Mar 8 2013: Agreed, the problems started a long time ago, but it has caused so many more problems along with it . A change in the Indian mindset is what we really need. Not going to be easy.
Mar 8 2013: As I have said before, there are a number of problems to solve here. Prioritizing itself is confusing pointless. Caste systems and religious conflicts are probably just the tip of the ice-berg. The series of problems could be solved, but it will take a long time.
I agree that somebody like Mao Tse Tung wouldn't work out because it would create more problems than solving them.
Sorry Dorian I disagree with you thinking that our problems are unsolvable, as I said, it will take a long time and a whole lot of optimism and determination but it's not impossible, :)
Mar 8 2013: yes of course, I agree that the average income of a group with more education will be higher than another group's with relatively lesser education. Although I think that the people with a less-than-average income would be pulling their average down. Since we are speaking about the exceptions in both the groups, comparing them would be better. We could compare the averages of incomes of the very best of the groups, so we have an accurate comparison.
Mar 6 2013: Of course, success is rather subjective. But I am referring to success in the context of the question asked, where it talks about the somewhat small majority of rich and famous people, who , in spite of being college drop-outs have managed to get to the level that they have today.
College being a possible mandatory qualification for joining any organization is inevitable due to the increasing population and scarce jobs. Obviously, one with more qualifications is likely to get a job at any organization . And also, the impact of economic downterm on a person with less education in some way or the other is inevitable. But are you referring to all of the people who have received relatively less education, even people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc. ?
Mar 6 2013: Fritzie,
I agree that Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are two people who interrupted their education to go ahead with their compelling ideas and wrere not forced into entrepreneurship, rather, they were looking for it. I see how many of these college-dropouts, though almost equally successful, had different reasons for dropping out. I think they got rich because they are extremely good at what they do and street-smart as well. I have recently read that a mass-based forrester research (from Cambridge) showed that 20% of America's millionaires have never even attended college. I have also read an article of the Forbes, which wrote about the rags-to-riches stories of 50 people. They were either entrepreneurs , or worked their way up after getting lucky. But as you said, they may have not been forced into entrepreneurship and must have had different reasons. They were nonetheless entrepreneurs. So I would say that a majority of successful college drop-outs from what I have read are entrepreneurs.
Mar 6 2013: I agree, our country has all the means through which we can solve our problems, it's the attitude of the people that bothers me more. Bribing is so common here, that if you don't bribe somebody to get your job done, they'll look at you like your crazy. They don't seem to care about what that small 200 rupee bribe can lead to.
On the brighter side, my generation is finally realizing what's happening around us. It was only the idea of complete control which communism offered which seemed like the only quick solution to me. But now I realize that there is no quick solution. I was angry at the way people misuse their freedom and I thought snatching away their rights would do better since they clearly can't use their freedom in the right way. But I see now that our system is not at fault, it's the people who are in it that are at fault. And I also think that it's not possible for China to conquer us. We have way too much freedom to allow somebody to take them away.
Thanks for your contribution! :)
Mar 4 2013: In my view, . These famous businessmen/women have been successful because of their burning desire to achieve something and more importantly they did not allow their limited academic education to make them settle for a mediocre life. They worked hard and made it to the top. As Edwin said, these drop-outs are unable to find any good jobs and are thus, are driven to create work for themselves. Unlike many college drop-outs who are happy doing a job at McDonald's for the rest of their lives (no offense to anybody who works there) and are okay with having not having achieving anything substantial in their lives. They may be exceptionally smart, maybe smarter than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs ever were, but if heshe allows the fact that they're college drop-outs to decide the quality of life they can have , they may become very successful people. The most important quality I have noticed in most of these successful college drop-outs is that they are not scared to dream or take any risks.
I would say that the fact that they were drop-outs forced them into entrepreneurship, as it's the only way they can become big. So I would rephrase the sentence and say that the most of the big businessmen and businesswomen are college dropouts rather that most of the college drop-outs being the biggest businessmen or businesswomen! :)
Feb 24 2013: In my perspective it is not how much money we are putting in to solve a problem but how effectively we are using that money. I agree that throwing money at the poor will just keep them going for a while. It is the long term benefits that we need to look at. However, when such a large amount of money is being spent to solve many problems, enforcing our solution requires an extremely large number of people to collaborate and have a unified goal. Money is pivotal for solving many problems our world faces today, but the people involved in spending this money need to be able spend it in the right place at the right time. No matter how kind and well wishing a person is while donating hisher money, they must realize what they are affecting. Let's take my country India for example.
