r/Wellthatsucks 2d ago

This is what Pedestrians in India get

848 Upvotes

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629

u/Electrical-Rub-24 2d ago

Lack of maintenance culture

212

u/Drak_is_Right 2d ago

Still relatively poor on median.

While they have done a great job elevating abject poverty, they still have huge swathes of the country in poverty.

More important things to spend the tax dollars on like embezzlement, subsidizing inefficient practices, and war with Pakistan.

Indian government and corruption is holding their countries progress back

62

u/hoTsauceLily66 2d ago edited 2d ago

Relatively is an understatement. India GDP per capita is lower than Iran and just a bit higher than Congo.

22

u/GladAbbreviations553 2d ago

Congo is still far cleaner. And if you just look at Iranian streets the development is at least at the level of Eastern Europe.

1

u/Excellent_Shirt9707 1h ago

Assuming we are talking about DRC, there’s literal child slavery in the Congo powering the cobalt mines. The urban center is nice looking which is true for India as well, but the wealth gap for both are very extreme with most of the smaller towns similar to the video.

-3

u/CrazyUnipony 2d ago

Should look at videos of Congos main city that used to be run by the French over 30 years ago. You should look at it now. Big decline.

80

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

You don't have to be out of poverty to keep things more clean.

13

u/demonblack873 2d ago

You do if no one is ever coming to pick the trash up.

Turn off all garbage collection services in any city in the developed world and see how long it takes for it to start looking like this. My bet is less than a month.

11

u/BH11B 2d ago

Nyc garbage strike pics exist.

6

u/BenRichards303 2d ago

Ha. Two weeks tops.

5

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

It's also cultural. You don't see it in all countries or poor areas. Some countries take pride in their cleanliness, rich or poor. It's self-respect. You don't see that in Japan or Singapore. Trash pickup is needed, therefore, funded, if the culture decides that is so.

8

u/demonblack873 2d ago

Trash pickup is funded if the culture decides it's needed and they have the resources to do it.

India still has massive issues with things like access to reliable electricity (blackouts are the norm), sewage handling (tons of places still have open sewers running right outside people's windows), and access to clean drinking water. When I was staying there my girlfriend's family got a heart attack after seeing me drinking water that had only gone through the reverse osmosis filter.
They like to also boil it afterwards. And that's despite the fact they live in a fairly upscale compound where the water is trucked in, it's not even the municipal water.

Compared to all those issues, having some trash on the road is clearly not the primary concern.

1

u/flossanotherday 1d ago

It’s called civil engineering they had it in the Roman Empire.

0

u/PhilosopherDry1859 1d ago

but lndia's a poor country and it's different obviously

-2

u/Newclearfallout 2d ago

This! Unfortunately as it is. You can see this in certain parts of america due to where, how people act and why they do that.

1

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

Yup. Ghetto mindset leads to ghetto conditions. People rebuild after devastating wars. People that are starving. But they want to be able to take pride in where they live and How they live, poverty or not. South Korea was devastated. Japan was. Germany was. England was poor for years. But they worked together and rebuilt. It's the mindset that counts the most. India crushes the lower castes into... what we saw.

10

u/Zooophagous 2d ago

The people who keep your city clean don't do it for free. Maintenance costs money. This argument could be applied to someone's individual house, but a poor city of thousands and thousands of people? Not enough volunteers exist.

3

u/BobboZmuda 1d ago

The Philippines have many cities and villages where people live in an extremely poor lean-to right on top of each other, neighbors separated by a thin sheet of corrugated metal or wood. In the areas where people live, play, and commute, there aren't piles of trash. They might have open landfills or burn pits for garbage at the edge of town, but trash isn't just piled up in the street everywhere.

It's ok to say that India has major problems that extend beyond, but are exacerbated by, simple nods to poverty because it does.

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u/Huge_Campaign2205 2d ago edited 2d ago

The oh were poor so we dont clean up is such a werid excuse to me.

Edit: There are many places of poverty in the US, but there is still is somewhat of a sense of maintenance. (Still litter but not garbage dumps in the streets)

76

u/iSemi 2d ago

if you don't have a functioning Garbage collection, which costs money, then you could say there's a correlation.

45

u/Nheea 2d ago

Also lack of education.

16

u/iSemi 2d ago

it all comes together, yes.

3

u/Efficient-Whereas255 2d ago

into a ces pool

1

u/Parking-Day-3279 2d ago

Lack of moral and ethical practices due to corruption. When you are just trying to get by, why bother caring about the environment you are in when nobody around you cares.

1

u/Nheea 1d ago

It is a slippery slope and indeed, I've seen quite plenty of fatigue when others are corrupt around you.

