OutStumped Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 A fairly long read, but well worth it. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280234 ... the jungles of Central India continue to remain under siege, with villagers frightened to come out, or go to the market for food or medicine. Hundreds of people have been jailed, charged for being Maoists under draconian, undemocratic laws. Prisons are crowded with adivasi people, many of whom have no idea what their crime is. Recently, Soni Sori, an adivasi school-teacher from Bastar, was arrested and tortured in police custody. Stones were pushed up her vagina to get her to confess that she was a Maoist courier. The stones were removed from her body at a hospital in Calcutta, where, after a public outcry, she was sent for a medical check-up. At a recent Supreme Court hearing, activists presented the judges with the stones in a plastic bag. The only outcome of their efforts has been that Soni Sori remains in jail while Ankit Garg, the Superintendent of Police who conducted the interrogation, was conferred with the President's Police Medal for Gallantry on Republic Day. Interestingly, Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement last summer was spearheaded by three Magsaysay Award winners Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. One of Arvind Kejriwal's many NGOs is generously funded by Ford Foundation. Kiran Bedi's NGO is funded by Coca Cola and Lehman Brothers. Though Anna Hazare calls himself a Gandhian, the law he called for - the Jan Lokpal Bill - was un-Gandhian, elitist and dangerous. A round-the-clock corporate media campaign proclaimed him to be the voice of the people? Unlike the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, the Hazare movement did not breathe a word against privatisation, corporate power or economic reforms? On the contrary, its principal media backers successfully turned the spotlight away from massive corporate corruption scandals (which had exposed high-profile journalists too) and used the public mauling of politicians to call for the further withdrawal of discretionary powers from government, for more reforms, more privatisation. (In 2008, Anna Hazare received a World Bank award for outstanding public service). The World Bank issued a statement from Washington saying the movement dovetailed into its policy. :fear:
jairamesh Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 Well if Arundhati Roy is worried abort capitalism and the vast influence of large corporations than she shouldn't be just attacking Indian companies. Corporations run the US, UK, Japan, infact the world. The world is a ghost story. And besides India's coporations are puny in size compared to other global behemoths. I understand Roy's angle of attack but very poorly put together. How about attacking the consumers who power these "irresponsible" (in her words) corporations. She just resigns herself to being pissed off because she has to drink Tata tea, using Tata soap, driving Tata cars, well how about practicing what you preach and boycott these things if you feel Tata have done wrong, instead of being a fecking lazy hypocrite.
Clarke Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 A fairly long read, but well worth it. Why so ? Please elaborate the reason you find it worthwhile. Is capitalism responsible for all the corruption and overpopulation in India ? Was it supposed to be a magic pill that fixed every possible problem ? Someone send this nimbscoop Roy around the Scandinavian/Nordic countries, they have a form of capitalism (and not something alternative) that works well in the best possible manner we know on the planet. Look up every possible statistic of human development such as per capita, literacy, life expectancy etc and you'll have those nations taking up quite some measure of the top 10.
jairamesh Posted March 25, 2012 Posted March 25, 2012 Why so ? Please elaborate the reason you find it worthwhile. Is capitalism responsible for all the corruption and overpopulation in India ? Was it supposed to be a magic pill that fixed every possible problem ? I will summarize it for you: It's school grade baseless drivel coming from a champagne socialist.
Tiger80 Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 Unlike the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, the Hazare movement did not breathe a word against privatisation, corporate power or economic reforms? On the contrary, its principal media backers successfully turned the spotlight away from massive corporate corruption scandals (which had exposed high-profile journalists too) and used the public mauling of politicians to call for the further withdrawal of discretionary powers from government, for more reforms, more privatisation. (In 2008, Anna Hazare received a World Bank award for outstanding public service). The World Bank issued a statement from Washington saying the movement dovetailed into its policy. Anna hazare has spoken several times against Govt taking land from farmers and giving them to MNC's ,infact there is always socialist element in lectures of Anna .
kabira Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 Those MNCs are responsible for lakhs of jobs. Today in india I see young college kids can work and study. They can work at the places like subway, Big Bazar, Pizza places etc. Every system has its flaw, The system that involves humans will have flaws, humans are selfish/greedy and can be easily corrupted. How about Arunaditi start a school of ethics. and teach ppl about wrongs and rights..
