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I think a technocratic single-party system (however terrible for liberty) would have never worked in India. The wounds of a colonial past followed by region-spe

I think a technocratic single-party system (however terrible for liberty) would have never worked in India. The wounds of a colonial past followed by region-specific societal differences would be just to vast to overcome with an "enlightened" bureaucracy trying to force homogeneity down people's throats. I suspect China had similar problems but the cultural revolution appears to have largely effaced the echoes of the past through horrible means. India can still learn a lot from Chinese-style governance - it seems effective at dealing with local issues efficiently, especially in urban areas. India's urban regions suffer are chronically starved of funds and infrastructure because of lack of executive powers for local representatives.

inglor_cz 6y ago
> The wounds of a colonial past China in 1949 was pretty much destroyed from both previous Japanese aggression and subsequent civil war. These wounds were substantial. But I agree with the gist of your comment. India is too diverse to support a one-party, one-nation utopia.
- devdas 6y ago
  One giant bad event vs generational damage. Quite a lot of difference.
- nicbou 6y ago
  Not to mention the century of humiliation, which by its name alone reveals a lot.
john4532452 6y ago
> I think a technocratic single-party system (however terrible for liberty) would have never worked in India. True. Not for the reason of colonialism. In china majority(98% plus) believe they are descendants of the Han dynasty. This unified view of belonging is what allows the single party system. Total opposite is with India. The Hinduism religious vedic books dictates to segregate the society in the name of varna system(its successor modern day caste system) and even goes as far to restrict the education to only the priestly caste. This is the reason India is far behind in terms of education before the british era. Only after the conquest of British slowly everyone had access to education. This is the reason almost 95 percent of people are first college goers in India.
- qart 6y ago
  > Hinduism religious vedic books dictates to segregate the society in the name of varna system(its successor modern day caste system) and even goes as far to restrict the education to only the priestly caste Which vedic books? Can you provide a source? I have skimmed some vedic books, but never came across such restrictions. > Only after the conquest of British slowly everyone had access to education. To the contrary, some historians blame the British for worsening the caste system. See https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/castesystem.htm https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/castesystem.htm for example.
  - dragonsh 6y ago
    > Which vedic books? Rigveda and later codified through Manu smriti which codified this Varna and Jati system and made a class of untouchables [1]. This is one of the reason father of Indian constitution gave up Hinduism and became Buddhist. Current Indian govt actively promotes jati and Varna and perpetrate communal divisions to stay in power and people justify those divisions. [1] https://legaldesire.com/dr-b-r-ambedkar-views-on-abolition-of-caste-system-in-india/ https://legaldesire.com/dr-b-r-ambedkar-views-on-abolition-o...
    - qart 6y ago
      Both Manu and Ambedkar were extremely unreliable relays of anything Vedic. They both had their own agenda for propping up some castes at the expense of another. Consider that the Rig Veda is written in a language that hardly anyone understands, there is no reason to believe Ambedkar could have faithful translated even one sentence of Rig Veda. Currently, the most authoritative source on RV is Jamison & Brereton's translation. I don't have access to it at the moment, but as I recall, there are just passing references to the varnas, shudras, etc.
      - dragonsh 6y ago
        There is a large body of evidence and research available for systemic exploitation based on Jati and varna's and the legitimacy of it claimed through vedas and manusmriti. May be go through wikipedia and other research sites can find an evidence of this system coming from vedic age and than subsequently developed into more repressive schemes. [1] [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism) [2] https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00472338085390141 https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00472338085390141

inglor_cz 6y ago

> The wounds of a colonial past China in 1949 was pretty much destroyed from both previous Japanese aggression and subsequent civil war. These wounds were substantial. But I agree with the gist of your comment. India is too diverse to support a one-party, one-nation utopia.

devdas 6y ago
One giant bad event vs generational damage. Quite a lot of difference.
nicbou 6y ago
Not to mention the century of humiliation, which by its name alone reveals a lot.

john4532452 6y ago

> I think a technocratic single-party system (however terrible for liberty) would have never worked in India. True. Not for the reason of colonialism. In china majority(98% plus) believe they are descendants of the Han dynasty. This unified view of belonging is what allows the single party system. Total opposite is with India. The Hinduism religious vedic books dictates to segregate the society in the name of varna system(its successor modern day caste system) and even goes as far to restrict the education to only the priestly caste. This is the reason India is far behind in terms of education before the british era. Only after the conquest of British slowly everyone had access to education. This is the reason almost 95 percent of people are first college goers in India.

qart 6y ago
> Hinduism religious vedic books dictates to segregate the society in the name of varna system(its successor modern day caste system) and even goes as far to restrict the education to only the priestly caste Which vedic books? Can you provide a source? I have skimmed some vedic books, but never came across such restrictions. > Only after the conquest of British slowly everyone had access to education. To the contrary, some historians blame the British for worsening the caste system. See https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/castesystem.htm https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/castesystem.htm for example.
- dragonsh 6y ago
  > Which vedic books? Rigveda and later codified through Manu smriti which codified this Varna and Jati system and made a class of untouchables [1]. This is one of the reason father of Indian constitution gave up Hinduism and became Buddhist. Current Indian govt actively promotes jati and Varna and perpetrate communal divisions to stay in power and people justify those divisions. [1] https://legaldesire.com/dr-b-r-ambedkar-views-on-abolition-of-caste-system-in-india/ https://legaldesire.com/dr-b-r-ambedkar-views-on-abolition-o...
  - qart 6y ago
    Both Manu and Ambedkar were extremely unreliable relays of anything Vedic. They both had their own agenda for propping up some castes at the expense of another. Consider that the Rig Veda is written in a language that hardly anyone understands, there is no reason to believe Ambedkar could have faithful translated even one sentence of Rig Veda. Currently, the most authoritative source on RV is Jamison & Brereton's translation. I don't have access to it at the moment, but as I recall, there are just passing references to the varnas, shudras, etc.
    - dragonsh 6y ago
      There is a large body of evidence and research available for systemic exploitation based on Jati and varna's and the legitimacy of it claimed through vedas and manusmriti. May be go through wikipedia and other research sites can find an evidence of this system coming from vedic age and than subsequently developed into more repressive schemes. [1] [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism) [2] https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00472338085390141 https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00472338085390141