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India launches space mission to the sun a week after moon landing (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 79 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Still waiting for them to launch a mission to get rid of the caste system

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  • [–] 41 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    If the US can go to space while issuing drone strikes on civilians, if Russia can go to space while invading countries, I don't see why India can't go to space while still being backwards about the caste system. Also it's not like the government endorses the caste system, unlike the aforementioned examples.

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  • [+] -24 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    Whataboutism bs. Two wrongs don't make a right.

    whataboutism /ˌwɒtəˈbaʊtɪz(ə)m/ noun the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue.

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  • [–] 30 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Yeah but I didn't see anyone complaining when NASA Artemis was announced? Everyone rejoiced NASA's return to space. So why the double standard towards India? Credit where credit is due don't you think?

    Also what's the caste system has anything to do with the Indian government? How do you think the government has enforced it? What do you think the government should do instead? I am not Indian mind you, but I am sick of these holier than thou attitude of westerners.

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  • [+] -10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Credit is definitely due and this is an amazing feat by India.

    I haven't bothered to discuss the other topic. Is there even any point when US issues are always on the front page here? I probably know more about US politics than my own country at this point.

    Though of course you could also go there and take a jab at Americans. Let me know when you do so I can give you some support.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I haven’t bothered to discuss the other topic.

    Exactly. Verdict issued yet you haven't still thought about it? You haven't bothered. Yet you've already decided that the government is responsible. Otherwise it wouldn't constitute a "whataboutism". There are many cases of "a Texas man doing this and a Florida man doing that" but nobody has blamed the government for these.

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  • [+] -11 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Whatever your reasons, that was whataboutism.

    Expecting others to know what goes on in NASA discussions is moronic at best. That's not the topic we are in. You didn't even link it or reference it.

    The Indian caste system is a humanitarian crisis. Would you rather westerners ignore it? There's just no winning then, is there?

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Expecting others to know what goes on in NASA discussions is moronic at best.

    So people haven't criticized NASA because they don't know what NASA does. Yet suddenly everyone, including you has opinions about India's space program. I thought NASA had a much bigger space program. And I am the moron to point out the double standard? This is exactly what I was talking about, the "holier than thou" attitude.

    Whatever your reasons, that was whataboutism.

    You haven't still answered how you think the Indian government is responsible for the caste system. Shouldn't that be resolved first? If you can't say if the claim itself is even true, how is it whataboutism?

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I hate the term whataboutism

    It's OK to point out hypocrisy. In fact, I think it should be forefront on everyone's mind when your government is criticizing some other government for things they do themselves

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    In the case of one government criticizing another it’s definitely fair to point out hypocrisy. The problem is that in most cases it’s used to avoid discussion on a topic by changing the subject of the debate.

    That said, it is also fair to say that the first comment kind of shoehorned in the caste system on a topic that had nothing to do with it.

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  • [–] 30 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    How is that related to the space mission? Or are we trying to make this look like a Reddit comment section now? It’s an issue in India but that’s not relevant to their accomplishments in space exploration now is it?

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  • [+] -10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It is when so much of their population struggles in poverty 🙃

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Over 40 million Americans are living below the poverty line (12 million of those are children), that's 12% of the population of the country. To compare and contrast India's got 150 million people living below the poverty line with a population of 1.4 billion, that's 10% of their population. Yet we spend $33 billion on our space program. For those playing at home India's moon landing cost around $75 million.

    To pull the poverty card on India for starting a space program that is lifting up their people's national self worth is just about the most imperialist thing you could do.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Even though I couldn't find any connection between a space mission to sun and casteism, I could assure you friend the latter is much difficult to solve. That's why countries still struggle with casteism or racism or sexism or some other evil-ism, but we shouldn't let it hold us back from the technical and scientific advancements. In fact one could argue building a science oriented society is the way to eradicate these issues.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    Yeah, I love it when people act like America doesn't have a fucking caste system. As though there weren't millions of Americans who voted for a rich guy who planned to build a wall to keep the "illegals" out of the country. And there wasn't a massive lobbyist effort by multi-billion dollar companies and oligarchs to kill unemployment benefits in order to push people back into shitty service jobs that pay peanuts.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    whatever or whoever they land on the sun will no longer be in any system, so maybe this is the first step?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    LOL. This is clearly how to tell

    "I'm jealous of another country achieving something better than my country"

    without actually telling

    "I'm jealous of another country achieving something better than my country"

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'll be jealous of india once they get rid of all their billionares and feed the poor instead

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Lol, im sorry but there's nothing to be jealous of India. Im happy they accomplished the landing in the moon, but they have a lot problems that they need to solve in their country.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't disagree that they have problems to solve. But the kind of negativity these comments point out of pure jealousy. Let's just celebrate achievements in the field of science and tech whichever country it is. No country is perfect.

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  • [+] -1 points 2 years ago* (1 child)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    One can mention the problems a country have without being racist/disliking a country. All countries have problems. If I mention the United atates have a problem with ignorancy, racism, between other problems, would that be considered racism?

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