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The world's largest democracy & arguably the best. Almost anything that India does, even marginally successfully, is done at a scale that is incomparable to an

The world's largest democracy & arguably the best. Almost anything that India does, even marginally successfully, is done at a scale that is incomparable to anything in the world.

clhodapp 8y ago
The second claim seems dubious. China has about the same number of people as India and about twice the land area. The US has about the same area as China. Russia has twice that land area.
- bobthepanda 8y ago
  Most of the Chinese people live in about half the land area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihe%E2%80%93Tengchong_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihe%E2%80%93Tengchong_Line That being said, only China is willing to do things like build high speed rail lines to Urumqi and Lhasa that won't even cover the electricity costs of running the trains.
l24ztj 8y ago
If you forget China that is.
- r00fus 8y ago
  Noone is forgetting China. In the context of democratic elections, adictator's comment still has merit.
  - clhodapp 8y ago
    I think adictator's first point has merit, especially because it is couched as something that is arguably true. The problem is the generalization-stated-as-fact that the second point tries to make: there are all kinds of things (e.g. building transit networks and power grids) that other countries do that are definitely on a comparable scale to India's efforts.
- neya 8y ago
  I'm not genuinely not trolling, but is China really a democracy? I have been to China and I think it's far from being a democracy.
  - l24ztj 8y ago
    He said "almost anything that India does is at an impressive scale". Nowhere he talked about elections. Also elections in India are pretty much rigged especially because of people buying votes.
  - dugluak 8y ago
    China is not a democracy. It's a communist country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
tracer4201 8y ago
By what metric are they the best democracy? I visited Hyderabad and Chennai for work in 2018 for about three weeks. It’s certainly not a place I would want my family with me. The food in Hyderabad was amazing though, I’ll give them that.
- parthdesai 8y ago
  While i'm not well versed in politics and democracies around the world, i have seen a common person protest against the government, get over whelming public support, start his own party and go on to become the chief minister of Delhi all within a span of 5-7 years. I know for sure that isn't possible in the US.
  - rayiner 8y ago
    Bill Clinton was a common person. While he didn't start his own political party, he radically changed the Democratic party into a more conservative form, and got himself elected President.
    - throwaway123156 8y ago
      Was Bill Clinton appreciably more conservative than Jimmy Carter, the last Dem President before Clinton?
      - rayiner 8y ago
        Very much so. Clinton trimmed the welfare rolls, cut the number of federal employees, deregulated finance, deregulated telecom (though Carter was also a major deregulator, having deregulated airlines, trucking, and beer), signed NAFTA, signed DADT, signed DOMA, signed RFRA, passed aggressive violent crime legislation, etc.
- calvinbhai 8y ago
  Are you sure you are not conflating the meaning of the word "democracy" to different issues, including quality of life, climate, infrastructure etc? There's no way you can evaluate how good/bad democracy is in any country, in 3 weeks.
ousta 8y ago
have you been there? deep poverty as soon as you jump in a train, massive open defecation, legal system that is tribal and still rely on caste, very low women rights especially for non-educated ones. but yeah they might be doing better than anyone for sure.
- calvinbhai 8y ago
  Democracy, is not about any of these issues you are pointing at. India may have a long way to go in aspects you have mentioned, but the way the Indian democracy works, it has enough checks and balances to make it work as intended, which IMO is among the best if not the best. PS: I have worked at booth level before, during and after the elections in India, to know the intricacies of what happens during the whole process.
- tiuPapa 8y ago
  Dude have you been here? Legal system that is tribal? Deep poverty as soon as you jump in a train? I am not saying India is perfect but this is an exaggeration and undermines the steps India has taken in the past one or two decades in a positive direction
  - ousta 8y ago
    https://idsn.org/report-finds-entrenched-caste-discrimination-in-indias-criminal-justice-system/ https://idsn.org/report-finds-entrenched-caste-discriminatio... This is not an exageration anyone jumping in the train from their biggest cities will know. https://www.ritimo.org/Slum-Settlements-on-Railway-Land-A-State-of-Denial-and-Deprivation https://www.ritimo.org/Slum-Settlements-on-Railway-Land-A-St... not saying that progress has not been made. But calling India the best democracy is not factual worse it's a blatant lie. It is a country where you can (should) bribe public officials i.e: "A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 recorded that more than 62% of Indians had at some point or another paid a bribe to a public official to get a job done"
    - tiuPapa 8y ago
      So like American Police's discrimination against people of color? I am from India, in India. You have only read about it, I live in it. Not saying the slums around railway lines are not there but the condition also has improved a lot. 2005? That's more than a decade back.

