> I do not see this. In fact, he is TOO socialist.
GST implementation, Demonetisation, unnecessary COVID restrictions etc. resulted in anarchy that was all designed to drain wealth (make labour cheaper) and / or transfer wealth from ordinary people or small businesses to the corporates (to make select rich, richer). He has also weakened all social welfare programs of the previous government by reducing funds or introducing restrictions designed to sabotage it for the intended beneficiaries. The centralised decision-making stems from the fascist ideology that he subscribes to (RSS, the indian organisation that he emerged from, admired Mussolini and Hitler).
> GST implementation
Needed. I run a business. The previous tax system was horrific in its complexity and corruption.
> Demonetisation
Implementation could have been better. But there is too much cash in the system for my comfort. Things must be digitized. We must ensure people pay their rightful share of taxes.
> unnecessary COVID restrictions etc
Hindsight. I remember how the media was blaming every single death on the government and making videos of funerals. We saw the best and worst of humanity during that period.
> He has also weakened all social welfare programs of the previous government by reducing funds or introducing restrictions designed to sabotage it for the intended beneficiaries
Have you looked at the subsidy bills? Have you looked at the finances of the state governments? You know Modi was against the rewadi culture and then had to get into competitive cash giving? I absolutely hate it. But that is the cost of doing politics in India.
Cities provide free bus rides to women, and run buses in competition to metro routes, making metros nonviable. This is such short-sighted behavior. I do not know what to say.
> fascist ideology
I do not agree with the criticism. At all. This is fairly typical of the nominal left in India and outside. Will paint with a large brush. To understand the RSS, you must go back to Hindu-Muslim relations in British India, to stoning of Hindu processions in Nagpur of the 1920s (which continue across India to this day), to the Moplah massacres and forced conversions of Hindus, and even farther back.[1]
My biggest problem with the RSS is the hubris in the top echelon and deep anti-intellectualism. Bhagwat's "same DNA" theory is a laugh riot.
But this is a different topic more suitable for a different thread.
[1] Pakistan: A 300-year-old project that Jinnah completed with Partition (https://www.indiatoday.in/opinion/story/partition-india-paki...)
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree as, clearly, we are on different sides of the political spectrum and look at these things differently:
- Demonetisation, GST and lockdown: How the Modi government has wrecked India’s small businesses - https://scroll.in/article/1011509/demonetisation-gst-and-loc...
- India after Goods and Services Tax: Hundreds of thousands lose jobs, small businesses shut down - https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/india-after-goods-and-...
- How GST is killing small businesses with inspector raj and suffocating compliance - https://theprint.in/opinion/how-gst-is-killing-small-busines...
Dr. Manmohan Singh's conception of GST was indeed a good and necessary idea. But they way it was twisted and implemented to benefit crony capitalists and destroy India's informal economy was foolish as it was corrupt.
Who even writes these articles?! India used to have an excise, sales tax (replaced by VAT in the early 2000s) and octroi system. And LBT (Local Body Tax) where the municipal corporation staff that do not understand the B of balance sheet could harass you endlessly on your purchase and sales record. And a hundred other random industry-specific taxes. GST replaced all of that.
Businessmen were able to navigate all this mess and were suddenly unable to handle GST? Please!
Again, we are a large country and implementation is more often than not a shit show. The bureaucracy is extremely corrupt and the politicians in charge of ministries cannot tame them. They literally say to businessmen: "The minister will leave after the election next year. I will still be here."
> But GST inspectors (many of them have seen the good old days of sales tax and VAT, and obviously don’t want to let go of their power to extract bribes) harass such firms on flimsy grounds like ‘why don’t you have a company’s nameplate clearly displayed’ that can create nuisance in residential areas. [from the Print article]
This is very common low-level harassment. very little you can do about it except rewrite the laws to make such things non-actionable.
Article 311 of the constitution makes it next to impossible to fire public servants. This is why all the corrupt/non-performing officers get transferred, not sacked![1]
[1] 311. Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State (https://indiankanoon.org/doc/47623/)
I am not sure where you are from but just look at PC's comments and notice the clear and pronounced ideology segue from the first comment of this thread to the comments down this thread. Just notice how, as the the typical for the right, this commenter slowly starts saying things like "Who even writes these articles?" for anything that clashes with or questions questions their ideology. Very specifically pointing out "free bus rides to women" which is very famous in India and associated with a state not run by the BJP (i.e central ruling party)
> Businessmen were able to navigate all this mess and were suddenly unable to handle GST? Please!
I mean someone can say this with straight face in India today? Ffs :D
Anyway what I am trying to say is - PC very swiftly tried to portray that they are here for "engaging" until they were not and to resort the "this is fake media" style of engagement.
I mean ffs PC themselves linked an article by India Today. Yes, India Today.
@dang You can split this thread if it is OT
---
> Very specifically pointing out "free bus rides to women" which is very famous in India and associated with a state not run by the BJP (i.e central ruling party)
I am a pretty political/ideological person. I never try to hide that. But I support the government when I think they are right, and criticize them when they are wrong.
I guess you missed my point about cash handouts to women? That BJP governments are doing right now? My very first comment is a criticism of the government's current step! You want me to criticize the cash handouts and spare the free bus rides?
> I mean someone can say this with straight face in India today? Ffs :D
Say what with a straight face? Someone who managed to deal with the excise department but is unable to handle the GST department beggars belief. Which is what all those articles were about. Excise/sales tax/vat/GST are all the same people. Their nature is not going to change because the law changed.
> "engaging"
I am "engaging." It does not mean I have to sing the tune you expect. This is why I specifically said "But this is a different topic more suitable for a different thread," because talking about the politics of it eventually leads to flamewars and tone policing.
> article by India Today.
It is an opinion piece. About Islam on the Indian subcontinent. If the RSS is brought up, people need to know the context of their origin. About what happened on the subcontinent in that era.
Right :)
As for invoking @dang, I hope dang at least has some sort of custom notification for his own username mentions. I wouldn't mind this entire thread/sub-thread getting nuked, along with mine and your comments (yes, both!). But as things go on hn, and dang has emphatically shown over the years, some OT discussions are more equal than other OT discussions. So yeah, there you go.
And you specifically pointing out things in your comment? There was a reason I chose not to reply to you. (And no, I am not implying you should not have chosen to reply to me, not at all!)
All the data about India's demonetisation points to it being a complete and utter waste of time. The goalposts kept shifting and the whole aim was never clear. People died, please do not minimise their deaths.
The absolute disaster of how COVID was managed was a shame, and is a borderline crime against humanity. Again, please do not minimise the deaths of millions of Indians as "the media was blaming every single death on the government". The government of Indian was directly responsible for that entire fiasco.