Indian Opinion Towards US Up

[A_Wanderer]

"Fully 71% in India express a positive opinion of the United States, compared with 54% three years ago," the [Pew Global Attitudes Project] survey says. Favorable opinion of the US in India was higher than any of the countries surveyed, including Canada (where it declined from 72% three years ago to 59%) and the United Kingdom, where it dipped considerably from 75% to 55%. Indians also had the most favorable opinion of the American people - 71% compared to 70% in Britain, 66% in Canada, 65% in Germany, 64% in France, 61% in Russia and 43% in China. The survey was conducted among 17,000 people in the US and 15 other countries from April 20 to May 31.

A healthy majority of Indians view Americans as "inventive" (86%), "hard-working" (81%) and "honest". Fewer than half associate the negative traits "greedy" (43%), "violent" (39%), "immoral" (33%) and "rude" (27%) with Americans.

link

I suppose that when it comes to the world, contrary to the opinions of so many, you cannot piss off all of the world all of the time.

 

[verte76]

This is interesting to say the least.

 

[80sU2isBest]

link

I suppose that when it comes to the world, contrary to the opinions of so many, you cannot piss off all of the world all of the time.

It's all a right-wing conspiracy, A. That poll was probably conducted under threat of torture by Karl Rove, Tom Delay and Dubya themselves.

 

[impy13]

It's a start

 

[VertigoGal]

that's good I guess...

although I have to say, our standards have slipped pretty low when we consider it a *good* thing that 43% of a country consider Americans to be greedy and 39% associate us with being violent.

 

[cardosino]

that's good I guess...

although I have to say, our standards have slipped pretty low when we consider it a *good* thing that 43% of a country consider Americans to be greedy and 39% associate us with being violent.

Rich coming from country with a stone-age caste system, terrible corruption and a tradition of burning women alive.......

Still, let's keep outsourcing our jobs there..........

 

[unosdostres14]

I think I'm gonna disagree with this one. I'm an American-born citizen but my parents came here from India to go to college in America and I went to India in June to visit my family. Of all the high school/college aged people I talked to, they ALL have unfavorable opinions of America. Like....they all don't like America/Americans and everyone that they go to school with thinks the same way. I found myself explaining tons of misconceptions that they pick up about Americans. Maybe the older people have started liking American corporations that send their jobs to them, but the growing sentiment among the next generation is completely different.

 

[unosdostres14]

Rich coming from country with a stone-age caste system, terrible corruption and a tradition of burning women alive.......

Still, let's keep outsourcing our jobs there..........

Caste system was abolished decades ago. Plus you think you even know the reasoning behind why the caste system was made. You don't learn everything in your 9th grade world history class, buddy

India is one of the only democracies in a region full of Communist and dictatorial regimes.

Burning women alive?

 

[unosdostres14]

Still, let's keep outsourcing our jobs there..........

And they outsource jobs there because poorer Indians are just as smart as Americans and will work for less. I'm against outsourcing jobs to India (even tho my parents are from there) because I believe it's wrong to allow millions of people to lose their jobs just so that big corporations can save money. But the rationale to outsourcing jobs to India is because Indians give the same quality for a cheaper price tag.

 

[cardosino]

Caste system was abolished decades ago.

I have many Indian friends, they assure me the caste system is alive and well.

http://www.dalitindia.org/caste/caste.htm


"Hence all the window dressings that goes on in the Country to cover the truth, to hide the Caste, the damages of the Caste System, the injustices of the caste Hindus, and present a very sober, deeply religious, spiritual, peace loving, non-violent face for the Public and World Consumption."

Burning women alive?

Sati. Officially banned/abolished, just like the very much alive caste system.


"bride burning alive an dwell in India"

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9508/india/burning_brides/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2241437.stm

 

[melon]

Caste system was abolished decades ago. Plus you think you even know the reasoning behind why the caste system was made. You don't learn everything in your 9th grade world history class, buddy

India is one of the only democracies in a region full of Communist and dictatorial regimes.

Burning women alive?

The caste system has been officially dismantled since independence.

However, it has often been poorly enforced and the caste system operates de facto still. There are still many stories of the upper castes killing those in the lower classes or destroying their property if they get too wealthy. This is especially the case with the leather and merchant castes, whom I guess they never envisioned could become independently wealthy in the modern era. So the Brahmin caste just comes on in, demolishes their property and occasionally attacks/kills/maims the people of the lower castes.

