In honour of our 77th Republic Day, I’m beginning a weekly series of short essays about what ails India’s economy, institutions, and society, and how we might begin to reclaim the lofty ideals and realize the unfulfilled promises of our beloved republic to lift our country and countrymen out of benighted poverty and into bounteous plenty.
Even people who are not in business are kind of aware that this is happening in India. And accept it. It is so ingrained in our society. All expectations of decency and fairness and justice have been squeezed out of society. Your mosquito analogy is good but incomplete. A mosquito does not suck your blood and then pass a portion of it to his boss who then pools contributions from other mosquitoes under him and sends it up in an infinite multi level scheme that ends up lubricating elections in the world’s biggest democracy. This parallel power structure does not have a tax base . Hence the swarm of mosquitoes have been leashed on the people to collect this blood. Probably bees are a more fitting example. You are railing against the symptom, the underlying disease is more sinister.
In a "hush-hush" society like ours, openly admitting that a problem exists is a step in the right direction.
Solving the problem is another, monumental task, though. These problems are like "cancer tumors." Removing them requires the body to pay the price. Call it collateral damage. The body in this case is the system - the state machinery and the society, both. And the collateral damage is the loss of position, which could be partial and temporary. The fear of this collateral damage makes us delay the "surgery," which is the much-needed "systemic reform."
But if we delay the surgery for too long, the disease spreads throughout the body.
Remember the sad and avoidable fate of V.G. Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day in 2019? Apparently, he owned shares of Mindtree that could have been sold for liability settlements. But tax guys who had seized those shares in a 2017 raid refused to release the same.
If this can happen to the son-in-law of the country's former Foreign Minister, imagine the plight of the MSMEs!
Speaking of systemic flaws, here's another one. Again by Shekhar Gupta. This one talks of the inherently shortage-friendly nature of our state machinery and explains the systemic vested interests behind it.
In the past, we often used terms like parasites and vampires to describe these corruption issues. However, in recent years, the term "small flies" has become more commonly used to describe corruption among government officials at the grassroots level, while "big tigers" refers to corrupt high-ranking officials.
I've felt that buzzing near the ears is much more annoying that the bites, It's at this point where just take my blood and let me have my peace but no, for some, it's hurts their fragile ego, they just want to keep buzzing about what they're capable of. We've been trying for years to figure what would actually please this one mosquito.
Can the electric bat be education? Helping the next generations imagine a normal without having to sleep with mosquito bites everyday. The beings that suck the living shit out of you are gonna do their part in helping children learn how to do the same which needs active counter force.
We hear you..a few months back a Chennai based business finally shut shop in India and left...a lot of hoopla happened then and now the news cycle has moved on...Wonder when things will improve and how
Even people who are not in business are kind of aware that this is happening in India. And accept it. It is so ingrained in our society. All expectations of decency and fairness and justice have been squeezed out of society. Your mosquito analogy is good but incomplete. A mosquito does not suck your blood and then pass a portion of it to his boss who then pools contributions from other mosquitoes under him and sends it up in an infinite multi level scheme that ends up lubricating elections in the world’s biggest democracy. This parallel power structure does not have a tax base . Hence the swarm of mosquitoes have been leashed on the people to collect this blood. Probably bees are a more fitting example. You are railing against the symptom, the underlying disease is more sinister.
great metaphor
Excellent analogy of "mosquito economy."
Superb analysis.
In a "hush-hush" society like ours, openly admitting that a problem exists is a step in the right direction.
Solving the problem is another, monumental task, though. These problems are like "cancer tumors." Removing them requires the body to pay the price. Call it collateral damage. The body in this case is the system - the state machinery and the society, both. And the collateral damage is the loss of position, which could be partial and temporary. The fear of this collateral damage makes us delay the "surgery," which is the much-needed "systemic reform."
But if we delay the surgery for too long, the disease spreads throughout the body.
Remember the sad and avoidable fate of V.G. Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day in 2019? Apparently, he owned shares of Mindtree that could have been sold for liability settlements. But tax guys who had seized those shares in a 2017 raid refused to release the same.
Source: 04:32 to 05:31 of this video by ThePrint's Shekhar Gupta: https://youtu.be/2VgfrFzqDic?si=xAq-Or4X4Yb0Z_BN
If this can happen to the son-in-law of the country's former Foreign Minister, imagine the plight of the MSMEs!
Speaking of systemic flaws, here's another one. Again by Shekhar Gupta. This one talks of the inherently shortage-friendly nature of our state machinery and explains the systemic vested interests behind it.
06:57 to 08:14 of https://youtu.be/dg_7sO84vOs?si=hGNFZhQFcOm8LBF3
There's a method in many a madness. You just have to scratch the surface to make it visible.
In the past, we often used terms like parasites and vampires to describe these corruption issues. However, in recent years, the term "small flies" has become more commonly used to describe corruption among government officials at the grassroots level, while "big tigers" refers to corrupt high-ranking officials.
In China, you mean?
I've felt that buzzing near the ears is much more annoying that the bites, It's at this point where just take my blood and let me have my peace but no, for some, it's hurts their fragile ego, they just want to keep buzzing about what they're capable of. We've been trying for years to figure what would actually please this one mosquito.
Who's building the electric bat for the indian economy fr
Can the electric bat be education? Helping the next generations imagine a normal without having to sleep with mosquito bites everyday. The beings that suck the living shit out of you are gonna do their part in helping children learn how to do the same which needs active counter force.
We hear you..a few months back a Chennai based business finally shut shop in India and left...a lot of hoopla happened then and now the news cycle has moved on...Wonder when things will improve and how
Which business was this?
Wintrack I think