The show must go on

Ignas Kleden's article on 'Poverty and lavish spending' in The Jakarta Post (April 15 and 16, 1996), though written about the Indonesian middle class, can be applicable to all developing countries. Recently in India, a chief minister threw a multi- million dollar wedding for her adopted son in a city where drinking water is scarce. This ugly extravaganza was attended by many politicians from all over the country. Another admirable Prime Minister of my country has an electoral alliance with this lady.

Describing the phenomenon of displacement in "Studies in Hysteria", Freud said, "There exists in the organism a tendency to keep cerebral excitation constant." A sense of purpose and the prospect of an achievable goal helps to keep it up - the cerebral excitation. Lavish spending boosts this excitation.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer writes in You will see it when you believe it. "You are a soul with a body, rather than a body with a soul. You are not a human being with spiritual experiences, but rather a spiritual being with human experiences."

Philosophical teachings, such as these, can give a new purpose to the middle classes and enrich them mentally. Until then, probably, the ugly show of wealth will go on.

D. PRABHAKAR

Jakarta