tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144465279383388996.post320778656356973975..comments2024-01-05T13:00:21.226-08:00Comments on Code Name Insight: 10 Things You're Going to Miss When TSHTFCode Name Insighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11496657585224292169noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144465279383388996.post-79297305772027780242010-10-24T20:16:13.590-07:002010-10-24T20:16:13.590-07:00Anon--Excellent additions to the list!Anon--Excellent additions to the list!Code Name Insighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11496657585224292169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144465279383388996.post-91727053584689007232010-10-24T16:53:57.291-07:002010-10-24T16:53:57.291-07:00I second these, based on a trip 10 years ago to th...I second these, based on a trip 10 years ago to the former Soviet Union (a "second world" country, but with many features of the third world) and have a few more:<br /><br />#11: High-quality and high-quantity communications and media: What's true of electricity is also true of broadcasting, phone and Internet service. Cell phone service ranges from nonexistent to spotty. In addition, illiteracy is quite common in poor countries amd the media is often limited. We take for granted that we can know what's going on in the world anytime and anywhere.<br /><br />#12: A general sense of freedom. When survival is job one, people are more willing to give up rights that we take for granted, such as the right to choose our government officials and worship as we please, to be fed, clothed, and sheltered. People are also more willing to violate the rights of others to survive and less likely to resist abuses.<br /><br />#13: Trust: We take for granted that we can trust strangers not to take advantage of us, trust that people will do their jobs efficiently and cheerfully, trust that our governments will generally not violate our rights in extreme ways, trust that people will do the right thing. In poor countries, the only people you can really trust is your immediate family, and sometimes not even them.<br /><br />#14: A good financial system. Despite the current situation with the economy, we can be reasonably certain that we can cash our checks and the bank won't be out of money, that prices won't skyrocket to the point where we need a wheelbarrow full of $100 bills to buy a loaf of bread, and that our credit cards will work. In poor countries, hyperinflation is the rule, not the exception, and the barter system is commonplace as banks are unreliable. And you CAN leave home without your American Express card, as poor countries don't have many places where credit cards are accepted.<br /><br />#15: The future. We take the future for granted and focus so much on it, as in what we'll do when we graduate, retire, make partner, send the kids to college, etc. In poor countries, that's not the case, often simply because the likelihood of seeing even tomorrow is a lot less. So, people only can see as far ahead as today and only try to get by another day, and planning for the future is even less of a thought, for these and the other 10 reasons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com