Building a road with basket backpacks - GIF

[Jon]

Building a road with basket backpacks.




Previously:

Chip-sealing a road - GIF
WW2 Finnish camouflaged road - photo
Road shoulder grader - GIF
Paving a road quickly and efficiently - GIF
Treacherous Chinese mountain road - GIF
Leveling recycled asphalt on a road - GIF
Route 66 musical road rumble strip - video

[mwmkravchenko]

Hard working people. Women doing this part. Would be interesting to see if anybody in the Western world would be as invested in the greater good of the people as these ones are??

[Slim-123]

Возможно нанять этих людей, дешевле чем нанять Bobcat. А возможно это единственный вид заработка этих женщин.

[IAMSatisfied]

Many women this age in the U.S. would be on Social Security and/or in a nursing home. It's great that their in good enough health to do this at their age, but I can't help but wonder what the details are of this arrangement that the video doesn't tell.

mwmkravchenko "Would be interesting to see if anybody in the Western world would be as invested in the greater good of the people as these ones are??"

In the Western world there is a category of creators who are invested in using their entrepenurial skill to provide employment and housing for others. This is such an important undertaking that the U.S. tax laws, and the tax laws of most Western nations, look favorably upon those who create employment & housing... so much so, as to actively encourage folks in these lines by offering them large tax incentives. The gov't does this because they know it's for the greater good to provide employment & housing through the free market. When you voluntarily provide a good or service that others voluntarily want to pay for, that's for the greater good. It's when you remove the voluntary component, such as in socialist/communist systems, that the use of the term "greater good" is merely lip service. Greater good cannot be separated from the voluntary aspect, because once you do that, it's no longer the greater good.

[mwmkravchenko]

Google translate gave me this:

It is possible to hire these people for cheaper than hiring a Bobcat. Perhaps this is the only way these women earn money.

I agree. Hardworking people are here.

[Hoosiersmoker]

Again, not knowing the back story, in America, if you want a road to connect two points you contact your county or state and put in a request then wait for the bureaucracy to decide if it's necessary then wait for the approval, funding then scheduling etc... and maybe in 2 or 3 years they might start construction. Where these people live they hand cut the route and prepare the bed with (probably) self made hand tools, make the baskets and slings, find rocks nearby and have, most likely, the men break them into smaller rocks and have some of them load those hand made baskets while the women haul them to the road bed. After they get the initial rock down, they collect the smaller rocks and finer dust with the same baskets and start all over covering the large rocks. This project could likely be done in a few months and, while the quality might not be comparable, the road would function perfectly for their purpose and the cost would be a small fraction of a road in a Western country. Initial infrastructure like this might well lead to their small village becoming a small town then city and who knows from there! Progress is progress regardless of the level of technology. It's how it all started thousands of years ago.

[mwmkravchenko]

Many women this age in the U.S. would be on Social Security and/or in a nursing home. It's great that their in good enough health to do this at their age, but I can't help but wonder what the details are of this arrangement that the video doesn't tell.

mwmkravchenko "Would be interesting to see if anybody in the Western world would be as invested in the greater good of the people as these ones are??"

In the Western world there is a category of creators who are invested in using their entrepenurial skill to provide employment and housing for others. This is such an important undertaking that the U.S. tax laws, and the tax laws of most Western nations, look favorably upon those who create employment & housing... so much so, as to actively encourage folks in these lines by offering them large tax incentives. The gov't does this because they know it's for the greater good to provide employment & housing through the free market. When you voluntarily provide a good or service that others voluntarily want to pay for, that's for the greater good. It's when you remove the voluntary component, such as in socialist/communist systems, that the use of the term "greater good" is merely lip service. Greater good cannot be separated from the voluntary aspect, because once you do that, it's no longer the greater good.

I have had the privilege of working in China off and on for the past 7 years.

What I can tell you is that China is more capitalist than the USA. People earn a decent wage at most jobs. The cost of living is decently low. What we get fed here about the dollar a day stuff is poppycock.

About the pic. It is definitely rural. And it most likely a infrastructure improvement for the local village. I have worked in Guangzhou southern China mostly. A small city of about 17 million people. As it grew it overtook villages. And yet the villages still control the properties that they originally did. It is an interesting system there. Yes the government has the trappings of Communism. But the on the street reality is very different. As an example if you want to use the land it is basically a lease. And the villagers have the final say. Not defending either method of government. But just telling you what i see on the ground.

[mwmkravchenko]

Again, not knowing the back story, in America, if you want a road to connect two points you contact your county or state and put in a request then wait for the bureaucracy to decide if it's necessary then wait for the approval, funding then scheduling etc... and maybe in 2 or 3 years they might start construction. Where these people live they hand cut the route and prepare the bed with (probably) self made hand tools, make the baskets and slings, find rocks nearby and have, most likely, the men break them into smaller rocks and have some of them load those hand made baskets while the women haul them to the road bed. After they get the initial rock down, they collect the smaller rocks and finer dust with the same baskets and start all over covering the large rocks. This project could likely be done in a few months and, while the quality might not be comparable, the road would function perfectly for their purpose and the cost would be a small fraction of a road in a Western country. Initial infrastructure like this might well lead to their small village becoming a small town then city and who knows from there! Progress is progress regardless of the level of technology. It's how it all started thousands of years ago.

There is a similar process there to get things done. It has to get approval. But then people move.
As for mechanisation. You would not believe what I have seen there for concentration of high hoes and earth moving equipment. This pic is very rural China. And even there people are very knowledgeable of what is available. The industrial cities are employment centers for people in villages just like this one.

China is a country of amazing things when you get to visit it. The people are kind. The growth and advancement is astonishing. There is more high speed rail there than in the entire world combined. More maglev trains than Germany and Japan combined. It's the most capitalist mentality place I have ever worked in. What we get fed on the media here in North America is not exactly what you get to see and experience on the ground over there.

[Unkle Fuzzy]

Many years ago, 20 years or so, my employer entered into an agreement with China to mine bentonite clay. This company is the world's largest producer of said clay and had praced a reserve order of $10 million with Caterpillar for new equipment to start the mine's production. Upon closing the deal we found that we had to cancel the contract because the Chinese government wanted to mine it with manual labor. Picks, shovels, and wheel barrows.... eventually we were able to get them to understand the actual volume we expected to come out of the mine and equipment was allowed but as a matter of policy manual labor is how projects like this are done in that region.

My father-in-law was in Korea in the late 50's and an air base with runways was constructed after 2 mountains were leveled and the valley between filled in with rubble. All done by villagers with baskets.

[marksbug]

for me it all depends on the location and situation. many people have worked all thier life and many have done darn near nothing all their life. and some give others excuses why to do nothing all their life. Ive cut&built roads kinda like this in the far east.but I was a kid..and the road around the mountain was for our dirt bikes so we could have a place to ride and have fun. our road was not made for anything but dirt bikes, no cart would of made it., kinda like a motorcross track...well thats what it was. you do what needs done. at any age. these people need to eat, they need that road, weather for motor vehicle of buffalow drawn cart ,it makes no difference. not everybody has their hand out no mater what race or country. Ive also dug well for water...more than once. I do wish I had some heavy equipment,,,,but that would of taken all the great times together we had away.well not all the great times. it's sad oh so many people will never know the joy of doing something in their life.

my dad probably landed on those runways....and hundrads more like it.