Sherpa: They Die, We Go Home
I&#x27;m not Nepalese, but I visit India quite a bit, and I have met Nepalese there. Many security guards in Delhi and Bangalore come from Nepal.<p>There&#x27;s also a Nepalese waitress at chaat cafe in SOMA who is very chatty.<p>The Nepalese seem to be deeply ambivalent towards mountain climbers. The Google exec who died climbing Everest last year was a vocal supporter of the Sherpas, but even he didn&#x27;t seem to be a bit blind to the nature of his hobby.<p>Americans want to believe there is something courageous about flying across the world to some exotic locale, and then creating an economy there around some terribly dangerous activity, which encourages the locals to risk life and limb to support.<p>Climbing is a hobby for a rich guy from Google.  Maybe it&#x27;s even spiritual.  But for Sherpas it&#x27;s like plumbing or driving a taxi.  They do it because it provides resources they can use to support their families.<p>Are the Sherpas better off with the climbers? Perhaps.  It&#x27;s hard to say, because while climbing brings a lot of money, the Sherpas might have moved to cities, to India, or even to America if that opportunity hadn&#x27;t materialized. Maybe they would have developed some marketable crafts or products? Who knows.  Everest is their resource curse.<p>Like boxers and football players from ghettos in America, the Sherpas sacrifice their bodies for American entertainment, not because they want to, but because they have to.