Tag Archives: USA

First World Hypocrisy

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Photo by Tristan Sparks on https://www.flickr.com/photos/friendly-fire/252169955/

The First World refers to the USA and its Western Allies opposed to the Soviet Union after WW2. Nations characterised by democracy, prosperity, stability and progress. Over the last 7 decades this bloc has called the shots and controlled the narrative. Developing and Third World countries like India have tacitly accepted their superiority, condescending attitude and sermons without question. As an emerging power now, it is high time we shed our colonial mind-set and see the world in starkly real terms.

The game-changing ideas and policies, innovations and inventions from these western countries are richly acknowledged and warmly celebrated. But it is time to show the mirror to capture the less known darker side also. This blog has been triggered by the American debacle in Afghanistan. Recommend that you please take it with A Fistful of Salt.

Geopolitics. Think about the chaotic retreat of the US from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation. Leaving almost 40 million Afghans (half of them female) to the mercy of a cruel and regressive regime which harks back to the medieval ages. Leaving a huge cache of deadly weapons and armaments for their ready use. Ironically, the Taliban was created by the US and their partner Pakistan to oust the Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Mission accomplished in 1989. The land of the free and the brave sponsoring and promoting a terror outfit.  The monster comes back to drive them out in 2021. During these 20 years almost $3 trillion was spent with only a miniscule going to build hospitals, schools and much needed infrastructure.  Funds were splurged on state of the art weaponry and equipment- cheered on by the domestic military-industrial complex.  With generous cutbacks going to the defence contractors and their political patrons.

This super-power also exited Vietnam in ignominy in 1974. After dropping more bombs on Vietnam and Cambodia than in the entire second world war. Napalm was deployed to execute the scorched earth policy. Rivers were poisoned to kill civilians and livestock.  History is generally written by the winners. Here the loser cleverly covered up all the war crimes and misadventures.

Turn the clock back to the late 1930’s when Hitler’s Nazis started the most devastating war in human history-WW II. Italy, Spain played willing accomplices and second fiddle to the Fuhrer. Those long, dark, destructive days and the brutal genocide of 6 million Jews have been well documented. The War ended with the Americans dropping atomic bombs- Little Boy and Fat Man- on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

All the hotspots in recent times have had the signature of the US and its Allies. That there were no WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction) did not deter the old firm of Bush & Blair from toppling Saddam in Iraq with their eyes on the oil-fields.  Syria, Lebanon, Libya and the cursed land of Yemen- the tentacles go back to this Western bloc.  This is not to absolve Russia and the regional powers like Saudi Arabia and Iran who are equally complicit. But the First World nations have left these countries to a worse state and fate than when they first invaded. The geo-political chessboard has been played for ideology, hegemony, natural resources, trade routes and military bases. The Iron Curtain fell in 1989 but today the world is still a very divided and troubled place. The First World has not been the civilising influence it credits itself to be.

Colonial powers. UK, France, Spain, Portugal with vassal states across the world. The dream of an Empire has been a recurrent human theme throughout history. But the driving force was to exploit natural resources and wealth and cheap labour in the colonies and boast of a global footprint. “The Sun never sets on the British Empire.’ The plundering of minerals and crops, cruelty towards the native population and determined efforts to uproot local cultures and traditions are not even foot notes in the history books we read. It has all been white-washed.

Slave trade epitomises how the US, UK and other European empires manned their farms and mines and mansions. Even today statues of glorified and knighted slave merchants dot the United Kingdom. Some of the founding fathers of the US of A owned hundreds of slaves. Slaves were officially traded as cargo and even insured. Claims were paid for the goods lost at sea.  But the colonisers with their rich history are quick to lecture other nations on human rights. Smells of hypocrisy, right!!

Let’s turn back the page to August 1947 and the India-Pakistan independence story. PM Attlee announced in the House of Commons that the transfer of power would happen before June 1948. But Lord Mountbatten, wanted to have it done asap. The 3323 km border line was drawn by Radcliffe, a British lawyer, who had never been to the sub-continent and had no clue about the demography. The mammoth and complex task was completed by him and his team within 2 months in the cool environs of Shimla. IMAGINE!!! It does not take hindsight to see that the additional months would have been very valuable in communicating and planning for the inevitable cross-migration of 12-15 million people. Instead a million died in the panic and violence that erupted. The last Viceroy couldn’t care less. Nor did his political masters at the Whitehall.

The USA is deeply polarised country today. The Trump fan base of 30% voters are largely an alienated tribe who are at odds with their increasingly multicultural land. The main reason why the Brexiteers won was because Russian social media manipulators scared enough of the populace through images of immigrants flooding into their nation, from the hotspots of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.  France, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands (the cradle of liberalism) are sounding the bugle of a clash of civilisations and enacting restrictive laws and social measures. But all these happenings have not been a wake-up call for India and other developing nations . We continue with our mongrel behaviour of constantly putting ourselves down and lapping whatever criticism these elite western nations and their proxies throw at us.

The beacons of democracy. On the 6th Jan 2021 the US Capitol was attacked by an angry, vicious mob goaded on by President Trump who had lost the election and could not take it. This would have been sneered at as” a banana republic episode” in a third world country. But in the US of A the TV pundits kept sagely saying that ‘this is not who we are’ and the Trumpians even dismissed the rampaging crowd as tourists at the Capitol. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since 1898 and its current President is Joe Biden. But Puerto Ricans remain second class citizens and have no representation and voting rights in the US Congress.  Again, with the most funded and militarised police force in the world in place, automatic guns are available and sold over-the –counter across the nation as a fundamental right to defend oneself.

