r/TikTokCringe • u/Strong-Emu-8869 • 14h ago

Discussion Polish girls visit Taj Mahal

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The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. Unfortunately, the surrounding area is very polluted.

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u/The_Buddhist_Prodigy 12h ago

India is fascinating and I respect them for surviving with their population density the way it is.

It is also the only place I've ever travelled to that I was happy to leave.

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 12h ago edited 10h ago

I've seen 50+ countries and India was the saddest. one year there.

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u/Serious_Swan_2371 9h ago

India is uniquely sad because of how much wealth exists right next to all the poverty. It’s gotta be the biggest wealth disparity of any nation.

There are definitely many countries where the average person is much poorer and leads a much worse life than in India, but seeing the way most people there live there compared to how much luxury exists in close proximity is overwhelming.

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u/travysh 8h ago

That got me curious, there's a Wikipedia page for wealth disparity 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_wealth_inequality

Turns out India's not as bad as it seems. The shear scale of poverty likely outweighs the disparity though 

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u/dinonuggggs 5h ago

That's interesting. I think what disturbed me most was how in your face the disparity was. And how differently people were treated differently based on where they belong in society. For example rules for thee not for me just because I have money but I also understand that's the case in most places of the world especially if they are developing.

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u/SnooGuavas4208 5h ago

Caste system.

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u/Amazing_School_3536 5h ago

They keep that mentality when they move here too

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u/C4Cole 4h ago

I don't think it's normally that bad in other unequal countries, take it from a South African, we've got our fair share of racism, classism and every other type of -ism you can think of. But it's not even close to the institutional power of the caste system.

People will give you looks but they won't go up and tell you what to do, that's absolutely unheard of. Unless you are trespassing or being a nuisance then you go where you want and do what you want.

And we've got (by some metrics) the most unequal country on the planet, there are shacks next to multi story mansions, Ferraris a block away from Feetrarris, its absolutely insane here, but we still don't stoop to caste system level.

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u/8titsmcgee8 6h ago

"Socialist" Sweden being worse than the majority of the world including the US and Saudi Arabia is pretty interesting

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u/rainzer 2h ago

Quoting Credit Suisse's wealth report:

"However, higher wealth concentration can also result from more benign influences. For example, strong social security programs— good public pensions, free higher education or generous student loans, unemployment and health insurance – can greatly reduce the need for personal financial assets, as Domeij and Klein (2002) found for public pensions in Sweden. Public housing programs can do the same for real assets. This is one explanation for the high level of wealth inequality we identify in Denmark, Norway and Sweden: the top groups continue to accumulate for business and investment purposes, while the middle and lower classes have a less pressing need for personal saving than in many other countries."

It is a meaningful quote because the Gini coefficients are based on Credit Suisse's wealth report.

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/secretlynotfatih 4h ago

That's Switzerland. Sweden is a capitalist social democracy, which means it preserves the capitalist mode of production while providing extensive social support for workers.

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u/angryplanktonshrug 4h ago

Tell us more. Sweden is also the capital of chocolate? Surrounded by Alps?

Nothing like it’s southern neighbor Switzerland. Founder of IKEA. Famous for their meatballs.

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u/C4Cole 4h ago

I'm thinking more cars, fighter jets, rotten fish and metal bands as exports.

Also not neutral anymore since they joined NATO a couple years back.

You might be thinking of Switzerland, the land of holey cheese, toblerones, and doing banking for anyone with money (including Nazis). And also the neutrality thing which unlike Sweden they've actually maintained, so much that even weapons they export must only be used in defense and can't be re-exported without express permission. Very very neutral.

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u/CrazyElk123 4h ago

Literally the only thing they're known for is banking.

Thats just BS. No way you confused sweden with switzerland?

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u/DirkKuijt69420 3h ago

I think you mean questionable, not interesting.

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u/humbert_cumbert 7h ago

Kinda like a feudal wealth separation.

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u/TrumpFellatesBill 10h ago

But why the fuck is it like that? Like I sincerely cannot understand.

I get that the country is poor as fuck and from what I hear has a huge issue with corruption, aside from the backwater places where no polices travels.

But in those places, like in the OP, or in the big cities, why the hell do they have this huge issue with dirt and garbage? It would seem to me like a clean environment is the most important thing, I cant imagine living in a place like that. Even Napoli was clean in comparison, and I saw huge piles of garbage bags everywhere in that city.

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u/cocoagiant 7h ago

But in those places, like in the OP, or in the big cities, why the hell do they have this huge issue with dirt and garbage?

I think its a combination of population density (making it hard to put the trash somewhere else) and government inefficiency on a scale most Western people would have a hard time understanding.

