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India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

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Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#171

Post by arjie »

kamaal wrote: post #165
jlarocco wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Sorry I refuse to believe in this victim hood mentality. We seriously need to get out of this 'Somebody needs to do it for me' ideology. Nobody is going to help you and shouldn't. Because frankly no matter whom you can speak to is going through a little battle of their own. > I am working hard here pushing 19 hour schedules to ensure I have a good life. Somebody else is all welcome to do so. I can understand if the…

I am an Indian and I have never been to any other country so far. But I wrote stands true for India. Caste system is a option, you can either associate yourself to it or leave it. This is true at least in modern day India and has been the the case for nearly 20 years now. You can easily ditch your caste, just like atheists ditch their religion. The fact is caste system offers a comfortable cushion of victim hood and…

Kamaal, this is not true. Your name (often an indicator of caste) alone influences how likely you are to be hired. And not everyone knows that.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40276548

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#172

Post by ajju »

ashray wrote: post #6

Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…

>are completely fine with spoilt rich brats driving circles around them while honking away.

I find it quite hard to believe that most (or any) girls would be fine with anyone driving circles around them and honking. All women I know from Delhi are quite sick of eve teasing and don't really give a shit whether the guilty person is poor or rich.

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#173

Post by kamaal »

maddalab wrote: post #156
ashray wrote: post #6

Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…

Quote from the article "Let me tell you another story: my neighbour in the upper-middle-class area where I live is a man who owns luxury hotels. His house is huge, but no sooner had he moved in than he appropriated about half of the pavement space to the front and side of his house, claiming it for his own. This means less parking for others, less pavement for children, less walking space for everyone. Of the 400-odd…

This is a common pattern with all articles about India. The west really likes to talk about how shitty conditions are here. The theme is to take a one-off incident and then exaggerate and generalize it so much that it must look like the norm. Then talk about about evil rich, selfish middle class and super poor farmers.

And then yes your usual dowry, caste system issues thrown here and there.

And those who leave India to settle else where too, find these topics indulging. It gives all them all the reasons in the world why they were right to leave the country.

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#174

Post by bonchibuji »

Change is already happening. One of the best examples I can cite is the Madurai based chef-turned social worker, Narayanan Krishnan. He quit his 5-star hotel chef job to feed the poor. He was one of the CNN Heroes in 2010.

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive10/naryana...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayanan_Krishnan

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#175

Post by ruchir »

aswanson wrote: post #86

In a recent incident, three poor Dalit boys inadvertently caused a small fire in a local community centre where they worked. The fact that children are labelled as anything other than children, that Indian society calls them "Dalit" at birth, to me, summarizes why the region will remain retrogressive for a long, long time.

No, Indian society does not label children anything other than children at birth. It is a label gratuitously applied by the author, likely as a short-hand to indicate poorer section of society. People from these self-identified sections have reached the highest post in the country - from writer of the constitution to president, to various positions in the political spectrum. There is a problem of equal access to education, yes. But a) this problem exists all over the world - consider school districts in the US and b) is more acute in India due to large, distributed population against a largely agrarian/human labor based economy. Active discrimination is a much smaller factor.

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#177

Post by ameister14 »

quadhome wrote: post #160
ameister14 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, people who you believe are undeserving can obtain wealth. No, that doesn't mean that all wealthy people are like that or that it is necessary to behave badly to become wealthy. The last psychiatrist is an ok writer, and a lot of his stuff is fun to read, but he draws some really erroneous conclusions. I'd be careful about being drawn in by that.

"He?"

I assume it's either a man or a misogynistic lesbian; there are several references to watching porn from a male perspective, that the writer finds women attractive, and the writing style is masculine.

I've never bothered to check before but a cursory google shows no real evidence either way, though most others think it's a man as well.

Or if you're referring to me and saying I drew an erroneous conclusion, I didn't draw any conclusions at all, save about the last psychiatrist.

Re: India’s elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement

#179

Post by tomkarlo »

redcircle wrote: post #155
tomkarlo wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what folks in the upper class like to believe so they can feel like there's more separating them from the middle class than just money. It's also a comfort to believe that even if you end up bankrupt, you're still "upper class". (And often, that people who are new money and richer than you are somehow not "upper class.") Make a million dollars a year, and you can go to all the charity balls and opera galas yo…

It is quite possible for the middle class to move into the upper class. It is just ironic that the desire to entire the upper class is often part of neuroses that make it impossible to enter.

That's a pretty vague statement. Do you have any facts or citation to support it?
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