Stop sitting on the floor!

I just saw a commercial on the local Liangshan TV channel that literally made my jaw drop. The overly dramatic announcer proclaims: 一个小板凳，一个大工程 “One Little Stool, One Big Project”. I can’t find the commercial itself, but here’s the first google hit for “凉山 一个小板凳”.

News report on the Big Stool Project

Apparently, distributing free stools to Nuosu (Yi) people will stop their backwards practice (陋习) of sitting <gasp> on the floor(!), and move them closer to being healthy (健康) and civilized (文明) people.

If they want to get rid of backwards practices, how about getting people to (1) stop burning their trash, and (2) stop throwing the rest of their trash on the ground (including plastic, batteries, etc.)?