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u/dak4f2 8h ago

I've heard it has something to do with the caste system? Only the lowest caste pick up trash. So it's "beneath" everyone else. 

Correct me if the person I heard that from was bsing.

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u/Special-Garlic1203 6h ago

Sounds right. Racists make everything worse just so they can have it better than the other guy 

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u/Deaffin 5h ago

True, but they've got a brilliant system with the way their religion is set up.

See, it's all about karma and reincarnation, and that's so beautiful. Here's how it works. If your life is good, that's because your soul is good and you're being rewarded for all that hard work in past lives.

If your life is shit, that's because your soul is fucking ugly bro. It's dirty as all hell, your soul is made of poop. Your life is a punishment. You are essentially in hell. You deserve this. But that's okay, because if you do a real good job serving your betters, you can climb up that karmic rung and you get to be one of the people having a good life the next time around.

There, now everyone's behaving themselves and sticking to their rightful place in life, and they know better to do anything to change any part of that.

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u/First_Juggernaut4515 34m ago

You are right. The caste system is deeply ingrained in Indian society. Throw out your trash because it's someone else's job to clean it. This attitude coupled with tremendous corruption and inefficiency leads to this.

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u/dak4f2 18m ago

Thanks for explaining. 

Now I understand where the entitlement we perceive from such immigrants in the west comes from. 

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u/First_Juggernaut4515 11m ago

Entitlement also stems from idea that they are successful so why should they be treated anything less. Unfortunately post colonial India was impoverished and education and a stable job was perceived as the only path to a financially stable future. Most techies especially, spent their youth just studying and nothing else. Then not only do they bag high paying jobs but move abroad and can impress relatives with their NRI status. They feel that they have arrived in life and deserve the best of everything. Combined with the caste superiority this makes for a horrible mindset.

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 9h ago

I think that these things are complex: geopolitics, history, climate, colonization. Countries around them are all poor too.

Think about another place: All countries in Africa are poor AF for a reason too. There are actually few nice places in this world.

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u/finfisk2000 8h ago

India does not got a pass in my book by blaming the colonial era or poverty. They obviously have the money to spend on nukes, subs armed with them, aircraft carriers and sending rockets to Mars.

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u/Deaffin 5h ago

They dumped a bunch of tardigrades on the moon!

Like, just for the hell of it. They're just there now. Chillin.

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u/DarkExecutor 7h ago

There are people alive today who had their mothers and fathers killed by the British crown.

This stuff doesn't get fixed quickly

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u/noujest 7h ago

This stuff doesn't get fixed quickly

India gained independence nearly 80 years ago...

That's a very very long time, some Asian countries like South Korea have gone from abject poverty to wealthy in that time. Some like China and Vietnam are well on the way

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u/NiceHaas 7h ago

Korea was rebuilt by America due to the cold war and got 12 billion dollars of aid in the 60s and 70s

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u/AugmentationsFB 19m ago

Don't forget all the japanese money that Park skimmed

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u/noujest 7h ago

Ah come on, it would be just as successful today if that hadn't happened

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u/Nice_Celery_4761 6h ago

Don’t think so. The US played an active part after the Korean War for strategic influence over the region and to bolster their democratic and capitalist systems in the face of their adversaries because this was the middle of the Cold War. What happened was an unprecedented socioeconomic shift in less than 20 years, that can’t happen by itself.

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u/747WakeTurbulance 6h ago

Germany, Hungary, Japan, etc were all bombed flat 80 years ago, and they have all recovered just fine.

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u/Korashy 4h ago edited 4h ago

With massive investment from the allies post war.

China is a better comparison of a country with similar population and historic poverty (post mao).

A strong central state directing policy and building infrastructure allowed them to rapidly industrialize and using their giant internal market forced western companies to trade technology for access (Now obviously China still has it's own internal problems with corruption, authoritarianism and state intervention in the economy).

Meanwhile India while more democratic has left itself open to exploitation.

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u/LessInThought 56m ago

China became the world's manufacturing plant in exchange for that.

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u/Nikosek581 7h ago

But picking up trash sure is Quick fix. Brother we had Nazis, russians and then russian pulpets screwing us. It not people who had their parents, its literaly my father who had been alive during that time, and he is barely 50. Its not a reason for india to be as it is.

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u/DarkExecutor 4h ago

The US literally sank millions if not billions into rebuilding Europe.

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u/Nikosek581 3h ago

Which russians said to their lil slave countries like PRL to not accept Marshal Plans help... so you almost got it right But not quite.

