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I think wealthy Indians are better than empowered Indians.

subbu 15y ago
Why downvotes? Why not provide a counter-argument?
bad_user 15y ago
There are many wealthy Indians in India already - what India needs is a middle-class - i.e. people that have a roof over their head, with their basic needs taken care of and that are empowered to create their own wealth.
- solutionyogi 15y ago
  I think the OP meant to suggest that increase wealth of poor people and make them middle class. You can definitely not create wealth by selling 25 cents napkins.
  - _pius 15y ago
    You can definitely not create wealth by selling 25 cents napkins. Are you sure about that? If every (menstruating) woman in your village purchases their sanitary napkins from you every month because you've got the one machine within 25 miles, you may have a compelling small business, especially when adjusted for cost of living and ease of labor.
    - solutionyogi 15y ago
      Now that I re-read that sentence, it's not well written. When replying to the parent comment, I wanted to clarify that these napkins will create wealth and help poor people move to middle class. I meant to say that you can not become filthy rich selling 25 cents napkins.
      - alphakappa 15y ago
        Filthy-rich has different thresholds in different parts of the world. $50k may be a middle class income in Arkansas in the US, but it would be a ridiculously huge amount in small-town India.
- absentbird 15y ago
  To the poster below me: he is selling $2500 machines. The people he sells the machines to sell the $.25 napkins but the machine can make 1000 napkins a day. One machine properly worked could turn a gross profit of $91,250/year. He has sold 600 machines so far so that is $1.5 million that the inventor has grossed. Maybe they aren't super rich but I am sure the napkin makers and the inventor are both doing better then they would otherwise and more importantly they are keeping the money in India.
  - BrandonM 15y ago
    You need to divide $91,250 by 8 (=$11,406.25), because the napkins are typically sold for $0.25 for 8 of them. Then, subtract out the costs of energy and raw materials and divide the result by 4 (the number of people it takes to work the machine), and each operator makes perhaps $2000. Based on some of the comments in this thread, that's still not bad for rural India, but it's not nearly the numbers you report.
rayiner 15y ago
So India can be like Brazil with its massive income inequality?
- yummyfajitas 15y ago
  It would be wonderful if India achieved the same wealth distribution as Brazil. Some people would become richer and no one would become poorer. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-the-have-nots/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-t...
meow 15y ago
It's a case of one wealthy indian vs many empowered indians. And from the financial model of this guy (selling his machines through rural women) he obviously prefers latter.
nikatwork 15y ago
I think healthy Indians will be both wealthier and more empowered.

subbu 15y ago

Why downvotes? Why not provide a counter-argument?

There are many wealthy Indians in India already - what India needs is a middle-class - i.e. people that have a roof over their head, with their basic needs taken care of and that are empowered to create their own wealth.

solutionyogi 15y ago
I think the OP meant to suggest that increase wealth of poor people and make them middle class. You can definitely not create wealth by selling 25 cents napkins.
- _pius 15y ago
  You can definitely not create wealth by selling 25 cents napkins. Are you sure about that? If every (menstruating) woman in your village purchases their sanitary napkins from you every month because you've got the one machine within 25 miles, you may have a compelling small business, especially when adjusted for cost of living and ease of labor.
  - solutionyogi 15y ago
    Now that I re-read that sentence, it's not well written. When replying to the parent comment, I wanted to clarify that these napkins will create wealth and help poor people move to middle class. I meant to say that you can not become filthy rich selling 25 cents napkins.
    - alphakappa 15y ago
      Filthy-rich has different thresholds in different parts of the world. $50k may be a middle class income in Arkansas in the US, but it would be a ridiculously huge amount in small-town India.
absentbird 15y ago
To the poster below me: he is selling $2500 machines. The people he sells the machines to sell the $.25 napkins but the machine can make 1000 napkins a day. One machine properly worked could turn a gross profit of $91,250/year. He has sold 600 machines so far so that is $1.5 million that the inventor has grossed. Maybe they aren't super rich but I am sure the napkin makers and the inventor are both doing better then they would otherwise and more importantly they are keeping the money in India.
- BrandonM 15y ago
  You need to divide $91,250 by 8 (=$11,406.25), because the napkins are typically sold for $0.25 for 8 of them. Then, subtract out the costs of energy and raw materials and divide the result by 4 (the number of people it takes to work the machine), and each operator makes perhaps $2000. Based on some of the comments in this thread, that's still not bad for rural India, but it's not nearly the numbers you report.

rayiner 15y ago

So India can be like Brazil with its massive income inequality?

yummyfajitas 15y ago
It would be wonderful if India achieved the same wealth distribution as Brazil. Some people would become richer and no one would become poorer. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-the-have-nots/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-t...

meow 15y ago

It's a case of one wealthy indian vs many empowered indians. And from the financial model of this guy (selling his machines through rural women) he obviously prefers latter.

nikatwork 15y ago

I think healthy Indians will be both wealthier and more empowered.