I do get e-mails from readers. Sadly, I cannot answer them all, as it is physically impossible for me to do so - sorry!
I get a lot of e-mails from readers. Thanks for reading. Before, I didn't care, but now that I get paid to bloviate, I appreciate the clicks. (UPDATE: My Monetization experiment ended - it was a failure!) And let me be honest about this - I am just bloviating, and never claimed to do otherwise. So being "outraged" about what I say is pointless - I never claimed to be an expert, and your outrage put another ten cents into my bank account (no, really, it does). And if you forward your "outrage" to some discussion group and they all click on my site in outrage, it puts about $10 in my bank account.
What can I say that will outrage you today? I am glad to be of service - and now you know how "fake news" actually works. Free education for you, and I get paid to educate you on how the internets really works..
But getting back to topic. I've received a number of e-mails from countries other than the US of A. This is interesting to me as I expect that a few idiots from America (and we have a lot - including me!) will read my drivel. Canadians? OK, they have half a clue. Australians? Kind of a Canadian vibe, but not sure why they hate the gays so much (a little overcompensating for the sheep thing, methinks). But the subcontinent? Hard to parse.
By the way, my grandfather, who died before I was born and was apparently a chronic alcoholic, was stationed there during World War II. A "retread" (from World War I) he was involved somehow in managing the transport of materials from ships docking in Bombay (as we called it then) to be flown "over the hump" or so the family folklore claims. Most families have such folklore, such as Elizabeth Warren's family claiming they were descendant from Indians. My family had a similar lore, claiming descent from John Smith and Pocahontas - and I am sure that is not true at all. But a lot of WASP families do this - claiming Scottish heritage when it is convenient, and Irish on St. Patrick's day.
And the irony is of course, that we are talking about India, the country, and we call our "native Americans" (which is ironic, as I am native to America) "Indians" because Columbus had his head up his ass and committed genocide as well. It's a fucked-up world. So now we have two sets of Indians in the world, and we in the West tend to take a piss on both of them, or at least did at one time or another.
Even more fucked-up is that our friends the British, who are oh-so-politically-correct these days, were once the rulers of the world, and their brutal form of government and homophobia made quite an impression on China, India, and most of Africa, as well as the Middle-East, who today are imprisoning and murdering gay men and women as a result of Britain's messed-up political and religious views from the 1800's. Good old Queen Victoria. She really needed a good topping is what. Withholding sex has been the number one way of controlling people since time began.
But I digress.
Anyway, I have gotten some e-mails from anonymous sources in India. I have little time to respond to people who use their real names much less people who use fake ones. So sorry if I don't respond, but I literally cannot respond to all e-mails (I would have to stop blogging if I did!) and I don't see the need to respond to someone who hides behind a fake identity. I mean, you know where I fucking live, right? I don't even know your name! Who's the real coward here?
What I find odd, is that someone from such a beautiful and yet messed-up country as India would take me to task about the United States of America. We all love India here in America, although our government, apparently, is pissed off than India made the pragmatic decision to make nice with their nearby neighbors - namely Russia. Maybe also after years of British rule, India didn't feel that America - sort of Britain, part deux, was really going to be their friend. It probably doesn't help that we inexplicably prop up the military of their arch-enemy Pakistan, who at the same time harbors Al Qaeda and ISIS. Would you trust us under similar circumstances?
So, I get that. India has to go its own way. Part of that is providing a service industry to the United States of America, online, in the form of call centers and computer support, as well as fraudulent call centers that steal millions billions from Americans in phony IRS scams, Microsoft scams, and whatnot. This latter sort of leaves a bad taste in most American's mouths, as we tend to view "In-Ja" as a source of scam and frauds.
It doesn't help that the news is rife with stories about how India is home to gang-rapes, honor killings (take that, Pakistan!) and spousal abuse. Hard to get a warm feeling about a country which has so little regard for human life. The carnage on India's railroads alone makes our roadways look relatively safe.
It doesn't help that the news is rife with stories about how India is home to gang-rapes, honor killings (take that, Pakistan!) and spousal abuse. Hard to get a warm feeling about a country which has so little regard for human life. The carnage on India's railroads alone makes our roadways look relatively safe.
Yet, Americans still love India and Indian people. Why? Well their charming accents are a good start. The fact that Indian men are by and large very handsome and Indian women are very, very beautiful doesn't hurt. What seals the deal is the cuisine - all of it from every region, and there is so much. Americans, like their British counterparts, have a romantic view of the subcontinent, a view that is probably at odds with reality.
My advice to India: Milk this. Movies like "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "The Darjeeling Limited" are the best propaganda you have. We'd all like to visit India, ride (inside) the trains, have the wonderful exotic food, ride a tuk-tuk, and have a spiritual moment. And maybe a little hashish in Goa, if you know what I mean. Like I said, it is a fantasy. Friends of mine who have gone have said it is magical, but have other stories to tell as well. I hope to go someday before I die. Everyone should.
But it irks me that someone from India with an anonymous e-mail address feels he has the right to lecture me on the merits of socialism over capitalism. I mean, when it comes to fucked-up democracies, even with President Trump, we are still a notch or two above India. While we-all would like to visit India, not many of us want to live there. Meanwhile a host of very talented and skilled Indian Engineers (and they are some of the best!) are living here on H-1B visas. More people want to go to America than leave. Can you say the same for India?
I get it that someone from Sweden could lecture me on the merits of a socialist economy, or that someone from Great Britain (or whatever they are calling themselves these days) can lecture me on the merits of single-payer socialized medicine. But India? I mean, no offense, get your shit together before you have the balls to criticize the largest economy for its flaws.