The caste system was created like any other religious institution: as a means to force people to do jobs that no one wanted to do, but then going the added step of deifying it. Sure, let's develop a taboo against touching dead bodies, but hey...people die and *someone* has to take care of the dead. A contradiction? Yes. But the caste system solved that by forcing a class of people to do it, and then blaming it on their bad behavior in their past lives.

The caste system has to be probably the most offensive aspect of Hinduism.

Melon

 

[melon]

I have many Indian friends, they assure me the caste system is alive and well.

http://www.dalitindia.org/caste/caste.htm


"Hence all the window dressings that goes on in the Country to cover the truth, to hide the Caste, the damages of the Caste System, the injustices of the caste Hindus, and present a very sober, deeply religious, spiritual, peace loving, non-violent face for the Public and World Consumption."

You're quite correct. In fact, I thought people long knew that the caste system still operated unofficially.

Oh well. Maybe now that more people know about it, more people can push for its complete dismantle.

Melon

 

[unosdostres14]

The caste system, as I have learned from reading scripture and stuff, was merely a system of organizing the society. The people who were priests were said to be in the Brahmin caste. The people who were warriors were put into their respective caste. Etc. etc. It wasn't based on birth originally. It was based on merit. Depending on your abilities, you had a job, and based on that job you were in a certain class. Now what happened, was that when people had kids, often times the kids would just eventually take the same job as their parents. Makes sense.....a blacksmith teaches his son how to be a blacksmith and eventually his son becomes a blacksmith. So this happened very often. So AS A RESULT (not the cause) of people's children always taking the same jobs as their parents had, evolution of thinking made it seem as if jobs were hereditary and therefore caste was hereditary. And also...in India today you won't see people like....not going near the "untouchables" or whatever.

 

[cardosino]

.in India today you won't see people like....not going near the "untouchables" or whatever.

Recent (in the last year or so) excellent article I read in National Geographic strongly suggests otherwise.

The research was carried out in India, not from a PC.

I'll ask my Indian co-workers also if that's the case.

 

[unosdostres14]

Okay.....what you're talking about is just like any society. A very large percentage of America are very different from most. There's lots of people who still believe in slavery and stuff down south. This is such a retarted conversation. You're taking a minor part of India and using it to represent over a billion people. Trust me...I stayed in India for a month....there isn't rampant caste system shit going around. My family's ancestors were brahmins but we don't think about stuff like that when we're in India and neither does any of our family.

This is like saying that all Italians are gangsters because you heard about the mafia.

 

[Irvine511]

Rich coming from country with a stone-age caste system, terrible corruption and a tradition of burning women alive.......

Still, let's keep outsourcing our jobs there..........

it's always nice when you can sweep over a billion people into such a tidy box.

perhaps if the US had the same number of graduates who could compete in science and technology with their Indian counterparts then we wouldn't find so many jobs outsourced there.

still, you have Indian co-workers, so you can't possibly hold a wildly simplistic view of the most complex society on earth.

 

[80sU2isBest]

it's always nice when you can sweep over a billion people into such a tidy box.

perhaps if the US had the same number of graduates who could compete in science and technology with their Indian counterparts then we wouldn't find so many jobs outsourced there.

still, you have Indian co-workers, so you can't possibly hold a wildly simplistic view of the most complex society on earth.

Truthfully Irvine, it's not all about whether or not the US produces competitive workers. It's about cheap labor and cost of living, also.

There are many internet sites that allow freelance web and multimedia designers to bid on posted projects. I've pretty much given up bidding on them, because most of them are awarded to people from India, who can afford to do the jobs for less than half of what Americans have to charge. For example, this one company posted an on-going full time project (40 hours a week) for $800 a month. And I kid you not, at least 19 people bid on it. Good grief, can you imagine that? These are American companies awarding these cheap contracts to Indian freelancers.

 

[U2Bama]

There's lots of people who still believe in slavery and stuff down south. This is such a retarted conversation.

Where did you find your information that there are "lots" of people who still believe in slavery "and stuff" down south?

Just as you have spent a month in India and have confirmed that the caste system is not rampant, I have lived in "down south" for 32 years and I can assure you that there are not "lots of people" here who wish to return to a system of slavery. Even most of the confederate flag wavers whom I confront distance themselves from such a cause. They typically focus on "states
rights" or "heritage," both of which I still disagree with, but they will be quick to comment that most confederate troops were themselves too poor to own slaves.

Now, I don't deny that there are people here in the south or any other part of the US that are of the opinion that slavery is a good thing, but to say there are "lots" of people down south who still believe in slavery, I'd have to see your evidence for that claim. Even such a "belief" does not compare to the actual practice, and I think the situation in India and the allegations related thereto were of the unofficial existence of a caste system despite its legal abolishment.

