Around 18% of households in India don’t own any of the assets listed on the census form – that means no phone, no TV or radio, and no bicycles or other vehicles of any kind. [In many county sized districts in India the percentage is 48% or more.] . . . Take a look at the map below. It maps the proportion of households in each district, who told census-takers that they own all of the following – a TV set, a phone, a computer and a vehicle (scooter/motorcycle or car). That number, for the country as a whole, is 4.6% (roughly 11 million households). I leave you to draw your own conclusions about what it means to be ‘privileged’ in this country.
Admittedly, I don't own a television set myself. But, that is something of a first world fluke that reflects abundance in other domains. It isn't uncommon for there to be in my apartment that houses my two children and I at any given time four laptop computers, two iPods, two cell phones, a Kindle, and five radios (including the one in my SUV) as well as a networked printer, a wireless router with a high speed internet connection, and a bicycle with a flat tire. Very few people in the top 4.6% of the U.S. wealth distribution would like any of these items which I suspect around half of Americans who are in poverty own. Anyway, here's the interactive map:
Also, as my Sociology 101 professor made clear to me early on, it is important to keep in mind that with many technologies, like televisions and phones, the difference between having only a handful in a village and having none can be huge in their cultural impact.
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