Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Kerala got rich

aeon.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 329 posts

Re: How Kerala got rich

#171

Post by zozbot234 »

pphysch wrote: post #147
zozbot234 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typically "a bad place to be ambitious" implies that others will try to exploit you instead. Keep in mind that a mismanaged government can be a lot more predatory than any private actor.

> Keep in mind that a mismanaged government can be a lot more predatory than any private actor. What's the basis for this claim? What is a "mismanaged government" but one that is controlled by narrow private interests? Or is this coming from a "all tax is exploitation" angle?

Is there a government that's not ultimately controlled by narrow private interests? A well-managed government is merely one where inbuilt norms and traditions (including the Western traditions of constitutional human rights and separation of powers, but not only!) manage to limit the extent to which the narrow private interest of government actors can lead to predatory exploitation of the broader public.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#172

Post by mc32 »

not_kurt_godel wrote: post #164
jmathai wrote: post #3

I was born in the US but my parents are from Kerala and I still have family there that I visit. One thing I found interesting was the pride in literacy and education. Kerala has a 96% literacy rate which is the highest in India [1]. It's one of my favorite places to visit. Unlike other parts of India such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderbad -- it's tropical and lush with much less pollution than what you might see in t…

The connection between education and wealth is very strong. Very sad that the US has decided to pursue a trajectory towards poverty in this area.

In popular US culture the pursuit of wealth, is framed as crass. Movies that some see as promoting wealth accumulation are often actually critiques against wealth.

Also, since the mid 60s pop culture has embraced the slacker as being hip and cool.

They guy and gal trying to get ahead are portrayed as greedy or at best blindly joining a rat-race forgoing more noble pursuits. Not so for many other cultures.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#173

Post by Sammi »

fakedang wrote: post #146
vinay427 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike other parts of India such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderbad -- it's tropical and lush with much less pollution than what you might see in those other parts of India. Somewhat ironically these are relatively low pollution as large cities in India go. There is still a good amount of greenery in Bengaluru (it is famous for it) but obviously far less than a few decades ago, as many residents lament.

Bangalore today is a shadow compared to the Garden City it once was. For outsiders not in the know, Bangalore was famous for its beautiful lakes and the lush greenery around them. It was absolutely something else, finding these beautiful water bodies smack in the middle of what is supposed to be a major city. The weather was cool, almost like a warm European summer (which is extremely cool by Indian standards). Then…

I'm not usually not the type to be preoccupied with green policy, but this was heart wrenching to hear.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#174

Post by zozbot234 »

NoelJacob wrote: post #168
sriacha wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying large chain stores don't exist in Kerala? How are you not dependent upon private entities for basics?

You can still live comfortably without depending on private (I meant large private) entities in Kerala. Also there are supermarket chains but they haven't overtaken normal non-chain grocery supermarkets. Not even close. Of the top of my head I can list three chains near me and most of my household lives without needing to buy from them and just going to regular stores. Edit: To add to it. In Italy, you eat pasta for…

The dirty little secret is that mom-and-pop stores are extremely inefficient compared to big chain businesses. A big business is also a lot more likely to actually pay taxes to the government, and it still manages to beat the mom-and-pop store on efficiency even after accounting for that!

Re: How Kerala got rich

#175

Post by paulluuk »

mc32 wrote: post #172
not_kurt_godel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The connection between education and wealth is very strong. Very sad that the US has decided to pursue a trajectory towards poverty in this area.

In popular US culture the pursuit of wealth, is framed as crass. Movies that some see as promoting wealth accumulation are often actually critiques against wealth. Also, since the mid 60s pop culture has embraced the slacker as being hip and cool. They guy and gal trying to get ahead are portrayed as greedy or at best blindly joining a rat-race forgoing more noble pursuits. Not so for many other cultures.

I think that in almost all western countries, a life spent entirely on hoarding wealth for the sake of wealth, is considered a sad life. Especially if you don't even have any loved ones to share your wealth with.

I think the same it true for most of Latin america, where many of my friends and colleagues are from. And when I was in Nepal they thought that, if anything, western people are way too much focused on gathering wealth.

Islam specifically rejects hoarding wealth, so I think that pretty much takes out most of the middle east and northern africa.

So I'm curious which other cultures you are referring to. Perhaps specifically Indian and Chinese culture?

Re: How Kerala got rich

#176

Post by zozbot234 »

mc32 wrote: post #172
not_kurt_godel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The connection between education and wealth is very strong. Very sad that the US has decided to pursue a trajectory towards poverty in this area.

In popular US culture the pursuit of wealth, is framed as crass. Movies that some see as promoting wealth accumulation are often actually critiques against wealth. Also, since the mid 60s pop culture has embraced the slacker as being hip and cool. They guy and gal trying to get ahead are portrayed as greedy or at best blindly joining a rat-race forgoing more noble pursuits. Not so for many other cultures.

A lot depends on how exactly you pursue wealth. You could say that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have both striven to "pursue wealth" in their business careers, but nonetheless they did so in very different ways. And plenty of people will likely find Donald's approach somewhat "crass" compared to Elon's.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#177

Post by [deleted] »

mc32 wrote: post #172
not_kurt_godel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The connection between education and wealth is very strong. Very sad that the US has decided to pursue a trajectory towards poverty in this area.

In popular US culture the pursuit of wealth, is framed as crass. Movies that some see as promoting wealth accumulation are often actually critiques against wealth. Also, since the mid 60s pop culture has embraced the slacker as being hip and cool. They guy and gal trying to get ahead are portrayed as greedy or at best blindly joining a rat-race forgoing more noble pursuits. Not so for many other cultures.

[deleted]

Re: How Kerala got rich

#179

Post by anon291 »

Cherian wrote: post #92

I was born in the second southernmost district of Kerala, Quilon (now Kollam). I am now a U.S. citizen in the Bay Area. Growing up in Quilon, I attended an Anglo-Indian boy's school called Infant Jesus - in a small strip of land called Thangassery, people predominantly spoke English. I was taught British dialects emphasizing pronunciations that mimicked the world stage. I didn't really understand it until much later…

> Kerala has a mix of Western population that decided to stay back after the Indian Independence that brought with them Christianity, education, hospitals, and the Catholic culture. Kerala is also one of the few places in India where you can eat beef without inhibitions.

Christianity in Kerala is much older than European Christianity. Literally the land of the Apostles

Re: How Kerala got rich

#180

Post by anon291 »

fakedang wrote: post #146
vinay427 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike other parts of India such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderbad -- it's tropical and lush with much less pollution than what you might see in those other parts of India. Somewhat ironically these are relatively low pollution as large cities in India go. There is still a good amount of greenery in Bengaluru (it is famous for it) but obviously far less than a few decades ago, as many residents lament.

Bangalore today is a shadow compared to the Garden City it once was. For outsiders not in the know, Bangalore was famous for its beautiful lakes and the lush greenery around them. It was absolutely something else, finding these beautiful water bodies smack in the middle of what is supposed to be a major city. The weather was cool, almost like a warm European summer (which is extremely cool by Indian standards). Then…

My family is part of the indigenous people of Mumbai, and my mom and dad's pictures of their childhood homes and stories are almost unbelievable if you visit now. My grandparents old bungalow is still on google maps, now surrounded by skyscrapers, but in the pictures, it's all fields and trees.
Post reply on HN