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Debate: The proposal on the 2-year army draft in India.

Just a few points on this one. I did not receive the detailed proposal
from R. Krishnan and also noticed that it had been rebutted by Srini and
one other (I forget). 

As far as my view on this is concerned, I would imagine that this proposal
violates something fundamental about human existence, that one is
forced to work for another, no matter if the other is the nation. 

I don't quite see the need for this kind of a draconian experience in
India. That might be a quick shortcut to army rule in India. Instead, I
would imagine that if we provided the right opportunities for our youth,
they would more productively spend that period in learning something of
value to themselves and thus to the nation, as well as in producing more.

I am therefore not putting up this proposal on the web page at the moment,
unless Krishnan comes out with stronger arguments and shows how this is
going to help increase the growth rates of the economy in India. 

There are a few people from Singapore on this list. They might want to
add a few things if they feel safe to do so.

What is needed: Leaders and youth who can think cogently
==============

While self-discipline is a trait that needs to be inculcated in school,
lack of discpline I think has not been the cause of India's ignominous
state today. We are 'over-disciplined' in a way, unable to use our own
thinking powers since we are slaves to the thoughts of a few 'ancestors.'

Lack of focused thinking has been the key issue, and lack of people
willing to stand up and count, once they have done the thinking. Too many
good people are hesitant in getting up and providing leadership to India.
The field is therefore wide open for those who have no ideas at all, or at
best 2-3 ideeas.  There can be no vacuum in the world of leadership. Human
beings are designed to fill it up at once. The issue is: are we filling up
this vacuum with good leaders or bad leaders?

There was a time when our leaders were writers par excellence. Nehru might
have come to the wrong conclusions (that is completely forgivable) but it
cannot be said that he did not read a lot, and write, too. He was a
scholar, and our freedom movement is full of such top quality scholars. 

On the other hand, the quality of thinking of our current leaders is
visible through the virtual absence of any work of quality having come
into existence from these folks in the last 40 years. JP wrote something -
creating the socalistic utopia of Total Revolution. Charan Singh wrote
too, and maybe a few others.

These works were flawed in many ways, and the consensus building up to now
on this list is quite different from what was there in these books. But at
least these people wrote something. We do not know the vision of most
"leaders" today. All we know is that they are skilled in fund-raising and
such "political' things like using goondas and the mafia. 

Therefore I see India's problems slightly differently: an absence of good
leaders. Let us build those leaders. Let us have people who can think
cogently and who have read vastly and extensively. 

We need our best thinkers in India to join India_Policy or similar forums,
think clearly about what India needs, and then get up and lead us. We will
be eternally beholden to them. 

SS