The Myth of the New India

theodp writes "An NYT op-ed on The Myth of the New India reports that only 1.3M Indians are participating in the so-called new economy of BPO, leaving 400M have-nots without a piece of the pie. Despite recent gains, nearly 380M Indians still live on less $1 a day, setting the stage for rural and urban conflict." From the article: "No labor-intensive manufacturing boom of the kind that powered the economic growth of almost every developed and developing country in the world has yet occurred in India. Unlike China, India still imports more than it exports. This means that as 70 million more people enter the work force in the next five years, most of them without the skills required for the new economy, unemployment and inequality could provoke even more social instability than they have already."

Comments

Re:Cultural Problems

[hopethisnickisnottak]

I can't believe an obvious troll like this got modded up.

Casteism in India has been abolished. What remains is the memory of what once was. What used to be castes are now communities which tend to restrict marriages to between their own members. This isn't different from any other community in the world.
The supposed advantages that the upper caste enjoyed are long gone.
Today, a person from the backward castes gets reservations in the best Indian universities, the IITs etc. At least 22.5 % of the total seats are reserved for candidates from the backward castes. The backward castes do not need to score as much as the upper castes do. They have relaxed criteria. So an upper caste scoring 90% in the entrance exam may not get a chance to study at the best colleges, but a backward caste getting only 60% in the same exam will get through to the best college for the best course. Furthermore, these people get scholarships and fee waivers just because they're from backward castes. These reservations have been in place since the 1950s.

Additionally, it has become nearly impossible for an upper caste person to get a government job, since 50 % of all the jobs are reserved for the lower castes.

Additionally, the private sector (non-government, privately owned industries) has always been a meritocracy. If you apply for a job, you aren't even asked your caste or religion. So a question of casteism does not arise. Nobody knows your caste and nobody cares.

In spite of having these privileges for almost 60 years now, there are people who will shout about how their rights were trampled a thousand years ago and how they need more help to get on their feet. It's been 3 generations since reservations were introduced. And yet there are claims that casteism has prevented the spread of economic well being.

Bullshit!

What a bunch of crap

[SmallFurryCreature]

I got a primitive thought process, all humans are equal. So I should abandon that and go for the far more modern idea of racial superioty. If you judge it by the spawn of human history then all that nazi crap about the master race is very new.

If you are going to attack a system you can't just spout platitudes.

It can be argued that some countries do well when they get rid of differences between members of its population but only if you are incredibly naive. The dutch golden age is often claimed to be a result of it being an open society welcoming the oppressed from other parts of europe. Well if you think being open and treating all people as equals is the same as not actually killing people for not having the majority religion I suppose your right. In reality the Dutch golden age happened when minorities like the jews were being denied many rights and privileges. As for even smaller groups like chinamen or muslims, I suppose not being lynched just like the protestants is a form of equality.

Same with the US of A, give us your hungry and oppressed provided they are white protestants. Japanese were put into concentration camps, with wich america had lots of experience using them on the indians, based purely on race. Claimed for security but german and italian citizens were not interned. Despite the fact that there has been no evidence of japanese-americans aiding the enemy while plenty of german and italian americans did aid the enemy. As for blacks, they only got the vote in what 1965?

Yet america did pretty well before this emancipation of the non-white races did it not?

Japan itself is one of the least cultural diverse 1st world countries around and it did seem to do pretty good by restricting immigration. Oh and by having an untouchable class. A smaller group then the lowest caste in India to be sure but still repressed. More subtly perhaps and certainly not as widely known but they are there.

Equality for all is a noble pursuit but for its own sake not because it will somehow bring prosperiety. I rather live in a poor country that is equal then a rich country wich is not.

You may or may not feel the same way but just saying something general like abandoning primitive thought is insulting. It to me suggests that you do not realize that some of the most primitive cultures around today are far more democractic (they vote on issues, not personalities) and equal then the so called modern cultures.

As for equality leading to all a country that can be is too dangerous. What if someone proves that by killing group X humanity will be better off. Will that see you working the gas chambers to make sure humanity can fullfill its potential?

Re:Cultural Problems -- THE CASTE SYSTEM IS REAL

[XchristX]

Oh, and read this article about the hypocrisy of the liberal left:

http://www.bnaielim.org/schmool042206.htm