When I don’t think with clarity (which I haven’t done for a good month), things get bundled up, and they all come exploding simultaneously. But here is the bang: I will make you (distinctly) uncomfortable (and that’s) the intent.
I don’t understand two prominent newsworthy issues: first, why there is (again) moral outrage over the draft opinion of the Supreme Court reversing Roe v. Wade. Second is the outpouring of (mainly) Western anti-Putin sentiment.
I wrote about Roe v. Wade in school (over two decades ago), and I could barely get my head around it. Its strict legal basis was precarious – and didn’t make sense then – even to me (a 17-year-old maths geek), so it bewilders me that the potential to strike down Roe v. Wade is a surprise to anyone.
Since the appointment of Barack Obama, I would argue that conservatives have ramped up their need to draw the USA in their color and in line with their philosophy.
Why are liberals always, always playing catch-up? And why do liberals NEVER have a plan?
Putin has always been an autocrat who has enjoyed the benefits of globalization with impunity. Why is anyone surprised that he is acting, yes, that’s right – like an autocrat?
I will tell you what makes me most indignant is ten years ago, I stood up on the first day of business school and said I was uncomfortable with billionaires paying too little tax. I can point out the overwhelming number of my classmates who said I was wrong then.
I wonder how they feel about Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, a mouthpiece that gave Trump more airtime than he deserved.
Why do not more of us feel uncomfortable with the way our world is?
I will give you an example that’s closer to home. Too many of my Western friends tell me that Modi is an autocrat and he should not be supporting Russia.
I’m afraid I have to disagree on two counts. First, it makes economic sense for India to trade now with Russia, especially because India’s trade partnership precedes the Cold War, and it’s ok for Europe to have a single supplier risk with Russia for decades, but not ok for India to have Russia as a trade partner. Please. The hypocrisy.
But Westerners don’t get what truly keeps India’s awake at night and how Modi, for better or worse, as an autocrat, will change the course of Indian history.
First is the death of the journalist Gauri Lankesh, assassinated in 2017. There has not been a sadder day in the history of modern India because of what her death represents. Democracy is not one person, one vote. It is the start of an ecosystem that supports the rule of law and its foundational apparatus, which include the following rights:
- the right to not be persecuted for your beliefs;
- the right to security of person as a woman;
- the right to vocally advocate for the rights of others;
- and the right to be treated equally before the justice system are invaluable pillars in a free country.
Second is the lack of accountability for the number of COVID and COVID-related deaths in India.
When a country with 20% of the world’s population, no lack of vegetation, runs out of wood to burn its dead, and there are funeral pyres in every town, village, and park, that burn day in and day out, don’t tell me a few million people have died.
The lack of accountability on this issue means that Indians, like me, have no idea of the scale of the catastrophe that we have endured.
There is a hole in our hearts, and we are changed as a nation – but were the number of deaths akin to widespread famine, war, the plague?
We will never know.
The death of free reporting, the lack of accountability across India, and the laissez-faire attitude Indians have, is what keeps me awake at night.