Across continents, the patronising First World has propped up and supported despots, brutal dictators and puppet rulers. From the Shah of Iran, Libya’s Gaddafi, the Pakistani Generals, Marcos of the Philippines and so on and on. Else, a coup was orchestrated as the one to remove Allende in Chile. The UK grappled with the Irish problem for 70 years. For nearly 25 of those it was a violent cauldron of bomb attacks and guerrilla warfare- ruthlessly dealt with by the British forces. But hey, shrug, shrug. This was an internal matter of the United Kingdom and the English could deal with it.

The fault-lines of racism are now very evident in the fractured societies of the US and Europe. But these have been glossed over for decades as the developing world has been lectured on how to be civilised people. The lid has always been kept on the rape and murder of thousands of indigenous people in Canada. But now corpses of hundreds of native children have been recovered from many Catholic school sites. How many news channels carried this tragic story which played over from the 1890’s to the late 1970’s?!! PM Trudeau merely called for the Pope to apologise. Of course, the State had no role to play. News reports from France state that more than 300000 children have been abused over the last few decades by priests of the Catholic Church. The powerful Church protected its clergy from the law and order arms of the State. On the other side of the world in Australia the aborigines got a taste of hell in their own land as the white settlers discovered their paradise.

Yes, the Industrial Revolution took off in England and the technological one in the Silicon Valley. The world has benefitted in many, many ways. But not in the humane way. Many big brands in the west sourced their material and parts through sweat shops in the poorer countries.  Cheap and exploitative labour was the way to big profit margins.  Why, even in North America today, Amazon runs boot-camps with the workers having little time to pee. “Show me the Money,”  is the corporate war cry. As a whistleblower has recently revealed, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook allowed disturbing messages and images to trend on their platforms as it made them astronomical profits. So what, if it inflamed some racial hatred and divisions or drove more suicides or even put democracy at risk. A lot of good has been done by the charitable Gates foundation. But the halo of the ultimate billionaire do-gooder has paled off. Bill Gates batted to protect the turf of big pharma at the height of Covid. Disparaging suggestions for low-cost generic vaccines to help the world battling the pandemic. And his curious association with the late sex trafficker and power broker Epstein. Presumably to help him get the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the movie ‘Wall Street’ Gordon Gekko says the famous lines, “Greed is good.” Sure. The top 1% of the US rich pay tax at a lower rate than any other segment of the society. In the rush to cover-up the origins of Covid 19 were many top scientists from Europe and the USA.  The stakes were too high. Billions of dollars for the Gain of Function research which possibly led to the leak at the Wuhan Lab in China. The 2008 US financial meltdown featured a lot of Gordon Gekko characters. Banks, Insurers, Wall Street Finance companies, housing corporates, credit rating agencies and big name audit firms all collaborating and looking the other way as the sub-prime and derivatives  fuelled crises unravelled. “Too big to fail” and the Government bailed them out. Deregulation of the financial markets from the Reagan years and lack of oversight caused the global crises. And the CXO’s walked away with fat bonuses as millions across the globe lost their jobs and pensions and savings.

The Volkswagen emission cheating scandal represented an ethical breakdown and would have shut-down a lesser Company. The German Government stepped in to bail out this auto-giant which was poised at becoming the largest in the world. High-level talks with the Americans, some big penalties and back to business as usual. What also came out was the European Union’s somewhat lax attitude in applying emission norms to vehicle manufacturers on the Continent.

Let’s come to the Panama Papers and its latest edition called the Pandora Papers. Most of the attractive tax-havens are in the West. Of course, the scenic Switzerland heads the list which has South Dakota in the US, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Lichtenstein… It’s not only the Colombian and Mexican drug lords or Russian oligarchs or the Arab Sheikhs or super-rich Indians stashing away their money through shell companies. The First World had long earned this rite of passage. It is also not surprising that the UK is a preferred destination for financial scamsters. Perhaps, the tough extradition laws appeal to these criminal fugitives. And  staying with Colombia and Mexico which are derided for their Narcos cartels. Guess which are the most lucrative markets for the drug peddlers??

We can go on and on. The corruption at the highest levels of FIFA. The systematic doping on the Tour de France. Match fixing in football at the Serie A in Italy. These are all malaises associated with ‘those other countries.’

Human nature is what it is. Power and greed corrupts and no nation or peoples are immune to it. India is a work in progress. A huge and complex nation. We have a surfeit of venal politicians and problems of poverty, un-employment, education and public health. Community and regional divides and the scourges of corruption, and casteism.  But we are only 75 years old as a nation and progress is also being made. The young generation will signal the tipping point through its confidence and aspirations.

However, to really discover its own identity India will have to work to protect and serve its interests. That is Realpolitik. Absorb good initiatives and ideas and learn from the failures and blunders. There are positive takeaways from countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Middle East and South America. As an emerging power, strive to be a more responsible force both domestically and on the global stage.

The bottom-line is that ideas and philosophies and policies are revisited and revamped or fine-tuned or discarded when actually challenged by ground realities. The world is changing and the struggles and evolution of each nation needs more empathy and a better understanding. The only path towards achieving the Greater Good on the planet.

What the ISMS!!!

