India is/was a socialist state and I would expect social services to be spread more evenly than non-socialist countries. I also believe mobility is easier in developing nations and was better to some extent right after the Industrial Revolution and workers rights movements.
I am confused by your arguments. You're saying abolish public schools. Great idea then we could create pillar schools where only the elites attend like Yale and Harvard. Then the poor people will have to take out loans from the elite to attend good High Schools. Oh wait.
I'm a product of mobility. My father grew up in rural government housing in Georgia. Thankfully he went to GaTech and stayed in an environment with good public schools.
> India is/was a socialist state and I would expect social services to be spread more evenly than non-socialist countries. I also believe mobility is easier in developing nations and was better to some extent right after the Industrial Revolution and workers rights movements.
Saying "India is a socialist state" is, well, technically correct (it's in the Constitution) but a pretty misleading way to characterize the sort of social mobility in India that GP was talking about.
India is home to the longest-running continuously-serving democratically elected Communist government in the entire world. It's also home to what could be considered borderline anarcho-capitalist metropolises that are larger than many European countries.
As it turns out, the sort of mobility that GP is talking about is very rare in the states led by Communist and socialist parties, which have generally struggled economically[0]. It's most prevalent in the states (and cities) where the leftist governments never took hold, or where they were elected, but carried out very little of their vision in practice.
In any case, the scale of mobility and economic growth experienced in the economic hotspots of India (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore) has been made possible by the end of imperial colonialism, and the concurrent rise of a global economy. No developed country like the US will ever be able to experience that same level of rapid growth.
[0] There is one exception, though in that state, 33% of the state's GDP comes from foreign remittances (mostly from expatriates living in the Gulf), which is incredibly high, and higher than any other state. There is definitely an object-lesson in mobility to be learned there, but it's not the sort of mobility GP was referring to.
Compare you're localized (hotspot) mobility to what the West experienced at the end of the 1800s. China is a much better example and I dislike China.
You're saying I am technically correct about India being socialist.
The reason India has mobility is the same reason black markets or black economies exist in Communist countries. Where there is a lack of government or public services, black markets will form to fill the gap, capitalism. See USSR, Yugoslavia, and North Korea. Difference is India seems to allow it. There is another comment below about staring schools in a garage for poor people. From what I've seen India has these shadow schools.
I think you missed my line
> I went to a private school that catered to poor kids.
I did not go to a public school. No one I knew went to a public school because they suck everywhere like in every socialist society. India is indeed a constitutionally socialist country.
> You're saying abolish public schools.
I do not see why government should run schools. People can run better schools than government. Government must also abolish most of the regulations that require schools to have playgrounds or toilets or some other things that are not the focus of education.
The school I went to ran in an abandoned building and did not have electricity. That is how the costs were low and I could afford to go there. The teachers however were good.
> Thankfully he went to GaTech and stayed in an environment with good public schools.
That is a sad choice every American parent has to make today. I don't see why your father could not get a check of $X every month and let him send you to whatever school you wanted to go.
I am confused by your arguments. You're saying abolish public schools. Great idea then we could create pillar schools where only the elites attend like Yale and Harvard. Then the poor people will have to take out loans from the elite to attend good High Schools. Oh wait.
I'm a product of mobility. My father grew up in rural government housing in Georgia. Thankfully he went to GaTech and stayed in an environment with good public schools.