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The Importance of India

alexkolchinski.com

121–130 of 178 posts

Re: The Importance of India

#121
post #75

But India is still a Semi Slavery society. The untouchables, anyone? The Hindu caste/social grouping system tells millions of people that they are contaminated and their fate is doomed upon birth. This is the most powerful racist/slavery/brain-washing machine that the human being has ever made, no? It is so hard to believe such brutal system still exist in human society. Yet, the country enforcing this claims to be t…

I won't disagree with you, but would rather give people some context who are reading your comment and have never lived in India. Like everything else in India, even this phenomenon exists in extremes. There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower caste…

> There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower castes.

I haven't had the "caste conversation" with my Indian friends for a few years now, but last time I did, they all said marrying outside of their caste would never be accepted by their parents. Friends from Mumbai, Delhi and Pune all said the same. Have things really changed so much in the past 5-10 years?

Re: The Importance of India

#122
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I'm doing anything close to what you're suggesting, except merely saying caste system isn't a state policy enforced by the government. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the society. > Why are you doing a 'not all men', 'i have black friends' thing here? > If you're a brahmin then please stop talking for the victims of your very own system. This is not a level of discussion I want to engage in. It's…

Good try there. After you're done with the jokes, you can read the persecution faced by the current PRESIDENT of India. https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/opinion-the-jagannath-te...

If you had searched it a little more, you would have found that it was a fake story - https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/viral-test-no-mis...

News these days isn't something you can trust blindly. Many a times, fake stories have been planted for political motive/social unrest. Suddenly before election lynching stories start to pop up, see the pattern and understand the motive behind.

Re: The Importance of India

#123

But India is still a Semi Slavery society. The untouchables, anyone? The Hindu caste/social grouping system tells millions of people that they are contaminated and their fate is doomed upon birth. This is the most powerful racist/slavery/brain-washing machine that the human being has ever made, no? It is so hard to believe such brutal system still exist in human society. Yet, the country enforcing this claims to be t…

[deleted]

Re: The Importance of India

#124
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throwing in a bunch of complaints (sometimes valid) doesn't mean India is not a democracy. Do the people still choose the government via elections or not? If you don't like policies of the current government, organize the opposition and vote them out. That's not being curtailed by anyone.

How will I organize if government will slap a case against me and will put me in jail? In my previous comment I have shared examples of this happening to people who raised a voice or tried to protest. Rest aside forming an opposition, I dont even feel safe to comment against government by using my real handle. This article summarizes state of tv news media in India: http://www.nationalheraldindia.com/amp/story/india%…

How are literally hundreds of political parties existing and contesting elections in India? What case will the government slap on you if you want to canvass for an opposition, start a political party or contest elections?

Re: The Importance of India

#125

It's wishful thinking to believe India can compete with China on the world stage. China can pivot on a dime, whereas you can flatter an Indian by describing their country as "organized chaos". Comparing the responses to COVID-19 should be indicative. As somewhat of an metric, I'll let you look up the smallest semiconductor node India can produce natively.

Why is this downvoted? OP is blunt but makes great points.

Authoritarianism is great in aggregates, but only those who have faced the horror know its problems, as individuals.

China is doing very well today and we have a lot to learn from them, but what happens when they reach the top and dominate ? What values will guide them ? What keeps those in power in check ?

Do you see what's happening in South China sea ?

COVID-19 spread because voices were suppressed in the beginning and a lack of free media. If anything it should be an example of the danger suppression of free speech to the whole world.

Why was the WHO president/vice president so afraid of speaking against China ?

Why are basket ball players and NBA afraid of speaking out against China but openly criticize their own president ?

Re: The Importance of India

#126
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't disagree with you, but would rather give people some context who are reading your comment and have never lived in India. Like everything else in India, even this phenomenon exists in extremes. There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower caste…

> There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower castes. I haven't had the "caste conversation" with my Indian friends for a few years now, but last time I did, they all said marrying outside of their caste would never be accepted by their parents. Frie…

[deleted]

Re: The Importance of India

#127
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't disagree with you, but would rather give people some context who are reading your comment and have never lived in India. Like everything else in India, even this phenomenon exists in extremes. There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower caste…

> There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower castes. I haven't had the "caste conversation" with my Indian friends for a few years now, but last time I did, they all said marrying outside of their caste would never be accepted by their parents. Frie…

Preferring marriage within the same cast has to do more with having partner from the same cultural/family norms and practices. You see, Indian society is quite old (thousands of years); there are lot of customs re ways of worship, deities, dresses, eating/etc. that have evolved over this period and people (mostly parents) prefer a match in that regard. Because mostly marriages are arranged by parents (though in cities at least, love marriage has also become a common place thing.)

Re: The Importance of India

#128
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't disagree with you, but would rather give people some context who are reading your comment and have never lived in India. Like everything else in India, even this phenomenon exists in extremes. There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower caste…

> There are cities like Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad (almost all Tier 1 cities) where the IT sector flourishes, the concept of caste is almost invisible; bear in mind this is coming from someone who is from those lower castes. I haven't had the "caste conversation" with my Indian friends for a few years now, but last time I did, they all said marrying outside of their caste would never be accepted by their parents. Frie…

And if you talk to Americans, many of their parents would not accept if they came out as gay. That doesn't mean human rights are not advancing in the US, it just means that the previous generations have a hard time letting go of their bigoted beliefs.

Re: The Importance of India

#129

I am taking a note of how some privileged individuals possibly from rich western countries or elite Indians conforming to a political ideology here are mocking and judging a country which has been looted, enslaved and intentionally left illiterate for centuries. India is not perfect. But just to bring things into perspective, the cited "beacon" of liberal democracy, USA, didn't allow women to vote until as recent as…

If you read the history books, people in the West have been predicting the death of India's democracy ever since Independence.

It hasn't happened, our democracy is as strong as it's ever been, with a much higher voter turnout than most western nations. We also have a myriad of political parties in power in different states, from communism in Kerala to right wing governance for years in Gujarat.

The US, in comparison, has very low voter turnout even for their presidential elections and extremely popular candidates like Bernie Sanders can't even fight the election, because apparently, a true democracy doesn't allow you to choose from more than 2 choices.

India has its flaws, but all countries do. Doomsayers will keep predicting death, while the people working towards betterment know the flaws and will try to fix stuff instead.

I'd have expected HN to have more of the second view, and I'm pretty disappointed to see that that's not the case.

Re: The Importance of India

#130
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a meme? Have you actually spent time in India? Caste based discrimination is illegal, so the country isn't "enforcing" any of it. In fact, there are several measures to counteract discrimination (like reservations, which is a whole other topic). This just seems like a poor, uneducated opinion for the likes of HN.

Woah dude. This is so funny. A low caste guy was shot dead last week for entering a temple. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/17-year-old-dalit-b... A man was made to drink urine for loving a girl from upper caste. https://www.thelede.in/governance/2020/05/22/in-caste-crime-... Why are you doing a 'not all men', 'i have black friends' thing here? Anyone can google for these things and figure out the truth. If…

> A low caste guy was shot dead last week for entering a temple.

Check the last paragraph in that news:

> However, SP Amroha Vipin Tada denied the father’s charges saying that the initial report suggests of a dispute between Vikas’s elder brother and the accused over money. The police maintained that the murder was the result of an altercation between the two accused, and the elder brother of the deceased, over a sum of Rs 5,000.

As I also found that the president related news you share was also proven false. I can only tell you again that not everything you are reading these days is a truth. If you keep a certain prospective, the world will appear exactly like that to you whichever way you see because your mind looks for and rejoices in validation of its beliefs/opinions.

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