3 ms·

Unlike western countries where getting free food is nearly impossible, getting free food in India is quite easy. Many temples provide free food. Even people off

by snambi 9y ago

Unlike western countries where getting free food is nearly impossible, getting free food in India is quite easy. Many temples provide free food. Even people offer free food.

pm90 9y ago
It is not easy. I don't know why you're spreading this fallacy. India has one of the highest instances of malnourished children. If it was that easy, why are there so many hungry people?
- snambi 9y ago
  Sure... if Indians are malnourished, how come the population keeps growing? It is usually the poor that have many children.
  - praneshp 9y ago
    For some of the poor, just like they don't have access to food, they don't have access to contraceptives (or sex education).
    - jdietrich 9y ago
      As an aside, India's birth rate has been dropping precipitously over the last few decades. In 1960 the birth rate was 5.9 per woman; today it's 2.4 and still falling. India's birth rate is now lower than America prior to 1970. At current trends, the birth rate in India will drop below the replacement rate within a decade. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_tfrt_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:IND:USA&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...
      - rtkwe 9y ago
        I'd be shocked if it hadn't it's a trend that recurs every time a country improves it's economic state and women become part of the work force.
      - praneshp 9y ago
        Oh my god, I'm worried about India's population starting to decrease now .... More seriously, is there a way to look before 1960? I want to look from 1930 or so, I think India's population really exploded post-Independence.
        jdietrich 9y ago
        Until the modern era, the global birth rate was fairly constant at about six per woman. The population growth we've experienced over the last century is mostly to do with child survival. Before 1900, the child mortality rate in India was over 50%. If you need children to care for you in old age and expect most of your children to die, you're likely to have a lot of them. When child survival improved, attitudes changed. Parents no longer want three or four children to work on the family farm, they want one or two children to become doctors or engineers. Economic development and the availability of reliable contraception have made that aspiration practical. If you're interested in the topic, I can highly recommend this lecture by the late Hans Rosling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E
        praneshp 9y ago
        Yeah, I agree, especially about the mortality rate. Anecdotally, every grandfather-aged person I know has 4+ children, but almost all father-aged ones have 2 or less (only 2 exceptions, of which 1 had twins). Thanks for the other information in your comment!

by snambi 9y ago

Unlike western countries where getting free food is nearly impossible, getting free food in India is quite easy. Many temples provide free food. Even people offer free food.

pm90 9y ago

It is not easy. I don't know why you're spreading this fallacy. India has one of the highest instances of malnourished children. If it was that easy, why are there so many hungry people?

snambi 9y ago
Sure... if Indians are malnourished, how come the population keeps growing? It is usually the poor that have many children.
- praneshp 9y ago
  For some of the poor, just like they don't have access to food, they don't have access to contraceptives (or sex education).
  - jdietrich 9y ago
    As an aside, India's birth rate has been dropping precipitously over the last few decades. In 1960 the birth rate was 5.9 per woman; today it's 2.4 and still falling. India's birth rate is now lower than America prior to 1970. At current trends, the birth rate in India will drop below the replacement rate within a decade. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_tfrt_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:IND:USA&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...
    - rtkwe 9y ago
      I'd be shocked if it hadn't it's a trend that recurs every time a country improves it's economic state and women become part of the work force.
    - praneshp 9y ago
      Oh my god, I'm worried about India's population starting to decrease now .... More seriously, is there a way to look before 1960? I want to look from 1930 or so, I think India's population really exploded post-Independence.
      - jdietrich 9y ago
        Until the modern era, the global birth rate was fairly constant at about six per woman. The population growth we've experienced over the last century is mostly to do with child survival. Before 1900, the child mortality rate in India was over 50%. If you need children to care for you in old age and expect most of your children to die, you're likely to have a lot of them. When child survival improved, attitudes changed. Parents no longer want three or four children to work on the family farm, they want one or two children to become doctors or engineers. Economic development and the availability of reliable contraception have made that aspiration practical. If you're interested in the topic, I can highly recommend this lecture by the late Hans Rosling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E
        praneshp 9y ago
        Yeah, I agree, especially about the mortality rate. Anecdotally, every grandfather-aged person I know has 4+ children, but almost all father-aged ones have 2 or less (only 2 exceptions, of which 1 had twins). Thanks for the other information in your comment!