It’s OK to look at multiple things at the same time.

Replying to your bottom comment about green/red. India is a big country and is a republic. I think you are from a small country with homogenous makeup. You can't begin to comprehend India. And seeing it on a chart towards a bottom and having a nuclear + space program must baffle you

I am asked questions upfront about rape culture. Nevermind the fact that these stories being in news and media emphasis that they are not the norm.

Also, I squarely understand that poor people in western countries hate India. They take solace in knowing that some people in the world are worse off then them. Successful Chinese are labelled as syndicates. Singapore means chewing gums not allowed.

> Nevermind the fact that these stories being in news and media emphasis that they are not the norm.

I would say that India does have a rape culture, especially in North India. Except for a few small affluent areas in Delhi and Gurugram, women can't venture out safely.

North India is a big place. It's easy to lump people together. For e.g. state of Punjab, HP (Himalayas) are in North. Virtually crime free. Fairly good living standard

Are you suggesting that every country should look into other things before a space program?

Or is India somehow special?

There's a common school of thought which holds that it's immoral to look to space until all problems have been solved on Earth.

I despair of reasoning with such people. With attitudes like that, we would never have left the rift valley, the trees, the ocean, or the deep-ocean thermal vents.

So, screw that. Life can both evolve and be imperfect. There's no contradiction between having our feet in the gutters and our heads in the stars: we've basically been like that for as long as we've had feet and heads. And if you're bothered by the "feet in the gutters" (as I am), it's historically and philosophically bankrupt to suggest that the way to solve the problem with the gutters is to get our heads out of the stars. That doesn't work.

I've lived in India, and having had friends in and around ISRO, have gotten into conversations with low-caste rickshaw-wallahs about the space program. They fucking LOVE it. It is a huge symbol of hope and pride for them -- a reminder that given the opportunity, they are capable of anything. (The designer of India's successful Mars mission was a Dalit).

Of course when this anti-space attitude is espoused particularly by white people with respect to brown people, it's not only philosophically bankrupt, but racist. Double plus screw that.

Of course not, any country which is in the green on the World Happiness Report can do what they like - countries in the red however should, perhaps, look to prioritise what they spend their national resources on.