…And I Don’t Want Amartya Sen As My Economist

A highly coveted, life-changing object often becomes a weapon in the hands of people who decide the winner. Swedes / Europeans have used the Nobel as that for a while now. They cannot do anything about the sciences but give them to deserving people because the winner has to show tangible achievements. There is no subjectivity to it. However, Nobels in peace, literature and Economics (even an objective subject like that and I will try to explain) have been awarded based on the Swedish / European hatred / liking. These awards clearly expose the European prejudices. I will cite some examples from just the last few years.

The Europeans were very angry with George Bush. So anyone who stood opposed to this man was rewarded amply. Al Gore (who almost beat him in 2000) and Obama were awarded the Peace prize. One could make a case for Al Gore environmental crusade but Obama? They got angry with Iran and Shirin Abadi was awarded the Peace Nobel. They got angry with the Muslims after 9/11 and VS Naipaul was immediately awarded the Literature Nobel for his outspoken views on Muslims. They got self righteous about the Chinese and Liu Xiabo was the beneficiary. They got really angry with Bush’s free market policies and the leftist Economist Paul Krugman was rewarded the Economics Nobel. Now the late 1990s were times of prosperity for the west marked by the internet boom symbolizing an unmitigated greed. They had to find an extreme leftist whose policies stood in the face of prosperity. Amartya Sen was the beneficiary. These people denied Gandhi a Nobel Peace prize out of sheer racial prejudice. The winners due to the European bias are also men and women of great accomplishments but with this in mind, do the Nobels really carry the same weight?

I do not know much about Economics. What I know of Sen’s policies is what I have read in publications not beholden to leftist causes. What I do know is that he is a big proponent of Congress’ mega welfare schemes that no one knows how to pay for. An article in Firstpost.com, Arvind Subramanian who is an Economist of repute is quoted. One of the things he says is as follows:


Three, the rights-based approach also “undervalues opportunity costs”. Subramanian gives the example of the right to education (RTE) - an enormously expensive exercise with doubtful payoffs. It would have been far cheaper and more effective to focus on ensuring teachers turned up for work - thus improving student learning. The RTE is an extravagance the country could have done without, when cheaper and more focused solutions were possible. The UPA never weighed the costs of what could have been done with the money spent - hence incurring a huge opportunity cost.

I may not know money but I do know one thing. If a theory is applied and the results are a disaster then the theory must be lacking in some way or the other. If Congress is following Amartya Sen’s policies and the economy is a disaster where only redefinition of poverty is a cure for poverty then Sen’s policies must be deficient. Now Amratya Sen is using his celebrity (Thank You Nobel Committee) for speaking out against Narendra Modi betraying the pedestrian leftist attitudes of the leftist Bengali Bhadralok. He like all other leftist Bengalis can continue to vote for the Communists or Mamta Bannerjee but they must remember one thing. They can say whatever they like (Free country and all) but every one of them represents only one vote. He is free to vote against Narendra Modi. He does not want Bhai Narendra as his PM but has he stopped in asking an extremely important and potentially an ego busting question? Does Narendra Modi want him as his Economist?

The results of Congress’ and thus Sen’s economic policies are there for all to see. Montek Ahluwalia and Manmohan Singh are redefining poverty to reduce the number of poor. Ghareeb hatao not ghareebi seems to be their mantra. They refuse to answer a simple question. If the number of poor has gone down so much then what is the need of this back breaking food bill. If the food bill is that badly needed then what can one make of their claim for the declining number of poor?

We know what Modi can do. His accomplishments are there for all to see. Only the liberals and the pseudo-secular brigade cannot see Modi’s accomplishments. In fact even this man says that Modi does not deserve his vote because he has not done anything to make the minorities safe. Sen clearly is of the opinion that minority safety (statistically speaking they are much safer and prosperous in Gujarat than in other “secular bastions”) is the biggest problem facing India and that trumps governance and performance.

Yeah. Sen may not want Modi as his PM. I am quite sure that a performer like Narendra Modi does not want this charlatan as his Economics advisor. I sure don’t.