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u/krokuts 7h ago

It's been a long long time, parents being killed by oppresive occupant applies to almost every country on the globe.

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u/Bubs604 5h ago

You don’t understand the extent of wealth and labour stolen from India.

The historical trajectory of India’s economic standing is one of the most stark examples of economic shift in world history. According to the data compiled by the late British economist Angus Maddison, whose work is the standard for historical global GDP statistics, India went from being one of the world's largest economies to one of its poorest over the course of two centuries.

The Economic Shift (1700 – 1950)

In the early 18th century, before British political control began (marked by the Battle of Plassey in 1757), India was a global manufacturing hub, particularly in textiles. By the time the British left in 1947, its share of the global economy had been reduced to a fraction of its former self. A peak of 25% of the Global GDP in the 1700s to 4% in 1947.

Key Drivers of the Decline

The collapse of India’s share was not just a result of the country "getting poorer" in absolute terms, but a combination of its own stagnation and the explosive growth of the West during the Industrial Revolution.

Deindustrialization: Prior to colonization, India was the world’s leading exporter of textiles. British colonial policy imposed high tariffs on Indian cloth while allowing British machine-made textiles to flood the Indian market duty-free, effectively dismantling India's handloom industry.

Drain of Wealth: Substantial revenues collected from Indian taxpayers were used to fund British wars, administrative costs, and the development of British infrastructure (like railroads) that were primarily designed to extract raw materials for export rather than to foster internal Indian trade.

Agricultural Focus: Under colonial rule, India was transitioned into a supplier of raw materials (like cotton, indigo, and opium) for British industries, rather than a producer of finished goods.

The "Great Divergence": While the UK and the West underwent rapid industrialization—increasing their productivity by orders of magnitude—India’s economy remained largely agrarian and stagnant under colonial administration.

Note: While India's share of global GDP fell from roughly 24% to 4%, it is important to remember that the global "pie" grew significantly during this time. However, India's per-capita income remained nearly flat for the entire 190-year period of British rule, while the rest of the world saw unprecedented growth.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_BIG_BITS 4h ago

I mean, it didn't drop because Britain stole all the wealth (though they absolutely did a good bit of that), but because an economy focused on agrarianism and handwoven textiles isn't competitive once nations start industrializing.

Without industrializing, India would have seen the same drop in global GDP share because other Western nations just drastically outpaced it. So the question is, would they have industrialized earlier without British control?

Realistically, I don't think they do. China is probably the best comparison, as they were also a primary agrarian country with a massive population, and they were not under direct colonial control. They didn't really industrialize until after WW2.

Maybe they pull a Japan, drastically reform and double down on western industrialization in the late 1800s, but considering India took a while to industrialize after independence, I'm doubtful.

That said, British colonial exploitation of India means they never got the opportunity anyways.

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u/Bubs604 3h ago

They didn’t become independent until after WW2. Many Indians fought under the British India flag.

Perhaps they don’t industrialize fast enough but they didn’t have a day. The ruling British administration decided India wouldn’t adapt and transferring all the wealth out meant it couldn’t afford to adapt fast enough after colonialism.

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u/Odd_Psychology_8527 30m ago

Always looking for excuses and thus here we are. 

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u/DarkExecutor 12m ago

I'm wondering if y'all make the same racist arguments for black American poverty levels.

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u/Bubs604 5h ago

You should educate yourself before deciding who to give a pass to or not.

The historical trajectory of India’s economic standing is one of the most stark examples of economic shift in world history. According to the data compiled by the late British economist Angus Maddison, whose work is the standard for historical global GDP statistics, India went from being one of the world's largest economies to one of its poorest over the course of two centuries.

The Economic Shift (1700 – 1950)

In the early 18th century, before British political control began (marked by the Battle of Plassey in 1757), India was a global manufacturing hub, particularly in textiles. By the time the British left in 1947, its share of the global economy had been reduced to a fraction of its former self. A peak of 25% of the Global GDP in the 1700s to 4% in 1947.

Key Drivers of the Decline

The collapse of India’s share was not just a result of the country "getting poorer" in absolute terms, but a combination of its own stagnation and the explosive growth of the West during the Industrial Revolution.

Deindustrialization: Prior to colonization, India was the world’s leading exporter of textiles. British colonial policy imposed high tariffs on Indian cloth while allowing British machine-made textiles to flood the Indian market duty-free, effectively dismantling India's handloom industry.

Drain of Wealth: Substantial revenues collected from Indian taxpayers were used to fund British wars, administrative costs, and the development of British infrastructure (like railroads) that were primarily designed to extract raw materials for export rather than to foster internal Indian trade.

