The real meaning of development

One thing I'll miss when I return to Jamaica is the ease with which I can find past time activities in Japan. There's always something interesting going on, and I don't mean a party or a tv show. I can simply walk to a park and stumble  upon a festival or turn a corner and stumble into a museum or walk into a glass atelier with 5 minute classes. I can go to a coffee shop, study, watch YouTube, scroll through Facebook or talk to real people. I can take a stroll up the mountain or take a cable car instead.

"The developed country is not one in which the poor has cars.
It is where the rich uses public transportation."

These simple pleasures have become normal activities that are accessible to even a pauper like me. This is one of the marks of development - when people with the lowest income can enjoy the same things in life as the rich. A friend shared a quote with me recently that said a country is developed not when the poor can buy cars, but when the rich uses public transportation. This made a lot of sense. Of course, the rich will still have nicer things, they will have bigger houses and luxury cars, but they will go to the same museums, parks, ateliers, light shows, festivals and ride in the same trains and buses. Why? Wealth distribution and infrastructural development are key to real development. With wealth distribution, the poor is not really poor and with infrastructure development, public transport becomes more efficient and desirable than private transport.


Poverty in some developed countries is a far cry from real poverty. I sometimes volunteer at a homeless feeding program on Saturdays and the homeless people here make me wonder about their sincerity - are they really homeless? They are usually well dressed, in clean clothes, educated, possess mobile phones, among other things that I wouldn't expect to see homeless people with.

Being homeless here, makes life less convenient, but you still have access to things like clean public baths and toilets, and cheap internet cafes, with manga, internet and a makeshift bed. One of the homeless guys who comes to the feeding program stated that he bought interesting used goods and resold them on the internet. He's homeless, but he still has the opportunity to earn a living. He has internet access and start up cash to buy and sell. He is homeless, but he has heat during winter and air conditioner during hot summer nights. In the true sense of the word, he is way above poverty. He has skills, all the basic necessities for life and opportunities to earn from his skills. 

Of course there are people who are in worst situations than this guy, but from the homeless feeding program, his type seems to be the norm.

This is the real measure of development - elevating the society, so that even the homeless can have access to more than basic necessities and have opportunities to earn their way out of homelessness.