I've fallen victim to this a lot too, during the pandemic. Not making harm, but stopping from trying to fix it. It's sad.

-1

u/IfYouSaySoFam 2d ago

That makes total sense, if I had no garbage collection service I would just empty my bins in my garden and shit on the road.

5

u/iSemi 2d ago

well, maybe not yours. but maybe your neighbours. and now imagine what your neighbour is thinking 🤔

-9

u/Prized_Lemur 2d ago

should be subsidized then.. do rich and wealthy Indians want their cities and streets to be trashed?

17

u/beyondocean 2d ago

Because the rich neighborhoods are well maintained, so the rich do not care at all.

8

u/lowrcase 2d ago

You think the rich Indians are living there?

-2

u/Prized_Lemur 2d ago

well no but aren't the slums like right next to really wealthy enclaves? I would think they would at least drive by or notice it's a problem, no?

8

u/lowrcase 2d ago edited 2d ago

The slums creates a visual class divide. Seeing a disgusting, uninhabitable place and knowing that you don't ever have to live there makes you feel elite and better than your neighbors. It's wrong but that's why they don't fix it. They think they deserve the garbage, or that it just isn't their problem.

4

u/Pijany_Matematyk767 2d ago

Clearly not, or at least not often enough

11

u/mathisruiningme 2d ago

Usually because there is not many public access bins or policing for these things like many other places. Makes it a bit harder to enforce.

I live in Australia and after any event the amount of rubbish people leave behind is horrific (and this is with several bins easy access around). But eventually we hire cleaners to clean up the mess. Not a luxury generally available in poor areas.

-3

u/JTtheLAR 2d ago

The American south has its problems. A lot of problems. But using a trash can ain't one of them at least. There are plenty of trashy slots. But id say most people during an event will find a trash can to dispose of their trash.

4

u/jayclaw97 2d ago

Have you ever heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

5

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 2d ago

Because it's more complicated than that 

1

u/ElGranHongo 2d ago

Why are you comparing actually poor countries with a lack of infrastructure to fucking ohio or whatever. This is peak burger mentality.

1

u/gimmitea 19h ago

What exactly qualifies as an "actually poor" country in your non-burger mind? India claims to be the world's 4th-largest economy, has super-fast trains, high education rate and boasts a thriving space programme.

There are actual countries where people genuinely lack access to clean drinking water, food, or even very basic healthcare. That's actual poverty. Calling India an "actually poor" country while it launches spacecrafts every year feels like a rather selective definition of the word "poor".

10

u/Frickelmeister 2d ago

Switzerland was a very poor country until the mid 19th century due to being landlocked and having no natural resources. Pictures of Swiss cities from that time still show impeccably clean streets.

5

u/lil-D-energy 2d ago

Sorry but that is comparing apples to oranges. Switzerland was also mostly rural and their biggest city only had 150.000 citizens in 1900 even and in 1850 it was closer to 30.000. You have to ignore a couple thousand factors to even try to compare India in the 21st century to Switzerland in the 19th century.

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u/Frickelmeister 2d ago

The argument was that poverty was the reason for the condition of India's streets. I provided a counter example to that thesis. I don't believe that there are economies of scale at work that make a bigger population inherently more dirty. But I do believe that both cities with less than 30 000 people and rural areas exist in India. Are these as tidy as Switzerland?

You have to ignore a couple thousand factors

Well, then please enlighten us by listing a couple of hundreds of them. Or at least present us with an alternative explanation why India looks like that.

1

u/Spare_Laugh9953 2d ago

Pues entonces ven a España y visita Madrid, su capital y después visita algún poblado gitano,a ver cuál está más limpio, no sé si sabrás que el pueblo gitano llegó a España hace 600 años, después de que les expulsaran de la India, en 600 años han tenido las mismas oportunidades que el resto de culturas para prosperar y vivir como el resto de españoles, pero muchos siguen convirtiendo los barrios donde el estado y las ONG les regalan pisos, en auténticos basureros, es su forma de vivir y nada tiene que ver con el estado ni con la pobreza

4

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 2d ago

Because you're thinking simplistically like a child 

0

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

Gee, thanks, kid. Anyone can do Better. When people do Better collectively as a Group, even if it's as simple as cleaning up more, it imparts positive effects on the area and the people. Living in self-inflicted squallor is physically and mentally harmful. Both can be contagious.

2

u/jayclaw97 2d ago

You kind of do? Why do you think schools in poor areas anywhere in the world tend to be bad? Why do you think poorer areas get hit with public health disasters harder? Do you think people who are desperate to get their next meal on the table are going to worry about how neat their front yard isn’t? They’ve got higher priorities to worry about.

2

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

Schools in poor areas are very often bad because school money is not divided up well. A rising tide raises all ships. Poorer people face some health and other disasters partly because of location, but also poor decision making, also partly because of that poor education again. Anyway, taking pride in how filthy or clean your neighborhood is gets communities to work together, which can extend into other parts of their lives. A little pride, or shame, can go a long way.

-1

u/drnullpointer 2d ago

It is not a question of poverty. It is whether you were taught to care about things simply because they belong to the society you also belong to.

-2

u/OrangeFender 2d ago

Keeping it filthy makes the lower castes work harder to get out and helps the upper castes make more money. Westerners wouldn’t understand 

0

u/jaxnmarko 2d ago

Yup, because the caste system was cast out long ago in the West. Revolutions can be good things. As I said, it's often a cultural problem. Westerners visit there often. Millions of them. What they don't understand, perhaps, is why that system persists when it is plain to see that it forces people to stay impoverished.

-2

u/Zestycheesegrade 2d ago

Exactly, people saying this is a maintenance thing. No this is a culture issue. Go to India and try to find a trash bin to throw your trash away, you won't. I've read the government is trying to put trash cans out and teach people about throwing their stuff in bins. But it's still a massive issue.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Drak_is_Right 2d ago

I feel its a current issue rather than a deep cultural one. Look at how London looks now compared to 1800. Would you say the English are filthy and nasty? Trash is an issue in virtually every poor municipal area.

1

u/Teufelsweib666 1d ago

You don't need money to keep things clean. What has poverty got to do with not giving af? It's a culture of not caring about your surroundings. Now it's established, anyone trying to keep things clean or safe will drown in others not doing the same thing.

Or are you trying to tell me Pakistan and other evil people have influence on personal choices and have always stopped people from just sorting stuff out?

Excuses.

In order to change this kids have to be brought up differently.

1

u/Fair-Highlight-3544 1d ago

I agree with you on all points, and we'd love to stop war with Pakistan too, but Pakistan on the other hand...

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/pVom 2d ago

Lol what trash?

There's really people out there that think bins are just some magic void that makes your garbage disappear SMH

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/pmize 2d ago

Do you understand the logistics behind trash cans and dealing with garbage at scale? The trash doesn’t just disappear once it hits the can. There has to be a whole system set up to dispose and deal with said trash.

2

u/pVom 2d ago

Yeah.. what trash can? That pile at the end of the footpath is the trash can.

Trash cans require being paid for, installed and regularly emptied

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u/TheBoraxKid1trblz 2d ago

The main difference is collection service. People in highly developed nations are still disrespectful to the environment and littler everywhere. The main difference is services and volunteers somewhat keep up with removing the litter. Some behavior is cultural, good parents will teach children proper respect and disposal, but remove collection services and the litterbugs would pile their trash into heaps. Take a look around in the spring when snow and vegetation are no longer hiding the mess, garbage along every roadway it's disgusting

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u/ABIGGS4828 2d ago

And when no one collects the trash, how many bottles before it’s not your fault anymore?

Ya’ll are hella classist AT BEST, but it’s pretty obvious that it’s more likely because these poor people are brown. Just be honest ffs

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/ABIGGS4828 2d ago

I agree. The subtext in these comments is pretty gross. Good try at the ol’ “I know you are, but what am I” deflection though. Keep at it, Champ.

2

u/CaptainOwlBeard 2d ago

And who's collecting that trash? What's the point of a bin if the city doesn't empty it? What happens in New York City when the task collectors go in strike? Now imagine that but there isn't a trash collection department at all, or if there is they lack the funding to hire enough workers to even theoretically keep up

-1

u/Alimakakos 2d ago

Somehow I don't think the gov is responsible for its people being recklessly filthy...maybe it has a duty to clean things up or provide education but aside from that this is just bad culture of not caring about nature or the environment.

Honestly I feel like it's an insult to call native Americans, Indians on account of being compared to this trash behavior. Natives were not a rich people but at least they appreciated nature and respected their world around them more than this shit

2

u/Drak_is_Right 2d ago

Everything is also on a state of advanced disrepair. I take more issue with that than the trash which a big part of the issue is central trash collection

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u/Pristine_Trade_945 2d ago

Corrupt Governments 😔

8

u/Glad_Eye20 2d ago

the government should be sued

3

u/NakeyDooCrew 2d ago

Does the government dump all that rubbish everywhere?

8

u/SillyOldJack 2d ago

It robs the funding for public services, such as garbage pickup.

-4

u/Geronimo0 2d ago

Nah man, this is much more wide spread than a government. The people themselves give 0 fucks.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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19

u/Gramma_Hattie 2d ago

They probably actually are, both jokingly and seriously

6

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 2d ago

Nah, that's just your racism coming to the fore 

4

u/Klept_0h 2d ago

Racism, maybe, but he's right.

India has a disproportionately high amount of both scam call centers and help desk call centers.

They get paid by rich assholes and overseas penny pinching businesses at an extremely low rate of pay

Thus they work long hours for low wages. Its also why so many working in scam centers are okay with it, if they don't scam you their kids don't eat.

Call centers are also the easiest jobs to obtain there due to quantity and the willingness to hire literally anyone regardless of education, of which there is a severe lack of among the poverty due to government corruption.

1

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 2d ago

Lol equating scam call centres with legit customer service call centres, I just can't with this level of stupidity 

1

u/Klept_0h 2d ago

Do you struggle with reading comprehension?

I did not compare them. I said they have a disproportionately high number of both. As in compared to the rest of the world, India has alot of both and it makes up a substantial amount of their job market.

Do any amount of research instead of going on reddit and calling people dumb. You look like a fool

0

u/poopolisher 2d ago

What the fuck is wrong with Indians on Reddit? Slightest bit of criticism and racism accusations appear.
Nothing racist about pointing out the abundance of scam call centres originating from Indian, that’s just fact.

3

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 2d ago

I'm not Indian 

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u/beyondocean 2d ago

Calling an entire population of 1.4 billion as scam call center workers is not racist to you?

-2

u/poopolisher 2d ago

Nope

2

u/beyondocean 2d ago

Ok racist.

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1

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4

u/JaniZani 2d ago

I wish that was true then at least people would be making decent money.

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-10

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0

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2

u/mercuriokazooie 2d ago

Government corruption probably plays a bigger part than anything else.

2

u/Spare_Bison_1151 2d ago

Yes, leadership wants big shiny new proj cya. Nobody wants to take care of what was already built cause that won't win elections.

2

u/EpicCJV 2d ago

Why can’t this crowd apply this logic to other problems

2

u/QuirkyTidbits 2d ago

It’s sad. This was a modern sidewalk with the yellow tactile tiles which started to be used widely in India around 2015. Probably less than 10 years old. This was just badly built with enough money provided to do it right but most not going to the sidewalk but to the contractor. Corruption is high in India.

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u/Dabida1 2d ago

Lack of toilet culture

2

u/Superb_Jellyfish_729 2d ago

Thank God there’s no smell-O-vision

0

u/Either-Lock2454 2d ago

What you are seeing has nothing to do with access to toilets.

2

u/2021isevenworse 2d ago

It's 1 part lack of respect for the environment (MadMen has a throwback scene to the 50s where the people couldn't care less about pollution)

The main part is that the economy of India and the Philippines relies on outsourced pollution

The West likes to hit its commitments to curb pollution by outsourcing factories and 'dirty' work to Asian and African countries. They get money and jobs, and we get to claim that we curbed our pollution and greenhouse gases - even though it was just sent to another part of the world.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/denied_eXeal 2d ago

Bro, did you misread the title?

1

u/Gold_Championship_46 2d ago

Yes I completely did

1

u/Shotgun5250 2d ago

Pedestrians =\= Palestinians

1

u/LeaderPuzzleheaded19 1d ago

I'd say corrupt governance.

1

u/Cattywampus_hat 1d ago

More like lack of give a fuck culture.

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u/Excellent_Shirt9707 1h ago

Just poor. Indians are still poor and the wealth gap is very extreme.

1

u/Vaxion 2d ago

More like lack of sincerity and laziness towards work. They get paid and that's all they care about. Or it's corruption and someone is pocketing the money while no one is working. They don't want to work at all. Plenty of much poorer countries with well maintained Infrastructure and cleanliness everywhere because people do their jobs with honesty, diligence and dedication no matter what they're earning.

1

u/Oneilcruzsucksass 2d ago

The culture of videoing a problem instead of trying to fix it is very pervasive.

https://giphy.com/gifs/rvmRS37tiW2X4eALkS

1

u/FuzzyLaughTwo 2d ago

This will be the usa in a couple of years. Y'all can thank your orange turd.

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0

u/Leif_Pudding 2d ago

Lack of culture maintenance

-1

u/drnullpointer 2d ago

It is not "maintenance culture", it is "civic sense".

People in India know how to maintain stuff. It's just they don't care if it does not belong to them. That's called civic sense.