4 ms·

The government is a reflection of it's people. The amount of misinformation and lack of knowledge about India in the citizenry of USA is astonishing for an Ind

by FraaJad 17y ago

The government is a reflection of it's people. The amount of misinformation and lack of knowledge about India in the citizenry of USA is astonishing for an Indian living in USA. US MSM is obsessed with poverty, and other sensationalistic news. I know about Thomas Friedman's love affair with India. Outside of few technology oriented journalists, there are very few who cover India. Even CNN India correspondent is a parrot of MSM view of India. We have managed to keep democracy working even after wave after wave of tremendous challenges which threaten to pull it down. We are naturally democratic country. Just look at the beating progress-hating leftists and overtly religious right got in the recent elections. Indians have managed to prosper both at home and abroad despite all the disadvantages we had in last 6 decades. Time for USA to let go of China==Asia and Pakistan==South Asia strategy and embrace India as sane, democratic and progressive partner.

jimbokun 17y ago
Are people in India knowledgeable about all the other major regions and powers in the world? Does the average Indian have an informed, accurate understanding of the nations of, say Africa and South America? True, U.S. Americans should be more knowledgeable about other parts of the world. But as the world's largest economy and military power, most other nations have a vested interest in what happens in the U.S. The inverse is not as true. The U.S. has important economic and diplomatic relations with pretty much every other nation on Earth. In general, we U.S. Americans are (unfortunately) only interested in the specific aspects of the relationships with other countries that seem to have a direct bearing on our lives. Thus, Latin America means illegal immigrants depressing wages of low skilled workers, Indian technology workers mean depressing wages of skilled workers through outsourcing and H1-Bs, China means cheap stuff at WalMart and the evaporation of the U.S. manufacturing sector, Iraq and the Middle East means oil prices and young men and women coming home in body bags. The situations in all of these places is of course far more complex and interesting than that (if the stereotypes are true at all). But I honestly wonder if people in other places do not have similar shorthands for thinking of people in other countries only in terms of how those people are perceived to affect them. I seem to remember a French campaign against the expansion of the EU revolving around a Polish plumber, for example.
- FraaJad 17y ago
  It is difficult to quantify what constitutes an "average" american or an "average" Indian. However, opinions and knowledge of a person is a function of the inputs they receive. For most people it is the media. The US media paints India as a country of poverty and "exotic" things. If you scan through the major newspapers, heck! even regional newspapers of India, you will see a informative and balanced coverage of world events. My comment was more about the lack of usable information to the US citizens that they obtain through their media to make informed decisions about India. My intention was not to critique their general knowledge and world affairs.
  - ajju 17y ago
    I second this. From time to time my mom sends me news stories related to startups and innovation in the US I have never read from the Indian regional language daily she reads!

by FraaJad 17y ago

jimbokun 17y ago

Are people in India knowledgeable about all the other major regions and powers in the world? Does the average Indian have an informed, accurate understanding of the nations of, say Africa and South America? True, U.S. Americans should be more knowledgeable about other parts of the world. But as the world's largest economy and military power, most other nations have a vested interest in what happens in the U.S. The inverse is not as true. The U.S. has important economic and diplomatic relations with pretty much every other nation on Earth. In general, we U.S. Americans are (unfortunately) only interested in the specific aspects of the relationships with other countries that seem to have a direct bearing on our lives. Thus, Latin America means illegal immigrants depressing wages of low skilled workers, Indian technology workers mean depressing wages of skilled workers through outsourcing and H1-Bs, China means cheap stuff at WalMart and the evaporation of the U.S. manufacturing sector, Iraq and the Middle East means oil prices and young men and women coming home in body bags. The situations in all of these places is of course far more complex and interesting than that (if the stereotypes are true at all). But I honestly wonder if people in other places do not have similar shorthands for thinking of people in other countries only in terms of how those people are perceived to affect them. I seem to remember a French campaign against the expansion of the EU revolving around a Polish plumber, for example.

FraaJad 17y ago
It is difficult to quantify what constitutes an "average" american or an "average" Indian. However, opinions and knowledge of a person is a function of the inputs they receive. For most people it is the media. The US media paints India as a country of poverty and "exotic" things. If you scan through the major newspapers, heck! even regional newspapers of India, you will see a informative and balanced coverage of world events. My comment was more about the lack of usable information to the US citizens that they obtain through their media to make informed decisions about India. My intention was not to critique their general knowledge and world affairs.
- ajju 17y ago
  I second this. From time to time my mom sends me news stories related to startups and innovation in the US I have never read from the Indian regional language daily she reads!