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MAKE A CONCERTED SHIFT TO LONG-TERM THINKING
The United States has to be much more cautious
and thoughtful in its interventions worldwide,
considering the post Cold War environment in the world
today. Let history not repeat itself due to hurried
engagements and short term thinking which may have been
driven by anti-Communist agendas. It is necessary for
the U.S. to make a shift to long-term thinking, assess
both the near-term and long-term costs of not taking
certain actions at every provocation, and educate its
citizens on that cost-benefit analysis. The U.S.
citizens should be trusted to understand long-term
implications of any action by the U.S.
INCREASE FOREIGN AID FOR EDUCATION This has
to become a very critical aspect of U.S. foreign policy
going forward. Given the often reported news about how
education in certain areas of the Middle-East includes
indoctrination using selective interpretations of the
Koran, the U.S. could make broader education a
condition for providing any non-humanitarian aid.
Ultimately, propaganda wars and extremism breed more
successfully within a blanket of ignorance and there is
no better, non-violent way to address this problem by
providing more knowledge and education.
INTRODUCE RESPONSIBLE FISCAL POLICY TO REDUCE THE
INCOME GAP
If the philosophy of capitalism, free markets and
globalization has to thrive long-term, it will not be
able to sustain itself if income does not rise
appreciably for the lowest earning section of the
population. Fiscal policy should be more focused on
lower income groups to increase the benefits these
groups would have in a capitalistic economy.
REWARD, INVEST IN, RECOGNIZE AND PROMOTE
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS INDIVIDUALS, COMPANIES, STATES
AND COUNTRIES While this is a topic not really
addressed in our previous articles, it is one of immense
importance to the U.S. and the world and part of the
cause for intense criticism of the U.S. for a long time.
Effectively addressing this problem, will win the
U.S. tremendous support worldwide. Currently, the
U.S. has the dubious distinction of being the single biggest polluter causing global
warming and the single largest cause for the destruction
of trees in the world, among other things.
These are NOT complimentary statistics. Additionally,
the real benefits of a free market economy or
globalization are easily exploited and distorted by large
business interests by keeping the United States and its
citizens focused on short term risks, without paying any
attention to longer term rewards. Unless the
United States as a leader, sets an example by being
environmentally conscious and responsible in every
endeavor possible, it is impossible to legitimately
encourage environmental responsibility in the rest of
the world.
ENERGY It is unfortunate that the current
U.S. Government initially reversed past acts towards
increasing environmental and energy
responsibility by its initial emphasis on increasing,
rather than decreasing, reliance on conventional energy
sources in the U.S. That, and early remarks by
Vice-President Dick Cheney on the lack of value in
conservation (!), received heavy criticism within the
United States and abroad. Examples include columns in
magazines and groups as diverse as USA Today, CNN, CBS, Salon.com, Earth Times, Greenpeace, Consumers Union, many U.S. states and
politicians, and from the general public in the U.S.
Articles from many sources (even Forbes - the business magazine
"representing" capitalism!) clearly showed the fallacy
in the attempt to increase supply rather than reducing
demand. Taking it a step further, the residents of the state of California walked
their conservation talk to an incredible
level without reducing their daily
productivity or quality of life. Surveys also showed that the majority of
U.S. citizens were willing to initiate simple
conservation efforts that would allow the United States
to partly meet the lower emission standards demanded by
the Kyoto Protocol, something that the
current administration walked away from for unfair
reasons.
The bottomline is that environmental responsibility
will go a long way in ensuring the future of this world,
and the United States has to play a major role in this
process. Let us not fool ourselves that this is merely
an option - it is NOT! It has become an imperative. Just
as we invest in something today to see returns years or
decades down the line, investment in environmental
responsibility has to start TODAY - not tomorrow, not a
year from now and certainly not 10 years from now! It
has been demonstrated that there is tremendous promise
in more environmentally friendly energy sources (and
biodegradable plastics). Further, there is a lot more
that can be done to conserve energy in the United
States. There is a lot more investment that can be made
in transportation technologies, especially those which
use alternative energy sources, to reduce dependence on
cars and SUVs. Hybrid cars are a step in the right
direction and owners of these cars should be provided
tax benefits to encourage their use. Believe it or not,
over time, this will solve the Middle-East oil problem.
To the naysayers, we will just state that they are doing
injustice to the creativity and ingenuity of the
scientists and engineers who have propelled the United
States to where it is today! Alternatives to oil and
fossil-fuels may come at some temporary (short-term)
cost to incumbent energy companies and associated job
losses. But it is for the people of the United States to
determine whether they are more interested in the health
and (long-term) future of their children and families 10
years or more down the line by doing what it takes to
pioneer a revolution in energy technology today or to
focus on short-term fears (many of which may be
unfounded) spread by special interest groups aimed at
keeping the status quo. An excellent example is how
there were fears when computers started to become
prevalent that they would take away huge numbers of jobs
from the market - in fact, as far as we know jobs became
more plentiful because new job categories and areas got
created as a result. A more recent example (that we
highlighted in our previous article) is the hue and cry
about ~ 3 million manufacturing jobs having been lost in
the U.S. in the 90s to other countries, forgetting the
creation of millions more services related jobs in the
U.S. at the same time.
