~ Copying Consumerism: China Opens World’s Largest Commercial Building

In china, building BIG is sign of Success!!…Chengdu, 4th largest city in China with population of 40 millions (4 Crores), now has world’s commercial building “New Century Global Centre” , size of 329 football fields, can accommodates 20 Sydney Opera buildings inside!

Size of this Mall is 1.9 million sq meters or more than 20 million sq ft (1 million = 10 lakhs). It has…

  • 150 + Malls/Outlets inside!

  • Indoor Aquarium,

  • Indoor Artificial Beach

  • Indoor Water park

  • LCD screen of 150 m (50 Storage high) i.e more than Statue of Liberty (30 storage high)

  • Indoor 5 Star hotel

China Opens World’s Largest Commercial Building

Read further Copying: Now China copies whole European City!

On the other side, by creating world’s biggest construction bubble for faster growth/GDP figures to “Catch/Copy West” mindless rush, ordinary Chinese people seems to be lagging behind the plan…They have to borrow to buy all this high-price places leaving behind their ancestors towns/farmlands, etc to work as labors in big newly constructed cities.

 Read: Ghost Cities & Towns across the World

Such cities now has majority Middle Class people i.e. low-Consumption but high class city malls?? Result will be this…

Urban Decay – Ghost Malls & Ghost City at Tianjin-China

Bad Construction – Topple buildings in China

People fear faulty Escalators at Shopping Malls in China

Newly built Bullet Train Accident in China

– FYI…Japanese Shinkansen Bullet Train, which has carried over 10 billion passengers since launched in 1964, is only bullet train service in the world without any accident!

All this is happening because of mindless fad of Copy West Consumerism agenda leaving behind beautiful 5000+ years’ Chinese legacy & culture…To understand why this Boom & Doom is happening in China or in West, we need to understand 2 basic approaches of human development, a country adopts, which directly depends on its Faith/ Belief systems…

West (Top-Bottom) Vs East (Bottom-Up) Lifestyle:

  •  Top-Bottom approach – Western (Abrahmic 2500+ years traditions)

  • Bottom-Top approach – Eastern/Indian (Dharmic 12000+ years traditions)

In Top-Down approach, top leaders/rulers/Elites plan lifestyle for masses as per their Agenda followed by Propaganda & PR machineries…This approach might be suitable for Western Abrahmics traditions but not eastern Sanatan Dharmic Traditions (Hinduism/Buddhist/Jains/Sikhs) in Asia, where generally Bottom-UP approach works i.e. people decides what they want, rulers/politicians/leaders must plan policies accordingly!

Another important belief comparison, Western Abrahmic tradition focuses more on Objective things than Subjective….Eastern/Indian Dharmic tradition focuses more on Subjective things than Objective!

Thus BIG construction (Objective / visually) or Expensive Project means Good in Abrahmic tradition…not necessarily  true for Dharmic tradition. Dharmic way says, if Big is needed build it, if not required don’t waste resources just for Objective show-off!

 Since last 5000+ years China is like India’s cultural brother & partner with presence of ancient Hinduism/Buddhism (Dharmic) lifestyle, which is Bottom-Up approach….

 Read: India and China shared 50 to 70% of World’s GDP from 0 AD till 1850 AD

Suddenly, since last 30 years, China tried to copy West (Abrahmics Top-bottom) & trying to destroy last 5000 years of social lifestyle without analyzing impact on Social, Emotional & Economical level on people.

Such transformations from “Bottom-Top” to “Top-Bottom” should take slowly in 100 years only if people demands for it… else it would be stressful & wasteful for country.

Ancient Hindu civilization had well planned cities with underground drainage system, planned houses and water channels to every home, etc as per their need.

See Dholavira-Gujarat excavations in India or Mohanjodaro-Harappa cities flourished on the banks of Saraswati & Sindhu Rivers (what west deliberately propagates it as separate Indus civilization to break it from continuous 12000+ years old mother Hindu civilization).

Read: 4700 years old planned Hindu city discovered at Dholavira India

In 19th century, Chandigadh and Gandhinagar planned cities (typical western Top-Bottom approach) were built in India during British time, but till date they couldn’t be important cities in India…However, well planned areas or new suburbs, as per people’s demand (Bottom-Top approach), near big City are popular in Indian cities like Navi Mumbai (New Bombay) or Delhi-NCR, or in Banglaloru, Hydrabad, etc…

Recently, Lavasa near Pune/Mumbai was built as planned city (Top-Bottom approach) in heart of Sayandri hills and riverside, but it is not yet popular as it’s far away from old city. It is now just weekend hangout spot for Pune people to see landscapes and riverside!…Kinnda Ghost city of India??

Lavsa City-near Pune

See- India plans to upgrade top 100 cities as SMART cities as per demand

Hope Indians are learning lessons from this…mindless copying of West is a disaster!

Yes..this also shows too much Materialism & Consumerism destroys civilization!

Read: Gross National Happiness (GNH) or GDP : Which is better ?

Still confuse what to do?? ….Go deep into self-Inquiry and then decide your future path….

Do Deep Meditation- Close Eyes & listen powerful OM vibration….soon you’ll get your answer from within!

OM-India-Hinduism-Deep-Meditation-SpiritualityImage Credit: Screen shot from CBS & OM chanting clips above

Sources: youtube, wikipedia, CBS news, google search, celebrity gossip, OM poem is a comment by SpartanGuts on above youtube clip shared.

~ Gandhian Engineering : Value for MANY, Not Just Value for Money!