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Photo by Jack Hunter on Unsplash

Let’s take a look at the Ideologies and Doctrines which have dominated discourses and radically shaped the world- geopolitically, economically, culture-wise- over the last 100 years. Whilst science and technology, IOT and social media have made today’s world a different place, in many ways we are stuck with the same ‘Isms’ albeit in variant forms. What the ‘ Isms’. Time to revisit these long-held and almost sacrosanct beliefs. Review how they have stood the test of time and actually fared in practice. Are they still effective and relevant or past their shelf-life.

I post this blog as a student and an observer. Recommend that you take it with A Fistful of Salt.

Capitalism, we have been told, is about free markets with limited government intervention. Defined by the profit motive of entrepreneurs and corporates, freedom of consumers to choose goods and services, fair competition(?),  flexible labour markets (!!), robust finance sector and free trade. The Capital of this ‘Ism’ is the USA. It has been said that if Wall Street sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. The $ is the global and petro currency. From Europe to Japan to China and Saudi Arabia trillions of dollars have been invested in US Treasury bonds, real estates and the US stock market. Silicon Valley rules the roost in the IT of things. A galaxy of American brands shine over the world. At $ 22 trillion the US economy accounts for 25% of the world’s GDP. The wealthiest, most powerful nation in history. A roaring success, right???

Not quite. Almost 40% of the US population live in poverty. Another 10% hold on to 2 jobs to put food on the table and send the kids to school. The proportion of middle class (the weather bell index) has fallen below 50% over the last 5 decades. Real Income remains stagnant at the 1989 levels. More than 20% of the adults are illiterate. College grads carry a staggering burden of $ 1.3 trillion debt. Amongst developed nations the USA ranks a poor 15th in healthcare and services. Yet, yet … in 2020 the richest 400 Americans paid tax at a lower rate than any other section of the society.  Unbridled, deregulated capitalism was unleashed by the economist Milton Friedman and President Ronald Reagan. (Curiously around the same time the movie ‘Wall Street’ was released with the Gordon Gekko character saying, “Greed is Good.”) This led to the meltdown of 2008. The US government bailed out the ‘Too Big to Fail’ firms ($ 700 billion program) and their CXO’s walked away with fat salaries and bonuses. Sadly as millions across the USA and the world lost their jobs, pensions and homes. The corrupt nexus between Capitol Hill, the White House, Wall Street, the media houses and the Ivy League experts is out there for all to see.  As is the plight of a worker who does not even get the time to pee as he sweats to keep the line moving. Did I say minimum government intervention, earlier on. It is the irony of ironies that the Biden administration has got a $ 1.9 trillion relief bill passed to help out millions of ordinary Americans caught up in the Covid crises. The Federal administration as the Saviour. What the ISM!!!

The Russian Revolution of 1917 led by Lenin brought the Communist Manifesto into practice and it shook up the world. The doctrine quickly took over Eastern Europe, parts of Asia, spread to Africa and Latin America with Cuba becoming a flag bearer and a flash point. The footprint grew rapidly. A Communist State became a state that was administered by a single party-guided by the Marxist/Leninist/Maoist philosophy.

The captivating charm of this philosophy lay in its egalitarian, humane and idealistic welfare promises. A better socio-economic order. Remember the oft quoted definition of Communism, “a theory or a system where all property is owned by the State, where each person contributes according to their ability and gets according to their needs.” Intellectuals, academics and activists in Europe were swept away by the fervour. A few decades later the bearded guerrilla Che Guevera was romanticised around the world with his face adorning T shirts and jackets. As Chairman Mao had said, “Power flows from the barrel of a gun.” PM Nehru was a great admirer of the Soviet Union and the Stalinist 5 year plans. As the years rolled by, many in India- politicians, bureaucrats, professors, economists, writers and activists bought into the Vodka fuelled narrative. The hangover still lingers on. Only today the General Secretary of our communist parties sits in Delhi whilst the Chairman sits in Beijing.  West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have had leftist governments with multiple tenures.

How did the Utopian ideal work on the ground. China’s stupendous economic growth over the last 40 years has been driven by a mutant Ideology. China and Russia still remain dominant military and nuclear powers. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has struggled with its economy which is heavily dependent on oil, natural gas and minerals. An embarrassing fall for a country which till 1989 was the other super-power. East European nations- earlier a part of the Iron Curtain- are still struggling to play catch-up with their Western neighbours. The case of the 2 Germany’s is stark and glaring. Even after nearly 4 decades of re-unification and an infusion-aid of $ 2 trillion, East Germany has twice the rate of unemployment and lags behind in wages to the extent of 20%-40%. The meltdown of the oil rich Venezuela is another example of the collapse of the command economy model. Castro’s Cuba has done well in health-care and education. As is the case with the Indian state of Kerala and esp. on the literacy front. The Naxalbaris of the late 60’s with their violent protests did augur in substantial land reforms in West Bengal. The State became a communist bastion for 3 decades. Today the Naxal movement has degenerated into domestic terrorism funded and armed by China and Pakistan. On the side, they have evolved into a Mafia group deep into an extortion and protection racket and illegal trading.

The only Communist wickets left standing are China, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea. Vietnam’s economy is picking up pages from the Chinese model. North Korea is the worst embodiment of the communist practice- a Hermit Kingdom run by a cruel dictator, a wannabe nuclear power with millions living in poverty and misery. The really dark side of communism is not as freely discussed as it should be. Probably because so-called intellectuals and left leaning activists still control the narrative in India and many other parts of the world. Millions and millions have been brutally killed by the likes of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot in Cambodia and the Dear Leaders in North Korea. Surprisingly, these mass murderers continue to be deified and have their portraits in Parliament Halls, Public offices and even Universities.

