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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D. Long who wrote (8396)	10/31/2001 6:09:16 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 281500

most coveted jewel in Eurasia's crown has done so poorly compared to the miniscule island off China's flank? Hmmm. Could be: Smart Chinese and Stupid Indians? Nasty Briton wanted Hong Kong to make it and India to fail? Must be just unknown forces of History, I guess. (Or could it be, say, Capitalism? Nahhh. )

To: D. Long who wrote (8396)	10/31/2001 11:25:59 AM
From: HG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I agree...and I thank God for that. Before you jump to protest, let me explain... First, let me say very bluntly, I know very little of the Hong Kong's history. Actually nothing at all, to be perfectly honest. However, I spent six months at Singapore so I understand what you mean by your comment as Singapore too is a true representation of free markets. I believe the differences in their political ideologies stem from their differences in geography demographics. Hong King is a city. Not a country. As such, it has a different set of obligations and responsibilities towards its land and people than does a country like India. It also has a different kind of population. Whereas Hong Kong, like Dubai, is what it is because its a trading economy, the same concept cannot work for a country many times its size in population, area and problems. Self sufficiency is a cornerstone for success for a huge and diverse country like India. Nothing can better illustrate the point I'm making, than the fact that if today the world imposes trade sanctions on Hong Kong, the country cannot survive. But try doing that to India.....the sanctions may hurt, not even remotely as much though. Try arms embargo. Ditto. India can still continue to exist and defend itself. An example - the Asian meltdown a few years ago. Indian economy was totally isolated from the Indonesian and Japanese economic collapse. Is that such a bad thing ? If a neighboring country declares war on Hong Kong, what do you think will happen ? The point I'm trying to make is that Hong Kong can exist as a CITY, with a paternal defence system, a more conservative at that, to support the trade economy. The very policies that ensure its success as a free market econom will spell doom for it if it were to exist as a country. Lets talk of demographics now. I don't know the native population of Hong Kong...but I believe it is pretty low. Unless ou count the expats as well. I would think the expat population would be around 50% at the very least. TThe law and order becomes a different ballgame under those conditions. You can throw the trouble makers out of the 'city' and viola, you're perfectly safe. Not so in a 'country'. And so, manufacturing and job creation becomes imperative. Trading is not enough. There were two ways India could have gone, back then. The American way or the Russian way. The conservative Indians chose the middle path. Neither too capitalistic, not too communist. At the time, given the world conditions and the fact that they had just come out of centuries of slavery and rape under the British, and the fact that India is a land of total and complete diversity in customes, traditions, religions, languages, (I think a lot of people don't understand how difficult it is to lead a country which has 208 languages, >1000 dialects and 3,300,000 gods) I personally think it was very gutsy of them to have avoided communism in totality. People and countries often swing to the other extreme after a revolution. Look at Iran and Afghanistan. It would have been so much more easier to govern a land where conformity to state laws, state religion (or lack thereof) was decreed. The main sentiment at the time was to avoid foreign dependence and trade...for trade is what had landed them into slavery in the first place. And I still think it makes life easier to have homemade food rather than be dependent on a take away all the time. I don't have communist beliefs. Far from it. But free economy only works when your house is on order. Its not a one size fits all. Just because it works here, does not mean it will work everywhere as successfully. The cultural aspects of Asian life make such a system very difficult to implement. Russia is an example. As to our last comment...I don't think it has done poorl at all. America hass been a free country for centuries vs India which has been been allowed to blossom and figure out itself only 54 years ago. It takes some time for govts to figure out what works and what doesn't. Heck, we're still tring to work the backs back into our system here. I would love to hear of another example in the world....where a country has come out of a colonial rule better and stronger in such a short time...?