meeting 4-8-08

Tuesday, April 8
Zach's, 5:30

-discussed readings from past week
-Jessie's article about homelessness and how that relates to happiness--how do
you measure happiness?
-my chapter about exports and imports in India, how India still lags behind many other
Asian countries despite the low worker wages

-discussed Jessie's acceptance into the organization

-talked about details of the trip: including flights, paperwork, and financial support

-brainstormed ideas for our final project, which will include presenting our class on the bulletin board in Old Main (more details to follow)

-brainstormed other ideas and ways to show what we have been doing through our reading

>“The Subjective Well-being of the Homeless, and Lessons for Happiness” by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener

“The Subjective Well-being of the Homeless, and Lessons for Happiness” by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener, Social Indicators Research 78(2): 185-205.

This article taught me a lot about what it means to have well being and how well being and happiness can be attained even in harsh situations. This article investigated homeless people in Calcutta, India, California (USA) and Oregon (USA) and compared them based on factors that would reflect how they felt about their station in life and whether they were happy people. I thought this was an interesting topic because I think (especially in the West) we assume that people who are destitute are completely miserable people. In fact, I think if we looked around out society, some of the most discontented people are the ones who seem to have everything…but that is for another blog!

The most interesting thing that I read in this article was about how part of the reason that the research shows that homeless people in India may have a better sense of well being than those in the US is because there is not such a negative stigma attached to homelessness in India the way there is in the US. For instance, in the US, homeless people are often thought to have “brought it upon themselves” or have some detestable quality that caused them to be homeless, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, or laziness. However, the article says that in India, homelessness is caused by more macroeconomic factors like fierce job competition. Thus, people who are homeless are not thought of as bad people so they do not have such an overbearing social stigma attached to their social position, which the authors say could be a factor in their better sense of self and well being. (This is reflected in a very practical way by the Diener’s research showing that 72% of the homeless surveyed in Calcutta were married as compared to 41% in Oregon—no results were reported from California.)

Another interesting point is that the Indian homeless may also have more happiness because they have a greater sense of community. The homeless in Calcutta tend to group together in certain areas—so they are without a home, but not without community. Now, if you live in the US, what is your stereotypical image of a homeless person? I know for me it is that lone man standing on the interstate ramp, or sitting in the park. So, because in the US, the homeless (on average) to have less of a sense of community, their self and life-satisfaction is less than those in India who have a sort of social network.

A connection that I made in this reading to my reading for last week was that this article also mentioned railway stations as a place that many homeless people are. This was also the case with the street children from last week’s reading. I enjoy being able to find connections like this in my reading because it makes me feel validated that what I am reading, while it is largely interpretation and specific to the location, also may have some overarching truth about it.

Finally, I also found it interesting how the researchers used food satisfaction as a gauge for life quality and happiness. This makes sense, because we always have the thought of homeless people being hungry. It is interesting that the homeless in Calcutta had a significantly higher food satisfaction than the respondents from the US. The authors offer a couple explanations for this: expectations for food are so low that any food received is held in much higher regard, or they are so hungry that they enjoy their food much more, or possibly more food is available to them through social service organizations they visit or charity they receive. I would venture to suggest another reason, though. Could it not be that homeless people in the US see people indulging in great amounts of food all the time and see the results in overweight people constantly so they feel that the food they get is nothing compared to what may be available if people were more generous. However, in India perhaps the homeless population does not have the idea that everyone else gorges themselves all the time, so they could be satisfied with a smaller amount of food. I do not know if that is at all the case, but it is a possibility that crossed my mind.

India Goes Global--Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Global Economy

Well, I enjoyed this chapter, but after spending some time reading this book, I feel like it is too much like the previous book I read to continue. Although I find it interesting, I also am aware of the short time left in this semester. I want to focus in more on Calcutta (where we will be going--yay!) from this point more specifically. Anyways, with all of that said, this chapter discussed the imports and exports in India. As with most everything else, it seems, India is improving--but is still behind other countries it its share of global exports.

Since 2002, the rupee (the Indian dollar) has appreciated by approximately 6% to 8% against the United States dollar. Imports have also been growing at a rapid rate, along with an acceleration of export growth. The export growth is led by service exports, and exports account for about 1/5 of the Indian Gross Domestic Product. This is up 10% from where it was 10 years ago. But, like I previously stated, although progress is being made, India's export performance has lagged that of Asia and its share of global exports remains low. The author of the book is surprised that India has not made larger gains in world export markets because of India's low wages and strong productivity growth. The author states that "steps to lower trade tariffs and non tariff barriers and improve the investment climate, as well as flexibility in exchange, rate management, will be key if India is to build on its advantages and become a leading exporter." This seems to be a common thread, but India has made progress, but still has a ways to go before it attains a level of market penetration that can compete with its rival Asian neighbors.

meeting 3-25-08

Tuesday, March 25, 2008
5:30 Burwell

- India’s manufacturing development
- Street children
o Way they become street children
o Home abuse
o Comparison between rail station kids and temple kids
- trends in Indian foreign policy
o relations to China
o economic considerations in foreign policy
o getting beyond the Pakistan issue

- discussed Claire’s acceptance to the program and looked over the material RIM sent her

meeting 3-18-08

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
5:30 Burwell

- discussion of comparison of two slum cities
o locations of slums in relation to the city
o impact of city geography
o problems and advantages of gauging slum conditions by material possessions held
- confusion about India—what is India really?
- India vs. Africa on the poverty level

meeting 3-11-08

Tuesday, March 11
5:00 Burwell

- discussed India’s economic system and how cell phone towers could be indicative of economic growth
o discussed the possible problems with this
- discussed attempted political solutions to poverty in India and their lack of effectiveness
- utilization of natural resources in combating poverty
- history and progression of economic downturn

- discussed summer plans and applications of RIM

India Goes Global--Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Is Economic Growth Leaving Some States Behind?

This chapter focused on India's economic growth and the growing gap between the poor and rich in India. It discussed how growth has benefited many of India's richer states, but the poor states are left lagging further and further behind. As this continues to occur, there will be more people left in poverty and subject to inequality. The author goes through and explains five different facts about growth in India which help to explain the widening gap.

First, the gap between richer and poorer states has widened-rich states have grown three times faster than poorer states. While the economic growth is occurring in the rich states, the poorer states are continuing to grow more and more populous. This continues to hurt their chances of growing and becoming more wealthy. Also, the richer and faster growing states are better in reducing poverty. The author states that they are in fact about 50% more effective than poorer states in reducing poverty. So as the wealthy states continue to grow, they will reduce poverty even more--which will allow them to become even more wealthy, leaving the poorer states behind. A third fact is that the poor and slower growing states generate fewer private sector jobs. In fact, the poorest and more populous states, where about 40% of the population live, accounts for only one quarter of organized sector employment. Capital and labor flows do little to address the imbalances across states. The economic activity is extremely concentrated in particular areas, and India's most populous states contribute much less to output than their share of the population. Growth has been the most volatile in the poorest states. This is because the poor are much more prone to swings in income. One month or week an individual may have a job, the next week he or she may not. The reason some states are progressing much more quickly, and others seem stuck in poverty has a lot to do with state level policies. They play a large role in the economic growth across the Indian states. The author states that "states can influence their relative growth performance and accelerate convergence through their policy choices."