Rajib: Take a good look at some of your own remarks here:
> >I wish there were more that escaped. Not just >Chandanda. And I. And all others on Assamnet. **** What does it mean? Why are you glad to have ESCAPED? Is it NOT because, you had skills but were unable to make use of them in the desi-environment to improve your own and your near and dear ones' lives ? That those whom you trusted to create an environment for progress and prosperity not only failed, but that there was NO possibility in sight as well? > >They don't need to be IIT / IIM guys - at the end of >it most of us turn out to be clerks anyway. *** But it does not have to be like that, does it? What your preparation at IIT and IIM shows is that YOU have the ability to LEARN, does not matter what. That you have a desire to excel. That you are resourceful. And given half a chance, you would have done just fine in India, had the environment existed. Fact is that there are plenty more like you,who never had the opportunity to go PROVE to anyone that they have those abilities. Nor did/do they operate in an environment where there is a reasonable degree of opportunity to go fend for themselves successfully. Remember Steve Jobs? Bill Gates? They were college dropouts. I am sure yu can cite many more of those than I could. *** Question you ought to be asking therefore: How can Assam get there? I don't ask about India, because it, as you ought to know very well, is incapable of forging the political will to make the changes that are essential to create the environment for the able and the enterprising to better their lot, to be productive, and to hold out that hand of help for those who cannot fend for themselves instead of looking away and denying them their humanity. > >And if you are in the government - give law and order >and access to infrastructure and then leave these guys >to their self serving ways. *** The institutions of state that are entrusted with providing order in society, of providing accessible and trustworthy mechanisms for timely and just conflict resolution, for holding the responsible accountable, must be re-built,. from the ground up. Indian institutions have been dysfunctional, and getting worse by the day, with no hope for a turnaround even on the distant horizon. Again exactly for the same reasons. Assam CAN and MUST build those up. But tell us HOW you forsee that happening under Indian rule. > >Even if someone with an H1B can earn enough to invest >in 10 little shops (in Guwahati or wherever) that can >become 100 little shops in 10 years - that are giving >jobs to 500 people - I think that is awesome. *** I am no economist, and I have no intent to dwell on a DETAIL here, but don't shop-keepers merely shuffle wealth? Somebody still has to CREATE it. And who do? The farmers do. The factory workers do. The road-builders do. The carpenters do. And that must come first, before the investment in shops would produce anything other than help change hands. So what is being done to improve Assam's agricultural productivity? To help transport produce to the markets? For storage? Where is the fertilizer? Where is the energy? Where are the roads and trains and the refrigeration facilities? Is the ULFA bogey a believable excuse for their absence? > >But >society does need all other kinds too. Mostly those >with the overwhelming desire - and the OPPORTUNITY - >to make more money for themselves. **** I don't believe that anyone would disagree with you on it in this day and age. But for these people to be able to make a difference, you need the STATE to create the environment. Why is the state failing to do it? You will need to look into that. And I can tell you this: it is NOT ULFA , because of which the environment does not exist. If someone wished ULFA away tomorrow, NOTHING would change, other than perhaps help the looters move in with even greater impunity. > >It increasingly looks >like the real escape at this point is back to India. **** I have seen and heard these wishful pronouncements for thirty five years. But little changes. I will believe it when I see that exodus. At 8:37 PM -0800 11/22/05, Rajib Das wrote: >Mikeda, > >:-) > >Am I happy I moved forward in life? (I do realize >however that I transferred my clerkship from India to >US - so this move forward is nothing more than a small >little step really). Absolutely. > >I wish there were more that escaped. Not just >Chandanda. And I. And all others on Assamnet. I wish >there were tens of thousands such escapees from our >region. > >They don't need to be IIT / IIM guys - at the end of >it most of us turn out to be clerks anyway. In as much >as the penchant for ABCD kids to become doctors in the >US is. Ordinary drop outs in the US have had a better >success rate in my industry at least. > >But really, Mike da? Attempting to solving problems in >the abstract without a self interest urging them on - >the socialist approach to things - does not seem to >have worked anywhere. > >It works best when personal desire - greed even - >drives people to do big things. So all these IITs and >IIMs and RECs and what have you - let them be there to >give the push to AT LEAST a few poor and lower middle >class men and women. Let them go out and be greedy and >self serving. Let them figure out how to earn more >money. Give them the environment and the level playing >field to do so. > >You say the IITs and IIMs are for solving the crises >in the lives of the multi-millions. I say wrong. It is >and should continue to remain the passport for these >individuals to go up in life that was never granted in >many many generations of many of these families. > >And if you are in the government - give law and order >and access to infrastructure and then leave these guys >to their self serving ways. Experience around the >world has shown that the problems of the multimillions >have been solved that way better than packing off >these guys into rural areas to ponder over problems or >work in giant inefficient PSUs as clerks. > >Even if someone with an H1B can earn enough to invest >in 10 little shops (in Guwahati or wherever) that can >become 100 little shops in 10 years - that are giving >jobs to 500 people - I think that is awesome. > >I guess there is an idealogical difference with you. I >hold folks like you in high regard - those courageous >folks that do indeed step away to solve the problems >of the multimillions. Society needs your kind - at >least a few of the truly real and honest ones. But >society does need all other kinds too. Mostly those >with the overwhelming desire - and the OPPORTUNITY - >to make more money for themselves. In most societies >the greedy ones are the overwhelming majority. > >Now this "escape with the H1B visa thing"! This escape >is increasingly a false one. By the time we are old, >America and IT will be like iron and steel. Or rather >coal - an old sunset industry. It increasingly looks >like the real escape at this point is back to India. I >just wish instead of escaping to Pune or Bangalore one >could escape to Guwahati with one's potential to >assuage his / her greed intact :-) > > > > >--- mc mahant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >--------------------------------- >Rajib Das wrote: > > ><<If the IITs were not to be there, I am sure many >like >C-Da and I and almost everyone else would not have >escaped the clutches of our small town / lower middle >class / rural surroundings.>> > >How about those high lifing today witout ever nearing >IIT's,IIM's,? >And those High lifers from B grade schools >And those who couuld not cross Matric? >And those multimillions who are written off? >IIT's ,IIM's are all for solving the crises in the >lives of those Multimillions > >And Rajib is happy that he escaped with his HIB visa > >Surely! > > > > >> _______________________________________________ >> assam mailing list >> [email protected] >> >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >> > > > > >__________________________________ >Yahoo! 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