build more latrines, sure, even western style personal toilets with plumbing if you can, but if they aren't used, or they aren't cleaned and maintained, there's no benefit.

by scott_s 12y ago

pavlov 12y ago

For most of the people on this planet, soft beds and flushing toilets are unattainable luxuries. As the majority, maybe their world is actually the "real world"?

tmmm 12y ago
Not having a toilet is nothing meaningful, it's just inconvenience.
- pavlov 12y ago
  Lack of toilets is not just an inconvenience, it's actually a huge health problem in densely populated developing countries. For example in India it's (finally) being taken seriously at the highest level. The new prime minister promised 5.2m new lavatories would be built in the first 100 days of his tenure: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/oct/08/india-narendra-modi-toilets-education-hygiene http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matter...
  - Jach 12y ago
    It's not lack of toilets that's the problem, it's defecating in the open, which many Indians even prefer. Your linked article notes that, and notes that it takes an absurd 6-8 months to educate a village. http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-asia/toilets-alone-wont-fix-indias-public-health-problem http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-asia/toilets-alone-won... also provides a bit more information. Build more latrines, sure, even western style personal toilets with plumbing if you can, but if they aren't used, or they aren't cleaned and maintained, there's no benefit.