Today, the NYT in an editorial talks about the huge investments and business activity that is transforming India into a modern powerhouse.Companies are attracted by the massive numbers of well educated young people being turned out by India’s many fine universities and Institutes.For those of us who are familiar with India’s powerful IT industry,it comes as a surprise to learn that India’s manufacturing industries are no less adept at producing goods of high quality at very competitive prices.All of this is explained in the editorial as a prelude to questioning Bush’s support of India’s massive program to build a large number of nuclear power plants using technology from GE, Bechtel and others.Bush is even trying to justify it as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
It is in this context the Times article talks about an automobile produced in India for $2500 that is attracting the attention of Toyota,Honda and others.A car produced at such cut rate prices would have a massive transformational effect.Our auto industry reeling from years of stagnation and losses would have a hard time withstanding a challenge of that magnitude, and believe me it is coming.China’s PM Wen Jiabao is now visiting India and joint ventures between China and India are not far off.Between themselves the two Asian giants have fully one third of the world’s population and both have achieved double digit growth rates in recent years.
Contrast this with the sad neglect of our own industrial heartland.I live not far from Kokomo,IN where the people are wondering if the city will survive if Delphi bites the dust.Ironically, Delphi is hooking up with a major automotive manufacturer in India and you know where this story is headed.The same story is being repeated in many communities across Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
I think we have to ask ourselves why our futures are looking bleak while those of India and China are so bright.I think our rulers, in their egomaniacal pursuit of world hegemony, have deliberately impoverished us.Only by making the connection between our obscene militarism and our impending poverty can we see through the fog that has enveloped our country.The same ideological blinders that killed the Soviet Union are slowly but surely strangling us.