Never been to India though my grandpa was from Lahore before partition but having driven through eastern Arkansas , poverty there is very pronounced . Lots of rice paddies and it seemed like no one had a decent home . I don ' t mean they didn ' t live in a nice suburban home , I mean it was mostly dilapidated structures and shitty mobile homes . It ' s one of the very , very few places left in this country where access to proper plumbing is not universal others include the Black Belt and the Mississippi Delta , all of them rural . There is very little in the way of industry there , it ' s farming and very local work gas station , diner , etc . Does this poverty compare to India ? Probably not . Do many of these people have tough lives and face economic hardship ? Yes . One of the most famous events in this area is the West Memphis Three .