I thought about those issues while on the island and after leaving it. There are many facets of this, and there are a lot of trade offs. The more carefree, less rigid lifestyle, out of the office so to speak, is more relaxing. Medical care, and services, are generally less available, although maybe cheaper. Manufactured goods are less plentiful and more expensive, although a good argument could be made that we don't need, or benefit, from much of the stuff that we have.
For some reason most of the youth I talked to wanted to leave this island to go the main island of Fiji, or even out of the country. If they go anyway, then in order to earn a decent living, they are going to need skills which people will pay them to use. In that sense, it is pretty easy for me to conclude that the computer lab is probably a very good thing.
Even if they don't leave, I have a firm belief that one can make better descisions, and create a better standard of living with increased knowledge. I do not think that increased knowledge through education means having to destroy the lifestyle of the island, but may allow for better decisions to be made in general, and hence a better quality of that life. In this case, improving the education is still a good thing. Richard Hagen
