Subject: Looking for Systems Stories and other inputs

Posted by Sharon Villines on 5/30/2009
In Reply To:Looking for Systems Stories and other inputs Posted by Kapil Aggarwal on 5/20/2009

Message:

> My name is Kapil Aggarwal, I stay in Mumbai, India. [snip]. Am
> teaching grades 7,8,9,10 physics and chemistry. I was introduced to
> systems thinking during my post graduation and since then have been
> trying to educate myself through books, roadmaps and other online
> resources.

I'm curious about a system in India of "professional" beggars.
Muhammad Yunus was on Charlie Rose in October 2008 talking about microfinance in India. What I found interesting is that many of the beggars who now participate successfully in microfinance continue to beg.

He said they have their regular routes for begging and may do those in the afternoon and their regular routes for their businesses resulting from microfinance in the morning.

The dynamic and tradition of begging, it seems, would be a good subject for analysis. In America, we don't have such a well-developed tradition. We have the homeless, pickpockets in cities, some gypsies in some cities, etc., but except for the gypsies, they don't form a tradition nor are they so elaborate in their forms.

I wonder if the decline in religious adherence has affected the tradition. Giving to the poor as a way of obtaining religious favor, it seems, would have enabled this tradition that is now disappearing.

Sharon