The first post article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/economy/food-bill-amartya-sens-charlatan-economics-debunked-again-944451.html

English or US Visa Unimportant for Modi & BJP but WINNING IS

The one front that we managed to best the Chinese was the call center and other supporting jobs. The reason was that we can speak English as opposed to the Chinese who cannot. The Chinese have taken a note of that and are very aggressively trying to correct that. The importance of knowing and ability to use English with proficiency cannot be denied in this age of global economy. No country is an island or can exist as one if they have any dreams of becoming prosperous. So when Rajnath Singh and Mohan Bhagwat start the whole English versus Indian vernacular debate, I scratch my head. In this unfortunate country of ours we have far far bigger problems than hurt pride of old men. In the face of our children dying of totally avoidable situations, talking of English as a problem seems callous if not downright cruel. Narendra Bhai has a well defined and well received narrative derived from a functional growth model (unlike that of Nitish Kumar). Combine that with the problems the country is facing thanks to Congress’ gross incompetence and corruption, you have a great way of making a case for a regime change in New Delhi. We need to be focused like Arjun was on the eye of the fish. Talking about less important things only dilutes the effort. Westernization maybe a problem but not the one which is killing our kids and destroying our economy. Moreover, to solve that problem we will need a massive social awakening. That cannot be made into an election issue. Bhai Narendra has a winning formula and the BJP / RSS old men would be well advised to stay on the course.

Rajnath Singh has made an appeal to god knows whom for a US VISA for Narendra Modi. In response to that, 65 MPs have written a letter to Obama for denial of the same. The letter is being forwarded by Indian American Muslim council  and has been signed by such luminaries as Akbaruddin Owaisi. We all know Owaisi’s anti Hindu, Anti Indian proclivities. This man epitomizes the disease of pseudo-secularism and vote-bank politics. Indian American Muslim Council is an outfit regularly used by the ISI to embarrass us. Members of this group and their liberal non Muslim friends have been known to hang out with Ghulam Nabi Fai ( A Kashmiri settled in US) who now is in jail in the US for being an ISI spy. If you read the article (url below) then you will know that people signing this letter are the kind of people India could do very well without. These men of low character and no accomplishments have taken it upon themselves to be the judge and jury on a man of admirable accomplishments and personal integrity (post Godhra massacre riots be GODDAMNED!).

Rajnath Singh has done a great disservice to Modi by raising this issue. Getting a US VISA is no certificate of character and ability. I can make a long list of Indian politicians who are criminals and have been to the US many times. The leftist brigade and the Christian lobby in the US have worked hard to deny Modi a US VISA. To that I say – No Big Deal. Modi does not need the US to perform as a CM of Gujarat. If the Americans do not want to be part of the Gujarat experiment then it is their loss. The Chinese, Brits, Germans and others are heavily invested in the state and are benefitting from it. In a small way, it is the US’s loss, not Modi’s.

What Rajnath Singh and the rest of the BJP should be focused on is winning the next general election. The US VISA issue should be ignored like the English and the Westernization debate. You see, if and when Narendra Bhai becomes the PM then the US White House will roll out the red carpet and the Indian liberals and Indian American Muslims will not be able to do anything about it except go hoarse.

Winning the next election is the solution to all the problems. The BJP and RSS old men would be well advised to remember that. They should realize that if Congress or (Gods Forbid) Third Party wins then entire India would be the loser with them in it.

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/indian-mps-write-to-obama-to-deny-modi-us-visa/20130723.htm

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/08/indian-leftists-useful-idiots-or.html

Children’s Deaths: Politicians And IAS Officers Are Responsible

Here is probably what happened. An illiterate / uncaring worked decided to use a pesticide can to fetch oil. The contaminated oil was used to cook food. The children got poisoned. Till now it seems like a case of criminal negligence. But once it was realized that the kids were poisoned, authorities who may be uncaring but are literate should have done the right thing. Clearly the amount of poison was not too much (otherwise the fatalities would have been a lot more). The DM and other officials should have mobilized healthcare resources and pumped the stomach of these children which is an extremely easy process (kids could have been made to drink salt water thereby inducing vomiting and mitigating the un-absorbed poison. I am not saying that all the kids could have been saved but the numbers could have been greatly reduced. But what actually happened was just like a typical Indian operation, one blunder after another was committed with everyone trying to save their own hide. No one is saying that Nitish Kumar is responsible for this but at the very least he could have taken it upon himself to organize the rescue operation. You do not have to be a Modi for this small an operation. What we see is a man still trying to assess the political fallout of the situation. How typical of a desi politico!

