> Subject: Re: India
>
> On Thu, 12 Mar 1998, Mark D. Fulwiler wrote:
>
> > Alejandro Dubrovsky <e9328940@student.uq.edu.au> wrote:
> >
> > > If you consider India to be in good shape, then you can probably say that
> > > most 3rd world countries are. The fact that they've got a large industry
> > > is just a product of their massive population, but if you consider GDP per
> > > capita, poverty levels, literacy levels and life expectancy, i think you
> > > would find that, just like the rest of the latter Brittish colonies, they
> > > do just as badly, if not worse, than the French or spanish colonies.
> > > chau
> > Actually, India really is in fairly good shape. There has been no major
> > starvation there for many decades (unlike Africa), and the life
> > expectancy has been improving dramatically along with the control of
> > infectious diseases. Birth rates are on a rapid decline. While there has
> > been some ethnic and religious violence, it is nothing like some of the
> > horrors that have gone on places like Somalia or Rwanda. India has the
> > rule of law (imperfect as it may be),
> That this is a positive thing is a matter of interpretation.
You don't consider the rule of law in India to be generally positive?
Yes, I know they have a lot of stupid statist laws (like here), but I
don't think competing mobs with no law would be an improvement.
> >a democratic system
> same as above
Well, isn't it better than a dictatorship?
> >and it wisely
> > has kept the world's greatest language, English. Per capita GDP is low,
> > but improving slowly. Most people are still poor, but they are not
> > totally destitute and seem to be happy with their lives.
>
> That's a really funny statement. "They seem like happy people, they tend
> to smile a lot"
My observations (based on reading, movies and TV) are that Indians act
like most people who are generally happy. And there have been surveys
done where most Indians rated themselves as being moderately happy.
>
> > More people can
> > afford "luxury" items these days. The socialistic policies of the
> > Congress Party have held the country back, but everyone except the far
> > left now agrees that more market liberalization is needed. Yes, you will
> > find many pitiful beggars in any Indian village or city, but the poverty
> > was far worse in the past.
>
> Since there are 900 million indians in a very large country, i really
> cannot beleive that you have an accurate assessment of the country by
> anecdotal accounts even if you live there (and much less if you've just
> visited or never placed a foot in the country). Also, the population
> being so high, statistics lend themselves naturally for this kind of
> thing, and, as limited as GDP/capita, lifespan and literacy rates may be
> in informing about the general well-being of a country's population, they
> tend to give an approximate idea, especially if they are combined. So,
> what follows is somthing i've collected over the last hour (i would like
> to include more countries, but i don't have that much spare time):
>
> >From the '96 CIA factbook:
>
>
> Spanish colonies:
> Country Lifespan Literacy GDP/capita
>
> Argentina 71.66 96.2% 8100
> Bolivia 59.81 83.1 2530
> Chile 74.49 95.2 8000
> Colombia 72.81 91.3 5300
> Costa Rica 75.72 94.8 5400
> Cuba 75.05 95.7 1300
> Dominican Rep 69.06 82.1 3400
> Ecuador 71.09 90.1 4100
> El Salvador 68.88 71.5 1950
> Guatemala 65.24 55.6 3300
> Honduras 68.42 72.7 1980
> Mexico 73.67 89.6 7700
> Nicaragua 65.72 65.7 1700
> Panama 73.92 90.8 5100
> Paraguay 73.84 92.1 3200
> Peru 69.13 88.7 3600
> Uruguay 74.94 97.3 7600
> Venezuela 72.09 91.1 9300
>
>
> English colonies: (Michael Lorrey's list)
>
>
> Bangladesh 55.86 38.1 1130
> Belize 68.53 70.3 2750
> Burma 56.14 83.1 1000
> Egypt 61.43 51.4 2760
> India 59.71 52.0 1500
> Kenya 55.6 78.1 1300
> Pakistan 58.46 37.8 2100
> South Africa 59.47 81.8 4800
> Sri Lanka 72.35 90.2 3600
> (Ceylon)
> Zimbabwe 41.85 85 1620
> (Rhodesia)
>
>
>
> Again, taking into account the limitations of statistics like this, the
> differences are so enormous and consistent that my previous statement
> would have to be revised: not only do those english colonies not do better
> than the spanish colonies (haven't seen the french stats yet), they do
> much, much worse. And if india is the light of anything, then the world
> is really screwed.
>
> chau
I don't dispute your statistics, nor do I claim that India is the light
of the world. I just wanted to point out that conditions are improving
there. Yes, there are better places to live, but India seems to be at
least be on the right track. The former Spanish colonies have adopted
better policies, so they are naturally outpacing India.
MDF