A global problem and its self-creating solution

A month ago, I attended a talk about "Sustainable Development" by Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia University Center in Amman. In case that name means nothing to you, Sachs is the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of the book "How to End Poverty". He's an economic activist (if there ever was one) who has campaigned with the likes of Bono to eliminate poverty around the world. Now who wouldn't want to hear from a guy like that? So Sachs comes in and starts talking very generally about sustainable development. Ten minutes into it and the lecture takes a sharp turn; we are suddenly listening to a diatribe about the evils of climate change. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a climate change denier, nor am I a blind follower of the sect either. But I felt like I was scammed into listening to a member of a cult bent on recruiting me.

Smart phones and the illusion of identity

Having an iPhone makes me feel that I am a fun-loving adult who hasn't lost touch with her childhood. Partly in jest, I usually deride BlackBerry owners as stuck up business person wannabes who think they look professional just for owning one. Of course BB users retort by making fun of my "toy". The Android phone owners take a different stance. They are at a higher moral ground because they support open-source solutions, instead of the "fascist" closed-source that is Mac (Yes. I have heard the word used in that specific context). Of course the counter-argument by iPhone users is that no one who spends over 700 dollars on a mobile can claim any moral superiority.

Should we be happy that Qatar won the World Cup bid?

As soon as the announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup was made, I tweeted that I had "no clue how I feel about this". A few days and articles later, I think I have a clearer assessment. There were so many pro and con arguments made that it was quite difficult for me to filter out the pettiness and fake pride. But all in all, the discussion centered around 4 main issues that I will briefly describe.

The drive back

I spent all of yesterday at a waste disposal site in Jordan. Obviously, it was not a very pleasant experience. I saw the the site of the accident where one worker drowned in an industrial waste pond (hopefully from suffocation and nothing worse). I also visited a site where brand new clothes from the industrial estates were being burnt because they did not meet the specifications to be exported, no one was willing to pay customs on them and there was no mechanism for giving them to the needy.

On the ride back from the site, I was involved in a heated discussion between driver and the environmental engineer who accompanied me on the visit. Basically, the driver was upset at what he saw, saying that people shouldn't have to work under such conditions while the engineer was complaining that no one takes the environment seriously in this country. The driver was adamant that concern for the environment was a problem for other, more affluent people to worry about. While the engineer couldn't understand what the driver would lose if he segregated his waste and every once in a while brought a bag of papers into the office to place in the recycling bin, the driver couldn't understand what he would gain if he did.