India would prosper if it is not governed like an empire from Delhi. Each ethnic state must form a republic with full autonomy and power should reach into the hands of citizenry.
Why I’m Going to India
81–90 of 116 posts
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#82If you haven't already I urge you to watch the BBC Documentary on India:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpdoRUMeshw
This is the first part, there are 2 more. It's an incredible journey that helps you understand better the problems they're facing.
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bill gates can't fix - apathy from upper/middle class towards lower classes - willingness from normal citizens to live with human feces on the streets, eat in restaurants with huge garbage piles right in front - spinelessness/cowardness from the voting public so what if there are smart people in india? they are spineless/uncompassionate/unfeeling/unprideful.
Not sure what your problem is, India or Bill Gates? You seem to have a problem with both. >>- apathy from upper/middle class towards lower classes Why in God's name will a middle class guy, who probably is having a thousand different battles in his own life get up every day morning to work for some body poor? By now, 'the poor' need to realize its not somebody else job do their work. Chances are no one ever will, not…
> Seriously??? How is any different than people in any country in the world. Do you think voting matters or is significant even in a country like the US. How many times were the US citizens able to prevent their country from going to war? Or how many times have they been able to change their unemployment problem themselves?
They managed to stop an ongoing war once (Vietnam). Other than that, how can you tell when a decision to go to war has been overturned because of civilian activity. It seems that at one point, the US was quite bent on attacking Iran, but that never happened.
>You seem to have a seriously problem with India, no idea why that is so.
This is just conjecture, but seeing as this is Hacker News, perhaps he had to work with Indian IT subcontractors at some point in his life. Without having a grander vision of the world that may easily lead to some practical racism.
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#84What's up with HN lately? It seems like being contrary to contrarian is the new thing these days. Bill Gates is someone I admired at first, because he built something huge from humble beginnings. Then I reviled him for the damage I saw him cause to the industry. Then I admired him again for the global effect he managed. He is a single person trying to do the best he knows how for humanity at large. If anyone thinks r…
He had a large enough trust fund to never need to work a day in his life, so I don't see where you get humble beginnings.
> I don't see where you get humble beginnings
He is the son of a lawyer and a college drop out.
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chris, I've lived all around the world - I literally have not seen worse poverty than Indian slums (and yes, this includes multiple countries in Africa). From a marginal benefit perspective, the gains in India are enormous.
Ok, so what can he do? I mean, let's say he spends 10 billion dollars, on 100 million people. That would be $100 each. I don't suppose there is any way to insure that all these people get their $100, because of the problem of distribution, identity verification, etc. You can't mail them a check. You can't mail them cash. You can't trust local delivery men to do the job (they'll pocket it and say they delivered, or th…
I think this is an absurd standard. For want of perfection, he should do nothing? What he's doing has shown clear impact. I'm a skeptic on much of NGO land, but the Gates foundation is better than most and has hard gains to show for it.
Gates is working in India on education, on environmental safety, on sanitation (seriously - I've heard talk repeatedly that his number one goal right now is a better toilet / sanitary mechanism) - these are things that will directly advantage India in the long run. As for the Indian government... well, the road to hell has been paved with good and not so good intentions - suffice to say that has not always been the goal.
FYI separate topic, but the UID is a success story by any standard (its the world's largest biometric database by some distance) - and enables a reduction in the wastage in the traditional channels you identified (aka, the politician cut).
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#86Last time I was in Pune Gates arrived in Pune unannounced by a private plane and straight away drove to the red-light area (prostitution business area) to meet the social workers there. A lot of local politicians rushed to the place for photo ops. He had to virtually physically fight his way out from them.
If they're anything like our politicians, they didn't have to rush anywhere. They were probably already in the red light.
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
"A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us." I don't understand this sort of logic. One of the hallmarks of civilization is people doing the right thing even when they aren't forced to. People marvel at the fact that you can lose your wallet in Japan and get it back without anything missing. Yet you're saying that using force to provide…
I would like the kind of society that doesn't need to use force (legitimized by democratically elected representatives, checks and balances, and the rule of law) to take care of the most vulnerable, but I have yet to see any precedent of that. You mention Japan, they have a very pervasive government social safety net. Places without effective governments? Those are places where people do routinely die of hunger and t…
From what I hear Japan doesn't have a good social safety net.
See eg. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pa...
I would be happy to be wrong and the situation might have improved very recently?
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#88Ranbaxy is an anomaly, right? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/business/global/ranbaxy-in...
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Caste System(More like Racism. Keeping groups of people away from economic opportunity), Families where people have been desperately poor for generations(poor people create more kids on average and most of them end of poor and desperate)... 100's or millions with no primary education/even literacy...
Can you give me examples of this caste system probem? After actually living in India for some time - my impression has been the opposite - overzealous affirmative action
If you're in a position where you even have to submit a resume or deal with an organization that even knows what affirmative action is, you are already in a better caste than the majority of India.
Re: Why I’m Going to India
#90I'd really like a picture of Bill G shaking hands with someone who is basically starving in India. It'd be a picture of the richest person in the world standing with the poorest person in the world, and it'd be a cool testament to the inherent complexity of life.
I will certainly not call it "cool"