>the whole idea of catching up comes from the belief that the >western way of life is the norm
I hear you but that's why I used the example of hydro fuel - the western way of life has flaws yes - and some countries are seeing those flaws (given, for different reasons) & are moving ahead w/ a better thought out solutions like clean burning fuel. Catching up - the way I'm referring to it anyway - is more in realization that certain technological advances will have to made in order to do anything globally. Otherwise we remain isolated - not a good idea - at this point anyway.
>i think solarus had the best example: a village has a way of >getting water that is inconvenient but has been their way of >life for many thousands of years. in comes a peace corps who >says "i can't believe u don't purify yr water!" they install >a makeshift purifier. as the purifier sours, so does the >water. and the village has a drought. > >this sense of a need for development has brought about many >of the horrific problems that plague africa and african >americans today.
That is a good example - but aren't there also non-developments that have brought about horrific problems? I'm not trying to be facetious - but I do think it's a 2-sided argument which is why I agree w/ your next statement
>why not choose which developments make sense by evaluating >them for sustainability and using common sense?
This is definitely the way to go - I didn't mean we should whole-heartedly adopt all of western societal constructs - just that in some arenas we are playing catch up - not just us but Americans in general (how long are we going to keep insisting on burning oil, polluting/poisoning ourselves, etc).
I think that's why this is such a good discussion - we can't make proper evaluations unless we attempt to scope out/speculate on the future which would of course include future needs.