Comments for entry "Reality Game" at Dilbert.com Blog

Comment from actofactearigo

MonAMCDTE_Rthth

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Comment from actofactearigo

MonAMCDTE_Rthth

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Comment from pscroggs

SunAMCDTE_Rrdrd

Let's try it in the US first. The village of Detroit could use some help.

Comment from Blif

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

Wonderful idea! The show title could be: "Who's the true wretched, fatty?"

Comment from Drowlord

FriPMCDTE_Rstst

A more marketable TV show would be to "adopt" a poor African community, build them a clinic, schools, provide them improved infrastructure, electricity, and organize some basic civic services. Then watch how quickly everything is destroyed and how much misery results from the interference. That should happen in less than a season, and would be a good lesson to Westerners who think they have all the answers.

Comment from StMarc

FriPMCDTE_Rstst

This sounds similar to my idea for a karate show, where we have random people put on gis and black belts and expect them to be able to break boards with their bare hands. Or, for a broader comedy, we give a bunch of opossums* soldering irons and see if they can build a supercomputer. *Do you know how hard it is to come up with an animal that could theoretically hold a tool but isn't a racist metaphor? Hard.

Comment from SondraGail

FriPMCDTE_Rstst

When you go to a village after the 'helpers' have gone, you will find the villagers have reverted. On average, if the helpers were there one year, they revert in 6 months. The UN will not allow employees to hold the position of aid and/or food delivery person for more than 6 months, as life expectancy in that position is 9 months. They still loose an average of 14 people a year. You metaphorically castrate a man when you provide for his family better than he can. He will put a stop to it; better his family starve than have no respect for him.

Comment from Kingdinosaur

FriAMCDTE_Rstst

Phantom II: "Even the UN has stated that a major reason for poverty in the world is corrupt and poorly structured and economically incompetent governments." USA: Corrupt? Check Poorly Structured? Check Economically incompetent government? Check Generally incompetent government? Check Porverty express, here we come.

Comment from adamwulf

FriAMCDTE_Rstst

you may be on to something! sounds a lot like Raise the Village iphone app from late 2010: http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/12/27/iphone-raise-the-village-facebook/

Comment from phoenikhs

FriAMCDTE_Rstst

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan did something similar for a tiny earthquake-hit village in Gujarat, India. He adopted it and transformed the entire landscape of the place. Reason - He'd just filmed his latest movie Lagaan before the quakes hit the place. During the filming, the crew had developed a special bond with the villagers. So when the news of the tragedy reached them, they decided to adopt the village and rebuild it.

Comment from phoenikhs

FriAMCDTE_Rstst

Well, it's been done Scott. !$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*!$%*

Comment from RSaunders

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

Oh, you saw the Hunger Games this weekend. First you just need to find two villages in the developing world that are: 1) so poor that Americans with access to all the technology in the world can "sponsor" them for sport and also 2) made up of people so selfless that they will value the success of the community over their own enrichment should they swipe the iPads you send them and sell them on the black market. There must be lots of those ... You and your California neighbors might be willing to put a $10 each into a scheme to improve your local school (you could call it MEGAMillions) but in the average African village 36.2% of people live on less than $1 per day. That $350 water pump would double someone's annual budget. It's going to get stolen unless you spend more on security than water pumps.

Comment from TWE

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

Yeah, maybe we could build a bio-dome over the village and do experiments to see how they utilize materials in their environment. We could use the knowledge to help ourselves.

Comment from RavenBlack

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

My team would win, because our top priority would be sabotaging the results of the other teams.

