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This comment is almost entirely ahistorical. India as a country is about 75 years old. It’s ridiculously young. India is the largest democracy in the world de

This comment is almost entirely ahistorical. India as a country is about 75 years old. It’s ridiculously young. India is the largest democracy in the world despite having half as many official languages as American states, and an order of magnitude more spoken languages, cultures and religions. Despite this India has remained a largely integral state, has seen authoritarian rule and seen it off in a few years, unlike nearly every other democracy formed around the same time has never been ruled by the military for even a moment. The greatest economic miracle in the history of human civilization, the growth of China was a product of almost complete central planning to the point that the state also coercively controlled the number of kids you could have. Central planning is clearly no barrier to growth. India, on the other hand has a highly federal system of government. Arguably the last few years have seen a lot more top down management but that’s a result of the party in federal government also being in power in most state governments. The current debate playing out in the world is the exact opposite of what you’re claiming. China’s success has made central planning and authoritarianism appear highly desirable. India’s slower growth has made it appear that federalism and democracy are not popular. However, as the pandemic is showing, when authoritarians mess up they tend to cause irreparable harm whereas democracies are able to absorb a lot more hits. Your vision of India is a mirror house vision of a 50 year old India at best. (Btw, even the court and municipal problems you’re referring to is clearly not cultural. India’s slow legal system is very clearly a result of sticking to an antiquated British system and not modernizing it to allow, for example, out of court settlements, which has led to massive backlogs that are now being addressed. And in terms of municipal actions the Indian state is addressing those issues to the point where there are many functions where the Indian equivalent are significantly faster than the U.S. Try getting a passport in the U.S. today vs India. Try making payments. India is far ahead of the U.S. which is frankly shocking considering the massive head start the U.S. has here. Try IDs. While Apple is celebrating something like 4 states doing a pilot system of digital IDs which hasn’t even grown in the 5 years or so, nearly every municipal ID in India today is digital. Most civil functions can now be done online. India has also drastically improved government distributions. While the US government was sending literal checks through the mail over COVID Indian monetary benefits are now directly deposited in a bank account.

anon291 3y ago
> Your vision of India is a mirror house vision of a 50 year old India at best. Well realistically, this is when my family left, but the article seems to cite the same pain points today. Also, I think this comment exemplifies some of the issues with Indian society. The moment one levels a criticism, suddenly, the rather pointed criticism is taken as a criticism of society as a whole. At no point did I criticise India's democracy or accuse it of authoritarianism. There are many centrally planned economies without authoritarianism. Nor is central planning associated with military juntas / coups. At no point did I say anything negative about India's growth story, which as you point out, is astronomical, but slower than China. Overall, I think India's great. I'm just pointing out some issues that I see. It would behoove you, and Indians more generally, to listen to the criticism without getting confused over what's being criticised. Also, the existence of centralized planning in a more concentrated form in China does not mean the centralized planning in India cannot be criticized. Again, we must stay tuned to exactly the criticisms I've outlined, not strawman. > India, on the other hand has a highly federal system of government. Arguably the last few years have seen a lot more top down management but that’s a result of the party in federal government also being in power in most state governments. The US, Australia, Canada, etc all have federal systems. This is hardly an excuse. > And in terms of municipal actions the Indian state is addressing those issues to the point where there are many functions where the Indian equivalent are significantly faster than the U.S. Try getting a passport in the U.S. today vs India. How long does an Indian passport take? > India has also drastically improved government distributions. While the US government was sending literal checks through the mail over COVID Indian monetary benefits are now directly deposited in a bank account. Again, however ahead India is of the US in terms of bank deposits, does not detract from the criticism that the Indian state and Indian culture as a whole is very into central bureaucracy. Actually, I think the check thing is yet another good example. Checks are an extremely distributed form of payment. Basically anyone can write a check on a piece of paper and banks will accept it (within reason). I can have anyone print my checks, and as long as my information is correct, the bank will cash it. Moreover, check fraud is taken very seriously, so that people aren't just doing this willy nilly. As a whole, the US is fairly high trust, so this distributed model works well, and has certain advantages, such as being able to cash checks anywhere, the ability to easily transfer a check to another payee (just write a new endorsement), etc. I'm not sure what Indian system you're referring to, but for me personally, I like being able to hand over money without having to give my life's information to private brokerages.

anon291 3y ago

> Your vision of India is a mirror house vision of a 50 year old India at best. Well realistically, this is when my family left, but the article seems to cite the same pain points today. Also, I think this comment exemplifies some of the issues with Indian society. The moment one levels a criticism, suddenly, the rather pointed criticism is taken as a criticism of society as a whole. At no point did I criticise India's democracy or accuse it of authoritarianism. There are many centrally planned economies without authoritarianism. Nor is central planning associated with military juntas / coups. At no point did I say anything negative about India's growth story, which as you point out, is astronomical, but slower than China. Overall, I think India's great. I'm just pointing out some issues that I see. It would behoove you, and Indians more generally, to listen to the criticism without getting confused over what's being criticised. Also, the existence of centralized planning in a more concentrated form in China does not mean the centralized planning in India cannot be criticized. Again, we must stay tuned to exactly the criticisms I've outlined, not strawman. > India, on the other hand has a highly federal system of government. Arguably the last few years have seen a lot more top down management but that’s a result of the party in federal government also being in power in most state governments. The US, Australia, Canada, etc all have federal systems. This is hardly an excuse. > And in terms of municipal actions the Indian state is addressing those issues to the point where there are many functions where the Indian equivalent are significantly faster than the U.S. Try getting a passport in the U.S. today vs India. How long does an Indian passport take? > India has also drastically improved government distributions. While the US government was sending literal checks through the mail over COVID Indian monetary benefits are now directly deposited in a bank account. Again, however ahead India is of the US in terms of bank deposits, does not detract from the criticism that the Indian state and Indian culture as a whole is very into central bureaucracy. Actually, I think the check thing is yet another good example. Checks are an extremely distributed form of payment. Basically anyone can write a check on a piece of paper and banks will accept it (within reason). I can have anyone print my checks, and as long as my information is correct, the bank will cash it. Moreover, check fraud is taken very seriously, so that people aren't just doing this willy nilly. As a whole, the US is fairly high trust, so this distributed model works well, and has certain advantages, such as being able to cash checks anywhere, the ability to easily transfer a check to another payee (just write a new endorsement), etc. I'm not sure what Indian system you're referring to, but for me personally, I like being able to hand over money without having to give my life's information to private brokerages.