[yummyfajitas]

Economics also plays a big role. Most of us outside India just don't get this.

In India, your choices are the following:

a) Be a (relatively, not absolutely) rich doctor or engineer in the top 2.5% [1] of India (in terms of income).

b) Be poorer than the bottom 2.5% of Americans. Very likely, be poor even by the standards of Brazil or Mexico.

I'd work a job I hate to avoid that. I'd encourage my kids to do the same. Most people would.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-haves-and-t...

[1] Rough approximation: I am assuming the 2.5% mark corresponds to the average of the top/bottom ventile in the graph I linked to.

[csomar]

But this won't solve the problem, does it? This will actually make it worse and lead to unhappy/tired generations. I'll actually sensibles people and push them to make a revolution.

[yummyfajitas]

The situation sucks, but only economic growth will solve the problem. The fundamental problem is scarcity - not enough wealth to go around.

A revolution against economic reality will not create wealth.

(Granted, a revolution against corrupt government workers demanding bribes might. If that's the revolution you want to start, I'll lend my pitchfork.)

[baltcode]

Thank you! Some "real" problems have to be solved before one can blame amorphous entities like "learning problem solving", passion, culture, etc.

[danenania]

"The fundamental problem is scarcity"

Is it? I think distribution is more the issue. We shouldn't underestimate the paralyzing impact pervasive bureaucracy and corruption can have on an economy.

[yummyfajitas]

No matter how you distribute $3k per person per year (PPP adjusted), it's not very much.

I don't think I underestimated the impact of bureaucracy and corruption - if you notice, I sort of advocated lynching corrupt government officials.