Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/05/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, if the only example you can drag up for your reply is Donald Trump, then there is nothing more to say. I really think that we should continue, if we must, on the forum. Otherwise I am done with this. Cheers Jayanand On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Lew Schwartz <lew1716 at gmail.com> wrote: > It seems to me that there's a great logical fallacy here. Jayanand is > pointing to his laborious and dedicated background as a paradigm for > success with the idea that his success proves the truth and validity > of his particular paradigm. This is circular reasoning. Are we to > assume that the 399,999 Indians who have not succeeded as he has > failed simply because they did not follow through on his > prescriptions? Were these prescriptions known when he started out, or > were they only observed, edited and chosen for narration later, a > charismatic Horatio Alger story? Certainly, with his success he's > entitled to tell it however he pleases. Nothing succeeds like success, > but with all the slogging and hard work he cites, I find it difficult > to imagine that there were no false starts or dead ends. Surely the > company that employed him brought him along. Did he actually receive > no help at all from anyone along the way? Never mention or share his > difficulties with anyone? I really don't see any qualitative way to > say that the actual day to day efforts he made were greater or less > than those of the LUG members whose problems we are reading about. > Rather, I see an issue of who has the right to tell his personal > story, who doesn't, which we'd all rather listen to, and which are > more popular. Everyone loves a happy ending, especially when personal > wealth is involved. > > There's another aspect to this thread that deserves mention. It's an > almost universal failing in all societies throughout history (not that > I'm a historian or anthropologist) that successful people, especially > those who are materially successful, don't see a distinction between > their success and moral goodness. If I'm successful, I must also be > good and worthy of emulation, and, indeed, many do emulate. If you are > not successful you are either doing something wrong or aren't > emulating enough. One has only to recall the numerous (& fortunately > failed) attempts of Donald Trump to fix the financial woes of NYS or > the nation in any one of his failed political runs. The unctuous > vanity and bombast with which he occupies the spotlight he shines on > himself is so palpable that you feel you could fry an egg on your tv > after he finishes. > > On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 11:43 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj > <jayanand at gmail.com> wrote: >> Ken, >> Jobs were equally difficult in India when I graduated in 1972 (yes, I >> am just a simple Bachelor of Science). I got to where I was by >> cracking the most difficult job exam in India in those days for State >> Bank of India. Yes, it was a public exam, and in the my year 400,000 >> people wrote it for 250 job openings. After you passed the exam, you >> had to go through an intensive full day group discussion, and then a >> 2-3 hour interview. All for a job earning less than US$50 a month (at >> the exchange rates prevalent at that time, less than US$20 per month >> at today's rates). You know what? It was fantastic. We worked in the >> rural boondocks, stayed in everything from huts with no toilets to >> rented accommodation, ate out every meal, and still managed to save >> money and accumulate invaluable work experience - which was the >> stepping stone to creating the capital that enabled me to go out on my >> own - it took 16 years of slog and saving, though. A lot of very hard >> work, and very careful husbanding of resources over 38 years has >> enabled me to be where I am now - there has never been and there is >> still no free lunch in the world. >> Cheers >> Jayanand >> >> On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 1:16 AM, Ken Iisaka <ken at iisaka.com> wrote: >>> I don't know if things are worse today. In some ways, yes, but in so many >>> areas, things are way better today. >>> >>> The transportation cost is far lower today than it was 50 years ago, for >>> example. Air travel was a domain of the rich only then, but we can fly >>> just >>> about anywhere in the world for less than the cost of a Leica lens, and >>> I'm >>> not talking about Noctilux or APO-Summicron 50mm ASPH either. >>> >>> The competition is more fierce because more people are competing for >>> them. >>> With greater scalability, we don't need as many hands to produce products >>> and services, the number of people employed in certain sectors have not >>> grown in proportion to the population growth. >>> >>> Back then, the vast majority of "colored" in most of the US had no >>> opportunities for education or let alone a decent career. Heck, the vast >>> majority of the entire population on earth had no such opportunities, and >>> were living on subsistence living. >>> >>> Now, our economies are far more integrated, and giving opportunities >>> never >>> imagined before to far more people in more unthinkable places. >>> >>> It's no one's fault that we have need for fewer photojournalists today. >>> With everyone with a camera on their cell phone, and everyone able to >>> tweet >>> from the scene, the inherent structure of journalism is changing. >>> >>> I am grateful for the fact that I am a 1%. I am well fed, have university >>> education, an income and assets in the top 1% in the world, and own >>> several >>> Leicas. However, I am aware that complaining about it doesn't do >>> anything. >>> Only I can make my own life better. No one else will. >>> >>> >>> On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 12:31 PM, Lew Schwartz <lew1716 at gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Why let him off so easily? Things have changed for the worse, but he >>>> has no right to complain because it's his fault. >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Ken Iisaka >>> first name at last name dot org or com >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > -- > -Lew S. > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information