Comment from Phantom II

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

It sounds sort of like a reality show built around the Peace Corps. A nice idea, but too limited in scope to make a real difference. Now, if you could just make it so the governmental structure in poor countries could be changed to allow better economic results, that would make it a worthwhile effort. Even the UN has stated that a major reason for poverty in the world is corrupt and poorly structured and economically incompetent governments. But if you tried to change them, you'd be doing so-called "nation building," which is supposed to be verboten. Then, you have to realize how some forces within our country work against relief of immediate problems. Before you can address long-term issues like changing economic and corruption issues, you first have to keep people from starving. Enough food is produced to feed everyone in the world; the problem is how to distribute it before it rots. One great idea that causes the eco-freaks to have mini-strokes is food irradiation. This causes less changes in food products than microwaving them does, and allows food to avoid spoilage for extended periods of time. But mention "irradiation" and many people scream loudly that it can't be used for fear of maybe causing cancer sometime decades from now. So their view is that keeping someone from starving is less important than maybe saving them from an unproven chance of some kind of disease when they're in their 80's, if they ever get there. There are a lot of great possibilities that could greatly aid poor people in the world. Most of them are unable to be implemented because of the governments in those countries, the culture of the people, and the resistance of people in western countries from implementing them.

Comment from DilgalLives

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

Way too complicated and time consuming for the average person, although a like the idea of an altruistic show. Maybe just focus on one villiage per season and see what can be done to help them in a few months. Set up a website similar to the donorschoose.org format where needs are identified up front and people can choose to partially or fully fund any item on the list. For those who can't afford to donate, they could get sponsors to donate by doing things such as liking them on Facebook. Then each week the show lets you see your donations at work. Anyone that pays for a large items gets mentioned - "Thanks to Scott Adams, we're vaccinating the entire 3rd grade class this week." Hopefully by the end of the season you can feel like one community was uplifted.

Comment from ubikuberalles

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

Culture shock may be in play in this scenario. Here we have an African village getting assistance and advice from a bunch of westerners imposing their cultural values on them. If only money was donated than the village would use it as they saw fit. Now you have a situation where people from outside their country will tell them how to use the money, who to use it on and so on. Lots of potential drama there, which is good for the TV show but not necessarily good for the village or the peace of mind for the villagers.

Comment from Dingbat

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a village like that - feeling as though the entire world were judging you on how well you accepted their charity. it may not seem like it from a distance, but poor people in developing countries do make rational decisions based on their own experience - with calculations we don't always understand. A friend of mine does development work in Malawi - a country known for thwarting the best efforts of outside do-gooders like herself. Her group channels aid through locals upon whom they rely to direct their efforts. It is a risk, of course. That sort of thing can lead to huge losses through corruption as locals channel aid in return for kick-backs and favors. In the case of this group, however, it has worked out well. In one case, the local leaders intercepted a shipment of soccer balls intended for the local kids. They gave them to the headmaster of the local school and instructed him to "award" the soccer balls to the hardest working, highest achieving students. They are trying hard to keep western donors from turning their community into "a community of beggars." They don't want their people getting something for nothing. By giving the soccer balls to the star students, they instead were able to emphasize the benefits of hard work and achievement. Those students shared the balls, of course -but owning them gave them additional status in their community. In another instance, donated clothing is handed out to those who meet certain objectives like cultivating higher-value crops, or improving irrigation. Nothing is ever provided for free. It works in that community - but it is the kind of system that really can't be imposed from a distance. It requires high-integrity, committed local community leaders on the ground - making the judgment calls on what will work best for their own people.

Comment from AtlantaDude

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

Your idea would work much better as a movie script about a reality show, rather than as an actual reality show. As someone mentioned above, the improvements would take much too long to play out for a weekly series. Also, with a movie script you could introduce all kinds of moral questions about the show (was it actually helpful), the producer (did he manipulate outcomes), the host (did he/she sleep with the natives) and the viewers (what was their real motivation), etc.

Comment from tc

ThuPMCDTE_Rstst

This will never work in Africa. They don't have a competitive culture. If someone shows up in your village with nowhere to stay, a villager would offer his home. While I don't doubt that the American sensationalism might draw a TV audience, the locals will probably not appreciate being pawns in the game (even though they might draw some benefits in the long run). Adults already resent being in tourist photos.