Capitalist ideological cheerleaders have been subjecting us to years of bullshit about "emerging economies." Just about any despotic, corrupt, backward third world nation is suitable material for being hailed as "rapidly developing" with "tremendous potential." Could be some African kleptocracy with lots of oil, or a Persian Gulf sheikdom with a 14th century social structure and values- it's all good! (Hey, invest here now!!)
One of these tropes that we have been subjected to ad nauseam is the so-called "BRICs," Brazil, Russian, India, China. Supposedly these countries represent The Wave of the Future. (Brazil of course still has a huge majority of dirt-poor people, near-anarchic social conditions, massive destruction of the Amazon rain forests by rabid loggers and ranchers who murder anyone who gets in their way, and a host of other ills. Russia- Russia! Is that a joke? A nation with a shrinking population, a male live expectancy of 57 or 54 (it keeps dropping), an AIDS epidemic ignored by the government, and the world's worst alcoholism problem. Oh, and massive environmental pollution, vast areas destroyed by pollution and radioactive contamination. Did I mention the authoritarian regime headed by a former secret policeman, name of Vladimir Putin? (But he's ok, George Bush checked out his "soul" by looking into his eyes. And I always thought that was the retina in there!) China- ok, they're an economic powerhouse, and their oppressive one-party dictatorship is pretty clever and much better strategists than their idiot counterparts like the U.S. and Europe, which basically hand over their technological crown jewels (and what it doesn't hand over, China steals). Even Japan has been snookered and robbed by China. And did I mention the massive number of stock frauds perpetrated by Chinese hustlers in the U.S. stock markets? (The SEC didn't do squat to stop it, and still does what the SEC always does- bullshit symbolic actions to pretend it's regulating, just going through the motions.)
Now India is experiencing the world's largest electrical blackout by far. As if this writing, 22 of 28 regions are blacked out, leaving about 700 million people (more than half the entire population) without lights, transportation in many cases, and various essentials of living. (I just hope the hospitals have reliable backup generators. How much you want to bet many don't?)
Of course, the idea of India as being "modern" has been a ludicrous fraud all along. It shouldn't have taken this event to show it. The huge majority of the people there live in poverty- many in squalor. Their noxious "caste" system, a system of rigid, super-exploitive class imprisonment, is still in place. Vicious crimes against women- hurling acid in their faces, burning them alive, and of course rape- are routine, and routinely unpunished. Officials are thoroughly corrupt, and have a habit of assaulting and murdering citizens who speak out about it. (Rather, they have goons do their dirty work.) Naturally those crimes go unpunished too.
India has a tiny urban "elite," and a small class of rich people, and a bunch of English-speaking drones to staff their companies that service Western corporate interests. (Like providing terrible "support" for Western consumers of tech products.) A low-wage reserve pool of labor to "outsource" U.S. jobs- i.e. pull the rug out from under American workers- is India's actual attraction to the capitalist shills of the media and "investment" commentary. Most everybody else in India is a subsistence farmer or small trader, and there's a class of landlords lording it over most of the geographical area of the country.
More and more, the great New Age of Triumphant Capitalism after the defeat (really, the collapse) of the Soviet Union, is looking like a Potemkin village.
By the way, "advanced" Europe, Japan, and the U.S. aren't doing so hot the past few years. Spain has 25% unemployment. Media propagandists call this a "recession." Huh? Recession? None dare say the "D" word.
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