In Reply to: hi Freogirl posted by anada on Thursday, 6. December 2007 at 07:32 Bali Time:
...for thousands of years the rhythm of life on Bali has been heavily determined by the rice harvest, which involves cycles of intensive labor separated by relatively relaxed periods. This is one of the reasons Bali is so particularly rich in culture, as this work-cycle allows enough free time for play. The Balinese have never had an Industrial Revolution, there is no Protestant work-ethic, life for them has changed enormously in the last 20 years. In 1986 a good deal of the island still did not have electricity. In 1976 Bali was still not really a money-based economy. There are always lazy individuals (I'm one myself), but I think in general the modern world has hit Bali a little too fast and it's not completely fair to judge these people by our own values and ethics concerning work. I have a good many Balinese friends who work their a***'s off and have been quite successful, but they generally do it at a pace that would get them fired on the spot in my country. Oh, and by the way, a great great many of those women you see hauling boulders by the road-side are Javanese. It's not cultural; it's necessity. Cheers