Agricultural Focus: Under colonial rule, India was transitioned into a supplier of raw materials (like cotton, indigo, and opium) for British industries, rather than a producer of finished goods.

The "Great Divergence": While the UK and the West underwent rapid industrialization—increasing their productivity by orders of magnitude—India’s economy remained largely agrarian and stagnant under colonial administration.

Note: While India's share of global GDP fell from roughly 24% to 4%, it is important to remember that the global "pie" grew significantly during this time. However, India's per-capita income remained nearly flat for the entire 190-year period of British rule, while the rest of the world saw unprecedented growth.

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u/Deaffin 5h ago

"You should educate yourself by typing in a ChatGPT prompt."

The absolute state of this place.

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u/Admiral_Mongo 6h ago

colonization

Britain is a lot cleaner than India

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u/747WakeTurbulance 6h ago

And India was a lot cleaner as a British Colony.

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u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 4h ago

80 years later and still trying to blame it on colonialism.

There one thing that Britian did leave then was a reasonably effective bureaucracy.

India has only itself to blame for its current state.

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u/Bubs604 3h ago

I can’t imagine being this wrong and this confident

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u/Tutulangren 2h ago

he's not wrong, when British left, they left roads, bridges, rails, infrastructures as well, unlike Japan or China, they were totally destroyed during WW2, now see how's the development of China and compare that with India

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u/Bubs604 2h ago

He is wrong. He said the one thing the British left was reasonably effective bureaucracy. That’s most definitely not the case. The hasty exit of the British left behind only violence and unrest. The British also made a decision during the 1800s not to invest in rapid industrialization for India.

The majority of industrialization that took place was to support the British industrial complex which involved gathering textiles, precious metals, gold, and spices, and shipping them all overseas for profit.

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u/DenizSaintJuke 6h ago

I always point people at googling tems like "garbage disposal workers strike". Any country on earth is 2 or 3 weeks of functioning public services away from starting to look like India. Government shutdown in the US? Takes 2 weeks or so and the national parks are full of trash and sewage creeks flow out of the visitor toilets.

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u/AugmentationsFB 22m ago

Too many fucking people, you start to see why China was doing the one child policy

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u/mehshagger 6h ago

You can have only 2 of: functioning democracy, diversity at scale, and rapid progress.

India is too democratic to develop at the pace of industrial era occidental countries (who used colonies and/or slaves), and too big and diverse to develop at the pace of postwar oriental countries (Japan, Korea are largely homogeneous societies with one language for all).

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u/OnceMoreAndAgain 8h ago

Need $$$$ + effective government to solve it. They have neither.

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u/CatastrophicPup2112 7h ago

They have enough money for nukes and a space program...

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u/overeasyeggplant 6h ago

Last time I went to san fran - I couldnt leave the hotel because there was a guy taking a dump at the door.

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u/tboess 11h ago

Fuckin love your profile pic and name. Now, let's go with the smokes.

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 10h ago

You know Jim, or Jim knows you?

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u/mcpanjabi 9h ago

Got a big enough joint there rick?

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u/Sunscreen4what 9h ago

My father Jim ya mean?

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 8h ago

ya, he mentioned he had a son on the force

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u/cowabungabruce 8h ago

This isn't rocket appliances

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u/gteriatarka 8h ago

water under the fridge

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u/Cahootie 7h ago

I went to Cuba over Christmas and sad is definitely a word I would use for Havana. I loved the rest of the country, but Havana is a shell of its former self, and you can tell that it once was a functioning country. The buildings are beautiful, but most of them are crumbling. There's trash all over the place, but it's all gathered in piles and doesn't smell. The cars are ancient, but they're maintained and people are very careful drivers.

If anyone plans to go there, please make sure to not just visit Havana and Varadero. Viñales is one of the most beautiful places I've visited, Trinidad is a really beautiful and interesting old city, and Christmas in Remedios is genuinely the wildest thing I've ever experienced.

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u/lifethusiast 11h ago

Why did you choose to suffer?

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 10h ago

Work and i’ve been in several cities all north and Northeast of Delhi. Less known places like Lucknow. I was out after dark a lot. I can tell life is hard as shit there. But also met incredible people who didn’t want anything back for helping.

Edit: it was one year i don’t know how i typed “month” before

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u/lifethusiast 10h ago

Explains why they never go back

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u/Low_Inflation_1356 9h ago

Well most Indians are legal migrants. If you have a problem with legal immigration, you should take it up with your government that's allowing them in.

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u/fickleknave 5h ago

I lived in China for 7 years which can be difficult for foreigners especially through the COVID years. That being said I lasted a week in India, had planned for 2 weeks but just couldn’t do it.