The world's largest democracy & arguably the best. Almost anything that India does, even marginally successfully, is done at a scale that is incomparable to anything in the world.

clhodapp 8y ago

The second claim seems dubious. China has about the same number of people as India and about twice the land area. The US has about the same area as China. Russia has twice that land area.

bobthepanda 8y ago
Most of the Chinese people live in about half the land area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihe%E2%80%93Tengchong_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihe%E2%80%93Tengchong_Line That being said, only China is willing to do things like build high speed rail lines to Urumqi and Lhasa that won't even cover the electricity costs of running the trains.

l24ztj 8y ago

If you forget China that is.

r00fus 8y ago
Noone is forgetting China. In the context of democratic elections, adictator's comment still has merit.
- clhodapp 8y ago
  I think adictator's first point has merit, especially because it is couched as something that is arguably true. The problem is the generalization-stated-as-fact that the second point tries to make: there are all kinds of things (e.g. building transit networks and power grids) that other countries do that are definitely on a comparable scale to India's efforts.
neya 8y ago
I'm not genuinely not trolling, but is China really a democracy? I have been to China and I think it's far from being a democracy.
- l24ztj 8y ago
  He said "almost anything that India does is at an impressive scale". Nowhere he talked about elections. Also elections in India are pretty much rigged especially because of people buying votes.
- dugluak 8y ago
  China is not a democracy. It's a communist country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

tracer4201 8y ago

By what metric are they the best democracy? I visited Hyderabad and Chennai for work in 2018 for about three weeks. It’s certainly not a place I would want my family with me. The food in Hyderabad was amazing though, I’ll give them that.

parthdesai 8y ago
While i'm not well versed in politics and democracies around the world, i have seen a common person protest against the government, get over whelming public support, start his own party and go on to become the chief minister of Delhi all within a span of 5-7 years. I know for sure that isn't possible in the US.
- rayiner 8y ago
  Bill Clinton was a common person. While he didn't start his own political party, he radically changed the Democratic party into a more conservative form, and got himself elected President.
  - throwaway123156 8y ago
    Was Bill Clinton appreciably more conservative than Jimmy Carter, the last Dem President before Clinton?
    - rayiner 8y ago
      Very much so. Clinton trimmed the welfare rolls, cut the number of federal employees, deregulated finance, deregulated telecom (though Carter was also a major deregulator, having deregulated airlines, trucking, and beer), signed NAFTA, signed DADT, signed DOMA, signed RFRA, passed aggressive violent crime legislation, etc.
calvinbhai 8y ago
Are you sure you are not conflating the meaning of the word "democracy" to different issues, including quality of life, climate, infrastructure etc? There's no way you can evaluate how good/bad democracy is in any country, in 3 weeks.

ousta 8y ago

have you been there? deep poverty as soon as you jump in a train, massive open defecation, legal system that is tribal and still rely on caste, very low women rights especially for non-educated ones. but yeah they might be doing better than anyone for sure.

calvinbhai 8y ago
Democracy, is not about any of these issues you are pointing at. India may have a long way to go in aspects you have mentioned, but the way the Indian democracy works, it has enough checks and balances to make it work as intended, which IMO is among the best if not the best. PS: I have worked at booth level before, during and after the elections in India, to know the intricacies of what happens during the whole process.
tiuPapa 8y ago
Dude have you been here? Legal system that is tribal? Deep poverty as soon as you jump in a train? I am not saying India is perfect but this is an exaggeration and undermines the steps India has taken in the past one or two decades in a positive direction
- ousta 8y ago
  https://idsn.org/report-finds-entrenched-caste-discrimination-in-indias-criminal-justice-system/ https://idsn.org/report-finds-entrenched-caste-discriminatio... This is not an exageration anyone jumping in the train from their biggest cities will know. https://www.ritimo.org/Slum-Settlements-on-Railway-Land-A-State-of-Denial-and-Deprivation https://www.ritimo.org/Slum-Settlements-on-Railway-Land-A-St... not saying that progress has not been made. But calling India the best democracy is not factual worse it's a blatant lie. It is a country where you can (should) bribe public officials i.e: "A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 recorded that more than 62% of Indians had at some point or another paid a bribe to a public official to get a job done"
  - tiuPapa 8y ago
    So like American Police's discrimination against people of color? I am from India, in India. You have only read about it, I live in it. Not saying the slums around railway lines are not there but the condition also has improved a lot. 2005? That's more than a decade back.