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by fineng123 3080 days ago
Too religious. China's great advantage is that they're all atheists.

Highly religious societies have a strong desire for tradition, and tradition is "women don't work and have no power, corruption is rampant, new things are bad (because they destroy the golden geese that keep the upper class rich and in power)". Pakistan and India are going nowhere soon.
3 comments
farazbabar 3079 days ago
As an ex pakistani, I have always admired how much India has been able to overcome the odds and continues to prosper and charge forward. I think the gp has some merit in hoping that within a generation or two, India has a chance to overcome a number of these challenges. I do concur with your assessment of Pakistan however.
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pm90 3078 days ago
This is actually very sad. I had hoped the economic development would change society in Pakistan as much as it has changed it in India; perhaps that would finally end the enmity that exists b/w the countries. My Parents generation cared very much about Caste/Religion etc. while my friends and I are very much secular, and I imagine the next generation will be even more so.
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solresol 3079 days ago
China is one of the fastest growing countries for religion both in absolute numbers and in percentages. There are more people living in China who describe themselves as "evangelizing Christians" than there are in the USA, for example. This has been the case for around two decades now.
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fineng123 3079 days ago
But percentage-wise they are the most atheist country in the world, right? That's at least what I thought off the top of my head
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solresol 3076 days ago
Actually, I thought it was Albania -- which was for a while the only "officially" atheist country in the world, but checking up on Wikipedia, once Islam was made legal again, it seems to be back to developing-nation levels of religious activity.

So, yes, you're right, it's China. At a rough pulling-numbers-out-of-a-hat, China will be back in sync with the rest of the world average (for levels of religious activity) somewhere around 2050, when it will be mostly Christian and Buddhist.

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tiuPapa 3080 days ago
A small subset of Indians will probably continue to prosper.
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