Can we avoid all and every accidental death in a country of our size? NO. But what we can do is to implement procedures which take care of such problems and then have trained personnel to follow those blindly. All this could have been avoided if there was a designated container for oil instead of someone using last minute jugaad which is what we are good at. We do not try to follow proper procedure. Instead we always use jugaad as an easy way out. We follow rules at the airport. We follow rules at privately owned establishments. We follow rules and rituals blindly and very properly at temples. We are capable of following procedures but only under fear of law, God or a stick. Ideally we should do so because it is important and has great value (for society and country as a whole).

We see it all around us. The least valuable thing in our country is human life. It maybe because there are too many of us. Caring for people becomes an onerous task. However, people like politicians and IAS babus have a view of the bigger picture. They have a responsibility that comes with the freedom to rape and pillage the country and that is to save a life once in a while. Do the right thing for once.

What stopped Nitish Kumar from dispatching a few helicopters full of medical supplies? What stopped the local DM who clearly is a more educated man than I from calling up all the local doctors and force them to do the right thing? What is stopping the local authorities from ensuring that the ambulance carrying the kids has enough petrol to go where they are supposed to go? What stopped the leaders and the babus to use the allocated funds instead of letting the money lapse? All this points to incompetence and cruel indifference.

Maybe not 15000, but Narendra Modi saved a whole lot of people sitting in what can be considered as an enemy territory by using established protocols. All the rest of our politicians for whom the term incompetent is not enough, sat around offering criticisms and coining terms like Rambo. Compared to Modi who swung into action and did all he could, Nitish Kumar cut a very sorry picture. If Modi is Rambo then Nitish Kumar is a combination of two characters from Sholay - Soorma Bhopali or the “Angrezon Kay Zamane ka Jailer” (roles made immortal by Jagdeep and Asrani respectively who are very competent actors). In fact since the tragedy, Nitish Kumar has been working on managing the political fallout. How do I know this? Isn’t it clear from the way he is engineering a defection in the Bihar BJP? A year ago I thought that Nitish Kumar was a competent CM. Now he looks like just another mistake by the voters.

(The picture used has got nothing to do with the recent tragedies. It is just a picture of a precious little girl who deserves the best in life)

Hindu Nationalism, Puppies and Narendra Modi

Even non scientists know that oil and water do not mix. Similar poles repel. Day and night cannot coexist. Of course similar analogies cannot be applied to human beings because there always will be exceptions. However, it can be safely assumed that it would be difficult for Hindu nationalists who deem the land they live on, to be their mother and people who believe in the primary supremacy of Ummah (Muslim brotherhood) to get along with any degree of ease.

With this in mind, I am surprised that after all that has happened, Modi feels obliged to talk about Muslims at all. If he thinks that it is important to talk about them (or use analogies which give the votebankers a stick to beat us) with the next elections in mind then I have news for him and the rest of the BJP: “Muslims are never ever going to vote for you”. Modi could solve all our problems while curing cancer and bring peace on our borders and even then the Muslims are not going to vote for him. So why bother? One more thing, India’s problems are far far bigger than the concerns for Muslims and liberals who weep for them incessantly. Modi needs to talk about his visions for India and how he is going to implement his plans rather than make statements that the liberals and media whores are going to jump all over and criminal politicians from the SP are going to take umbrage. All this is very counter -productive.

In fact the whole exercise of the BJP about their plans for Muslims is a gross waste of energy. Modi should do nationally what he has done in Gujarat. Talk about developing the nation as a whole and show the universal value for all the citizens of the land. The discussion should be about India rather than sections of it (caste, regions etc.). Talking about developing sections of the society should be a secondary. If a patient is suffering from a coronary then the doctor is not going to worry about a bad skin rash. Problems facing Muslims are not unique to them. If they claim alienation being unique to them then they need to take a look at Hindu dalits and tribals.

BJP and Narendra Modi cannot afford to lose sight of what makes them a good bet in 2014. Modi has got nothing to apologize for. He needs to ignore the pseudo-secular attempts to change the narrative and derail the discussion. Focus should be on the extreme incompetence of the Congress and narrow minded politics of the regional parties. They need to establish the BJP as the only viable alternative. Like Arjun, he needs to ignore all and focus on the fish’s eye only.