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That is an aged political view of the world. Nowadays, a third world country is where you can die of disease, infection, etc. by drinking water due to lack of s

by Zelmor 10y ago

That is an aged political view of the world. Nowadays, a third world country is where you can die of disease, infection, etc. by drinking water due to lack of sanitation. Where infrastructure is missing almost completely, and where the majority of people live below international poverty lines (no, US families with 3 bedroom houses and loans to pay are not below the international poverty line. People sleeping in their newpaper-stand that they also work from are below such line.) Clean and safe menstrual pads, clean water, infrastructure, education, controlled agriculture. These are pillars of progress. Space programs are impressive, but are of very little consequence when half the population is so poor, they crap on the streets in plain sight at daylight. Meanwhile women are ashamed to hang their sanitary pads in the sun to properly disinfect them due to 3rd world superstitions about cleanness and evil spirits. There are grown men in India who don't even know that women have periods. Others bury their dead in the Ganges while downstream the same water is used for cooking and drinking. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/idia-sanitary-pad-revolution-menstrual-man-periods-waste-problem https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/idia-s... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachalam_Muruganantham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachalam_Muruganantham http://hazlitt.net/blog/india-has-toilet-problem-not-poop-problem http://hazlitt.net/blog/india-has-toilet-problem-not-poop-pr...

whack 10y ago
Even ignoring all the factually false statements, that was an unnecessarily condescending rant.
- themartorana 10y ago
  Here we go again. The statements are not false, burying your head in the sand is not going to make uncomfortable things untrue. Minus the menstrual-pad thing, I've seen the rest with my own eyes in India.
  - whack 10y ago
    "the majority of people live below international poverty lines" The international poverty line is ~$700/year. India's average income, adjusted for purchasing parity, is $6100/year. If you're going to make inflammatory, derogatory statements, at least get your facts right.
    - themartorana 10y ago
      Are you really caught up on "majority"? Semantics are the line you've chosen to draw? http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND In India, as of 2011: - 293 million (or 22% of the population) live on less than $1.90 a day (international poverty line). - 708 million (or 55% of the population) live on less than $3.10 a day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_Poverty_Line_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_Poverty_Line_(India) "Internationally, an income of less than $1.90 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 32.7% percent of Indians are extremely poor. Income-based poverty lines consider the bare minimum income to provide basic food requirements; it does not account for other essentials such as health care and education.[2] The number of people living on less than $1.9 per day in 2011 was 259.5 million (21.3% of the total population)." 32.7% are considered "extremely poor" and the poverty line counts only for basic food - not healthcare, education, etc. India's poverty levels are extreme, severe, and talking about it is neither false, inflammatory, derogatory, or an attack. Edit: what's with the glut of down-votes all of a sudden? Usually links and evidence - especially in recognizing social injustice - are welcomed on HN.
      - whack 10y ago
        Someone stated that "the majority of people live below international poverty lines" I replied stating that his comment contains factually false statements. You replied calling me out, saying that there were no false statements. You later provided proof that only 22% of the population lives below the international poverty line. 22% is no where even close to 50%. I don't know why you keep trying to defend this as a true statement. It isn't, as you yourself supplied proof for. ------- Regarding your point that I'm getting lost in semantics: I should be the one saying that to you. The entire debate about the international poverty line was not even my main point. My main point as stated originally was that the post was an unnecessarily condescending rant. And it is. If we were discussing the overall state of India, then the above comment might be a fair one. But that's not even close to what this thread is about. This thread is about India's space agency launching 20 satellites in a single mission. Someone then went off on a (unnecessary) tangent about the original definition of "3rd world", as relating to the cold war. Someone else then went off on another completely unrelated rant about every single problem he could think of, that exists in the country. Bringing up valid criticisms during the appropriate context/discussion, is certainly very valuable. But criticizing someone/something during completely unrelated discussions isn't. It's usually just a sign of someone who enjoys condescending to others and enjoys the feeling of power that comes with it.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
FraaJad 10y ago
Your use of the colonial word "Ganges" to refer to the river Ganga betrays your coloured view of that part of the world.
dharmach 10y ago
At the other end of the spectrum, there is antibacterial soap poisoning the water http://www.seeker.com/are-anti-bacterial-soaps-poisoning-our-water-discovery-news-1766491151.html http://www.seeker.com/are-anti-bacterial-soaps-poisoning-our... and created many more issues http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32543176 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32543176 Women do not want to public display sanitary pads as here, there is nothing about "superstitions about cleanness and evil spirits". If you want to see superstitions look at all apartments in developed US/Canada where floor no. 13 is missing, and number 666 is found offensive by government https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/05/etobicoke-mans-vanity-plate-deemed-inappropriate15-years-later.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/05/etobicoke-mans-v... And deads are not buried but cremated on river beds. Burying practice also cause pollution FYI http://www.utne.com/environment/arsenic-contamination-ze0z1306zpit.aspx http://www.utne.com/environment/arsenic-contamination-ze0z13... http://www.disabled-world.com/health/cemetery.php http://www.disabled-world.com/health/cemetery.php BTW, you are right about open defecation in urban area. That needs to be changed.
dang 10y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952270 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952270 and marked it off-topic.