Let the final word rest with George Orwell’s classic ‘Animal Farm’ – the best unravelling of the Communist culture and state of mind. What starts of as the Utopian ideal of creating a paradise of progress, justice and equality where all are happy and free but fatally ignores the human weaknesses for power, control and greed. Alas, the revolution against tyranny leads to totalitarianism, just as terrible.

Deng Xiao Ping who followed Mao jettisoned the Great Leader’s Ideology. Sacrilege! His oft quoted mantra- “Black Cat. White Cat. What does it matter what colour the cat is so long as it catches mice.” Just 40 years later, China is the second largest economy in the world at GDP $15 trillion. In purchasing power parity (PPP) it has overtaken the USA. State Capitalism. The factory to the world. The capital of off-shoring.  Leveraging cheap labour to power the world’s largest brands and plants. Benefitting from and eating into the tech transfer. Transforming this huge country into the world’s largest market. But it continues to be governed with an iron fist by a single party with a strong man at the head. The cutting to size of Jack Ma of Alibaba fame shows who’s the Boss. This is Bian ti, the Chinese variant of capitalism. Ironically this rapid, exponential growth has rolled out because of the authoritarian regime. The Comrades have bulldozed their agenda through, lands and communities cleared overnight to set up factories and for infrastructure projects. No courts, no opposition, no activism.

This massive economic surge has propelled more than 30% Chinese into the middle-class., majorly in urban areas. Basic health-care insurance covers have been provided to all citizens.  Mandatory school education from the age of 6-15 years has also been a game changer.

But there is much that is hidden. The yuan is a tightly managed currency and the Communist Government manoeuvres to keep it low. Off late, there have been rumblings in the US and Europe about the theft of patents and IP rights. The Chinese have stolen everything from the formulae for drugs, technology for mobiles and blueprint for heavy equipment. The reason for joint ventures with a not so subtle aim to access state of the art Western and Japanese technology. And there is the controversial issue of large scale dumping- selling its oversupply in overseas and Indian markets, depressing prices and hurting indigenous manufacturing. There are many many secrets behind the Great Wall- forced labour from rural areas on construction sites, sweat -shop factory hubs and the origins of the Wuhan virus. The Comrades and Capitalists have much in common- Greed and a lust for power. Human nature being what it is. With Big Brother watching, corruption is rampant.

Europe is deemed to be the cradle of liberal thought and practice with England and France claiming to be at the vanguard of the movement. Liberalism can be broadly defined as a socio-economic and political philosophy which promotes democracy, civil rights and individual liberties and free enterprise. A liberal being a person with an open-mind -receptive to opinions, ideas and lifestyles different from one’s own. The report card has been impressive on the whole-voting rights for adult population, gender equality, marriage equality, racial equality, environmental justice, minimum wages and stipulated work conditions, labour unions and constitutionally limited and democratically elected governments.  Positive Progress.  But any thought, however virtuous and taken to the extreme can be counterproductive. Look at France today. Unregulated freedom of expression has sparked an outrage amongst millions of Muslim faithful around the world. On the other hand French liberals have reset themselves into the belief that these communities should espouse the values and culture of the country they are living in and integrate themselves into the mainstream to the extent possible. Now these are being implemented through laws. Across the continent also there are many European leaders and peoples who now believe that their way of life is being undermined and challenged by these migrants- The Other. Attitudes are hardening and suspicions are rising. Is this ‘The Clash of Civilisations’ as predicted by Samuel Huntington..

Also genuine liberal thought is on the wane. Reaching out to understand where the other is coming from is a rare occurrence. Objective and reasonable opinions and analysis based on sound research is no longer the norm. Self -proclaimed liberals and activists are often aligned to a political party or ideology or an NGO or a think tank with an agenda of its own.  Why are our progressive intellectuals silent on the mass persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of China.!!??  The basic premise of an open mind-set has long been jettisoned.  Even once trusted institutions like the BBC and The New York Times have lost a lot of credibility. The latter, for example, provides a platform and $money to discredited Indian journalists to vent their opinion and bias. No fact-checking. No one like Mark Tully (the famous BBC correspondent in Delhi) to deep-dive and ascertain the real situation. India and the world need the conscience-keepers and the sane and reasonable voices more than ever. May their tribe increase. However, liberalism has to reboot itself to be an effective influence and to resonate across borders.

For the concept of secularism, let us turn again to a French philosopher and sociologist Jean Bauberot and the French word ‘laicite’ with its anti-clerical roots.  It refers basically to the separation of State from religious institutions. No domination of the political sphere by any religious community or entity . Neutral State in an Open Society. In  increasingly plural and diverse nations Secularism seeks to maximise harmony and minimise conflict. Another exploration of the term brings out 3 core principles-institutional separation, freedom of conscience and belief and no discrimination on the grounds of religion. “These conditions allow for the competing concepts of the good life to be pursued in society.”

