Hacker News Reader

Comment by fractalsea | Hacker News Reader

To me those images of New Delhi look 10x more exciting to live than http://abcdunlimited.com/ideas/images/suburbia.jpg for example.

View on HN

Wild guess: that's because you take clean running water for granted.

I see what you're saying, but I think you/rayiner are still missing the point.

There are fresh graduates in America right now that can't find jobs. More clearly, these fresh graduates would be homeless/living in poverty were it not for a little help from their parents, either that or they're holding on to the last shreds of help that our welfare institutions provide. These folks could leave America and find jobs elsewhere that might give them a very, very nice looking income.

I have a friend who was a history major who couldn't find a job right out of college, he went to China with really no clear idea of what he would do there (besides being an 'English tutor', which his sister already living in Shenzen was)... and what do you know, some company decides to hire him to be their spokesman. It turns out businesses in China will pay white/Western-looking people some serious money for gigs like this. He's now in China, with a Chinese wife and it seems to me he's pretty happy with the decision he made. Opportunities like this do exist, and they're actually not that uncommon. Leaving America for a better life is now very much a viable option. Not for everyone, sure, but for some it could be the best decision they ever make.

Rayiner addressed that point directly: first, it's a first-world myth that recent college graduates in the US would be living in anything resembling poverty by world standards (again with the running water, flushing toilets, electricity, inspected produce, guaranteed emergency room health care); second, if your whole argument is that there might be more money abroad for a new grad, well sure, but don't romanticize that opportunity, because it comes at a cost.

> the running water, flushing toilets, electricity, inspected produce, guaranteed emergency room health care

You're still missing the point.

You emphasize guaranteed emergency care, but what about general non-emergency healthcare costs in America? If it's +1 for guaranteed healthcare in America, it's +1 for India when you can actually practically afford some life-saving x-ray or some surgery operation that costs literally 20X as much in America. Electricity is available in counties we're considering -- sure, it goes off intermittently but the results are not extraordinarily catastrophic. Practically speaking, the produce that the masses get is arguably better in a lot of 3rd world countries than it is in America -- less GMO, less carcinogens. I was born and raised in India -- my memory of fruits and vegetables/meat I ate there is SOOO much better than how it is here in America. We had flushing toilets, and we had drinkable water. And I am not even from a wealthy family, just normal middle class. My great-grandma lived to be 101, and my grandma right now in India is 103.

The life expectancy in India is 65.5 years. Less than 3% of Indian townships are served by water treatment plants.

That's because of extreme poverty on the very lower end (also, I always wonder if these age expectancy numbers are taking into account low child mortality rates). If you take care of yourself well in India, you'll be fine.

To be clear, I'm not advocating here that hey if you're in poverty here might as well leave the country, I'm saying if things are not working out spectacularly, you're stuck with a dead-end job (or are having trouble finding employment despite a degree), and you are adventurous/wouldn't mind a big cultural change, you can think about it carefully and plan things out and you'll be fine. Getting out of America for a better life is a very real and viable option in this day for some people.

The very lower end? 97% of Indian townships lack water treatment. Only 30% of Indians live in major metro areas.

It's reasonable to assume that in the context of our discussion, the hypothetical young America would probably choose to locate himself in a metro, urban area where there's ample supply of good water.

But, I agree with you India probably isn't the best possible choice here (but still, as others have pointed out, if you have America money (say, 80k), you'll be living there like a king). There's still a lot of other countries besides America that might be a good fit for you.

I've heard that Thailand is a very pleasant (and cheap) place to live.

Yes, I take that for granted along with many other things. It doesn't mean that I have a less enjoyable/more for-filling lifestyle without them.

Where "enjoyable lifestyle" falls somewhere along the diarrhea spectrum from "chronic" to "intractable".

It's unfortunate that people here will think I'm being glib with this comment, since diarrhea kills more people in the developing world every year than cancer does in the US.

> glib with this comment

In general I agree with your sentiment. But you do make it sound like people in India are dropping like flies because of diarrhea (which I am not sure is the case)

You should look up the stats.

Why does it feel Hacker News is completely blind to the rampant corruption, poverty and rape of New Delhi. I often read about how great it is here, unlike any other website. I suppose not being female helps.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/04/20134271442181816...

Ignorance is bliss. Let me spell it out for you. THERE IS NOTHING FUN OR EXCITING ABOUT IT.

People who have never lived amidst such extreme wealth disparity cannot appreciate what a mindfuck it is. There was an article the other day on HN about how upper class Indians barely regard lower class Indians as human beings. It's not because upper class Indians are bad people. It's because that's the only way to cope living in a country like India where the rich live amongst indescribable poverty.

Its not just New Delhi. Hyperbole, but every woman in India is a potential rape target - All the women I spoke to complained of being touched, physically felt-up, had comments passed on their dress or female anatomy and yet they did nothing about it. What keeps them safe is still a mystery to me. The government sure aint doing much to change the sexist attitudes.

In the USA we take the freedom to wear bikinis and shorts for granted. Hard to see women in India dressing like Americans do.

When that type of terrible thing happens in India (at least these days) it's headline news. Are you seriously suggesting that these things never happen in any developed country?

Ignorance is bliss. Let me spell it out for you. THERE IS NOTHING FUN OR EXCITING ABOUT IT.

As a rule of thumb, when you make hyperbolic statements like this, it becomes very easy to not take you seriously.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com