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How Kerala got rich

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Re: How Kerala got rich

#201

Post by nick__m »

paulluuk wrote: post #175
mc32 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 gather…

  Islam specifically rejects hoarding wealth, so I think that pretty much takes out most of the middle east
I don't know much about religions but I don't believe it is that clearly delineated. How would you explain Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, from my limited vantage point they seem pretty much all in on their religion. Are they practicing a perverse form of Islam like the Christian who practice prosperity gospel?

Re: How Kerala got rich

#203

Post by WorkerBee28474 »

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.

It may be strong to a point, but many countries are beyond that point. Look at how many countries there are that are better educated than the USA but have lower incomes. Japan, Germany, Canada, probably dozens more.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#204

Post by goku12 »

sriacha wrote: post #163
NoelJacob wrote: post #150

Coming from Kerala to Europe for a short Erasmus, I feel here you have to visit a huge chain for buying anything on a discount. What I mean is big supermarket, or electronics or transport chains. Kerala's premature strikes against these were the only reason they didn't grow as Kerala grew. Can't fully say if it's a good thing but it does feel safer not being dependent on a private entities for many basic things.

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

The small shops here are private entities. They're owned by low to mid middle class families - similar to what you might call a 'mom and pop store'. But they're so common around here that we simply call them 'provision stores', 'general stores', etc. There are also small specialty stores like for stationary, agricultural produce, diary and bakery, office work (photocopying, DTP, etc), etc. They usually exist within 5 minutes walking distance of your house. There are even small shops for much rarer stuff like electronics and mechanical components - but they're farther away (my special interest, since I'm an engineer).

They don't have everything - but it's quite possible to live here without having to visit a big chain supermarket. Those chains do exist here and we do use them and online shops like Amazon and Flipkart occasionally for the rare stuff. The point here is that the small shops aren't 'large' private entities. These store owners are in a similar social class as you are and often know you personally. They even help you get the best deals and personally deal with product quality issues. A similar 'middle-class' supply and logistics chain also exists behind them - so it isn't easy for any big player(s) to disrupt and (co-)monopolize the market. They all pay their regular taxes to the local government and spend their earnings in the same local economy. Their economic incentives also align with yours - inflation hurts them as much as it hurts you.

The advantage of this is that multi-billionaire chain owners with their own cartels can't decide when to hoard stuff and drive up profits and inflation. This is very useful in situations like the big-chain-driven post-covid inflation and the current anti-oligarchy protests seen in NA. I was in NA during the post-covid situation. It always felt like a part of that inflation wouldn't have happened if small stores existed everywhere there. Boycotts also work better if you have alternatives. So I made it a point upon return to Kerala to tell everyone how important they are. I shop almost exclusively from them these days.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#205

Post by goku12 »

tdeck wrote: post #190
2511 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are correct. Padmanabhan temple apparently has gold worth 22 billion dollars. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple_treas...

I don't know if I'm more surprised by the amount of gold, or by the fact that there's still a royal family in India that owns it.

There are a lot of royal families still present in India. But they're all in ceremonial roles and have no constitutional roles or powers like the one in Britain enjoys. They mostly live off their estates (similar to the British royals) or business enterprises.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#206

Post by goku12 »

sva_ wrote: post #137
2511 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are correct. Padmanabhan temple apparently has gold worth 22 billion dollars. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple_treas...

That's crazy, I wonder what led people to 'donate'. Something like monetary indulgence as has been carried out by the catholic church?

It wasn't donated money entirely - at least not in the sense of offerings from regular devotees. They were donations/remittances by the monarchy. The history is that the southern half of Kerala was a kingdom named 'Travancore'. During the establishment of the kingdom, the first king declared himself and his successors to be 'Padmanabhadasa' or 'servants of lord Padmanabha'. Lord Padmanabha is the deity worshiped at this particular temple. The temple was considered as the seat of Travancore's power and therefore a big part of the kingdom's tax revenue ended up there.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#207

Post by anon291 »

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.

That's because America is fundamentally a Christian country. I know no one wants to hear this. But this zeitgeist is unmistakenly Christian.

Interestingly enough the same forces are at work in kerala, which is one of the most Christian states in India (and the ruling communists are associated with them)

Re: How Kerala got rich

#208

Post by goku12 »

thisislife2 wrote: post #129
redzedi wrote: post #69

y is this on HN first page? by wat measure is Kerala rich? No industries if exports bodies to ME, commie rule for decades atrophied all industry. It's a political hitjob against India central gov, HN should keep its standard above this shitshow

Last I checked, Kerala was still part of India. So why should the central government of India feel jealous about an article praising the indian state of Kerala?

Kerala generally hates divisive and communal politics. Consequently, the alliance currently in power at the national level never makes any significant gains here. Unfortunately, the response to that can get very contrary to federalism and other constitutional values. They went so far as to promote a propaganda movie against the state and one community in particular. Maligning Kerala, even through official channels is frankly a very common thing in India (only from people who support a certain extreme political ideology). The accusations of secession are all part of that campaign.

PS: I'm not very comfortable discussing such a divisive political matter in this forum. However, I'm leaving this here since I see some biased opinions being raised without a counter.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#209

Post by tonyhart7 »

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…

"Then they got greedy, drained the lakes, built real estate and office properties on them and now Bangalore is an unbearable cesspit just like any other Indian city. Bad weather, bad traffic and a shit scenery."

hope indian government turn around, because china back then has a smoke problem even in its capital too

its hard to fought stigma but its not impossible

Re: How Kerala got rich

#210

Post by tonyhart7 »

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.

but US have many top ranking universities in the world, how can you believe that US is behind in education?
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