In practice, this philosophy ran into a lot of hurdles. The clarion call for Religion to be entirely excluded from the public square and manifest solely as a private matter remained a non-starter. Human nature being what it is and the power of religion being what it is. For centuries, the State and the Faith had fed off each other and used each other to consolidate their powers. It is to Dr Ambedkar’s credit that he realised the impracticality of introducing the word ‘secular’ in the Indian constitution. Mrs Gandhi added it in the year 1976 for political reasons and political capital. Taking a leaf from the playbook of our colonial masters, our GOP (Grand Old Party) mastered the art of Divide and Rule, Vote Bank politics and selective appeasement on regional or religious grounds. All political parties play the same psuedo secular card today. An idealistic and progressive Idea  remains unrecognisable – hijacked and manipulated beyond measure. In the Indian context we have to reclaim the soul and spirit of our secularism-Genuine tolerance for all religions rather than separation from the temporal – with a secure place for even non-believers.

At the global level also, Secularism has been resisted and derided. It is seen by many as a maligned Western concept. When the burkhas and veils were banned in many European nations the International Humanist and Ethical Union of the Middle East protested that this was not their secularism. The powerful Evangelical lobby in the USA supported the venal Trump to move the needle on their agenda- Anti abortion and anti LGBTQ. Even a much debated issue like Mercy Killing remains on hold because of the overlap of Religion and Public Policy. It took Independent India seven decades to ban a practice like the Triple Talaq, which had already been rejected by many Islamic countries. The issue is complex and sensitive. It is not helped by the fact that many religions have themselves fragmented into different denominations and there is even discrimination and hostility amongst some. As the churning in Europe demonstrates it is difficult to get all sides on board to agree to a common definition of Secularism for the Greater Good.

Another ‘ISM’ in currency is Internationalism- a political movement that advocates greater economic and political cooperation amongst nations of the world. It is meant to promote peace and security, economic stability and humanitarism. Organisations like the United Nations, World Bank, ASEAN, OECD, WTO, WHO, UNICEF are the tangible results of this thought. Single nation states cannot resolve systemic global issues like climate change, nuclear disarmament, cyber terrorism, global tax avoidance, pandemic and the catastrophe risk. These agencies have stepped in with varying degrees of success. For instance, climate change has been addressed through the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accords. The latter had 195 signatories- a possible tipping point to take on this crisis. However the terms are not enforceable on the nation states and any progress is subject to the focus/ whims of the large and powerful signatories. President Trump withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement and also the World Health Organisation. Likewise, the World Trade Organisation has to a large extent stabilised global trade through agreed upon terms which are fair and remove inequities amongst trading partners. It has also played a significant role in the reduction of trade protectionist policies. But the large scale dumping from China continues to disrupt other markets. The World Bank has helped nations recover after the global recession of 2008. Peace keeping forces have played a stellar role in controlling hostilities in war zones. The International Red Cross has gallantly stepped in during the Ebola pandemic and in providing humanitarian aid in war ravaged countries. The positives are many. International sports events like the Olympics and the football World Cup have connected countries like never before as have cultural exchanges like music, movies and cuisine.

The downside is also stark. The world is a more troubled place and new blocs are forming. There are many hotspots and prolonged localised wars. Yemen and Syria are truly cursed lands. The scourge of terrorism continues unabated. North Korea continues to be a nuclear rogue whilst the Iran deal may be back on the table. COVID 19 has again demonstrated as to how the rich countries call the shots. They have pre- booked and stocked the major supplies of vaccines and left the rest of the world to their own fate. The pandemic crisis has been gravely compounded by the WHO chief playing PR for the Chinese and playing down the gravity of the virus.

Colonialism did not die with the British Empire. The USA stepped in with its subtle model – leveraging on its 800 military bases across the globe, its industrial might and its control over the international finance agencies. China takes the baton forward in a refined form. The Belt and Road initiative is one with its expansionist dream of a great Chinese Empire. Pakistan and Sri Lanka and some East European and African countries will soon be reduced to debt-ridden vassal states. China will have unfettered access to raw materials, minerals, trade routes and markets. As British historian Mark Mazower aptly observes in his book ‘Governing the World’, “Internationalism was first and foremost a Euro-American project.  It was a gift the West promised to give the Rest but like all Gifts created its inadequacies and dependencies.” National Interests and ambitions of these dominant powers plus geo-politics will determine what the future of the global order will be. They guard the same with intense zeal. How else does one explain that India as the world’s largest democracy with a 1.3 billion population and the 6th largest economy in the world does not have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.

And so we wait for the next great experiment which will enamour the world.  Hope it has Humanity at its core. Where basics like food, shelter, health, education, public utilities, law and order will co-exist with entrepreneurship and innovation, aspirations and wealth creation. Where quality of life will also factor in the Happiness Index. The signs are out there with Canada seriously debating about Universal Basic Income and New Zealand raising its minimum hourly wages and taxing its 2% super-rich at 39%. Hopefully, they will bridge the gap between theory and practice by factoring in human nature. And hark back to another Deng Xiao Ping mantra “Of crossing the river by touching the stones.”  Meaning gradual implementation of the reforms or models to know which policies produce favourable outcomes and which do not before they can be implemented across.      

You’re Fired, Mr Trump!

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In 2004, a TV reality show called “The Apprentice” made Donald Trump a household name.  A reality business competition, it aired for 15 successful seasons and just under 200 hit episodes. It added to his aura of the savvy, tough billionaire tycoon with the Catch Phrase, ‘You’re Fired.’

Reality was different. By 2004, his companies were in the dumps. He had received around $ 40 million from his father in the mid 80’s and had started managing Fred Trump’s $ 250 million real-estate empire. Another bright spot was the co-authored book ‘The Art of the Deal’ which topped the best seller lists and made him a celebrity. Thus began this tale of myths, illusions and charades.

