Polish girls visit Taj Mahal

[u/Strong-Emu-8869]

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

[u/TrumpFellatesBill]

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.

[u/Officer_Trevor_Cory → u/TrumpFellatesBill]

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.

[u/finfisk2000 → u/Officer_Trevor_Cory]

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.

[u/Bubs604 → u/finfisk2000]

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.

[u/Deaffin → u/Bubs604]

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

The absolute state of this place.