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

141–150 of 329 posts

Re: How Kerala got rich

#141

Post by readthenotes1 »

jhanschoo wrote: post #62
readthenotes1 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So sending tons of people to be indentured servants in Saudi Arabian was the secret sauce.

> Hundreds of thousands of people migrated to the Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar to work in construction, retail and services, sectors that saw a massive investment boom following the two oil shocks of 1973 and 1979. > The demand for skilled workers increased as the Gulf economies diversified from oil-based jobs to finance and business services. While offeri…

I did say indentured servants, not slaves...

Thonik not sure what the difference is when the servent can be killed with impunity

Re: How Kerala got rich

#142

Post by srean »

rdedev wrote: post #136
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be but the topic of the thread is how rich Kerala supposedly is, not how super awesome their public train announcements are. The claim is not just false, the article is outright propaganda given how one of the co-authors works for the state government.

I guess my main point is that a communist type govt was not exclusively bad for Kerala since they took a lot of effort to improve education and public health. You can look at other sources to see how good kerala is doing wrt other states but I do agree the article over emphasised the good parts without any hint to it's bad parts

To put this in context, during Covid, hundreds of bodies were being dumped in the Ganges river, buried in shallow graves on the sandbars in states like Uttar Pradesh. The state govt took an active role to remove the grave markers so that an accurate estimate of the numbers could not be ascertained. These were covered by local bloggers, vloggers and news channels.

Kerala is one of the few states that managed medical supplies of Oxygen pretty well. In many other states many died because hospitals ran out of it.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#143

Post by pepve »

shermantanktop wrote: post #99
geocrasher wrote: post #73

The subject of Kerala resulted in one of the most memorable conversations I've had with a doctor that wasn't about medical stuff. My late wife had to have an emergency procedure and her regular doctor was not available, and so she got a wonderful Indian doctor (Context: This was near Seattle WA). Having worked with many Indians, I felt comfortable asking him which part of India he was from and he said "Kerala" and at…

> side to side head bob Does this have a name? I know exactly what it looks like, and I think I get some of the connotations of emphasis and agreement...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_bobble

Re: How Kerala got rich

#144

Post by guerrilla »

ignoramous wrote: post #130
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…

Like many in the diaspora, you may have a romantic view of your roots. > much less pollution Comparatively? Perhaps. One look at the Vembanad Lake and you'll know what I'm talking about: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/high-levels-of-fa... It stinks these days. > Kerala has a 96% literacy rate Lieracy surveys aren't as rigorous; likely 5% to 20% drop from reported numbers: https://www.dataforindia.com/meas…

> Lieracy surveys aren't as rigorous; likely 5% to 20% drop from reported numbers: https://www.dataforindia.com/measuring-literacy/

This is very well studied in sociology and anthropology and has been for many decades. Kerala is a major case study in many fields because of this.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#145

Post by NoelJacob »

shelled wrote: post #89

These are my personal/anecdotal observations, of course, for a state I love. Compared to many other better states and cities, the places in Kerala have this combination of low expenses, good government/public health care. It’s utter shit in most of India — including other rich states like Karnataka (~Bangalore). The place has no or less hostility to outsiders, a general non-RW political atmosphere, and being less pol…

> famous FOSS photos, 2fa

Ente photos I assume

Re: How Kerala got rich

#146

Post by fakedang »

vinay427 wrote: post #114
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…

> 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 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.

I still have some photos of my visits to Bangalore in my childhood a couple of decades back, and the visual contrast between past and present is so stark. Of course, locals love to resent the regression of the city, but they also love their coin.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#147

Post by pphysch »

zozbot234 wrote: post #117
facile3232 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it is a bad place to be ambitious Ambition doesn't imply exploitation. I think you mean "predatory".

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?

Re: How Kerala got rich

#148

Post by air3y »

teleforce wrote: post #91

TL;DR: "From a historical perspective, Kerala has at least four distinct qualities that most states in India do not share. First, it has a centuries-long history of trade and migration, particularly with West Asia and Europe. Second, Kerala is rich in natural resources, which have been commercially exploited. Third, Kerala boasts a highly literate, skilled and mobile workforce. Finally, the state has a strong Left po…

Since the authors are communists, What they left out was that Kerala, especially the southern half of it preserved its independence (though only nominally under the British) from foreign occupations, something most other states in india couldn't.

Re: How Kerala got rich

#149

Post by alephnerd »

alephnerd wrote: post #43

> Fifty years ago it was one of India’s poorest states Yea that is a absolutely wrong. A state that had the highest literacy rate at independence will unsurprisingly remain at the higher end of developmental rankings.. In the 1970s Kerala was already comparable to Indian states from a human development and economic standpoint because of a strong shipbuilding and cooperative agricultural program (same with then undivi…

Also, not hating on the Kerala model - every state in India is now in the position where they can take advantage of it.

But I do not think it's replicable in most other LDCs due to historical quirks.

Like, Malawi, Guinea, or Afghanistan can't use much of the "Kerala Model" to succeed, as India was unique in that it was subsidizing the UAE's economy with the "Gulf Rupee" [0] (maybe Cambodia/Laos thanks to Thailand, but it ain't a great reason why IYKYK)

[0] - https://ar.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%...

Re: How Kerala got rich

#150

Post by NoelJacob »

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.
Post reply on HN