Yes, we have the world's largest military - larger than the next eight combined. How do you think this happened? By being socialist? Hell, no, we make a lot of money, because we have an economy that is unfettered by socialism. And as a result, we can spend about 3.3% of our GDP and it dwarfs that of China and Russia and six other countries combined because we have a fucking huge GDP.
Yes, we have the world's largest military - larger than the next eight combined. How do you think this happened? By being socialist? Hell, no, we make a lot of money, because we have an economy that is unfettered by socialism. And as a result, we can spend about 3.3% of our GDP and it dwarfs that of China and Russia and six other countries combined because we have a fucking huge GDP.
Yea, sorry about that - being successful and all. And that is exactly why the rest of the world wants to tear us down. It is not like the USA wants to be "world police" but it is a job we were dragooned into after two world wars and the collapse of the British Empire. We became world leader by default, as the last man standing - sorry again about that. And frankly, it is a job that most Americans wished we didn't have to do. The penchant for isolationism in this country is very strong and long-felt. We had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into World War I and World War II, and not many people in America today feel really keen about our decade-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And yet, if we turned isolationist - as many on the Left and Right both want to do - the rest of the world would then pile on about how we are not living up to our responsibilities as a "world power". You can see that being #1 is a lose-lose situation. Sometimes, I think a lot of people in the United States would love it if China, or Russia, or even India, became the next dominate superpower, so we could sit on the sidelines and make snide comments and take pot-shots. Because, let's face it, that's a whole lot more fun to do!
But if China, Russia, or India are to become the predominate world superpowers, they are not going to achieve this with their current forms of government or current economic models. What drives America to be predominate over the rest of the world is the freedom we have here to become fabulously wealthy, as unfair as it is. This in turn drives our industry and business. And it creates a population who, by and large, is committed to the system we have. And that right there is why Russian Troll Farms - and now Indian Troll Farms want to tear us down by promoting socialistic and communist ideals such as doubling the minimum wage, forgiving student loan debt, guaranteed minimum income, and socialized medicine.
They have largely succeeded in Europe already, which has turned many European countries inward-looking. No longer the home of big ideas and big goals, it seems that to many in Europe, the main issue these days is how to best treat their bums - and by that, I don't mean their derriere's. When government devolves into how to best slice up the pie, government fails, as the pie will get smaller and smaller when people merely wait for their piece of it, rather than make their own.
India is a powerhouse economy waiting to be unleashed. I have said this all along - that the US auto industry has had a respite from its troubles, but as soon as Chinese and Indian-made cars arrive on our soil, we will be right back where we started, with major US car companies going bankrupt - first Fiat-Chrysler, perhaps next Ford. And already Chinese and Indian-made cars are being imported by the big-3, just as the big-3 first imported Japanese and later Korean cars and re-badged them.
But long-term, creating a robust economy requires that a system be in place that not only allows people the opportunity to succeed, but punishes those who fail or who choose not to make the effort. The carrot of wealth is only half of the motivation, the stick of poverty is the other half.
As harsh as that sounds, though, people still flock to this country to find work or to settle down and raise a family. As "unfair" as Capitalism is, it still remains better than other systems tried in other countries. And the evidence is in the huge number of people immigrating to this country, and the very few migrating away.
So, no sale. Socialism and Communism sucks. And if anything is keeping India back, it is the idea that these tired old policies are workable solutions. Even China seems to have figured that out!
And yet, if we turned isolationist - as many on the Left and Right both want to do - the rest of the world would then pile on about how we are not living up to our responsibilities as a "world power". You can see that being #1 is a lose-lose situation. Sometimes, I think a lot of people in the United States would love it if China, or Russia, or even India, became the next dominate superpower, so we could sit on the sidelines and make snide comments and take pot-shots. Because, let's face it, that's a whole lot more fun to do!
But if China, Russia, or India are to become the predominate world superpowers, they are not going to achieve this with their current forms of government or current economic models. What drives America to be predominate over the rest of the world is the freedom we have here to become fabulously wealthy, as unfair as it is. This in turn drives our industry and business. And it creates a population who, by and large, is committed to the system we have. And that right there is why Russian Troll Farms - and now Indian Troll Farms want to tear us down by promoting socialistic and communist ideals such as doubling the minimum wage, forgiving student loan debt, guaranteed minimum income, and socialized medicine.
They have largely succeeded in Europe already, which has turned many European countries inward-looking. No longer the home of big ideas and big goals, it seems that to many in Europe, the main issue these days is how to best treat their bums - and by that, I don't mean their derriere's. When government devolves into how to best slice up the pie, government fails, as the pie will get smaller and smaller when people merely wait for their piece of it, rather than make their own.
India is a powerhouse economy waiting to be unleashed. I have said this all along - that the US auto industry has had a respite from its troubles, but as soon as Chinese and Indian-made cars arrive on our soil, we will be right back where we started, with major US car companies going bankrupt - first Fiat-Chrysler, perhaps next Ford. And already Chinese and Indian-made cars are being imported by the big-3, just as the big-3 first imported Japanese and later Korean cars and re-badged them.
But long-term, creating a robust economy requires that a system be in place that not only allows people the opportunity to succeed, but punishes those who fail or who choose not to make the effort. The carrot of wealth is only half of the motivation, the stick of poverty is the other half.
As harsh as that sounds, though, people still flock to this country to find work or to settle down and raise a family. As "unfair" as Capitalism is, it still remains better than other systems tried in other countries. And the evidence is in the huge number of people immigrating to this country, and the very few migrating away.
So, no sale. Socialism and Communism sucks. And if anything is keeping India back, it is the idea that these tired old policies are workable solutions. Even China seems to have figured that out!