ViruRulez Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 Capitalism is a good financial system but it has its own flaws for sure. And I have realized the flaws in recent years. I have seen things from the 80s to 90s to 2000s and now in the 2010s. And I can definitely say that the inflation in every commodity/service has been the highest in the last decade or so when capitalism became big in India. Nowadays cost of goods, services and property etc. are doubling or tripling every few years. And this is gradually creating a weird scenario where inflation is increasing at a far faster pace compared to the economic growth for a common man. And people have also been fed to capitalism by the corporations with the gradual passage of time and they are gradually destroying their own future. Most of our parents used to concentrate more on savings and for a secure future. Hardly anybody used to go for credit in those days. But in today's date, not only are people and especially young guys and gals spending all their earnings in temporary material objects instead of savings but they are also taking a lot of credit. In case of an economic turmoil, the present generation would struggle like it happens in the West. But more importantly the capitalism and rapid inflation is affecting the poor and middle class. Though they are growing richer with time but to be honest the prices of goods, services and everything else is increasing at a far faster pace and so, in real terms they are becoming poorer without realizing. After a lot of thinking I have gradually come to believe that everything has its own place be it capitalism, socialism or anything else. I am not completely against socialism either but I would definitely prefer capitalism over others. But at the same time, it must be controlled capitalism and not unchecked capitalism as it leads to uncontrolled inflation in the long run. For example, I hear a lot people saying that all public organizations including Indian Railways must be privatized. But such things would be terrible as that would increase the costs of railways terribly and make it impossible for the poor to travel long distance. Only high end loss making amenities such as airlines etc. can be privatized if needed (eg. Air India). Price must be somewhat controlled by the govt. for essential and basic necessities as a free market might result in massive increase in prices in those areas. Having said that, I would not mind healthy competition developing between public and private enterprise as that would mean win-win for the consumers. Whoever delivers the best products or services at the lowest price would be the ultimate winner.
Mariyam Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 So what is the alternative Roy is suggesting? That is one thing she never does. She only diagnoses (what she perceives as) the problems. There is no suggestion on the way ahead. There is no plan B that she lays forth. I've read a few articles. She comes across as a person with a heart. Always showing a fair deal of empathy with those who are the most repressed. She also comes across as someone who stands by her ideals; that her ideals may be completely irrelevant/ wrong is besides the point. And she writes well. If I were to judge her articles. I'd say that her views on the Centre - Maoist situation are pretty telling. And she brings a human touch to these stories. However, her views on the 26/11 attacks, seditious comments on Kashmir and views on economics are just critiques for the sake of it.
ravishingravi Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 That is one thing she never does. She only diagnoses (what she perceives as) the problems. There is no suggestion on the way ahead. There is no plan B that she lays forth. I've read a few articles. She comes across as a person with a heart. Always showing a fair deal of empathy with those who are the most repressed. She also comes across as someone who stands by her ideals; that her ideals may be completely irrelevant/ wrong is besides the point. And she writes well. If I were to judge her articles. I'd say that her views on the Centre - Maoist situation are pretty telling. And she brings a human touch to these stories. However, her views on the 26/11 attacks, seditious comments on Kashmir and views on economics are just critiques for the sake of it. She is a reactionary. Not an intellectual. Unfortunately, we ( media and some people ) assume everyone who can articulate their thoughts well to be an expert or knowledgeable or relatively objective and give her way too much importance. She is a great writer though.
Yoda-esque Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 She is a reactionary. Not an intellectual. Unfortunately' date=' [b']we ( media and some people ) assume everyone who can articulate their thoughts well to be an expert or knowledgeable or relatively objective and give her way too much importance. She is a great writer though. Couldn't be more true.We are enamoured by the English Language. Which is why people should stick to what they are good at .
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