Is life really that Different?

Let me preface this by stating that I've been thinking. I've been thinking about life here in Cairo. And life in the States. And honestly? I don't see what the big hububub is.

Here is my thought. First, if you're really poor, like... really poor, of which there are many poor people in cairo, then your life isn't going to be as fun as if you're in the US. Of course being poor in the states isn't all fun and games, but at least you probably have clean drinking water around. So lets not look at the bottom quintile, because they, I think, are a special case. BUT yet, I think that 80% of the time, whenever anyone ever compares countries, they are always taking a sample from the abject poor, or the extremely rich. I want to compare the life of the average middle class egyptian to that of the average class American family.

I'm looking at a guy like Makhmood. He runs one of the many local Mobile shops that litter the city. He sells cell phones, prepaid plans, and DSL. Basically, the things in his life are kinda the same as people in the states. He lives in a modest appartment above the shop with his family. Its obviously smaller than the suburban homes that american middle class live in. So there is that. Maybe he lives with his brother, or other siblings. Maybe its like 3 small bedrooms and maybe a big living room, a big bathroom with a shower and toilet, and a kitchen. He wakes up early in the morning and goes and sells mobile phones during the day. If he's very religious he'll pray a few times, and then at night he closes up, goes to his apartment above the shop and watches TV with his family. He has fresh running water, good food, probably a washing machine. How is his life so radically different from life in the USA? Sure he doesn't spend nearly as much but by no means is he living in a sewer ditch somewhere, and he has the same basic joys in life that we in the states do (with the exception of booze, but there are always cigs so it evens out). He watches sports on TV, and plays games with the family. His kids go to school, he went to school, probably speaks some english even, etc...

Like I said, obviously this is just for the middle class, not the radically poor. They have a different situation, but there is a bad misconception that just because a country is in the "developing" side of things, somehow life in that country is actually somehow radically different from the US is just not that true.

Thanks,
Guthrie