~U2Alabama

 

[cardosino]

perhaps if the US had the same number of graduates who could compete in science and technology with their Indian counterparts then we wouldn't find so many jobs outsourced there.

It's not about competing technically, it's about comepting cost-wise.

Many Indians actually come over here to get their advanced degrees.

still, you have Indian co-workers, so you can't possibly hold a wildly simplistic view of the most complex society on earth.

I hold the view, as do many Indians here I work with, that India's caste system is an abomination. Similar to apartheid really in many ways.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Where did you find your information that there are "lots" of people who still believe in slavery "and stuff" down south?

Just as you have spent a month in India and have confirmed that the caste system is not rampant, I have lived in "down south" for 32 years and I can assure you that there are not "lots of people" here who wish to return to a system of slavery.

Exatly. I've lived down south for 37 years, and have never met a person who believe in slavery.

But providing facts and sources has never been unosdostres14's strong points. He's much more comfortable slandering people.

 

[Irvine511]

It's not about competing technically, it's about comepting cost-wise.

Many Indians actually come over here to get their advanced degrees.

I hold the view, as do many Indians here I work with, that India's caste system is an abomination. Similar to apartheid really in many ways.

it's mostly about numbers ... as Indian society grows richer, costs there will rise. but they will still have many, many more workers available than we do, and their graduates coming out of high school are more advanced than your typical American (or even European) worker.

no one likes the caste system, but to choose that as the defining characteristic of Indian society -- and that because of this India is morally unable to have valid opinions on the United States -- is really silly.

 

[anitram]

no one likes the caste system, but to choose that as the defining characteristic of Indian society -- and that because of this India is morally unable to have valid opinions on the United States -- is really silly.

Especially when you take into account the fact that somewhere between 15-20% of Indians are not Hindu but Muslim/Christian/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist, and other faiths without a caste system.

 

[Ft. Worth Frog]

Okay.....what you're talking about is just like any society. A very large percentage of America are very different from most. There's lots of people who still believe in slavery and stuff down south. This is such a retarted conversation. You're taking a minor part of India and using it to represent over a billion people. Trust me...I stayed in India for a month....there isn't rampant caste system shit going around. My family's ancestors were brahmins but we don't think about stuff like that when we're in India and neither does any of our family.

This is like saying that all Italians are gangsters because you heard about the mafia.

Visit Dalitfreedomnetwork.org (I think that's the site). 250 million people treated as outcasts. Lots of Americans in the south still want slavery? You're kidding right? Yes there are still issues of race, but in general, those who still want slavery are relegated to appearances on Jerry Springer.

 

[unosdostres14]

Ah..I know that there aren't lots of people down south that believe in slavery. It was just kind of an on the moment comment. sorry to have offended anyone, but I dont' want my original point to be lost in this. There are pockets of every country that don't represent the view of most people in the nation. But that doesn't mean that the over one billion people in India believes in the caste system and employs it in everyday use since some areas still do.

When talking about jobs and such going to India, what people need to understand is that the workers in India that are taking the jobs have the exact same qualifications as the workers here. they are just working for less money because the cost of living is much less there so salaries don't need to be as high.

 

[unosdostres14]

it's mostly about numbers ... as Indian society grows richer, costs there will rise. but they will still have many, many more workers available than we do, and their graduates coming out of high school are more advanced than your typical American (or even European) worker.

no one likes the caste system, but to choose that as the defining characteristic of Indian society -- and that because of this India is morally unable to have valid opinions on the United States -- is really silly.

That's absolutely correct. Even if there are people who are using the caste system (which is NOT the whole fucking country) it's definetly not the defining characteristic. Obviously there must be some intelligence in this nation if so many corporations would rather have Indians working in their companies than Americans.

 

[melon]

Once India gets too expensive, they'll just hop to Malaysia. American multinational corporations, frankly, don't give a shit.

Melon

 

[80sU2isBest]

Once India gets too expensive, they'll just hop to Malaysia. American multinational corporations, frankly, don't give a shit.

Melon

That's true. That's true.

 

[Saracene]

It's all silly anyway, considering that out of vast billion people in India less than 15,000 were asked their opinion in a poll that's all about neatly putting hundreds of millions of people in US in tidy boxes. Apparently that's enough to confidently brandish numbers like 77% percent or whatever,

 

[A_Wanderer]

You can say the same about any polls, but I suspect that such a change would be statistically significant.

 

[Saracene]

"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics"