India is spending $530 million on a statue twice as tall as Statue of Liberty - Polidicks

I was under the impression that open defecation in India was a stereotype but it is actually true. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ntMyEUF.png[/IMG] Please try to be a bit classier in future though. Phrasing makes all the difference.

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;51586491]doesn't make your original post any less crass or racist. there's a huge difference between saying "1/3 of indians have reduced capacity to access public toilets and by extension engage in open defecation" and "1/3 of indians just FUCKING LOVE SHITTING IN PUBLIC" phrasing it like that is racist because you're hiding the actual reasoning behind the problem and instead characterizing the situation as the 1/3 of indians being either negligent, careless, or just willfully disgusting (which is racist)[/QUOTE] I concur that it was overly generalizing and crass, but I didn't make it up out of nowhere, people neglecting government-provided toilets is a real issue in India: [quote]First, many people who have latrines in their own homes continue to defecate in the open, so it is misguided to assume that they would use a community latrine if it were available. In our survey, over 40% of households with a working latrine had at least one member who still defecates in the open. [b]In fact, almost half of people who defecate in the open say that they do so because it is pleasurable, comfortable, or convenient. They are not interested in someone building them a toilet, and so a community toilet will not suddenly make them want to use one.[/b][/quote] [url]http://scroll.in/a/681898[/url]

In that case, perhaps the solution would be designing "open-air" toilets? Toilets that are user-friendly and in line with modern health benefits, but offer an experience akin to that of doing your business in the open air. Perhaps something akin to those Japanese "squatting toliets", some sort of open-air "washiki", would be more preferable to the Western "john" or "crapper" for that particular demographic. Though they'd probably need a lot more convincing to start using the three shells. Strike the right balance, make a toilet that offers the best of both worlds, and you'd probably be able to break in to that particular market. Make it more convenient for them to cop a squat over a waskihi, and they'll probably do it. And at the same time, push stronger laws that prohibit open defecation, so that you use both the carrot AND the stick as motivators, providing incentive to adapt and making it an inconvenience NOT to adapt, all in one fell swoop. THAT, my friends, is the edge of the coin, when you realise "why not do both?", just like the little girl in the El Paso advert. And to make things smoother, have the laws come into force on a district-by-district basis. When there are enough toilets for everyone to start using, bring down the hammer and make them use the bogs designed to line up with their sensibilities.

[QUOTE=ironman17;51586692]In that case, perhaps the solution would be designing "open-air" toilets? Toilets that are user-friendly and in line with modern health benefits, but offer an experience akin to that of doing your business in the open air. Perhaps something akin to those Japanese "squatting toliets", some sort of open-air "washiki", would be more preferable to the Western "john" or "crapper" for that particular demographic. Though they'd probably need a lot more convincing to start using the three shells. Strike the right balance, make a toilet that offers the best of both worlds, and you'd probably be able to break in to that particular market. Make it more convenient for them to cop a squat over a waskihi, and they'll probably do it. And at the same time, push stronger laws that prohibit open defecation, so that you use both the carrot AND the stick as motivators, providing incentive to adapt and making it an inconvenience NOT to adapt, all in one fell swoop. THAT, my friends, is the edge of the coin, when you realise "why not do both?", just like the little girl in the El Paso advert. And to make things smoother, have the laws come into force on a district-by-district basis. When there are enough toilets for everyone to start using, bring down the hammer and make them use the bogs designed to line up with their sensibilities.[/QUOTE] The problem is, you'd need tons of money to make that happen. I mean, simply restrict something is easy, but the other part would require a giant effort in building proper infrastructure. And again, you won't be able to charge people for using the toilets because them not wanting(or just not being able ) to pay is exactly one of the reasons that literal shit happens.

[QUOTE=antianan;51586728]The problem is, [B]you'd need tons of money to make that happen.[/B] I mean, simply restrict something is easy, but the other part would require a giant effort in building proper infrastructure. And again, you won't be able to charge people for using the toilets because them not wanting(or just not being able ) to pay is exactly one of the reasons that literal shit happens.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]India is spending $530 million on a statue[/QUOTE]

And that, as always, is the problem. The most annoying and ever-present problem of our time. Rather than funnel money into what they actually need, they funnel money into useless shite like pointless giant statues. Unless the statues have sewage treatment plants built into them, which would be a genuinely impressive feat of engineering, they are technically worthless. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: [B]HOW CAN YE HAVE ANY PUDDIN' IF YE DON'T EAT YER MEAT?![/B] But whether or not misfortune falls upon the project like a big ol' steamer, having to pay to use a public toilet is pretty much bullshit. And even though we just talked about money being the problem, India usually gets a fair amount of sunlight, doesn't it? And solar power is, from what I've gleaned, a rapidly growing industry over there. So perhaps, one of the keys to making the public toilets pay for themselves would be solar panel roofing? Have the toilets be placed in just the right spots where sunlight is constant throughout the year (barring cloudy weather), and the roofs would help grind out green energy and thus provide money to make it feasible to do away with charging people to use the bogs. In addition, sewage plants could be designed to harvest the "natural gas" as part of the treatment process, which would in turn help pay for the plants.

They could be spending that kind of money on better things, like to help the rampant poverty that goes on in India right now. A giant statue helps nobody.

I have friends fresh from India who tell me some pretty fucking gross stories. But I think many people are missing the point here. I'm not sure if the statue is a good idea or not, but the country is advancing, and it is moving on. There's a great deal of moderniziation to come, but a lot of things are already changing in India at light speed. The current administration has been involved in the process of change for sometime, we'll have to see how that turns out at the end of the day because it's not going to be an easy or quick process.

[QUOTE=al_fran;51587268]They could be spending that kind of money on better things, like to help the rampant poverty that goes on in India right now. A giant statue helps nobody.[/QUOTE] The BJP is a Hindu nationalist party though, so they'd rather blow money promoting Hindu historical figures than actually doing anything constructive.

[QUOTE=Citrus705;51586303]Is any of that actually true[/QUOTE] Yes, unfortunately. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_peUxE_BKcU[/media] This is on the UNICEF India channel on youtube.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;51585900]They're spending 1 billion USD in total to build two statues? How can it cost that much? It's insane, because I'm also assuming that wages and other related cost are much lower than in the west.[/QUOTE] Maybe they plan to coat it in gold or something, like most south asian religions do with their temples and religious artifacts

[QUOTE=nox;51586437]Meanwhile their steel bridges are being literally dissolved by people spitting chewing tobacco on them, but nah, statues are top priority.[/QUOTE] Lewis Black made a skit on this. Make a big thing and people will spend money to see the big thing. Tourism basically

[QUOTE=Araknid;51587309]Yes, unfortunately. This is on the UNICEF India channel on youtube.[/QUOTE] that this is a thing.. :unimpressed: imagine painstakingly writing and animating this crap

[QUOTE=ferrus;51588377]that this is a thing.. :unimpressed: imagine painstakingly writing and animating this crap[/QUOTE] It's a problem because again, inadequate infrastructure and societal mindset. Let me explain - I happen to have learned a great deal about this because someone in my friends circle works as part of an NGO to prevent children dying from diarrhea (often actually contracted from poo) in villages. When she came back from a year long expedition to some of the most remote villages in India, her outlook actually surprised me because it made sense. Essentially, here's the thing - the villagers (and villages are a *huge* majority of where India's poor and general population live) do not like the idea of their toilets having to be [I]inside[/I] their homes - they consider it disgusting and especially humiliating to be expected to clean the place they shit in themselves. They prefer it be outside (where they can let nature sort their shit out - literally), but then when such a communal toilet block is built, as with most things considered "public property", nobody takes the initiative to clean it or keep it clean, because it's not "theirs" anymore, it's "no ones"/"the governments" so they should do it. Worse, if there is such an initiative, it'll be re-enforced on caste lines, i.e. the lowest sod on the caste totem pole, most likely a Dalit, is gonna be the one doing the cleaning. Often with their [I]bare hands[/I] - if that made you throw up a little, it should - those are grim realities. I could tell you some horror stories on that front. To top it off, these so called toilets that the governments have been building are, for lack of a better term, hilaribad. They don't have proper plumbing because the houses themselves don't have proper water supplies. So essentially, for the government to consider a toilet "installed", it'll just plonk down a commode and consider the job done, because who cares where the poo goes? It's also astoundingly hard to hammer out the open defecation habit from them too - just like you roll up your newspaper and pop a squat on the porcelain throne every morning, these guys wake up, saunter off to the fields with a [I]lota[/I] (bucket) in hand and (I kid you not, this an actual quote) "Enjoy the morning breeze while lightening oneself". However, as with most things, nobody ever stopped to consider that while it's all fine and dandy for men to do this stuff, it's not nearly as convenient for women and that's where the real danger lies - Many women have embraced the idea of having a toilet at home, because they face a very real risk of being raped ([URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-22460871"]no, I'm not kidding[/URL]) if they decided to go out in the open to the fields at night to drop a deuce. So that's why the situation is what it is, in case you were wondering - I know this possibly sounds like the most outlandish thing out there (hence why Hezzy thought it was racism) and I get why Indians bristle at the whole 4chan "designated shitting street" (which, while an exaggeration, represents a real problem), but it's a real thing. Anyway, getting back to the real topic here - [B]that fucking statue.[/B] It's an utter waste of money, being built and supported by a man who is [I]desperate[/I] to have a legacy in his name, but will run this country into the ground soon enough, while his sheeple followers lead the charge. The best part is that it's being done to appease a specific set of people, the Marathas from Maharasthra (Home to the financial capital of India, Mumbai where I live now) as they're an influential votebank. Ultimately, all parties witness to this agree that the statue to be constructed costs nowhere [I]near[/I] that amount, and the figure disclosed is essentially what will be swallowed up by contractors in what will be the biggest white whale project this nation will see, unless the man can conceive something even more outlandish.

[QUOTE=Chrille;51585826] [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Racism" - Hezzy))[/highlight][/QUOTE] Wait what the hell, Hezzy's mod again?

I literally cannot believe "poo in loo" is not only a real thing but also such a problem that UNICEF made a video telling people to crap -and- named it as such.

I'd make a designated shitting street joke but I already see how that went, but I will say they should be using that money in better ways than to just overshadow a statue that America didn't even build that was already overshadowed multiple times. [I]and maybe that money could be put into an attempt to stopping widespread open defecation instead[/I]

And Britain has been giving them £283 million a year since 2011 (plus about £70 million in other aid programs this year). I want a statue here. I'll model for it.

[QUOTE=Dr. Ethan Asia;51595151]And Britain has been giving them £283 million a year since 2011 (plus about £70 million in other aid programs this year). I want a statue here. I'll model for it.[/QUOTE] On that front, [URL="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9061844/India-tells-Britain-We-dont-want-your-aid.html"]the Indian government has, in fact, repeatedly said since 2012 that they did want the aid money either, calling them "peanuts"[/URL]. I'm really confused as to why they're giving it despite such protest, though - I strongly suspect that perhaps it's a move by the British party in power to curry (heh :v: ) favor with the British-Indian votebank in the UK.

For a second I thought the title said Indiana. That would have been interesting.

[QUOTE=Crimor;51586307]He clipped the building with his halberd, the rudelord. Honestly? Probably greatly exaggerated, I bet it's more like in china where the same meme happens, but you see someone streetshitting roughly 3-4 times a month at most on the mainland, while probably at [B]most once a month in HK/Taiwan[/B].[/QUOTE] Where in your ass did you pull that info from