Between 1991-2006, Trump companies filed for bankruptcy 6 times. Starting with the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York. An interesting aside is that some vendors for the casino project claimed that they had not been paid in full. This was a recurrent theme in some other projects also. By the mid 90’s major US banks had blacklisted the Trump Organisation for loans. So he re-worked on the valuation of his assets and Deutsche Bank was happy to oblige.

However, the real bailout in 2004 came from the Russian oligarchs looking to launder their ill-gotten wealth. Paying top prices for office spaces and apartments, mansions and cottages at exclusive resorts. A few years’ later the Saudi Sheikhs went on a buying spree shelling out exorbitant amounts for the properties. The Trump brand continued to grow and he diversified into licensing his name. The Trump name attached to prestigious projects globally for a 15% (??) equity stake it is said. President Trump continued to see US foreign relations through the prism of his own business deals. For instance, the $90 million dollars Saudi investment in Kushner’s companies, to pull them out of a deep hole. No wonder that the President and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were so protective of the Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) after the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Shady business deals. Unethical practices. The US President pushing his UK Ambassador to get the Open Championship (of  Golf) moved to his property in Scotland. Hosting Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. Business as usual!!

Citizen Trump did not pay any Income Tax for 11 of the last 18 years. President Trump paid $750 dollars as Income Tax in 2016 & 2017. Billionaire Trump did not file any tax returns for the last 10 years and more. Now having lost the White House, Citizen Trump will have to face the lenders at his door. For starters, $100 million in mortgages in 2022. Another $125 million two years later for the Florida golf course property. Deutsche Bank will also be jumping into the fray to recover $ 340 million in outstanding loans. The German Bank, tired of all the controversy and negative publicity, has tired of Trump and wants to end all ties. Even if there be an overlap in the figures above, the President is in deep shit.

Prominent Trump supporters shrug this off as this is how real estate business works. So let’s move on to Trump University, affiliated to the Trump Organisation. Running specialised classes and seminars on how to crack the best deals in the real estate domain. A great rip-off whilst it lasted from 2005-2010. In 2013, approx. 6000 duped students received a court settlement of $ 25 million.

In 1989 he had publicly shown his racist colours. The Central Park 5 (a young group of blacks and Latinos) had been convicted of rape and aggravated assault on a white woman despite contrary evidence. Trump took out full page ads in 4 New York newspapers screaming ‘Bring Back the Death Penalty’  The wrongfully convicted men were released in 2002 after the actual criminal had confessed. No remorse, no apology from the builder businessman even after the City had awarded a $41 million dollar settlement.

His womaniser reputation just added to his charisma. Hosting the Miss USA &Miss World pageants added to the glamour. The 2005 tapes boasting about his ‘conquests’ and objectifying of women to a TV host, his friendship with the disgraced sex trafficker the late Jeffrey Epstein and his pay-off to porn-stars to ensure their silence revealed a sleazy and sordid side of his personality.

In the 2016 elections, Trump was pitted against an unpopular Hillary Clinton. Just banking on the Clinton name she had little personal connect with the voters and a rather dubious reputation. Remember, ‘Crooked Hillary’ and the ‘Lock Her Up’ chants at the Trump rallies. Yet, she led in the popular vote count by more than 3 million votes. Donald Trump entered the White House through the Electoral College door. His trump card was the Outsider Image, the Anti Establishment guy who would get things done. He would’ drain the swamp’ in Washington – another effective rally cry. His business acumen would propel the economy to unheard of heights. Make America Great Again. Typical Trump speak- the greatest, the biggest, never before in history.’

His Russian friends and Putin were firmly in his corner. The Republican candidate openly called out to the Russian hackers to hack into the DNC server and also to out the Hillary e-mails. More sinister was their infiltration of Face-book and other social media platforms to scare off swing states and the undecided voters to support their Man.

Some hoped that the White House would make him more responsible.. The Oval office has never seen such a venal, corrupt, narcissistic, self-serving and incompetent President. The fault-lines of racism have re-surfaced because of his support to the White Supremacists and his dismissal of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. His support for white cops killing unarmed black men in cold blood and his deference to the slave owners/Southern Confederate generals.  African countries have been called ‘shit holes’. The Mexicans are thugs and rapists-so the need for a beautiful border wall which Mexico would pay for. Like most of Trump’s projects, the Wall remains incomplete. That Homeland Security has not yet re-united 545 separated children with their parents would be heart-rending to most- a top priority- but not to this Administration.

On foreign relations, his admiration for brutal dictators is there for all to see. MBS in Saudi Arabia, Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey. He is Putin’s puppet and the ex-KGB officer has some dirt on him. His photo-ops with Kim Jong Un of North Korea  achieved nothing except to raise the stock of this cruel despot. The tested allies in Europe, Canada and Japan played second fiddle at the cost of world order and balance of power. Yes, NATO countries have to pay their dues. A long over-due rap on the knuckles. But undermining the alliance played into the hands of Russia, China and Turkey. There are many who say that he is the only US President who has not led his country into war. But the US withdrawal from Syria was tantamount to surrender to Assad, Russia and Turkey and a death warrant for thousands of Kurds who had fought on the American side. Yemen has been left to the mercy of the Saudis and is being bombed out of existence. Trump’s bromance with the’ Rocket Man’ of North Korea was fuelled by a desire to get the Nobel Peace prize and played out by the hermit kingdom and its Big Brother China. His hated predecessor Obama had received the Nobel. For trying to make the world a better place- especially through constructive engagement with hostile nations like Iran and Cuba. Plus he had got Bin Laden.

