Horrifying

India's Rich vs. Poor

• By 1970s standards, 87% of India's population is living under the poverty line.That is the equivalent of 273 million of 313 million people in the United States living on less than $11,490 per year.
• India's economy effectively skipped the industrial development step that benefited both the United States' and Europe's blue collar workers.
• India is de-industrializing (moving to an economy based on knowledge and communication) while one third of the population if illiterate.
• In 2009 there were 17,638 recorded farmer suicides. That is 1 every 30 mins for an entire year.
• The kinds of men and women who decided to take their lives in response to losing their farms or being hugely in debt: middle-aged, devout, well-liked, a little introverted, and dedicated to their families.

As terrible as the facts are, it seems to me that this is partly our fault. The United States pushes others to be at the same level as us (even if our level isn't as fantastic as it could be) and, as a result, pressures people internationally to conform our standards and social norms with no though as to the consequences our lifestyle and peer pressure (so to speak) might have on the culture, economy, and people of that country. We brought our ideas and multinational companies ans as a result, it can be said that India basically skipped being an industrial nation/economy. This greatly diminished the middle class and further polarized India's social classes.

Our class inequality is increasing and the gap between the rich and the poor has never been bigger than it is now. Imagine how our economy would fair if blue collar jobs were completely extinguished, but the government still insists that the percentage of poor people in the US is decreasing.


Jane