Two things drew me to this book. First, the co-author, Amartya Sen, winner of
the Nobel Prize in economics, whose work goes far beyond mere economics into
history, political theory, and a good deal about his native India. He’s
co-authored works with Jean Dreze before. (And, he's the keynote speaker at the Jaipur Literature Festival this year!) But even if the authors hadn’t
captured my attention, the sub-title would have: “India and Its Contradictions”.
Sometimes a subtitle tells us more than the title, and this is such a case. As
an extended visitor here in India, nothing has impressed me so much as its
immense contradictions.
When talking with friends and family back in the U.S. about India, I
usually preface my remarks by saying that within sight of any trait that I
identify is a counter-example. Extreme poverty, opulent wealth; beautiful
buildings, collapsing buildings; bright capable individuals, ignorant masses
(ignorant as in unschooled)—I could go on, but you get the idea. In all, India
holds huge but largely unrealized potential. Compared to its neighbor China,
which I visited this fall, India lags far, far behind. Why?
Both India and China entered the post-World War II era with similar states
of deprivation. China, of course, went through hells of famine, The Great Leap
Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. India, a democracy since its birth, did not
suffer such calamities. Yet today, China has entered the modern economic world
at rocket speed while India remains at a plodding pace similar to the speeds of
the animal carts one still encounters on the roads. Did India make a mistake
opting for democracy?
Sen and Dreze address these questions and others. They note the impressive
rates of growth of the Indian economy in the last decade and more (now
significantly slowed). Despite these growth rates and other markers of success,
India lags behind many of its peers in the arenas of education, healthcare,
inequality, and other markers of social well-being. China, on the other hand,
performs much better in almost all of these areas. Indeed, Sen and Dreze note
that China’s lead in education and health came long before the market reforms
beginning in 1979 with Deng Xiaoping. Mao’s regime established basic standards.
Indeed, within India the authors find significant gaps between many of the
states, with Kerala (where we now live) and Tamil Nadu performing much higher
on many of the measures of performance. Both have competitive elections with Communists
and other left groups having held power.
Toward the end of the book Sen and Dreze address the need for political action
in India. Indeed, this book seems to bolster the contentions of Acemoglu and
Robinson in their book, Why Nations Fail:
The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. My one line summation of the
Why Nations Fail: it’s all about the
politics. Sen and Dreze seem to arrive at the same conclusion: a different
direction of the political body politic would have taken India in a better
direction, and it still can. Overcoming old mindsets, clientism, corruption,
caste and class loyalties, and so on, won’t be easy. But until India decides to
take a very different course, it will remain toward the back of the pack, all
of the new billionaires notwithstanding.
Anyone familiar with Indian politics might despair at this point. Both
Congress and BJP seem wedded to the status quo. However, there are rays of
hope. The Aad Adami (Common Man Party), running primarily on an anti-corruption
platform, ran very strongly in Delhi recently and has now formed the government
there. This may be the middle class political uprising that India needs. I’ve
contended that until a politically motivated middle class takes the helm of
politics, governance here—which remains poor—will continue to lag, and with it,
the whole nation. In addition, the outcry from women’s groups after the ghastly
rape and murder in Delhi last year suggest the political agenda may move away
from the status quo, client-driven politics that mark the current climate. Some
political leaders should be able to establish an agenda that provides the poor
with both protection and real opportunities, while providing the middle class
with a better quality of life. (The rich can take care of themselves.)
India should exist as a beacon of hope as the largest democratic nation in
the world, not as a laggard compared to its authoritarian, non-democratic
neighbor China. An Uncertain Glory should
serve as a bucket full of icy water in the face to wake-up Indian elites and
the middle class to their current plight. A successful government isn’t one
that will simply see a successful mission to Mars or focus on diplomatic
tit-for-tat, but one that strives to provide a billion plus people the
potential that can be theirs, one where disease, ignorance, and poverty aren’t
driving forces in their lives and where those who’ve made into the middle class
can enjoy a better quality of life.
