Wednesday, September 01, 2004
India as a model
Interesting item in Ha'aretz today, particularly in the light of Ghandi's descendant's recent visit to the Palestinian territories. During the visit he called for non-violent protest and respect for the sanctity of human life.
India today starts to reap some of the broader benefits of the societal model it has forged:
" ... (O)utsourcing has become an issue in the American election campaign: Jobs - and in particular those that require education and technological skills - are fleeing from the United States to India ... There is still vicious poverty rife in India, but overall, the story of modern India is an impressive success story, and its direction of development is positive.
" ... (T)he colonial era in that country was far longer than in Arab countries ... India is a country in which huge ethnic, linguistic and religious variety abounds ... its success in maintaining both its unity (despite separatist movements) and democratic regime is an especially impressive achievement. The conflict with Israel often serves as an excuse for the absence of democracy in the Arab states. However, India also has experienced a prolonged and violent conflict ...
" ... (T)he Indian national movement did not turn its hatred for the West into the main content of its world view. It did not turn the colonial past ... into an alibi ... for every failure."
India, like Japan, Israel and China, has ample reasons to lapse into hatred, but is instead shaping as - and at least trying to be - a model of tolerance and prosperity. In the sphere of lifting itself by the bootlaces, there is probably no greater example to the world than Japan, a country that suffered the wrath of two atomic bombs and which has little other than water and people in the way of plentiful natural resources.
The notable modern "technological" gifts of the Arab world being little beyond the suicide bomber belt, the Al-Jazeera style of "reality" TV execution, and the Qasam missile, the potential for positive development in that region remains enormous.
With frightened French journalists being paraded on television to advertise the demands of their kidnappers, schoolchildren being murdered and held hostage in Chechnya, and busloads of innocents in Israel being yet again mercilessly deleted (this an occurrence so common that the world barely bats its collective eyelid), the usual parade of apologists cite the usual plethora of excuses, which centre chiefly around perpetrators not being responsible for their own actions.
Thank goodness for the alternative views, and for the evidence of a worthwhile and achievable end for those countries and individuals that heed them, and for the fact that those that heed them appear far more worthy of respect and veneration than the young lemming recording his intention on video before attempting the mass murder that someone has convinced him is actually the (perverse) will of the Creator.