80% of the Indian population are farmers, agriculturists. They are also the poorest of all the economic classes in India. All the politicians here do something called a 'pada yatra' in my state, where they walk the whole state, visiting all the rural areas and villages. They give them money, build them houses, promise them rations on every thing imaginable, and they win. They continue to throw money at them and give them things free of cost, with the taxpayers' money and the taxpayer's begin to accumulate their wealth and indulge in tax evasion because they have no benefits whatsoever. This again results in the Govt. not having enough money and increasing prices of electricity, etc.. This has been the scenario since a long time, and the vicious cycle has been going on.
Here, money spent at the wrong time led to many other problems.
More than the money, it's about making the right decision about where it is going to be spent and making sure that we are resposible. Money in today's world is power in many ways, thus as in Spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility" :)
Feb 16 2013: thank you for all of your answers, I realize that communism is not a solution to my country's problems, and Kriztian: I agree that China doing well is more of a reference to it's economic scenario rather than it's political scenario. I have read up on how China has so many restrictions on everything and seems to absolutely oppose liberal thinking. It appears as if they want to program their people to think and act in a certain manner.
However I realize that there is more to India's problems than a large population.
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A reply on Conversation: Can a country with a large population find better and more efficient solutions to its problems under Communism?
A reply on Conversation: Can a country with a large population find better and more efficient solutions to its problems under Communism?
I agree that somebody like Mao Tse Tung wouldn't work out because it would create more problems than solving them.
Sorry Dorian I disagree with you thinking that our problems are unsolvable, as I said, it will take a long time and a whole lot of optimism and determination but it's not impossible, :)
A reply on Conversation: Is it right that mostly college drop out students run the biggest businesses in the world?
A reply on Conversation: Is it right that mostly college drop out students run the biggest businesses in the world?
College being a possible mandatory qualification for joining any organization is inevitable due to the increasing population and scarce jobs. Obviously, one with more qualifications is likely to get a job at any organization . And also, the impact of economic downterm on a person with less education in some way or the other is inevitable. But are you referring to all of the people who have received relatively less education, even people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc. ?
A reply on Conversation: Is it right that mostly college drop out students run the biggest businesses in the world?
I agree that Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are two people who interrupted their education to go ahead with their compelling ideas and wrere not forced into entrepreneurship, rather, they were looking for it. I see how many of these college-dropouts, though almost equally successful, had different reasons for dropping out. I think they got rich because they are extremely good at what they do and street-smart as well. I have recently read that a mass-based forrester research (from Cambridge) showed that 20% of America's millionaires have never even attended college. I have also read an article of the Forbes, which wrote about the rags-to-riches stories of 50 people. They were either entrepreneurs , or worked their way up after getting lucky. But as you said, they may have not been forced into entrepreneurship and must have had different reasons. They were nonetheless entrepreneurs. So I would say that a majority of successful college drop-outs from what I have read are entrepreneurs.
A reply on Conversation: Can a country with a large population find better and more efficient solutions to its problems under Communism?
Can you please elaborate on how your experience residing in the country makes you think that?
A reply on Conversation: Can a country with a large population find better and more efficient solutions to its problems under Communism?
On the brighter side, my generation is finally realizing what's happening around us. It was only the idea of complete control which communism offered which seemed like the only quick solution to me. But now I realize that there is no quick solution. I was angry at the way people misuse their freedom and I thought snatching away their rights would do better since they clearly can't use their freedom in the right way. But I see now that our system is not at fault, it's the people who are in it that are at fault. And I also think that it's not possible for China to conquer us. We have way too much freedom to allow somebody to take them away.
Thanks for your contribution! :)
A comment on Conversation: Is it right that mostly college drop out students run the biggest businesses in the world?
I would say that the fact that they were drop-outs forced them into entrepreneurship, as it's the only way they can become big. So I would rephrase the sentence and say that the most of the big businessmen and businesswomen are college dropouts rather that most of the college drop-outs being the biggest businessmen or businesswomen! :)
A comment on Conversation: $500 Billion - can this solve the big problems?
80% of the Indian population are farmers, agriculturists. They are also the poorest of all the economic classes in India. All the politicians here do something called a 'pada yatra' in my state, where they walk the whole state, visiting all the rural areas and villages. They give them money, build them houses, promise them rations on every thing imaginable, and they win. They continue to throw money at them and give them things free of cost, with the taxpayers' money and the taxpayer's begin to accumulate their wealth and indulge in tax evasion because they have no benefits whatsoever. This again results in the Govt. not having enough money and increasing prices of electricity, etc.. This has been the scenario since a long time, and the vicious cycle has been going on.
Here, money spent at the wrong time led to many other problems.
More than the money, it's about making the right decision about where it is going to be spent and making sure that we are resposible. Money in today's world is power in many ways, thus as in Spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility" :)
A comment on Conversation: Can a country with a large population find better and more efficient solutions to its problems under Communism?
However I realize that there is more to India's problems than a large population.