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Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

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Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#41

Post by oblio »

tosseraccount wrote: post #26
vowelless wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were the mughals invaders and colonisers like the British? Did they "leave" after their demise? I thought they basically became part of India, especially with their artistic and religious influence on the people.

Mughals were the Mongols who converted to Islam and invaded India.

And they were a small ruling caste that was assimilated by the locals, for the most part.

So the previous comment was quite accurate. The Mughals of Babur were far removed from the Mughals of Bahadur II.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#42

Post by mason240 »

jccc wrote: post #14

I don't particularly like the guy, but is there a campaign of deliberate misinterpretation going on? Yes, probably a really stupid thing to say, and perhaps wrong for many reasons. No, he did not say India should have kept Britain as its colonial power, or any of the other incredible interpretations now flying around the Twittersphere. Jonny Axelsson: Anti-semitism not the opposite of semitism. Now whether anti-colon…

I've found that the further down the article the actual quote is, the more likely that the writer's interpretation is misleading.

First sentence

>then suggesting the country would have had stronger economic growth if it had stayed under British rule rather than become independent in 1947.

Actual tweet, at the bottom

>Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#43

Post by fennecfoxen »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #37
jccc wrote: post #14

I don't particularly like the guy, but is there a campaign of deliberate misinterpretation going on? Yes, probably a really stupid thing to say, and perhaps wrong for many reasons. No, he did not say India should have kept Britain as its colonial power, or any of the other incredible interpretations now flying around the Twittersphere. Jonny Axelsson: Anti-semitism not the opposite of semitism. Now whether anti-colon…

Although I think you may be right in your interpretation how is maintaining net neutrality by India 'anti-colonialist'?

For better or worse, I suspect a large part of recent developments in India regarding zero-rating services were supported as "let's deal a blow to the big bad corporations affiliated with the western civilization that colonized us! we don't like them!" rather than a matter of intrinsic merit. It's a common motive in a variety of nations.

(edit: in this case, I suspect it might be "for better" and not "for worse" in effect, but I still suspect the ulterior motive.)

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#44

Post by Zigurd »

A casual glance at your social media feeds would have told you at least two things: 1. In India, the public rejected a massive PR campaign designed to create support for Free Basics, and went in the opposite direction; 2. That nobody from India in the US tech business thought Free Basics was a good idea.

In light of that, how Marc Andreesen thought it was a good idea to wrap his defense of Free Basics in a defense of colonialism is beyond imagining. But it does illustrate how certain stars of the tech world, some of whom have their claques on HN, can get pretty far disconnected from the real world.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#45

Post by wdmeldon »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #37
jccc wrote: post #14

I don't particularly like the guy, but is there a campaign of deliberate misinterpretation going on? Yes, probably a really stupid thing to say, and perhaps wrong for many reasons. No, he did not say India should have kept Britain as its colonial power, or any of the other incredible interpretations now flying around the Twittersphere. Jonny Axelsson: Anti-semitism not the opposite of semitism. Now whether anti-colon…

Although I think you may be right in your interpretation how is maintaining net neutrality by India 'anti-colonialist'?

It isn't. But ignoring the NN aspect of this discussion, the sentiment I got from the tweet was that the "anti-colonial" mindset was to drive out foreign influence, both positive and negative. The idea that the tweet was pro-colonial I believe is incorrect.

Once again, Twitter shows us why it shouldn't be used for nuanced conversation.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#46

Post by ilurkedhere »

british_india wrote: post #9

There is one salient example: fresh water in India. In 1947, the British departed with 24/7 pressurized water across the developed parts of India. Now, the British-built water system has all but collapsed. Instead of pressurized water, the water comes weakly and only intermittantly. What difference does that make, you ask? Well, if a pressurized system leaks, the leak causes water to leave the pipe. In a non-pressuri…

Interesting... Did the British also leave with the knowledge of how to maintain it?

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#47

Post by k-mcgrady »

jccc wrote: post #40
k-mcgrady wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I think you may be right in your interpretation how is maintaining net neutrality by India 'anti-colonialist'?

I have no position on this. Please disagree with Andreessen about that, not with my objection to wild misinterpretation of him. I have zero qualifications to have an opinion on the question you raise.

Yeah sorry the question wasn't supposed to be directed at you, more rhetorical in nature.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#49

Post by oblio »

british_india wrote: post #9

There is one salient example: fresh water in India. In 1947, the British departed with 24/7 pressurized water across the developed parts of India. Now, the British-built water system has all but collapsed. Instead of pressurized water, the water comes weakly and only intermittantly. What difference does that make, you ask? Well, if a pressurized system leaks, the leak causes water to leave the pipe. In a non-pressuri…

I doubt even the Indians themselves are debating that the British brought many new technologies to India or that they maintained them well. Something which the later Indian administrations did not do as well.

But when, in the end, the whole system was a huge scam meant to get resources out of India and into Britain, everything comes into a larger perspective.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#50

Post by imartin2k »

Looking at the amount of opinionated tweets that he writes every day, it is statistically inevitable that he at one point writes something which gets him in trouble. This simply must have been taken into account by him from the beginning when starting to use Twitter the way he does. How can he do that? He simply knows that this, like almost anything controversial people say or do, will blow over.
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