Poverty And Progress
Trishaw and Range Rover, GLF.
A lot of progressive values are the default if you’re poor. Eating less meat, not using cars, consuming less electricity, buying local food. While someone in Brooklyn will pay exorbitant amounts (and attention) to bicycle to work, eat organic food and minimize their carbon footprint, this is what a poor Sri Lankan does by default.
It’s actually kinda funny. Development means more consumption – you move from the bus to a motorbike, bike to car, car to plane. In the same way, you go from hal maso to chicken to burgers and processed food. Then, it seems that after a certain point, you develop awareness that this was kinda a bad idea and go back, except with an iPad.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
This may not be a ground-breaking observation, but the current tax code is primarily responsible for driving incentive for consumption exponentially along the income curve. the more you earn, the more incentives you have to increase consume exponentially: high business (and even individuals income) tax levels incentivise them to reduce taxable income by spending on vehicles and other non-taxable benefits for employees instead of increasing their salaries – which they could save.
More on that here: http://www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/the-darwin-economy
Your observation is not applicable to sri lanka. We have luxury taxes that often amount to 200%
[...] I personally find Salvage interesting because it’s an artistic reflection of natural Sri Lankan culture. I see unconscious recycling and repurposing everyday. When you get food it’s wrapped in old bills of lading and newspapers. Men on the street sell toys made from tin cans and foam. During the war, cabbies in Jaffna would constantly re-engineer ancient cars to run on whatever was available (See Kannan’s short film Kerosene). In many way poverty unconsciously engenders progressive values. [...]