I call April Fool's BS on that. If you live on $1 a day, *television* is not one of your major pleasures (where are you getting the electricity from, btw?) and you certainly don't get to go to *any* doctors but free or almost-free ones without going without for a long time afterward. "The very poor even seem to have some consumer power" indeed.
The article was describing people in India, not the US. First line of the article. If you're calling BS based on an intimate knowledge of the economics of Guntur, India, then I apologize for doubting you.
grah. once more, with decent formatting.kuangningApril 1 2007, 09:41:25 UTC
I am going to recommend, for a primer, this report.
Here are a few things about poverty in India:
Most of the poorest live in rural areas. Which is not to say all do, but the vast majority of the poorest do. Drinking water and food are constant struggles, let alone electricity.
Much of that rural labour? Actually receives their wages in food, both out of necessity and through government work-for-food programs aimed at making sure at least one basic need gets met. Leaving, oh, next to no cash for private schools, thank you. The aforementioned parents pulling their children out of public schools to send them to private schools if they can are primarily in Pakistan -- where, by the way, "public" does not mean "free." (Pakistan, in an attempt to lower birth rates, offered free schooling to single-child families
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Re: grah. once more, with decent formatting.msretroApril 1 2007, 12:30:42 UTC
I agree that the tone of the article was very disingenuous. I have a feeling that this guy went in trying to paint a rosier than realistic picture of extreme poverty.
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Here are a few things about poverty in India:
Most of the poorest live in rural areas. Which is not to say all do, but the vast majority of the poorest do. Drinking water and food are constant struggles, let alone electricity.
The poor generally spend 80% of their income just on food -- that leaves 20% to cover shelter and clothing and everything else. Even given that $1 buys more in India, that doesn't really leave leeway for television sets.
Much of that rural labour? Actually receives their wages in food, both out of necessity and through government work-for-food programs aimed at making sure at least one basic need gets met. Leaving, oh, next to no cash for private schools, thank you. The aforementioned parents pulling their children out of public schools to send them to private schools if they can are primarily in Pakistan -- where, by the way, "public" does not mean "free." (Pakistan, in an attempt to lower birth rates, offered free schooling to single-child families ( ... )
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I wonder, though, if the world really can survive with everyone being middle-class.
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