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Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

economist.com

121–130 of 242 posts

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#121
post #5

I don't understand the significant of metrics like the international poverty line. Seems like the only point of its existence is to create a sense of progress or maybe exaggerate it. They never account for basic stuff like how many calories people get to eat, let alone the quality of nutrition. Last year I read an article saying like 30% of children in India are stunted.

> Last year I read an article saying like 30% of children in India are stunted. We were solidly middle class in india that never went hungry. All our kids in USA now are atleast 3-4 inches taller than us. They are often taller than their parents in their mid teens.

Is air quality a problem in the city where you grew up?

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#122
post #101
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is used to justify and excuse WEF-imposed restructuring which in reality comes at tremendous human cost.

>WEF-imposed restructuring The WEF is a talk shop that has no power to impose any sort of restructuring. Are you talking about the IMF?

The usual claim is that the people who are involved do have power to effect policies (mostly by deciding what to throw money at I think), and that that's where they meet to bounce ideas off eachother and generally get all on the same page.

It's the "it's a big club, and you ain't in it" thing.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#123
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always had to think of my grandparents when discussing GDP. Aside from being very much part of the regular economy, they were also quite self sufficient. When my grandmother died, we found rows and rows of bottled jam. Some decades old according to the labels. My aunt did the taste test, and according to that at least, they were still very much edible and yummy actually. To the GDP that whole side of life is invisi…

Also: anything relating to home cooking, exercise, self-care, relationships and caring for children and other relatives. Only "paid professional" services are counted which are often much worse quality than the organic untaxed real thing.

It depends on estimates. I have seen estimates which included all that and also things like illegal prostitution in services category.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/business/worldbusiness/27... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/30/nicholaswatt.m...

> The revised GDP will include some money from illegal activities, such as money from cigarette and drinks smuggling, prostitution and money laundering.

(Greeks were highly motivate to have higher value by any means necessary as discussed in article, this is a quite extreme case)

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#124
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watched videos, seeing photos... you should travel a bit more IMHO. Not everything is quickly solvable by 'billion dollar startup' mentality. Understand their culture and history a bit, where they are coming from and where they as society go, realistic limits and so on.

Culture can be changed. That's the power of Western countries- constant change. Nothing is ever set in stone.

If you think western countries are in a state of constant change just wait until you visit india a few times.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#125
post #5

I don't understand the significant of metrics like the international poverty line. Seems like the only point of its existence is to create a sense of progress or maybe exaggerate it. They never account for basic stuff like how many calories people get to eat, let alone the quality of nutrition. Last year I read an article saying like 30% of children in India are stunted.

> Last year I read an article saying like 30% of children in India are stunted. We were solidly middle class in india that never went hungry. All our kids in USA now are atleast 3-4 inches taller than us. They are often taller than their parents in their mid teens.

They probably eat a lot more protein than their parents.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#126
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One issue is the unfortunate deep level of corruption in Indian society. If people create many waste management companies and people tried to invest in them then some people would just create fake companies and simply steal the money. There’s no trust. Or at least that’s the way it used to be decades prior. Your suggestion nowadays might actually work because the Indian government has now identification measures for…

>>One issue is the unfortunate deep level of corruption in Indian society. Blame every thing on "Corruption". This is such cope. All you have to do is ensure you do your part in keeping things around you clean. You can ghost walk streets in the poorest places in Mexico and they look affluent compared to even posh neighbourhoods in India. Lets call it as it is, We Indians need to seriously address our cultural tendenc…

You can't just personal responsibility your way out of deeply-ingrained societal issues.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disgustingly racist comment.

It's specifically a problem of culture, not race. Human "races" are equal, cultures are not.

The term "racist" lost its pedantic meaning long ago. From the current Oxford Dictionary of English:

    racism
    /ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/
    noun
    
    prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#128
post #5

I don't understand the significant of metrics like the international poverty line. Seems like the only point of its existence is to create a sense of progress or maybe exaggerate it. They never account for basic stuff like how many calories people get to eat, let alone the quality of nutrition. Last year I read an article saying like 30% of children in India are stunted.

Try to live below that poverty line for a few months, and I'm pretty sure you will understand it.

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#129
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: anything relating to home cooking, exercise, self-care, relationships and caring for children and other relatives. Only "paid professional" services are counted which are often much worse quality than the organic untaxed real thing.

Interesting. So you would say, if someone has a talent for cooking, specializes himself, becomes a professional, paid by people who enjoy the food, you would be at least sceptical, when it comes to quality? I see paint jobs by people done by themselves. And compare it with paid professional servers. The pendulum always swings to professional. :)

"So you would say, if someone has a talent for cooking, specializes himself, becomes a professional," - do you typically know all that about the people who staff the restaurants you visit? And do you think it is the case?

Re: Extreme poverty in India has dropped to negligible levels

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disgustingly racist comment.

How do you explain the differences across South Asia by anything else than cultural attitudes towards cleanliness and dirt? Singapore is very clean. Malaysia is fairly clean. Cambodia sort of. India and Philippines very much not. And Zoroastrians are absolutely meticulous about cleanliness, be they poor or rich.

All such questions are easily answered once you take a look at the per-capita budget each country has for the required expenditures.

India is extremely poor per-capita.

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