Generally, I keep my posts on this blog limited to being about India, and my experiences therein. But, for lack of a better forum, and for the time I put into the following paint drawing, I am going to talk about how governments can keep their citizens from hating them.
Today I stumbled across a quote in the last hour of my internship in which I was doing nothing but read the news in search of something silly, like for example the story a state senator in Mississippi trying to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and subsequently a hispanic rights groups petitioning to rename the Mississippi River the Mexican River.
"Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie" it read. I posted this to facebook and, by five people 'liking' the sentiment, I concluded that it is universally applicable and objectively true. Therefore, with the help of my friend who has a strange fascination with Aristotelian political theory, we were able to put together the following plan for solving the problems of governments around the world:
For those of you who need glasses but don't wear them, the illustration is described thus:
Aristotle argues that it is the role of the city to not merely promote living, but living well.
If we accept that pie is a necessary condition for well-being (as evidenced by facebook), then the city should give its citizens pie.
Had states listened more closely to Aristotle, the Arab Spring probably would never have occurred.
While this may reflect both an adoration of pie and a level of nerdiness expressed in the excitement I experienced when I saw Foreign Policy had tote bags, I think that it also reflects something very legitimate about how to keep citizens happy. No really, why do you think Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are at the top of the happy countries list? (and Costa Rica, but I suppose they have nice beaches) Probably because Denmark gives out pie and, countries like Syria, well, Syria gives out tanks.
Today I stumbled across a quote in the last hour of my internship in which I was doing nothing but read the news in search of something silly, like for example the story a state senator in Mississippi trying to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and subsequently a hispanic rights groups petitioning to rename the Mississippi River the Mexican River.
"Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie" it read. I posted this to facebook and, by five people 'liking' the sentiment, I concluded that it is universally applicable and objectively true. Therefore, with the help of my friend who has a strange fascination with Aristotelian political theory, we were able to put together the following plan for solving the problems of governments around the world:
For those of you who need glasses but don't wear them, the illustration is described thus:
Aristotle argues that it is the role of the city to not merely promote living, but living well.
If we accept that pie is a necessary condition for well-being (as evidenced by facebook), then the city should give its citizens pie.
Had states listened more closely to Aristotle, the Arab Spring probably would never have occurred.
While this may reflect both an adoration of pie and a level of nerdiness expressed in the excitement I experienced when I saw Foreign Policy had tote bags, I think that it also reflects something very legitimate about how to keep citizens happy. No really, why do you think Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are at the top of the happy countries list? (and Costa Rica, but I suppose they have nice beaches) Probably because Denmark gives out pie and, countries like Syria, well, Syria gives out tanks.
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