261–270 of 382 posts
I just wanted to point out I loved the fact the op used expat to describe his status in the US and not immigrant. I’ve always hated we had two different words to describe the same thing.
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> Democracies have stable, predictable rule of law. Really? Russia? Venezuela? They are democracies. Also, do you realize that many of the world's poorest and unstable countries are democracies? India has been a democracy for nearly 80 years. Nobody wants to do business with them. Everyone wants to do business with china. Go figure. > Do you want to invest in a country where a dictator could simply decide that he is…
Russia and Venezuela simply never developed a civil society in the modern sense. Same for many poor and unstable countries. They're still likely far better off than similarly vulnerable autocracies - I'd much rather be in one of those flawed democracies than, say, in North Korea. 'Competent leaders' are not born, they're made. Democracy, liberal/bourgeois values, civil society, proper rewards for merit... All of thes…
Isn't that the fault of democracy then? How can democracy be so great if it can't even help develop basic civil society? So now you are moving the goalpost from political government to civil society? So it's civil society that's important not democracy?
> I'd much rather be in one of those flawed democracies than, say, in North Korea. '
And most people would rather live in china or vietnam than many of those flawed democracies.
> Democracy, liberal/bourgeois values, civil society, proper rewards for merit...
That's not what honest look at political history shows. We're told hitler was the worst thing in history and democracy gave us hitler.
> All of these things ultimately foster competence.
I'd say it fosters corruption rather than competence. And everyone from the founding fathers to the ancient greeks would have agreed.
There are merits to all forms of governance. Nothing magical about democracy as I've shown. What you need is competence. Doesn't matter the form of government.
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It will be hard because India likes to buy from Russia recently and doesn't see a problem with invasion.
Germany continues to buy oil from Russia too, but I never see them being criticized for it. They bought oil for decades from Russia, arguably funding the current invasion, yet that was held up as a shining example of how interdepenence via trading can maintain peace between nations. There's always a double standard at play. For EU, buying oil is a necessary evil. For India, it's "supporting" the enemy.
India received Lawrow recently, he is not allowed in any EU country.
But there is a difference in long dependency and completely new buy. India is not dependent on Russian oil, Germany is (I mean, if they stop, cars will stop, people will freeze in houses because of lack of gas to heat their houses).
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>Who cares whether india is a democracy or not? Anybody who wants to do business. Democracies have stable, predictable rule of law. Do you want to invest in a country where a dictator could simply decide that he is going take your assets?
> Democracies have stable, predictable rule of law. Really? Russia? Venezuela? They are democracies. Also, do you realize that many of the world's poorest and unstable countries are democracies? India has been a democracy for nearly 80 years. Nobody wants to do business with them. Everyone wants to do business with china. Go figure. > Do you want to invest in a country where a dictator could simply decide that he is…
> the insane opportunities available in India now [3]. > India’s rising startup and tech wave > Massive switch from wealth accumulation mode to wealth creation mode. > And the amount of VC funding in India combined with the startup ecosystem’s energy here is absolute fire > The collective risk appetite has never been higher. > The step after the ‘American dream’ is the ‘Indian dream’. This is great to hear about Indi…
It will be hard because India likes to buy from Russia recently and doesn't see a problem with invasion.
Do you know that Europe is _still_ buying from Russia??
Do you know that the US is also _still_ buying from Russia??
India does about $8Bn/year of trade with Russia. That's peanuts.
And nearly 50% of the tankers carrying Russian oil are Greek; and yet you don't hear a word about Greece.
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If they don't support it, they have had plenty of opportunities to voice against it. But they have abstained. It is really disappointing.
Yes, but that doesn’t come close to supporting the war. On the other hand, they’ve provided considerable humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. For better or worse, that’s just the situation — economic and geopolitical — India is in. They don’t have the luxury of looking at things black and white like most western nations.
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It will be hard because India likes to buy from Russia recently and doesn't see a problem with invasion.
As always the reality is complicated, and yes, India does see a problem with the invasion. India is not like China where the media is openly supporting the Russian narrative. India is merely keeping quiet, with many in the media telling it to take a more open position against Russia. India has massive dependency on Russian military hardware and spare parts. So what should it do, just break off with Russia over a war…
Choices.
BTW. Regarding the oil and gas, India started buying when it didn't need to . EU is dependent on that oil and gas (Eastern Europe was forced on that dependency, Westerners stupidly joined) - e.g. cars will stop on streets, people will freeze in houses (ok, maybe not now, fortunately Spring is coming, but we still have 0-8 Celcius here, not fun to be in unheated house in that temperature). And we try to stop it, e.g. in Poland we worked on that and hopefully by the end of the year we can stop importing gas from Russia.
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I agree things aren't the best and you make several valid points. However, seems to me that you are in the camp who would rather shit on their own country instead of finding ways to make things better for everyone. You too are a part of the privileged class at this moment - sitting in the US (presumably).
Presumed wrong. I don’t comment on the state of affairs without having been back. Again I want to contribute to humanity and this planet, I don’t pledge allegiance to a line drawn by dipshits 70 years back.
I assume you're going to travel on a "humanity" passport...? Or are you going to eat some crow and "pledge allegiance" to some country?
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It will be hard because India likes to buy from Russia recently and doesn't see a problem with invasion.
This is a simplistic assessment of India's strategic situation.
They literally hosted Russia Foreign Minister week or two ago. They abstained in votes against Russia for that invasion in UN. US warned them no to go in bed with Russia. Do you think EU or US will look kindly to support India now?
> the insane opportunities available in India now [3]. > India’s rising startup and tech wave > Massive switch from wealth accumulation mode to wealth creation mode. > And the amount of VC funding in India combined with the startup ecosystem’s energy here is absolute fire > The collective risk appetite has never been higher. > The step after the ‘American dream’ is the ‘Indian dream’. This is great to hear about Indi…
It will be hard because India likes to buy from Russia recently and doesn't see a problem with invasion.