His sneering comments calling fallen American soldiers as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ would have sunk any other Presidency. Not Mr Teflon-for nothing seems to stick to him. It has been said that ‘you can fool some of the people all the time’. We are now talking about 70 million plus Americans here.

Most appalling is the way Trump has undermined US democracy and institutions over the last 4 years. The Attorney General has become his personal lackey, the DOJ doing his personal bidding. The Republican led Senate has become a mute spectator and complicit in his autocratic actions. The GOP has mutated into the Trump party. The Democrats dominated Congress has been undermined, ignored and thwarted at every turn. The list of his associates indicted for crimes keeps growing from his personal lawyer to his campaign manager… The Conservatives are thrilled that he has packed the courts with judges of dubious track-records and regressive persuasions. In retrospect this may turn out to be his single biggest achievement . National Guards, Reserves, Prison Patrols without insignia or badges or identities were deployed in cities to intimidate non-violent BLM protestors.

Trumpers have hailed him for a robust economy before the pandemic struck. Fact check. It was Obama who inherited a recession crippled economy in 2008. Every year of his second term generated more employment than happened in the first 2 years of the current President. Trump is simply surfing off the economy that Obama had turned around after the initial gloomy years of his Presidency. ‘The Donald’ was simply overseeing and taking forward what he had inherited. His only major initiative was another tax-break for the very rich- for the first time in American history the 400 wealthiest Americans paid at a rate lower than any other group…  And the extraordinary $ 48 billion bailout for the agriculture sector reeling from the trade war and the Covid outbreak.  In 2016, soya bean exports alone to China had netted $ 11 billion. Of course, this record direct subsidy has kept his farmer base intact.

The gross mishandling and underplaying of COVID 19 has cost him the White House. More than 2,37,000 deaths and counting is a record which even the record-obsessed Trump shies away from. His disdain for the advice of his own scientists, derision for mask-wearers and for social distancing puts the onus of thousands of deaths on his conscience and his watch. Not wearing masks became a political statement for millions of his devout followers. Trump pledged that he would dismantle Obamacare and come out with his own grand plan. Zilch!!. Even die-hard Republicans have admitted to the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid which the GOP threatened to unravel in the midst of a pandemic. The withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change is one with this contempt for the scientific community.

His signature line from the TV show resonated across the Oval Office many times in these 4 years. ‘You’re Fired.’ 2 Chiefs of Staff, an Attorney General, the Defence Secretary, National Security Advisor, Labour Secretary, Director of National Intelligence, Homeland Secretary, EU Ambassador and the list goes on and on… Even after the election results he has fired the present Defence Secretary on twitter.

No President has been a more polarising figure. USA is a severely divided nation. More than 70 million Americans have voted for Trump even after a grossly decadent 4 year term. Biden has pulled in approx 5 million more popular votes. Trumpism has become a cult and is here to stay. A coarse ideology of white grievance and alienation, racism and bigotry, narcissism and superiority, disregard for science and facts, an alternative reality full of conspiracies.  Fox News huddles together with Breitbart (a far right news network) and QAnon (a crazily wierd conspiracy outfit). Shameless Senate leaders like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have become a part of the pack. Surprise, Shocker!! Trump’s solid vote base of 30% plus voters includes Evangelical leaders and their loyal followers. Driven by their anti-abortion, anti LGBTQ dogma.  

It is possible that all this divisiveness has lurked below the surface for some decades. It has taken a Trump to tap into it and bring it out into the open. The Statue of Liberty has shrunk. The USA is no longer the ‘land of the free and the brave.’  It can no longer take the condescending high ground and dismiss a third of the planets’ nations as banana republics. It has lost its credibility and stature on the world stage. Biden and Harris have a tough road ahead to heal and to get things back to normalcy.

Joe Biden does not cut an impressive figure. He is definitely not a President Bartlet from the iconic ‘West Wing’ TV series. COVID 19, the revulsion for Trump and the Obama factor have seen him through. In the early 70’s he was seen as a segregationist and his racial prejudices came through right till the mid 90’s. His son Hunter Biden’s dealings with Ukraine and China may be above board but the stink of political privilege and leverage will linger on.

Some Indian commentators have called the Biden/Harris win a setback for India. Some adverse comments in the past underpin these concerns. On the other hand, Trump has pushed back China and ignored Pakistan over these years. Betting on his support is fraught with risk. A fickle, all about himself person can be easily manipulated. A summit meeting invite by the Chinese strongman, a photo-op with elaborate pomp and ceremony on the Great Wall and he would be feasting on the popular Chinese dish Chow Mein instead of his favourite McDonald burger. Remember how the Saudis got him to dance with a royal sword at the palace. The President elect and his VP will have to grapple with realpolitik in a troubled world.  Mend fences with and rally their traditional allies again. In the current global scenario with an expansionist and aggressive China, India will get a seat at the table.

Over the last 4 years, only the Saturday Night Live hosts have called out President Trump for what he is and what he represents. Calling a spade a bloody shovel with spadesful of laughs thrown in. I distinctly recall 2 comments from a few months back. One that COVID 19 would magically beat Trump. Prediction realised. But the Don will sulk terribly and fire out tweets. He and his Mob will shout ‘fraud’ and seek to delegitimise Biden’s win. He will put his ‘Capo’ William Barr to probe into the electoral fraud. All from the Putin playbook.  

