Business is global. So what? Politics is local. Now, stop complaining.
Most of us who discuss the contents and discontents of globalization and make or listen to the presentations on global service delivery, by and large, agree at one point: that democracy is a good thing. Yet, when it comes to accepting the reality of democratization, we are far from prepared.
I came across this piece in a newly launched Indian business newspaper, Mint (involving the Wall Street Journal), called Global I-crisis: We all want to be someone else, which scoffed at some of the populist slogans of the local government in Bangalore, which it says, wants to ban English in primary schools, establish reservations for local people in “multinational” corporations, and disrupt business by calling bandhs (strikes) against the ruling of the courts in the case of river water distribution with its neighboring state (home to Chennai, the other software city and increasingly a manufacturing hub in South India).
Is Shenzhen the new Bangalore? Well, it certainly seems to be marketing itself that way. In a seminar that the City of Shenzhen conducted in New York recently, a gaggle of mandarins and ministers promoted Shenzhen as China’s BPO centre.Bangalore, they said, wasn’t the “world’s exclusive destination for outsourcing services”. China was rapidly improving its abilities to host such services and technologies. The visiting Indian delegation was giddy with delight. Finally, there was one area where China was racing to catch up with India and, of all places, Bangalore.
The problem is that Bangalore is also repositioning itself… as the new Belgaum. H.D. Kumaraswamy’s government wants to ban English in primary schools, establish job quotas for Kannadigas at multinationals and interrupt commerce with weekly bandhs against the Cauvery Water Tribunal’s verdict. Shenzhen presumably doesn’t realize how far it has to go to match this BPO hub.
The author’s tone, of course, is sarcastic. But she is not alone. She just reflects a viewpoint that many in the intelligentsia in India feel.Indians have fast taken to the American way of thinking: you are either with us or against us. So, you either bend backwards to please the investors or you are a communist sympathizer. Having a “healthy respect for opposing points of view”, which Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen so proudly argues as the essence of the Indian tradition of debates, in his book, Argumentative Indian, is fast fading.
Take this example of democracy and populism. In democracy, especially in Indian democracy, there is a big gap between wants to do and does. Many of these slogans would never be seriously taken up at policy-making levels to make them binding. But raising these opens them to public debates and that is good. Also, I see nothing wrong if the people of a state want to protest against what they think is injustice to them. That is essence of democracy. The role of the government is to ensure that business is not affected because of these strikes; it is not to crush those strikes.
I hold the same view about anti-offshoring protests. Job loss is a major issue. And as representatives of people, politicians must address it. Stopping offshoring may or may not be the answer. But closing eyes to the problem is not the right path either.
U.S. or India, democracy means discontent has to be respected, if not always agreed to. Democracy means governments have to listen to their voters and sometimes take populist measures. Populism is democracy and democracy is populism. Excessive populism may be bad, as anything excessive is. But populism by the democratically elected governments, per se, within a certain limit, is what businesses must plan for. There is little point in complaining.
The article is written in true democratic spirit. I see no wrong in it. It raises the relevant issue of how some so-called elitists think that street protests and strikes are cheap. Infact protecting regional identity ( banning English in primary schools ) is like protecting the very identity of India. The author of the Mint seems to have ignored this fact and the blog by Shyamanuja has rightly pointed out the same.
dumb
The role of the government is to ensure that business is not affected because of these strikes?
Wrong. The goal of a strike is to affect the business. If the government takes action to help business, then you have fascism, not democracy.
reality
grown men fighting over eachothers opinion. comedy. thank you
My contact
Well, my email is there in the site. You are free to write to me.
Why don’t you share it?
Dear Prof, why don’t you share your number as well? All of us would love to learn how to write on phone from you.
Global Local and Democracy
May I have telephone no to tell author, how to write articles in future, he is needs to be more intelligent.
Democracy
Well, like it or not. Democracy is headcount. An idiot and intellectual are equal as far as political rights are concerned. But democracy’s cousin, capitalism, provides a way for the intelligent to create wealth. Idiots can just have political power.
Democracy …..
Democracy means that idiots have the right to be idiots and cry till their horse about how they will continue to be idiots.
Global-local
Mr Serious. For so serious people like you, you have to create a website accessible only to people in your village.
For the editors: I do not know why you allow such postings to remain in the site?
global-local
you are frivolous and out of your mind giving out trash. try to understand what you read. Some people never do. you are one of them.