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Let me say, we in USA have our sympathies with India. We want to hear that India is rising quickly and it will compete china (a new US dream). In reply to our desire for a strong Chinese competitor, US media always inflates India's economic success and I rarely see any discussion based on facts on our TV channels.
As a matter of fact, standard of governance in China is far better than India (although they don't have democracy and freed of expression). Indians can only dream of a nicely performing government in presence of a system that was imposed by Great Britain approximately 175 years ago (just as we did in Iraq and Libya recently). The only good thing in India (only from western point of view) is the world's largest but limping democracy. In presence of corrupt system and proud killers like (cheif minister Moodi) chances are not equal for every one in India.
You can't even imagine the miserable life of thousands living in slum areas (of India) who have no toilets, drinking water etc. Indians are trying to improve but even in presence of large outsourcing companies and a few business groups it is very difficult for a poor dallat (lower cast) to struggle and rise.
On the other hand, in China (they don't have lower casts), they have no democracy but life in the slum (very few left now) areas is not that bad as they have toilets, something to eat and government is trying to educate and provide job every one. They have controlled their population growth rate successfully. Working conditions in factories and offices are "poor" from american standards but at least they have a job and a home.
I know majority in my part of the world does not want to hear this reality. So much so that some forum administrators remove even those comments and posts that discuss figures proving china is better than India. However, my advice is we must struggle to keep america ahead of every nation instead of spending money on others and then hoping that they will rise just to save our *.
I would say that China's government helps the Chinese economy grow more than the Indian government does. China rigs the system as much as it can to encourage growth and efficiently lays down the infrastructure required to support the economy; while on the other hand it seems Indian politicians and bureaucrats are more prone to stifle growth rather than encourage it. The heart of India's problems really lie in corruption(corruption in India tends to stifle business rather than expedite it like in China) and bureaucratic paralysis. India also doesn't have the best track record when it comes to educating the masses. Despite issues with bureaucrats, I still believe the democratic system has more advantages as results are more based on a free and expressive society.
As for whether or not the quality of life has improved in India, it has done so greatly imo. There was almost something of a general sense of misery back in the 80s, but today people are upbeat, hopeful, have access to more opportunities to be upwardly mobile, and have more of a sense that they are in control of their destiny.
On the other hand, in China (they don't have lower casts), they have no democracy but life in the slum (very few left now) areas is not that bad as they have toilets, something to eat and government is trying to educate and provide job every one. They have controlled their population growth rate successfully. Working conditions in factories and offices are "poor" from american standards but at least they have a job and a home.
The pollution in China is still very bad. One cannot drink tap water only bottled water whether one is poor or well-off. Not everyone has indoor plumbing and most people still use "Eastern-style" toilets (meaning no toilet seats/bowls).
Although the Chinese Government has managed to control their population growth rate this will cause some unforeseen problems in the future. There will be a shortage of men as culturally there has been a preference for boys as sons take care of their parents in old age whereas daughters are married-off. Another problem is that smaller younger generation now has the burden of caring for 2 sets of parents without the help of siblings.
I agree that the conditions in the factories and offices are "poor" compared to American standards and I believe many factory workers work a 6 day work week.
Some Americans believe India and the U.S have very similar governments and political systems, simply because India also advocates democracy.
And this is obviously not true.
Most countries in the world claim to value democracy but their governments and political systems vary wildly. It's good to recognize the value of democracy, but figuring out how to deliver democracy is the challenge. Ask you college professors how the U.S fails to deliver democracy in so many ways. Other countries under the banner of democracy are even far worse than the U.S.
By the way, Singapore isn't democratic at all. The freedom of Speech is Singapore is as limited as communist China. But people constantly overlook this fact because they believe Singapore as a developed country and U.S ally have probably done a great job in human rights and democracy just like coutries like Japan.
The pollution in China is still very bad. One cannot drink tap water only bottled water whether one is poor or well-off. Not everyone has indoor plumbing and most people still use "Eastern-style" toilets (meaning no toilet seats/bowls).
Although the Chinese Government has managed to control their population growth rate this will cause some unforeseen problems in the future. There will be a shortage of men as culturally there has been a preference for boys as sons take care of their parents in old age whereas daughters are married-off. Another problem is that smaller younger generation now has the burden of caring for 2 sets of parents without the help of siblings.
I agree that the conditions in the factories and offices are "poor" compared to American standards and I believe many factory workers work a 6 day work week.
Yes, the pollution is bad. But I don't know many individuals in China who live in a place where no toilet is installed. Most people use toilets in China.
Yes, the pollution is bad. But I don't know many individuals in China who live in a place where no toilet is installed. Most people use toilets in China.
I agree with you on everything else.
I think you need to look closer. any village will have squat style bathrooms where a whole village shares and many folks in the cities use squat bathrooms. its so common in china.
why do i know so? I used them both, in a village and in a city in china. and yes, it sucks.
I think you need to look closer. any village will have squat style bathrooms where a whole village shares and many folks in the cities use squat bathrooms. its so common in china.
why do i know so? I used them both, in a village and in a city in china. and yes, it sucks.
At least in Shanghai, almost all bathrooms use toilets. Some public bathrooms are dirty though.
In regard to working conditions in China, there is a wide range of conditions. One can find ample evidence to make the argument that working conditions for factory workers is poor or find evidence to argue that the conditions are fine. Most of my experience comes from working conditions in Shanghai and in China's southern provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. My service professional friends in Shanghai seem to enjoy good working conditions with salaries that allow for them to live a middle class life. Approximately 1/2 of them are encouraged by their employers to use all of their vacation time.
My experiences with southern China friends, include mostly people who live a more difficult life. They work in office support positions or in factories. They all have very modest salaries and most complain about their work environments and supervisors. The factory workers, who finished high school, work much longer hours, often with only two days off per month.
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