Thursday, July 09, 2015

luxurious poverty

When asked to say something about the poverty talked of in Berlin, an Indian resident of Berlin said:
"In India we are happy with 5 hours of electricity. In Berlin there is electricity all the time so people feel nothing about it. Talk about poverty."

We feel "nothing" about the luxury we have. In some cases, we don't even dare to think about how dangerous our luxury is. How is luxury increasing loneliness in the West?

In Liberia, I saw someone watch a video about Holland with fascination. The fascination was his, embarrassment was my share in the experience. He said: "I would like to live there except for one thing; people don't see each other. How can someone be dead in his home for days without anyone noticing? This seems very lonely."

And now robotics have become so advanced that we can let robots visit our elderly instead of meeting up with them personally.
2doc: Ik ben Alice
This week Dutch public television broadcast showed the documentary Ik ben Alice ("I am Alice"), questioning whether a robot named Alice could build a relationship with an old lady and help her feel less lonely. Alice proves that she can help in some ways, but she also underlines the pathetic state of our society. 

Can we hear the alarm-bells ringing as we watch and encourage such technological developments?