What should be done about India?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What should be done about India?

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

I have an amazing idea: Let the Indians handle their affairs. Like has attempting to shoulder the "White Men's Burden" ever worked out to the benefit of the indigenious population?

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 15:52

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:28

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

Man, people were giving me grief when I suggested that "DO NOTHING" is the best thing we could ever do for India, but holy poo poo, you guys are demonstrating my point perfectly.

Between the flat out racism, cultural superiority, and outright nostalgia for British coloniasm, and more, why on earth do you think any idea y'all can up with wouldn't be tainted with with your own biases and condesension.

You know why doing nothing is the best thing for India? Because the kind of person who even posts a thread titled "What should be done about India?", and anyoen who seriously debates ideas in it are completely and utterly doomed to failure in even the theoritical stage, let alone any sort of on-the-ground implementation.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2014 18:40

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

OwlBot 2000 posted:

Our discomfort at the possibility of our being compared to the British Empire (totally an apt comparison for what I and others have suggested) and an old Kipling story should dissuade us from talking about other countries, much less trying to help them. That's the only way to make the world a better place, after all, uncomfortable silence.

No, just no. Look, I know you mean well. But no action you could ever possibly take that has any kind of impact can be separated from the racist and authoritative ideas in this thread, and which you yourself have espoused. Like, this thread itself is a refutation of your idea that we, the West, should Do Something.

This isn't some "Oh, if we find some magical combination of aid/education/political pressure it'll work out."

What your epousing is an extraordinary Western idea of of "Solutionism." That there is is a solution out there for every problem. This is simply not true, if you take into account the record of the last 200 years of Western intervention.

Sometimes, any and all intervention, no matter how clever or valid the idea will be doomed to failure, and hurt the very people you're trying to help. Whether it's the mutation of said idea when it's actually implemented, or the ignorance of the people you're trying to fit into a Western Post-Enlightenment model.

If you listen to any of this, listen to this: In the West, doing nothing is actually far far braver than doing something. The idea that doing nothing is the easiest path in Western/American society is a complete lie.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2014 19:26

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

Frosted Flake posted:

Cool let's all sit on our hands. There is nothing Indians can learn from Western society.

No, it's more like the very act of trying to teach or reform carries so much danger snd baggage it's actually better not to try.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 21:25

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

Rhonyn Peacemaker posted:

It comes down to cultural superiority/inferiority.

India is trying to throw off cultural influences and become their own master, only to find that the influences of their past and continuing influences from the present have shifted the power away from themselves. They will never be a first rate world power and because of the deep socioeconomic issues, as well as the deep cultural issues present in the country, they have more or less lost the right to keep their seat at the dinner table.

They need a good war, civil or otherwise, to reduce the overall population, and expose people to what it means to be free. Show them what it means to truly fight for something. Meanwhile, dam the Ganges, strip-mine as much in the way of natural resources out of the area, and setup massive block-housing with indoor plumbing.

You cannot be a world power when people poo poo in the streets.

Looking at you Philippines.

If it isn't a civil war, then it needs to be an external act of aggression, maybe China determining there is mineral wealth in the northern part of India or somesuch. Something to reduce both populations by a large number. This is called a mutually beneficial situation.

I really don't know why people disagree with me that "Do Nothing" is the best idea when half the ideas in this thread amount to "Bring back the British" and the other half is "Cull the unwashed herd"

Like, this thread itself is proof enough that trying to "educate" India would be an unbelievable moral disaster. We'd like to pretend that through debate and discussion the most noble and bright ideas will be acted upon, but any look at history will tell you that what happens is that the most exploitative and racist ideas are the ones with the most traction.

Show me an instance of Western powers trying to educate a people they see as a problem, and in need of a solution that didn't turn into a complete shitshow.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 00:48

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 23:28

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

Xandu posted:

I feel like, terrible posts aside, this is a weird way to interpret this thread. You could easily re-phrase the question as "What should India do to speed up its development?" and get the same sorts of answers.

I see your point. But "What should India do to speed up its development?" is maybe 10% of the solutions posted in this at best. Like, seriously the dominate theme of solutions is aligned with "How do we educate/fix/deal with these ignorant Indians".

Like, the thread title actually matches the contents.

Thundercracker fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Apr 15, 2014

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 02:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > What should be done about India?