Amartya Sen’s Recent Talk - Some Reservations With the Guru
I am a huge fan of Dr Amartya Sen. At a time when every country is hoping that it can have an Obama of its own I truly hope that our country one day has someone of the stature of Dr Sen too. The work he has done on economics of the poor is great. Another thing that I like about him is that no matter wherever he has lived he has loved India dearly. Such love for one’s roots is awe inspiring. However in an interview with Burkha Dutt of NDTV (another of my great favorite journalists belonging to one of my favorite networks as I have repeatedly pointed in my column in past so many years and even in one of my recent talkshow) he made some interesting observations (Please watch the complete interview copied below). Dr Sen took issue with two things that have stayed on Obama agenda. One the tough talk on Pakistan, that point has already been clarified before Dr Sb spoke. Two, Obama’s outsourcing policy. I believe on both counts Obama should be expected to put his country’s interest first albeit in his impressive humanitarian context and not through the narrow reductionist perspective of the neocons. I have reservation with Dr Sb’s point of view on Obama’s economic agenda especially as he thinks that Obama is a lawyer and not an economist. First I believe that this point on the relative protectionism is a product of Team Obama and not one person alone, which by definition includes leading US economists too. Second I believe that while free trade and outsourcing both have great potential the economic mess created during the last eight years calls for some tough measures. This is the hour of stock taking. At a time when countless Americans are losing jobs per hour, can the USA afford to outsource jobs? This is not rocket science but pure and clear common sense. I know free trade is the future of capitalism and that shipping job offshore holds great potential but the world economy has been contorted by the Enronism of the past eight years and it needs time to recover. While the nations around the world need to work together to recover from this mess, it is time for some fortification and affirmative action at home. Once everyone puts his house in order, the era of free trade that will ensue will be free of any terrible risk. We need to work together and have patience. Here is the video:
NDTV also did a program on whether India can have one day its own Barack Obama and if yes who could it be. From Rahul Gandhi to Mayawati several names were suggested. If my views as a keen India observer were of any consequence I would have suggested that since India’s form and nature of democracy is much different from the United States we can only talk of the substance alone. And if someone was to fit that description it is none other than Mayawati Kumari. Why? You know about the caste and communal tensions in India and if someone’s profile can promise across the board hope to everyone it hers. I believe that since the Americans broke the shackles of a possible dynastic rule, consider Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton prospects, India too can break the Congress-BJP-Congress cycle by giving another chance to the Left leaning parties. But if the left has to progress in India it needs to heed Dr Sen’s recommendations above and instead of religiously following the marxist values try to embrace the realities of today. Here is Burkha Dutt’s discussion with the participants on an Indian Obama. Watch:
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