War of the worlds: Money makes all the difference
Recession has put a spanner in the West’s works, because without money, fanatical sustainability is difficult to achieve.
By ET Bureau |
THE dilemmas of modern day living are confounding indeed. The West first discovered and revelled in the joys of technology, developing systems and lifestyles that were deeply dependent on energy, from heated (and airconditioned homes) to diets comprising out-of-season fruits and vegetables brought to their supermarkets by ultra-efficient cold chain systems.
And they looked with sympathy at the Third World’s “struggle” to eke out a daily existence with weather-specific clothing and nutrition, deprived as they were of the delights of automated systems of control and preservation. But no sooner had we reached a modicum of equilibrium with our ‘developed’ neighbours, with round-the-year availability of foodstuff and temperature-controlled homes and offices that we were wrong-footed again — by a West which suddenly seemed concerned about emissions, global warming, mass-produced and processed food, and ‘unsustainable’ lifestyles.
Nothing less than eco-friendly homes and organic food would do, never mind that the cost of such lifestyles put it beyond the reach of the ‘developing’ world once again. Recession, however, has put a spanner in the West’s works, because without money, fanatical sustainability is difficult to achieve. And that means an opportunity for jugaad solutions.
Perhaps that could explain the runaway popularity of two recently invented items of clothing in Britain called the slanket and the snugglesuit — a sleeping bag with sleeves and a fluffy jumpsuit, respectively — both made of synthetic fleece, which would have been a strict no-no in more affluent times.
That’s quite an innovation: warmth without heating! Equally amazing is the British government’s endorsement of the popular chef Delia Smith’s heretical advocacy of ordinary chickens and frozen vegetables and fruits as acceptable (and affordable) sources of nutrition. Obviously, when the penny pinches, the saviours of the world come down to earth.
And they looked with sympathy at the Third World’s “struggle” to eke out a daily existence with weather-specific clothing and nutrition, deprived as they were of the delights of automated systems of control and preservation. But no sooner had we reached a modicum of equilibrium with our ‘developed’ neighbours, with round-the-year availability of foodstuff and temperature-controlled homes and offices that we were wrong-footed again — by a West which suddenly seemed concerned about emissions, global warming, mass-produced and processed food, and ‘unsustainable’ lifestyles.
Nothing less than eco-friendly homes and organic food would do, never mind that the cost of such lifestyles put it beyond the reach of the ‘developing’ world once again. Recession, however, has put a spanner in the West’s works, because without money, fanatical sustainability is difficult to achieve. And that means an opportunity for jugaad solutions.
Perhaps that could explain the runaway popularity of two recently invented items of clothing in Britain called the slanket and the snugglesuit — a sleeping bag with sleeves and a fluffy jumpsuit, respectively — both made of synthetic fleece, which would have been a strict no-no in more affluent times.
That’s quite an innovation: warmth without heating! Equally amazing is the British government’s endorsement of the popular chef Delia Smith’s heretical advocacy of ordinary chickens and frozen vegetables and fruits as acceptable (and affordable) sources of nutrition. Obviously, when the penny pinches, the saviours of the world come down to earth.
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