-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Chitta,
I hope you will not mind my widening this conversation to include a few friends who I know think about this subject as well. First, to bring them onto the same page, I am attaching a copy of Ranga Bedi s article on which you commented. (See attachment.) And I am copying below your response to it: "My very old friends from Bangalore, Umi and Ranga Bedi, visited China recently. Ranga summarised his experiences in a short note he sent to me which I found really interesting. Note, of course, that I do not agree with Ranga that India's lagging behind China so very badly has to be attributed to our choosing democracy. There are democratic societies which have flourished and prospered and equally well there have been totalitarian regimes which have done the very opposite; Burma comes to mind. The fault is not with the system of government of our nation; the fault is in ourselves." You're probably right, Chitta, the fault is in ourselves. We keep electing politicians who: 1. Avoid educating our masses, so they won't know how NOT to elect them (there are more illiterate Indians now than there were Indians in 1947. Percentages are dropping but not fast enough to prevent the actual numbers from increasing.); 2. Populate the Lok Sabha with criminals, (70% qualify for that description at last count) so we know they will never shoot themselves in their back pockets by introducing meaningful corruption control measures ; 3. Have perfected a vicious cycle that gives everybody a piece of the pie in rotation: Clog the arteries of substantive progress when in Opposition, then form the next government, when the ex-govt will continue the clogging progress themselves; 4. Are thick-skinned and resourceful enough not to give a damn for what the public thinks. The thinking public is vastly outnumbered at the polls by the flotsam and jetsam who can be bought for the price of a meal. Hey, it just occurred to me, this sounds like democracy at work, doesn't it? In the way that Churchill had in mind when he said Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the rest. Ranga is wondering what if anything can be done about that. Fair question, when you've driven down the perfect ribbon of 200km road in Shanghai, only to fall into an open sewer outside Bangalore airport. So, my dear oracle wot has himself fled to a refuge in the world's most liveable city Vancouver, what's the remedy? Thoughts on that wd be most useful - and welcome. Because it wd seem one billion people have run out of answers. Best - Stanley Stanley & Yvonne Pinto 153 The Embassy 15 Ali Askar Road Bangalore 560 052, INDIA Telephones: (91-80) 2220 3320 & 5114 8153 Mobile: (91) 98453 95319 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------Original Message------- From: C Gauba Date: 06/11/2005 00:57:42 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Hello all, My very old friends from Bangalore, Umi and Ranga Bedi, visited China recently. Ranga summarised his experiences in a short note he sent to me which I found really interesting - having never been to mainland China, and therefore with no first-hand experience of the developments and progress being made there. I thought I should share it with you and am enclosing a copy. Note, of course, that I do not agree with Ranga that India's lagging behind China so very badly has to be attributed to our choosing democracy. There are democratic societies which have flourished and prospered and equally well there have been totalitarian regimes which have done the very opposite; Burma comes to mind. The fault is not with the system of government of our nation; the fault is in ourselves. Cheers, = Cheeta
