Patriotism at crossroads

While we complain and whine about all things wrong with our country, which is well within our rights to do so, we also need to acknowledge the cost others paid to get us this freedom. 1. As per British Administration records, about 6000 British died in the Indian Mutiny. The casualty count for Indians is at 800,000. This includes figures for those who died during the mutiny and the subsequent uprising as well as in famines and epidemics that followed in its wake. 2. If we estimate excess mortality from 1891 to 1920, with the average death rate of the 1880s as normal mortality, we find some 50 million people lost their lives under the aegis of British capitalism," they write. "But this estimate must be considered conservative. India's 1880s death rate was already very high by international standards. If we measure excess mortality over England's 16th- and 17th-century average death rate, we find 165 million excess deaths in India between 1880 and 1920. This figure is larger than the combined number of deaths from both World Wars, including the Nazi holocaust. 3. The British colonial regime looted nearly $45 trillion from India from 1765 to 1938. The amount is 15 times the annual GDP of the UK today. Even if it wants, it still can't return India the money it looted to not only build itself as a major global power but also fund much of the development in the today's developed world. 4. The Indian peasantry and workers produced the second largest merchandise export surplus in the world for at least four decades from the 1890s," writes Patnaik. "But India was never permitted to show current account balance, leave alone current account surplus. These enormous exchange earnings, appropriated by the then world capitalist leader, Britain, allowed it to export capital to develop Europe and the regions of European settlement, despite its running large and rising current account deficits with these same regions. The rapid diffusion of capitalism was ensured thereby to what constitutes today's advanced countries. With this amount of human and economic costs paid to attain the freedom that we have, let’s not forget the contributions of those who came before us and let’s not get blinded by party loyalties or religious identities to undermine what we got!

Whenever I read foreign media outlets, India is the new Asian Tiger that will outpace most emerging economies in growth. But Indian media and Indian people act like India is the worst place to be. The dichotomy is extremely confusing. Why is it that foreign media coverage on our economy is more favourable than our own hopes and aspirations from this country? PS: I am really big on Indian Exceptionalism, the belief that India's economic development and trajectory are unique or exceptional compared to other nations, driven by our large and diverse population, thriving middle class, our entrepreneurial spirit, and the emphasis on technology and innovation. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-07/can-india-overtake-china-as-world-s-growth-engine-it-could-happen-by-2028

Question came up because it’s Independence Day 🇮🇳 A lot of us have had the privilege to be able to go abroad, but ended up choosing not to. For me, it was just believing there’s enough growth here in the coming few decades + friends/family Looking to hear if the reduced brain drain is actually true, and what makes people stay.

If someone in India earns a CTC of 50 LPA or 1 crore+ with 10-15+ years of experience, but faces a 40% deduction (due to tax, PF, etc.), does it make sense to continue working in India or consider relocating if given an opportunity? Despite earning well, the quality of life remains poor. For example, schools cost 3-4 lakhs per annum, healthcare is paid, and living in private communities comes with hefty maintenance fees. Bad roads, metro are polluted. Heavy taxes of any purchase. I'm considering relocation. What are your thoughts?

We have done it. We contribute more to the country in taxes than corporates. Let’s celebrate this historic and absolutely patriotic moment in our broken dreams, in our rented homes, in our over taxed cars, in our pond sized potholes, in our over priced healthcare, in our price gouging education, in our humiliating public & pvt infra, in our barely present desire to live, Pride yourself in what you have achieved and shut your mouth about any criticism you have, for that’s not what you are here for.

..unless either of the two mess up insanely bad We'll probably get to the #3 spot if things go well. But it seems impossible that we'll ever go beyond that. Internal reasons that are very hard to fix:- (1) Our population TFR fell below standard replacement rate in 2023. This means we will not be able to follow the same economic growth trajectory required to reach developed status before population stagnation or declination. This is not a death knell but definitely very VERY bad news. (2) Our blue-collar workforce skill levels are not only subpar but are slowly falling behind the world standards every year. Much of our youth aim to join government orgs like the Army or the Railways which train for the job later, not before. Despite a national shortage of skilled plumbers, electricians etc, our vocational training orgs have been unsuccessful in attracting people towards these careers as well as churning out skilled workers. (3) Our bureaucratic environment is extremely slow with pathetic turnaround times on initiatives. This is not government specific and has always been the case so it seems like this will always be. This is not even a problem unique to India as many other countries have been facing this too but it is still a factor that negatively impacts our growth massively. I wish it was just internal reasons but a large part of it also comes down to both China and US being aggressively great at ensuring their successes:- (1) Chinese manufacturing seems nearly impossible to overcome - not just for India but also for the US. Yes, we might win over some industries and companies like the US, Vietnam, Thailand etc. have been doing but the amount of autocratic control in China allows them to crush competition easily. Case in point - the recent tussle between India and China on solar manufacturing which China won by autocratically lowering their prices. (2) If de-dollarisation succeeds, it will benefit China the most because (contd. in comments)

No law Low percent of people paying taxes No good Infra Rise of recent regionalism No tech advancements in AI/Semiconductor Planning to move to US, but at 30 not sure if i can go for MS

The US is in its late stage capitalist phase, a ship that's going to sink for the next 50 years. If you're a young person there it doesn't make sense to work as hard as your Grandpa the reward on average isn't as great. India on the other hand is poised to become a great multi-trillion $ economy. Onto something huge. We're talking like 10x growth of the economy here. Start-ups that have made it like Razorpay, Swiggy, PayTM, even Cred, if they survive will be really huge as capital in the country, liquidity and lifestyles go up over the next 50 years. Be the capitalist, take the risks, make bets, work and stack up promotions and money. Don't join an Infosys and work 70 hours there, do it for a start up of any scale you believe is going to make it. Or better yet start your own.

Governor of India just introduced Unified Pension Scheme for government employees. At times when it will become very difficult for corporate employees to survive after age of 40-45 in post AI world, this assured pension which was stopped after 2004 has been reintroduced. This will bring back the charm of government job which existed in 1970s-80s . In 70s and 80s, private jobs were synonymous with lack of job security. Globalization brought heavy salaries in corporate world and helped in reducing charm of govt job. Now, in 3-4 years, AI is going to cause huge change in corporate world thereby causing huge uncertainty. What do you people think?