India (part I)
Posted in India, the economy on Dec 2nd, 2008
The western media, including the imperialist President-elect Obama, like to think of India as some kinda “largest democracy” along with being an economic role model for the region. While significant energy is directed towards attacking Muslims (physically and verbally) the imperialists have held up India as a reliable ally – and is considered more and more to be part of the zio-american orbit.
India, in reality, remains steeped in poverty, with ethnic-caste-religious conflicts raging all across the country. And, all the while, significant portions of its population are losing their ancient south asian heritage, culture, and identity, only to be replaced with some of the most obscene aspects of “western” culture, and outright fascism.
Lets take a look at the Indian economy; much is made of the growth in the past few years – primarily as a result of US/European “outsourcing” to take advantage of cheaper Indian labor. While this may have benefited a few, the vast bulk of Indian population have not seen any change in their living conditions.
A few charts will help make this clear (all data gathered through the IMF/World Bank web site).
GDP – India’s Gross Domestic Product has nearly doubled over the past six-eight years, suggesting a significant increase in economic activity, which should, one would assume, translate into increased wages for Indian workers.
Similarly we see that the Gross National (per capita) income has also shown a significant rise.
Daily wages: But while both GDP, and GNI (per capita) show significant rises, the actual wages for the vast majority of the population have largely been stagnant: 85% of the population continue to live under $2.50 a day (Purchasing Power Parity adjusted figures), nearly 80% live under $2.00 a day, and 28-30% live under $1.00 a day! So where has all the economic growth gone? Well, obviously most of it went to the top 15% of the population – rest of the population has gotten mere pennies (if that). The much touted “Indian middle class” is little more than a myth – and represent a mere fraction of India’s vast population. This so-called “middle class”, in fact, represents the symptoms of the deep inequities that ravage the Indian economic landscape.
The Indian establishment, instead of dealing with its failed economic policies, has chosen to 1) blame Pakistan for everything, and 2) appeal to the worst hate instincts of its majority Hindu population.
It is no wonder that India has become a country defined by its internal conflicts and hate groups directed at its minority populations (Muslims, Christians, Dalits and more) – that will be the topic of our next blog entry.
