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India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

economictimes.indiatimes.com

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Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#211

Post by spaceman_2020 »

wobbly_bush wrote: post #129
akudha wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is rosy though. In cities like Bangalore, real estate is super expensive, thanks to software salaries. The same is happening in second, third tier cities now. But generally speaking, yes, all it takes is one person from a family landing a white collar job. And life becomes (relatively) much better

Real estate will get more expensive due to political greed than any other kind of development. The supply of real estate is artificially constrained by the political class, so any kind of development (say hypothetically manufacturing instead of software) will make it expensive. There used to be a time when new land for building houses was frequently sold by the government in the form of new "colonies", but that has c…

A big reason why Gurgaon real estate is more expensive than Bangalore despite having way more land and poorer jobs is government corruption. All those bribes and backroom deals get siphoned off to buy apartments and land. These buyers can hold forever because their cost basis is practically 0.

I’m actively hunting for an apartment in NCR and get painfully reminded of how poor I actually am.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#212

Post by eldaisfish »

Qtips87 wrote: post #207
ginger2016 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This opinion is offensive. India is a functioning democracy. Your claim is that the people who vote are lower caste and upper caste won’t vote hence democracy is invalid. Are you suggesting democracy is only valid if upper caste people vote?

What I am saying is that upper caste don't need to vote because they have complete control of the country. Democracy confers power to the people because you would assume people who vote can affect policies to their favor but this is not the case for the people who vote in India. They are totally disenfranchised and marginalized.

the accurate statement is that a small slice of India’s upper castes have control. They dominate many sectors but you seem to assume that caste and economic class are interchangeable. they are not although there is a strong correlation due to generational wealth.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#213

Post by [deleted] »

roflc0ptic wrote: post #118
richard___ wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do so many people on HN hate on China? What's your relationship with Chinese people in your personal life?

My relationship with Chinese people is great. I have a chinese ex, whose mom is hyper critical of the CCP and hates communism. They’re not Han chinese, they’re one of the less desirable ethnicities, and they didn’t feel well treated. Anyways. Authoritarian regimes are bad. The fact that this authoritarian regime has mongoloid/asiatic facial features is irrelevant. I hated GWB’s expansion of the security state and two…

[deleted]

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#215

Post by yutijke »

Qtips87 wrote: post #194

Quoted post unavailable.

Is this your lived experience? I am finding it hard to believe when the Prime Minister of India comes under what is classified as a "Backward" caste there. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu comes from a historically disadvantaged tribal background.

The political parties and political commentariat in India heavily emphasize Caste and other identitarian aspects as the building blocks of building a coalition rather than policy.

Political parties field candidates who belong to a particular ethnic community and pander to their sentiments to secure their votes. And the historically disadvantaged communities achieve representation in this manner.

While I agree that Caste is a major issue in the Indian society (with a lot of variance between regions and across social strata), saying that "backward" castes are denied political representation and agency is extremely dishonest.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#216

Post by spaceman_2020 »

nsenifty wrote: post #68
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #3

One of the best things about living in India is watching families move from lower or lower-middle class to middle-class status. Usually, all it takes is someone from the family landing a white-collar job. While the tech bodyshops (TCS, Infosys, etc.) might have a poor reputation in the US, these companies have been absolutely critical in helping move tens of millions into middle-class respectability.

My first job was in Infosys back in 2001. Coming from a lower-middle class farming family, it was a huge deal. My monthly gross was something my dad (farmer) + mom (school teacher) would earn in an entire year. I remember my dad proudly putting a portrait of NR Narayana Murthy (founder of Infosys) on our wall - it is usually reserved for gods/ancestors or revered sages.

My FIL funded their maid’s kids education. The son got into a decent engineering school and landed a job at TCS. The daughter studied nursing and got a job at a large chain hospital. The kids bought their mom an apartment and a car.

Its just amazing to watch - this woman’s mom, grandmom, aunts, uncles were all peasants or did odd trades. Now because of a single generation, the entire family could dream of middle class dignity.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#218

Post by spaceman_2020 »

piva00 wrote: post #94
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #3

One of the best things about living in India is watching families move from lower or lower-middle class to middle-class status. Usually, all it takes is someone from the family landing a white-collar job. While the tech bodyshops (TCS, Infosys, etc.) might have a poor reputation in the US, these companies have been absolutely critical in helping move tens of millions into middle-class respectability.

Be careful with that, I saw the same happening in Brazil between 2002-2012 just to start unraveling quickly after that. Our economies and societies are still pretty fragile, any political shock can start a downwards spiral. Stay vigilant.

If the commodities boom is any indicator, Brazil should be hitting a purple patch soon enough.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#219

Post by spaceman_2020 »

bergenty wrote: post #97
piva00 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful with that, I saw the same happening in Brazil between 2002-2012 just to start unraveling quickly after that. Our economies and societies are still pretty fragile, any political shock can start a downwards spiral. Stay vigilant.

I think the difference is India is a major startup hub that mostly caters to the local market so the effort to shift to more resilient income streams not completely dependent on the global market are underway, something Brazil did not do.

Entirely possible India hits a lean phase and stays stuck where it is. Truth be told, everything from infrastructure to basic law and order are far behind even a “middle income trap” country like Thailand. Too early to pat ourselves on the back.

Re: India lifted 415M out of poverty in 15 years, says UN

#220

Post by rsgrafx »

FooBarWidget wrote: post #203
nsenifty wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first job was in Infosys back in 2001. Coming from a lower-middle class farming family, it was a huge deal. My monthly gross was something my dad (farmer) + mom (school teacher) would earn in an entire year. I remember my dad proudly putting a portrait of NR Narayana Murthy (founder of Infosys) on our wall - it is usually reserved for gods/ancestors or revered sages.

When I see Indian developers, I have in my mind that they're similar to Chinese: the whole village bands together and gather resources to give that one kid a university education and a good job, so that that one kid returns to the village many years later to help people out of poverty.

I have an uncle who came from Malaysia to the US in the 70's to do his studies. He was "given the task by his village elders.." as he would say and they did exactly that pooled resources and made sure he finished school. When I heard his story I was so moved. He's built everyone in his village a house, invested in many businesses now, literally changed lives of countless families and friends.
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