I was just browsing the net when I came across this wonderful documentary by an American teenager.She compares her life in California with that in Nepal. It fetched her $10,000 as a prize. I think we should popularize this documentary, especially among most educated Nepalese who think America as heaven and Nepal as a hell. Happy viewing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIsA_ACfsFM

Eternalbliss,

I 100% agree with you. This is the exact point that I was making in this thread, but most of the people didn't seem to understand what I was saying.

http://www.gbnc.org/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=66395

I feel that a huge part of improving ourself is also educating the people in developed nations, like that video does.  In a world running after the 'latest cheap fads' Nepal echoes the richness of a culture with a very distinct personality

.  The video you have posted is a great example of a video that makes a high impact on the American public.

The FOST video is very educational for the American public as well:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3128310824574419070

It is inspiring to see many Nepalese who are using sites like facebook to promote videos and articles informing their American friends about Nepal. More and more of us are realizing the opportunity we have to educate and inform from the personal connections that we make while living in the States. 

Whenever I share videos on tourism or on projects going on in Nepal (like the one you have shared), it is always so delightful to see the eyes of my American friends light up. A lot of them are so clueless about how bad things have gotten there. I feel that though there definitely are many limitations amongst the politicians and people in Nepal, and we have a lot of initiative to take, to think that Nepal lives in an isolated vacuum in a global economy is to delude ourself. When my American friends realize how the policies in the developed nations are causing a lot of the problems experienced by Nepalese, and other developing nations, they become really queit. At the end of the discussion almost everyone of them want to know what they can do to help. They want to get involved in bringing awareness too. This type of response is very encouraging.

 

I have been reading the debate titled: "Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character" at the John Templeton Foundation:
http://www.templeton.org/market/

I was reading this study among others about rampant prostitution among middle class girls and women in Kathmandu.

 title: Carnal Economies: The Commodification of Food and Sex in Kathmandu

http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/can.2005.20.1.001?cookieSet=1&journalCode=can

To break it down in lay person language, Kathmandu has gotten super stylish and fashionable. Everyone, whether they have the means or not feels the need to top the person next to them in terms of gadgets and the latest stylish accessories.

Things are the worst among girls from middle class families. They want to be upwardly acceptable with the rich girls but don't have the means. Gaining acceptance in upward circles can mean good connections for good jobs. These girls have tremendous pressure to maintain a certain image. So how do these girls who come from middle class families get money?

Welcome to the murky but lucrative world of high-class prostitution. Basically these girls go to madams in Thamel and negotiate prices for themself. They go to hotel rooms and cater primarily to business men, politicians and foreigners.

I suppose prostitution is also a form of human resource. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I find it disturbing that there are thousands of girls from well-to-do families selling themself because of the pressure they feel from the media and their peers to live up to a certain 'image.'  

Capitalism works great when there is regulation. But in an economy like Nepal's where 'might is right' (ok, money is right) regulation has no meaning. Where do we draw the line?