Thus, it cannot be emphasized more that it is
ABOUT TIME the United States focused on and
rewarded/encouraged the speedy development of
technologies for using alternative (and more efficient)
energy sources than oil - that are not only less
polluting but will also further reduce or eliminate its
dependence on foreign (read Middle-Eastern) oil. While
this is anyway bound to happen eventually, it must be
the agenda of the current U.S. Government, however
difficult that might be considering its well-known
pro-oil and pro-fossil-fuel leanings, to quickly
accelerate this agenda so that the United States can
pull out of the Middle East completely in the
foreseeable future and let the people who feel they need
no help from the U.S. work out their issues amongst
themselves. Regardless of whether the U.S. may have been
a guest in that region in the past, it appears now that
the U.S. is unwelcome at the homes of hostile or
ungrateful hosts. It is time the U.S. recognized it is
not wise to overstay its welcome and let the "innocent"
civilians and their "spiritual" leaders in that part of
the world work out the lives of "freedom" that they
desire.
WOOD Wood consumption in the U.S. (for
paper) is another enormous drain on the world's
environment. In spite of the possible dramatic
reductions in paper consumption owing to the widespread
diffusion of computers and the internet, the U.S. paper
consumption has unfortunately become higher than before,
unlike the opposite (desirable) trend in Japan - the
world's second largest economy. This signifies a partial
lack of awareness across the U.S. in paper consumption,
both by individuals and by companies. There are simple
ways that can use existing technology and developing
technology to significantly reduce individual's and
businesses' reliance on paper. The U.S. Government
and businesses should make it an important goal to
reduce paper consumption in the U.S. substantially over
the next decade. Concomitantly, investments and
growth in technologies that allow paperless reading and
information exchange should be accelerated.
ON INDIA and THE U.S. Being Indian citizens,
it would be remiss of us to not address the relationship
between the U.S. and India in the context of the
post-Sep 11 situation. We believe it is an
oversimplification to suggest (as Ms. Roy has done) that
India should have no alliances with a country like the
United States, for we would then have a hard time coming
up with justifications for some of India's past
alliances or friendships with countries known to be
suppressors of human rights (one does not have to think
very hard on this issue!). Reducing solely the United
States to an "evil" not only does the citizens of the
United States injustice but it undeservedly elevates
many other countries and their citizens, who have in
some form or the other been involved in unpleasant and
violent conflicts or wars internally or externally for
time immemorial. Critics must recognize there is no such
thing as a perfect country or citizenry in this world -
and try to suggest ways to assimilate good aspects of
other countries or philosophies while minimizing
adoption of the negatives or excesses. In this context,
being two great democracies, India and the U.S. will do
well to exploit the synergies easily apparent to some of
us, through alliances in select areas.
It is undeniable that the U.S. first acts in its
own interest and only second in the interest of others.
But this is not unique, for all countries do (and must)
share this philosophy to be committed to the welfare of
their own citizens. Indian critics must try to
understand that the U.S. perspective on India has been
driven for decades (among other things) by their Cold
War tensions with the former U.S.S.R, and the perceived
"alignment" of India with the former U.S.S.R. and
perceived "indifference" to the U.S. While India may be
a non-aligned country, India's (former)
U.S.S.R.-friendly U.S.-indifferent non-alignment is
probably not easy to explain to a country (U.S.A.) that
has come close to several crises with the former
U.S.S.R. and has had untold skirmishes with their former
archenemy over the decades. The alignment of the U.S.
with Pakistan in the current scenario is clearly (a) a
culmination of decades of uncertainty in the U.S. in
really understanding where India lies with respect to
U.S. interests, and (b) the advantage Pakistan has in
sharing a border with Afghanistan, knowing as much as
anyone knows about the Taliban, and being closest to
Afghanistan for launching any air strikes. The U.S. is
not ignorant of the fact that this dalliance with
Pakistan (and with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan)
is very risky (and may even backfire) considering how
Pakistan has played a key role in propping up and
cultivating the Taliban and bin Laden, and what the
Northern Alliance may morph to (especially if it becomes
weapons-rich). However the alternatives are not very
clear either, at least for now. The two Governments
(India and the U.S.) have to be smart enough to
recognize what the root of each other's fears are and
work together through this period....that may very well
build a strong foundation for the future and avoid the
unpleasant (but understandable) need for the U.S. to
continue to prop up a terrorist-friendly government in
India's neighborhood.
From the perspective of the U.S., it would be
very unwise of the United States to neglect their
relationship with India and not build a strong alliance
with that country, one of those few countries which has
shown its absolute commitment to democracy in spite of
enormous socio-political and economic challenges.
Perhaps there are lessons in democracy that the U.S. can
even learn from India. More importantly, the U.S. should
grow out of its Cold War related concerns about India,
understand the nature and pride of the Indian people
which make them successful in several areas that only
the so-called developed world has been leading in, and
the dynamics of the evolving balance of power in Asia.
Many other attributes of India make India an attractive
alliance partner, including its continued success with a
polyglot citizenry, a drive towards being the best
technologically, and a drive to be self-sufficient in as
many aspects as possible.
We rest our case, for now.
Concluded
-TR/KK
PART
IV
» Not Everything is Illusionary in
America's Free Markets
PART
III
» Rhetoric vs Reality: Universal Law #3
For Some US Critics
PART
II
» The Algebra of Infinite
Illogic
PART
I
» Enduring Blames: Uncle Sam & The
Goddess of Big Tirades
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