The other prediction from the SNL episode was that Trump would pardon himself before exiting the White House. Very much on the cards. After 3 months of sordid drama the curtain will finally fall on what has been a ridiculous, long drawn and very dark soap opera.

The Flickering Torch of the Statue of Liberty

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USA.

The name conjures up images of Silicon Valley and Ivy League colleges, NASA and the Pentagon, the White House and Capitol Hill, New York and Wall Street, McDonald’s, the NBA and Levi Jeans. It is the wealthiest country in history and a mighty military industrial complex. American soft-power is unrivalled and it is a magnet to millions across the world. A land of opportunity, built by immigrants.

Only China can share the stage today with this superpower.

Look closer. Reality does not quite match the hype. It is not the land of the free and the brave. Racism is back in the open. Under Trump, the clock has been turned back to the days of the KKK and the civil-rights movement. Black Lives Matter is the cry on the streets in 2017. Fuelled by the cold-blooded shootings of unarmed blacks by white cops across many cities. The Republican Party (the party of Lincoln) does not even pretend to be politically correct on this issue anymore. The focus is on appeasing its core base which brought Trump to power and is critical for their re-election prospects.

The USA today is a highly polarised and divided country. Not a beacon of democracy or the global melting-pot. Its President is a corrupt, racist, misogynist, egoistic deal-maker. A type earlier found in banana republics and despotic regimes.

Next, take the case of the NRA (National Rifles Association) and its powerful gun lobby. Students in schools are massacred and thousands have marched for gun-control. The politicians make sympathetic noises and hide behind the Second Amendment- freedom to bear guns in the late 18th century with private militias and the New Frontier and the Wild West. Does it have any relevance in 21st century America with its powerful DOJ and vast law and order network?

Most of the Senators and Congressmen are bank-rolled by powerful interests. NRA or big business, health-care majors or Wall Street. We talk about crony capitalism in India, an evolving 70 year old democracy. There is no difference between us and them other than the suits and the gloss.

The USA is the only country in the world which has actually dropped nuclear bombs. First on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. It controls the biggest nuclear arsenal but sanctions countries like Iran even after a multilateral agreement is in place. It is the biggest supplier of arms and deadly weaponry to all the hotspots across the world- from Africa to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan and South Korea. And there are 800 American military bases around the globe. War and strife are key to American business. Not peace.

More bombs were dropped in Vietnam than in the entire Second World War. Napalm scorched the earth and rivers were poisoned to kill thousands of innocents. But do you hear any talk of war crimes? No. The Americans have controlled the narrative since the 1940’s.

This great flag-bearer of democracy has not held the flag high on numerous instances. Dictators have been supported in the name of geo-political or international interests. Think Shah of Iran, House of Saud, Marcos or Hosni Mubarak. Latin America is full of such stories. The democratically elected Allende from Chile was killed in a US sponsored military coup. His crime- to shut down US companies which were tapping into his nation’s natural resources.

We know of the imperial British Empire, the French and Spanish colonies. The United States has been doing this clandestinely for decades- installing its puppet regime in many countries. These vassal states have been given loans by the IMF and the World Bank and driven into debt.

If you have watched Narcos on Netflix or tuned into Trump’s Mexican Wall, you are told about the DEA’s Great War on drugs. What goes unsaid is that whether it is Colombia or Mexico, the major consumers are Americans.

Let us look at this great economic engine. It has huge trade deficits with other major players, be it China or Japan, Germany or France. Balancing the US federal budget is a lost cause. It continues to lead the world economy as it is the largest consumer market in the world. The dollar is the primary global currency. Remember Nixon’s masterstroke of making the dollar the petro-currency. The other advanced countries have huge investments in the USA- be it in Treasury bonds or real estate, NYSE or the big corporates. They simply cannot afford to pull out.

The financial crises of 2008 revealed the glaring flaws in this massive capitalist economy. Decades of de-regulation had made the top companies fabulously rich and influential but unaccountable.  Money, greed and valuation overpowered everything. When the biggies went down, the Government stepped in to bail them out. Too big to fail. The top honchos walked away with fat bonuses whilst the average Joe’s lost their pension funds and their hard earned money.

Even today, tax breaks have been given to the rich and the stock markets make them even richer. The top 1% controls everything. The wealth gap keeps on growing. For the first time, today’s average real income is lower than what it was in the mid-eighties. Even in key areas like access to health-care and higher education, the US lags behind most of the countries in Europe.

The Indian fascination with everything American is well-known. The US is home to a large Indian diaspora who are doing well and millions more travel out with student and work visas. And obvious comparisons are made. The oldest democracy and the largest democracy. The multi-ethnicity and diversity of both nations.

The purpose of this blog is not to pull down the capitalist US as an ideologically driven leftist may do. Communism is also a God that has failed. The US remains a powerful engine for technology, research and innovation. It remains a leader in breakthrough ideas and thought. Not to forget its huge foot-print in music, entertainment and culture.

The object is to look at its position and influence through a clear lens. Not through rose-tinted glasses. Not getting swept away or seduced by the overpowering imagery.

India is a work in progress. Widely tipped to be the next economic power. It too is increasingly acknowledged as a soft-power through its movies and music, yoga and spirituality, cuisine and culture. And yet, there are things to learn from the US experience. That if we are to chart our destiny, it’s not enough to be a great military or economic power. We should also aspire to be a better, happier nation of 1.2 billion people.