Perfect solution for today’s Global Economic Crisis due to Selfishness & Greed /Consumerism  culture. Adopt Mahatma Gandhi(an) Engineering – Place  Compassion in the Heart & Passion in Mind…try to achieve MORE (Value) from LESS (Resources/Cost) ) for MORE (people)!! Think about Value for MANY, not just value for MONEY. 

How its different than Western thinking of High Cost/Resources is Better:

Attitude shown in the talk below is totally opposite to western thought of “Expensive / High Cost Means Better”…Any product or services or innovation which has developed using High  Cost and using lots of Resources (wastage)  is Best, it feels better, a perfect First World thing ….and you can sale at high cost worldwide, earn high profits and keep monopoly with you!

Anything which is developed in Low Cost and Optimum Resources..is considered as CHEAP , a 3rd world product!!  Even customer psyche has become like that too, buying high cost product is considered as a status symbol, a new social fad!

After listening to such talk (innovations), we need deep introspection about Capitalism /Materialistic / Profit oriented  attitude which is going through bad  economic crisis / recession  and dragging whole world since 2008!

Watch Indian scientist Dr. R.A. Mashelkar telling India’s breakthrough innovations in ultra-low cost products.

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar is a former head of CSIR-Govt. of India with many international awards from UK & USA for his research works.

His full Biodata @ TED talks @ Wikipedia

Popular TED Talk by Dr.R.A.Mashelkar

Watch Dr. R.A.Mashelkar at TED website

India’s Breakthrough Designs For Ultra-Low Cost Products

Watch more TED talks by Indian origin speakers:

For more interesting posts , follow Globindian Blog @ Facebook and @ Twitter

Mr. M.K.Gandhi weaving his cloths on Charkha ( Spinning Wheel):

There are enough resources on the earth for Human NEED , but not for Human GREED ~ M.K.Gandhi

gandhi-gi

Mr. M.K.Gandhi – Ambassador of Simplicity / Inclusiveness / Peace & Non-violence / Independence / Sustainability / Togetherness. Photo:Wallpaperswala

Image credit: “wallpaperswala.com/mahatma-gandhi/”

Sources: TED talks, Dr. R.A.Mashelkar, Wikipedia, Wallpaperwalla, Google search, and all links mentioned in the post.

~ Price of Materialism!

Worth watching!!…Give your 5 minutes here….

What price we are paying for Materialism / Consumerism / Capitalism ??

  • WATCH THIS CLIP…..
  • THINK…..
  • REALIZE…..
  • DECIDE……
  • CONCENTRATE not only on Tangible but also on INTANGIBLE THINGS (People / Love/ Satisfaction/ Bliss/ Hobby/ Family/ Friends/ Goodwill/ Respect/ Good Values/ Ethics/ Politeness/ Smile/ Touch/ Talking/ Listening others/ Compassion)
  • TAKE ACTION…
  • LIVE BETTER LIFE….
  • PROTECT Nature & Ecosystem
  • SPREAD JOY & HAPPINESS AROUND…..
  • Be HUMAN!

High Price of Materialism in Society (Via NewDream)

Image credit : Globalization blog

Sources; Youtube, Newdream.org clip & playlist at youtube, google search, and links provided in the post.

~ Gross National Happiness (GNH) or GDP : Which is better ?

GNH:

Gross National Happiness (GNH) phrase is first used by a Bhutanese King Jigme Singye Wangchuk in 1972  and since then Bhutan has gave up Gross Domestic Product (GDP) culture. Now Bhutan has become an inspiration to the world with GNP practices where they have invested in principles of spiritual, physical, social health and environment by adopting sustainability.  Results have started showing as citizen’s  life expectancy is doubled in last 20 years and 100% kids are now going to primary schools. Read more here . See official Bhutan Government information on wellbeing & happiness and concepts in GNH  here.

Watch this small clip to understand GNH concept (created by MortenSondergaard.com)

GDP:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as – Total value of goods and services produced over a specific time period. It indicates the “health of country’s economy” . GDP per capita is not an indication of personal income. GDP per capita = Gross Domestic Income (GDI).  There could be no better definition of GDP than by Paul Hawken ‘ At present, we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it GDP’. In context of current economic crisis he further said ‘You can print money to bail out a bank, but you can’t print life out a planet’. Even some expert argue that technically GDP concept is an empty concept!

See some of the observations on GDP and why GDP will probably be a failed culture in long run:

  • Borrowing/loan culture, which many times go beyond person’s or nations’ capacity
  • Frequent economic recession
  • Greed and Selfishness (Materialistic attitude) on rise
  • Earn money by any means (a dangerous trend)
  • Focus on self rather than Community, lack of togetherness in societies, reserve attitude/loneliness
  • All this also affects family life/relationships which may lead to high divorce rates (social issues)
  • High Suicides rates even though GDP is higher in Developed (rich) countries e.g Japan 30000 per year .  Also see suicides rates of different countries
  • GDP Vs Quality of Life , still is not sure?
GNH-gi

Gross National Happiness

In short,

High GDP ≠ High Happiness!!

Some economist believe happiness is the ultimate economic indicator rather than GDP  . See also the Economics of happiness .

So, what would be a suitable option for mankind in long run? Can we make a new system combining advantages of both GNH and GDP ? Time to think, discuss, debate and decide!

Related Clips and TED video:

Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness

Gross National Happiness versus GDP – Hon. PM

TED Talk on Gross National Happiness

Session on Gross National Happiness

Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Gross National Happiness & Tourism

Related interesting reads:

Image credit: “en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bhutan_Gross_National_Happiness.jpg”

Sources: YouTube, TED Talk, Wikipedia, google search and all hyperlinks mentioned in the post.