Libertarian essays on cultural totalitarianism- written work of an Indian libertarian
Links to recently published articles: Impressions of India I and II, What We Now Know (Casey Research), February and March 2007. A look at the cultural and economic changes taking place in India. I firmly believe that the reasons for India's backwardness lie in its spiritual deficiencies. I have always found most Indians lacking a very basic sense of fairness, and respect for other people's space and property. This is particularly the case in northern India. Recently on a trip to a remote village in Maharashtra (in western India), I witnessed, a lone, dirt-poor woman showering the choicest of verbal abuses on the rent-seekers. I don't like to hear people swearing, particularly when they are women, but in this case I stood, watched, and completely relished the experience. She made my day! In northern India, most people in her place would have gladly groveled. A consequence of this relatively nicer culture: Maharashtra is the richest province in India. Coming soon. Bhopal Revisited. A look at how the state conducted itself during Union Carbide gas tragedy that took place in 1984 and how the people of Bhopal were (and still are) responsible for planting such an utterly corrupt state. There is a Minister of Gas Affairs in Bhopal. This department is a swamp of fraud and corruption. As I have recently discovered -- for a change -- the bureaucrats did not ask for a bribe to give me my dues. They have stolen all of it. During one of my visits, while I was waiting to be heard, the Registrar walked in. The security officers declared curfew in the office. People froze and turned their gaze down. This is feudalism in democratic India. State driven development has been Bhopal's undoing. What Bhopal (and most of India) needs more than IT revolution is a sweatshop (manufacturing) revolution. It certainly needs a lot less of the state. (I will soon send a link to this page to the Registrar to show him that I was not impressed by the show of his authority. He was so conscious of the attention he was getting that he could hardly walk straight -- not being a natural elite, he so completely lacked class. I thought what a complete ass he makes of himself.) Twenty Observations on Liberty and Society, the Liberty Magazine, March 2007. A look at the importance of social ideas in defining the nature and conduct of the state. The state is like the tip of the iceberg. Tt is the society that needs changing, without which attempting to change the state only results in, at best, a temprory solution. Usually a worse state emerges. Celebrity Big Brother: Who are the real racists?, Le Québécois Libre, 29 January 2007. It is absolutely hilarious that people are trying to enforce political correctness on Big Brother (BB). While the so-called racism of the white contestants in BB episode of January 2007 is being highlighted, the Indian participant, Shilpa's conduct is being largely condoned. I have never seen any society that has less racism than there is in the West. India is indeed one of the most bigoted places on earth. Really, it is time that societies outside the West started addressing their own racism and bigotry. If not, at least, they should stop pointing fingers at others. Let Cultures Play Out Their Own Problems, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 19 October 2006. Should the state interfere in social practices of sati, dowry and female feticide? No. Communities have got to play out their own problems. Superficial changes using legal means--abolition of dowry or female feticide--only worsen the real problems, and only delay what communties have got to play out. For the same reason colonialization, however well-intentioned, does not work. In here is a lesson for Western countries to stay off the affairs of others; not merely because those are none of businesses of Western countries, but more importantly their interferences only worsen the problems. How not to dismantle the caste system, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 2 October 2006. A look at what the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment (India), Meira Kumar, a social-engineering goddess, has been up to. Quite honestly--and without exaggeration--even George Bush and Condoleezza Rice, both reprehensible characters, look like absolute geniuses when I compare them with Indian politicians. Should Coke be banned in India?, Ludwig Von Mises Insititute, 23 August 2006. When they should be worrying about quality of drinking water, Centre for Science and Evironment (CSE) based in New Delhi (India), is investing its energies on attacking cola companies, Pepsi and Coca Cola. Giving money to others is a personal decision, but giving money for destructive purposes is a criminal activity. It is here that the blame goes to the Western charities who fund CSE. India behind the fog, the Liberty Magazine, May 2006. The article makes a different assessment of the present situation of India than is common. More than 300 million people there live below starvation line, but India is contemplating sending a mission to the moon. Most around the world are applauding, ignoring the predicament of the poor. One of the biggest crimes against humanity continues. Lands of Catastrophe: The Case of India and Pakistan, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 31October 2005 (VCTA's) Truckers on strike in Vancouver, Le Québécois Libre, 15 August 2005 The Polluting State, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 20 July 2005 Globalisation and India, Fraser Forum, July & August 2005 Regulations Corrupt, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 17 June 2005 More Government, more corruption!, Le Québécois Libre, 15 June 2005 The new-age racists, Canada Free Press, 27 April 2005 A look at the moral underpinning of the Council of Canadians; Le Québécois Libre, 15 March 2005 (based on Democracy of pressure groups) Links to my published work while I lived in India Links to some unpublished works: Why I do not vote in elections in India |
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Seminar on “Capitalism & Morality” in Vancouver on 8 May 2010. |