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More rot --> Chile has a very good economy and pretty good health care, Argentina has good health-care. The rest of South and Central America is also catching up.

But in your haste to defend hinduism, you err on caww's statement -- he is not criticising the religion, but rather what it's philosophy leads to -- let me explain

The idea of reincarnation and karma has good and bad consequences: one of the good is that people who are dirt poor, even the lowest of the low castes like rat catchers, are still content as they feel this is what their life is supposed to be about. However, one of the bad points is that this leads to complacency -- and that is very apparent in the 1st millenium after Christ --> Aryabhatta led mathematic thought in the 1st century AD, but then Hindu India stagnated -- BADLY. This was right about the same time when Buddhism was pushed out of india and Brahmanical Hinduism (different from Vedic Hinduism), came in with it's strict heirarchy and strict caste-system (remember that some of sages in Vedic times were not Brahmins and the caste system was not cast in stone in Vedic times).

Hindu India stagnated for a thousand years and then had the agonising centuries of Islamic rule (or rather Islamic genocide) and developed different thoughts like Sikhism, Arya Samaj etc.

Anyway, the point is that the belief in karma, tends to lead to the neglect of the present. The focus on the inner-self leads to neglect of the outer self. An indian writer (something Patel) wrote about this in the Sunday Mint some months ago. This focus on karma leads to contentedness at the expense of progress. This focus on the inner self leads to meditation and peacefullness and clean houses at the expense of dirty streets (public property).

Christian philosophy has it's own +s and -s too of course in it's effects, but these are different from the effects of Hindu philosophy.

Buddhism is deep into karma as well, and that doesn’t seem to have retarded East Asia, or for that matter, as you yourself mentioned in your previous comment, post-Vedic India. South America is largely comprised of Brazil, and the wider region includes Mexico - both being the principle constituents, and doing miserably, if not just as well, as India, in spite of what the earlier commenter referred to as a “faith” advantage. Argentina has had, like many other Catholic-majority nations before it, its share of dictatorships. It’s the Protestant work ethic that separates the experience of the Anglosphere (and this was alluded to by Singapore’s modern architect) and Northern Europe.

I do not think it’s fair to put this accusation over to Hinduism. The Curse of Ham, for example, was used for centuries to defend slavery. Modern India’s most successful entrepreneurs and politicians aren’t really from the privileged classes. In fact, quite the opposite.

That aside, I am hoping you’d reply to #35 and the link in my previous comment. I am particularly interested in knowing how you would defend against the arguments.

Thanks in advance!