RAJINDER PURI On Indians Wealthy and Miserable

Eighty per cent of China’s industry is owned by foreigners. Almost a hundred per cent technology that built China is foreign, a great deal from America.  Olympics 2008 was a mega creation. Like the pyramids by the Pharaohs, the coliseum by the Romans, or the autobahns by the Nazis.

According to Forbes magazine, among the eight richest billionaires in the world, four are Indians—Lakshmi Mittal, the Ambani brothers and K.P. Singh. Among the world’s most powerful women, two are Indian politicians—Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati. Wow! Is India a superpower?No, not quite. Forbes is the authentic voice of the corporate world. Big Business, not America or Europe, rules humankind. Big Media is the voice of Big Business. It is the only window open to people for information. It shapes their thinking. It can market almost anything to ram it down the throats of people at large. Last week, a men’s weekly polled a new young Indian actress as the sexiest in the world. Omigosh! In the whole wide world? Without hurting her feelings, that’s pretty sweeping, isn’t it cutie pie? But let’s focus on India. Will India emulate China? Corporate power calls the shots in India. Corporate power calls the shots in China. Olympics 2008 dazzled the world. It was a mega creation. Like the pyramids by the Pharaohs, the coliseum by the Romans, or the autobahns by the Nazis. The Chinese, like the Japanese and the Koreans, are amazing, disciplined people. All credit to them. But eighty per cent of China’s industry is owned by foreigners. Almost a hundred per cent technology that built China is foreign, a great deal from America. So let’s not kid ourselves. Big Business is committed to no one nation. The world is its oyster. It is committed to profit and power from wherever the world provides it with these. So, if corporate power wants to present India as an emerging superpower, that’s great. Let’s not ignore reality, though. According to the latest World Bank estimates, regardless of its richest billionaires and most powerful women, India has one-third of the world’s poor. Forty-two per cent of India’s population is below the international poverty line. After economic reforms, the rich grew richer than during the previous decade. But the percentage of poor people increased. Continue to read