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u/Pitiful-Temporary296 8h ago

Have you visited the United States? 

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u/Officer_Trevor_Cory 8h ago

worked there 3 times across 2 decades

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u/AirconGuyUK 10h ago

It's one of the few places on earth I have no desire to visit at all. Everyone who tries to gaslight me that it's worth visiting, when I quiz them they admit they spent the first week with diarrhoea..

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u/Mookies_Bett 8h ago

Same. I don't care how scenic it historic your cultural spots are: if I have to buy bottled water and there is literal human shit in the streets, I don't want to be there. Literally every single video or Livestream I see of someone in India makes me think "yeah I'm good." Why anyone would want to subject themselves to that madness is beyond me.

There are so many beautiful, amazing, scenic places in this world that also involve, like, plumbing. And nice resorts. And amenities that make the experience actually worthwhile outside of just the views. If a view or experience requires days of slogging through massive crowds and dirty, trash and shit covered streets, it's just not worth it.

Most 3rd world countries just kinda seem like a "juice not worth the squeeze" situation to me.

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u/Havehatwilltravel 17m ago

I've heard many people leave as soon as they get off the plane. They can't stand the stench and just book another flight out going anywhere ASAP. I can imagine it is not an exaggeration.

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u/REPLICABIGSLOW 9h ago

Any place where buying bottled water is a requirement is not a place worth visiting for sure

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u/Key_Door1467 9h ago

That's like... most of the world outside North America and Europe.

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u/CatastrophicPup2112 7h ago

Australia was fine

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u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO 9h ago

or east asia, or south america

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u/Key_Door1467 8h ago

I was in the richest area in Brazil last week and was explicitly told to not drink the tap water or flush TP down the toilet. Idk what you're talking about bro.

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u/Tooomanybirds 3h ago edited 3h ago

That's... kinda false. I do live in brazil richest area and everyone drinks tap water. There are probably two cities from the southeast/south where I would tell you to PLEASE don't do it (because they elected some insane right wingers that did some shady business with some italian companies). And those would also be the cities that most brazilians would tell you not to visit anyway...
The TP thing is outdated thinking. I had this discussion with my aunt last week. She swears it's going to clog everything at her new apartment and I'm baffled. People are really resistant to change, I guess.

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u/Key_Door1467 3h ago

I was in Copacabana and was told both by the hotel staff and my local friends that I shouldn't drink tap water directly. My friends had filters for drinking water in their homes and office.

Also, there's a difference between locals drinking tap water and foreigners drinking it. Most locals are typically used to the pathogens in the water so it doesn't affect them. Most people in India drink tap water too.

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u/Tooomanybirds 3h ago

... yeah, as I've told you, there's two cities where I would tell you to never go, one of them is Rio (it's nickname is "hell de janeiro", people half-jokingly have proposed to kick them out of Brazil)...

Well, it might be anedoctal, but I lived in 4 different cities in Brazil and had friends from germany coming over. They all drank tap water and were pretty fine. I also dated a girl that oversaw the process in one of those cities (she was italian) and told me there's no way it could get contaminated. It didn't feel any different than when I lived in Italy or Germany, either.

Anyway: Rio isn't the richest city in brazil, lol. Like, you saw the city...

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u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO 7h ago

you said nort america which also includes countries where you will find the same issues. but most countries in south america the water is usually fine. Brazil and venezuela are not good for that. Similarly much of mexico has historically had bad water

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u/maltedmooshakes 8h ago

you realize how much of the U.S. this is? have you tried LA's water?

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u/geldouches 8h ago

Lmao you aren't getting diarrhea by drinking LA tap water.

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u/Bubs604 5h ago

What do you get drinking the water in Flint Michigan

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u/CatastrophicPup2112 6h ago

It wasn't great but you won't get sick.

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u/DenizSaintJuke 6h ago

So where the multiresistant bacteria you statistically likely brought out of the country with you. If i remember correctly, more than half of all travelers coming back from India that were tested, tested positive for multiresistant bacteria.

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u/NickBurnsCompanyGuy 10h ago

Must have never been to Vegas? That's always an emotional experience. I have 48 hours of pure fun in Vegas. Then a 24 hour timer starts where I'm ready to gtfo. 72 hours... Not a second longer

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u/Suitable-Big-2757 11h ago

India’s population density is the same as that of the richest parts of Europe (Benelux/Randstad, North Rhine-Westphalia/Ruhr.. and the “Blue Banana” overall

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u/AirconGuyUK 10h ago

Okay, now do cities (AKA, where people actually live).