Why Developnians Do Not Value Money

Warpster - Are the Jews who are killing Palestinians and IRA christians make Judaism and Christianity somewhat bad ideologoes? Osama`s actions are purely political reactions. The same band of terrorists were America`s favourite Jihadis when fighting US ``Jihad`` with USSR.

Islam is a Divine Message for whole mankind and does not change with the events of time or by irresponsible action of its followers.

While the sketch might apply to a small % of upper middle class people who have ancestral property, they are vastly outnumbered by people who have made it in this generation and dont necessarily have huge amounts of disposable income. The decadence you might see in parts of Delhi or North India cannot be generalized with sufficient power elsewhere (or for that matter in Delhi itself).

There are enough thinkers, spiritual leaders and such if one knows where to look. Starting with yourself. Depending on your tastes there are many ORGs to choose from, e.g., www.artofliving.org, www.asha.org etc. There are tons of creative, ethical, dynamic people around you. Support them. Or become one. Better still, do both.

I dont find the lack of class and hygiene (spitting etc) to be insuperable problems. These are fundamentally a matter of education and conditioning and are fixable with the lead provided by appropriate public education and role models disapproving such behaviors. Smoking was considered very chic in the west not so long ago; now its gone to the other extreme: smokers are considered as pariahs!

Maybe what you wrote stems from your personal experience. My father has never (even remotely) committed an act that could be construed as unethical (as a government employee). In fact his honesty got him into all sorts of problems. And I am not expecting any ancestral endowments either. And there are plenty more like him. Remember that Indian Admiral who was forced out? Or that IPS/IAS officer who was transferred? There is a long list of such people.

warpster


salman123#1: I cannot be impressed by an ideology that has spawned much hatred and death. Osama and the 9/11 flight crew were not incidental muslims. They were intentional muslims. They were devout persons inspired by islamic ideology and believed in their mission of death and destruction. Witness the frequent references to Allah by OBL for example in various video/audio transcripts. The same (probably) holds for the 2 youngsters (reportedly Pakistanis) who slaughtered 30 visitors to the gandhinagar temple. Not that different from the treatment handed to those European tourists in Egypt not so long ago. You can argue that these followers are distorting the ``true`` ideology but the fact remains that it can be so distorted. What is the fundamental flaw of islam and other messianic ideologies (such as communism) ? We have the absolute truth and if you do not agree, death is an option for you. We are superior, you are inferior. etc. this stark religious ethnocentrism is a thing of the past and must be dispatched to the dustbin of history. Far eastern religions (Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism etc.) thankfully are less infested with this virulent form of ingroup superiority/outgroup derogation and it generally shows in the (relative) culture of tolerance. I dont think religions (of any form) are relevant except in so far as they advance common human values starting with respect for life and opinion. I believe this is what even offshoots of Islam are attempting (Bahaais and such).

interesting sociological analysis of India`s upper middle class. I like the way you focus on the pathway between their neurosis and the subcontinent`s collective underdevelopment.

We already have a Guidance book - Quran, given to the greatest ever spirtual leader of mankind - Prophet Muhammad, by our Creator - ALLAH, for us to read and follow. Alas, even the followers of Muhammad - Muslims, have stopped practicing it and are lost in this bewildered world of all sort of messy problems- which are ultimate result of discarding the Divine Message for the whole mankind to live happily and without any sort of exploitation of human beings at the hands of fellow human beings. The Muslims should practice the Book to present the Role Model to the world- which has no such illness highlighted by our enlightened friend Rajeeb Satyal. Quran is the only solution for all mankind problems. This is my opinion based on my personal experience.