All this talk about America passing through a recession seems to be really true. And Iraq seems to be a favorite way of deflecting attention away from problems at home. Next time around, we should not even talk of recession in the US till there is an American conflict with Iraq. (Just like the Indian Meteorological Department has developed a forecasting model for monsoons based on some fifteen odd parameters, I guess I too should now be able to develop a validation model for recession in the US based on certain criteria. Well, I definitely seem to be on my way with at least one criterion discovered!)
For all the talk about American progressiveness, and they being miles ahead of us, at least on the political front, India really has not been lagging. We have similar methodologies for diverting attention from real issues. I would not go into a debate on this for we know people have all kinds of compulsions for not doing things straight even if they would sometimes like to.
Opponents will use every opportunity to discredit their adversaries. And so it is that the common taxpayer must suffer.
Talking of taxpayers, as budget time approaches, the finance departments starts releasing teasers of shape of things to come.
They have almost mastered the art of setting expectations. So by budget time people are expecting the worst. And then the finance ministry in a grand gesture creates an opportunity for itself to flaunt its magnanimity. It is another thing that to most people it means nothing.
For the last several years we have been hearing about the need to cut government spending. And after the budget presentation, the immediate reaction from the experts is that the issue has yet again not been tackled. Have we no innovative ideas on addressing this problem without creating fresh ones. If we have not been able to do anything in five years, I guess we just do not have the will.
And so it is that we will take recourse to God sent opportunities to raise taxes and cover our inefficiencies. It was pathetic the way we immediately used the Gujarat earthquake as an excuse for possible tax increases. And to think we don't even have the machinery to distribute aid among the victims. Aid which has been sent by people of this country from post tax earnings. Am I sounding negative? Maybe I am just plain angry. I am sure we deserve better.
Is it that the government has taken too much on is plate? How do you focus and what do you focus on with so much on your plate? Why is it that the government is unable to learn from industry and restructure to deliver services only in certain core areas? Are we saying that they would like to do so but there are compulsions for not taking that stand and moving forward? If so, why don't we come out in the open and address these issues head on? Are their compulsions there too?
If there are compulsions, the people of this country need to know. Unauthorized dwellings steal what for instance are the compulsions in letting electricity? Whose compulsion are we talking about? Why aren't private power companies willing to get into this sector? Don't we all know?
The problems associated with our growing population are evident to everyone. It nullifies everything that we try and do. What are the compulsions in not addressing this issue on a war footing? One lost election by people who tried?
It is amazing how we draw wrong conclusions and then not do legitimate things that should be done. Instead of preventing wrong things from being done, we have taken an approach of not doing anything about it.
Well, as a matter of fact, we are doing something about it! In our enlightened way we have concluded that the population problem will be sorted out by educating people. Probably what that effectively means in reality is that as more and more people go though universities, they will realize the benefits of a small family. (Ofcourse, what has not probably been factored is that in all that time the population will continue to grow unbridled. How long can we sustain this?
But as I said we are masters at converting our ills into virtues. Thanks to IT, we now talk of a vast technical manpower base in India with great pride. So being the most populous nation is no longer such a bad idea! Looks like we have not learned from the past. Britain did not rule the world because it was the most populous or largest nation. And neither do America and Japan have that virtue.
The virtue of being small is somehow lost on us. We want to be everything to everyone and in the process end up being nothing. Look at the world around us. Miniaturization is the name of the game. In products, small is beautiful. In services, focus is key.
Being able to do things better, is the name of the game. Despite our numbers in IT, we still serve others and have not achieved leadership positions. But that would be labeling one as negative. And so it is that we will conveniently talk of alleviating problems through increasing numbers of educated people.
Whether there is opportunity of employment for all of them will be a different matter. By then it will also be someone else's problem to solve. What we need to bother about is just the next couple of years. If that needs bombing another country, so be it. (Sorry, I mixed up things. That's for USA.) The compulsions may be different. But we all seem to have them. Compulsively united! Are.