Thursday, August 18, 2011
Adam Smith Quote #1
"The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another."
- Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Reading about slums I am finding that Smith's idea seems to be true in the case of the "permanent situation" of an individual not living in an informal settlement, as compared with that of a slum-dweller. When we view the life of someone living in a slum we imagine ourselves in such a situation, but someone who has grown used to living in a slum has a completely different view of their own situation. It is a form of ethnocentrism. I would like to emphasize that I am not attempting to downplay the impoverishment in the slums. I am pointing out that there is no common denominator with which to compare the slum-dwellers view of the slum with that of the non-slum-dweller. This is important because many policies are based on the view of the latter.
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