by Zelmor 10y ago

whack 10y ago

Even ignoring all the factually false statements, that was an unnecessarily condescending rant.

themartorana 10y ago
Here we go again. The statements are not false, burying your head in the sand is not going to make uncomfortable things untrue. Minus the menstrual-pad thing, I've seen the rest with my own eyes in India.
- whack 10y ago
  "the majority of people live below international poverty lines" The international poverty line is ~$700/year. India's average income, adjusted for purchasing parity, is $6100/year. If you're going to make inflammatory, derogatory statements, at least get your facts right.
  - themartorana 10y ago
    Are you really caught up on "majority"? Semantics are the line you've chosen to draw? http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/IND In India, as of 2011: - 293 million (or 22% of the population) live on less than $1.90 a day (international poverty line). - 708 million (or 55% of the population) live on less than $3.10 a day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_Poverty_Line_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Below_Poverty_Line_(India) "Internationally, an income of less than $1.90 per day per head of purchasing power parity is defined as extreme poverty. By this estimate, about 32.7% percent of Indians are extremely poor. Income-based poverty lines consider the bare minimum income to provide basic food requirements; it does not account for other essentials such as health care and education.[2] The number of people living on less than $1.9 per day in 2011 was 259.5 million (21.3% of the total population)." 32.7% are considered "extremely poor" and the poverty line counts only for basic food - not healthcare, education, etc. India's poverty levels are extreme, severe, and talking about it is neither false, inflammatory, derogatory, or an attack. Edit: what's with the glut of down-votes all of a sudden? Usually links and evidence - especially in recognizing social injustice - are welcomed on HN.
    - whack 10y ago
      Someone stated that "the majority of people live below international poverty lines" I replied stating that his comment contains factually false statements. You replied calling me out, saying that there were no false statements. You later provided proof that only 22% of the population lives below the international poverty line. 22% is no where even close to 50%. I don't know why you keep trying to defend this as a true statement. It isn't, as you yourself supplied proof for. ------- Regarding your point that I'm getting lost in semantics: I should be the one saying that to you. The entire debate about the international poverty line was not even my main point. My main point as stated originally was that the post was an unnecessarily condescending rant. And it is. If we were discussing the overall state of India, then the above comment might be a fair one. But that's not even close to what this thread is about. This thread is about India's space agency launching 20 satellites in a single mission. Someone then went off on a (unnecessary) tangent about the original definition of "3rd world", as relating to the cold war. Someone else then went off on another completely unrelated rant about every single problem he could think of, that exists in the country. Bringing up valid criticisms during the appropriate context/discussion, is certainly very valuable. But criticizing someone/something during completely unrelated discussions isn't. It's usually just a sign of someone who enjoys condescending to others and enjoys the feeling of power that comes with it.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

FraaJad 10y ago

Your use of the colonial word "Ganges" to refer to the river Ganga betrays your coloured view of that part of the world.

dharmach 10y ago

At the other end of the spectrum, there is antibacterial soap poisoning the water http://www.seeker.com/are-anti-bacterial-soaps-poisoning-our-water-discovery-news-1766491151.html http://www.seeker.com/are-anti-bacterial-soaps-poisoning-our... and created many more issues http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32543176 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32543176 Women do not want to public display sanitary pads as here, there is nothing about "superstitions about cleanness and evil spirits". If you want to see superstitions look at all apartments in developed US/Canada where floor no. 13 is missing, and number 666 is found offensive by government https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/05/etobicoke-mans-vanity-plate-deemed-inappropriate15-years-later.html https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/05/etobicoke-mans-v... And deads are not buried but cremated on river beds. Burying practice also cause pollution FYI http://www.utne.com/environment/arsenic-contamination-ze0z1306zpit.aspx http://www.utne.com/environment/arsenic-contamination-ze0z13... http://www.disabled-world.com/health/cemetery.php http://www.disabled-world.com/health/cemetery.php BTW, you are right about open defecation in urban area. That needs to be changed.

dang 10y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952270 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11952270 and marked it off-topic.