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Comment by srvmshr | Hacker News Reader

Honestly I do not understand the subtle trolling here. If any country is making a big leap, without biases, just cheer for them. Getting to see humanity's progress, one country at a time, is a better thing compared to seeing none. When the highest populated country facing dozens of social issues, makes a space achievement at a tight budget, they deserve our pat on the back, not ridicule. Sure, they could be a generation lagging in the technology, but they are collaborating with other countries in aviation. Spacefaring is getting bigger, not niche. Comparing them to ESA or NASA is unfair given the gargantuan budgets they enjoy. There is progress and commendable one. Good job India! More miles to your rockets

By making comments like "poor country, donate money" and "Brits are sending money [...]" (actual flagged comments here) some of us are showing inherent racism. One world-one people, guys. It is really not that hard.

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> When the highest populated country facing dozens of social issues ...

To put things in perspective: The US declared its "War on Poverty" in January 1964. Tried to send rockets to the moon in March 1964. Signed the Civil Rights Act into force in early July 1964. Got the first rocket to the moon successfully in late July 1964.

So it's not like other "space-faring nations" had everything sorted out before "wasting money on space adventures". That entire "They should fix their social net / railroads / ... before entering the space race"-thing is just pulling up the ladder behind oneself.

comparing india's poverty and social issues (in 21st century ffs) with usa's in 60s is like comparing apples and orangutans, congratulations is warranted but not patronizing

Right. One colonised and one colony

Not really.

If you extrapolate developmental indicators historically (eg. the AHDI [0]), India in the 2010-2020 period is roughly comparable to the US in the 1950-1960 period.

None of this is surprising if you have an background with US economic history. Similar to India today, the US in the 1940-1970 period had an industrialized half (the North, Midwest, and Western US) and less industrialized hinterland (Appalachia, South, Southwest).

A major component of America's development was because of massive industrial projects targeting Appalachia, South, and Southwest America (eg. TVA, Space Grants, NASA Huntsville, Interstate Highways) along with the expansion of the social safety net (eg. Great Society, War Against Poverty, Civil Rights Act, LBJ's entire domestic policy)

India is seeing a similar transformation via large industrial projects and an expansion of the social safety net via welfare programs/yojanas/"freebies".

This can be seen starkly with Rajasthan (INC run) and Gujarat (BJP run). Both share a similar culture and had similarly laggard developmental statistics in 2000, yet by 2019 both have converged with each other [1], as well as at the developmental work occurring in both Uttar Pradesh (BJP run) and Odisha (non-BJP run).

[0] - https://frdelpino.es/investigacion/en/category/01_social-sci...

[1] - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_and_un...

lol @ econ nerding, ffs I live in India and know the reality so stop this rag picking facts to suit your worldview

> India in the 2010-2020 period is roughly comparable to the US in the 1950-1960 period.

Like, seriously? Do people fall for this type of propaganda? India’s gdp per capita is 10x lower than the lowest eu member states.

It wasn't meant as a quantitative statement, but you're making my point: if even the US of the 1960s (with its poverty and social issues) could afford to run a space program, how much more India of today?

Any criticism that India's space program resources are better spent elsewhere applied just the same to NASA (and in some ways still applies, given how backwards some parts and aspects of the US are): either people see value in such a program (then India is just fine) or they don't (then NASA should shut down immediately).

you have no clue about india's problems, its like I talking about some central american country by just reading bits and pieces about it and rag picking facts to support on the interwebs with zero knowledge IRL, please stop

India’s poverty problems are leagues worse than the US in the 60’s. The 60’s were literally the decade of “sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll”. The post war economy meant the majority of people could afford to buy a house, car, and raise a family.

Meanwhile, a large portion of India doesn’t even have potable water.

Try harder.

When it comes to sci/tech/space exploration, it is difficult to segregate nationalism or anti-nationalism from the science and technology ambitions. When the Soviets launched Sputnik, it provoked the US to do the same, with a whole bunch of snickering. When the Chinese started their space ambitions, US became more concerned and argumentative. When the Chinese excelled in supercomputing, Obama tried to rally the nation towards unity in science/tech.

Snickering is part of the equation. And counter-snickering with big launches and achievements is also part of the equation.

It’s not an either/or situation. Developing space technology has historically helped the most vulnerable in India. From better weather prediction to help with protecting crops for farmers to helping prevent natural disasters, space tech has played an important role.

Looking at the number of school children cheering for the launch, that in itself is worth the investment. The spark in curiosity in a child is worth a multiple the amount invested.

I agree but if you want to see even higher doses of racism just change India with China and there will be a lot more here. unfortunately the media created extremely hostile environment toward non white countries that are slowly catching up and surpassing western technology

There was one immediately flagged comment saying these things, relax.

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