Uncle Sam too in queue for free lunch!!

Is it really a fact or we just perceive it that way. Was the USA always a superpower or it has just behaved like one, I mean here the attitude. Brand America is perceived as a very strong, individualistic and dominant economy. Such brand personality has helped Uncle Sam maintain a reverend authority (perceived or real) since decades.

We have always taken west as a benchmark in everything we do, commercial or non commercial, and consciously or subconsciously look for stamps of approvals of west, particularly USA even for our own accomplishments. We are decades past the colonial rule but the ‘white is superior’ mentality still prevails. But, now slowly the tables seem to be turning. The year 2008 saw a new version of USA. The Wall Street failed and became the fall street. Even the US Government’s enormous bail out package is not proving of much help; instead, it has won US a jocular title of being a new USSR: the United States Socialist Republic! So, watch out, all those fans of Ayan Rand (the self proclaimed salesperson of capitalism)! there is a clear proof that capitalism too is not perfect.
(NEHRU OF INDIA & LENIN OF USSR)

India adopted a socialistic model that was very heavily inspired by the USSR (now this big entity has broken down). Nehru was impressed so he cut-pasted the formula here too; it failed miserably. The corrupt government officials hampered the nation’s progress. Poor became poorer while the black money market thrived. Public sector became synonymous with bribery and corruption. Though Indira Gandhi did some things very effective, like self sufficiency in food production, looking from the marketing and consumerism point of view, the business and entrepreneurship had literally no scope in India. Sabir Bhatia, Laxmi Niwas Mittal, etc are few examples of how people became successful when they went out of India. License permit raj ruled the roost. A 5 years waiting for a phone, bribery at each step, etc were rampant. They remain even now but, if seen in juxtaposition, the once-upon-a-time humble Indian consumer now commands the market and makes the even the biggest MNCs dance to his tunes. These ‘magical’ powers have come because of the LPG- liberalization, privatization and globalization. Though I am not finding flaws in the socialism but my point is that it failed USSR and India as well.

(DR. MANMOHAN SINGH & PVN RAO)

At last, the sleepy Indian government woke up, played a gamble (we borrowed heavily from the World Bank) and luckily, won, courtesy the Narsimha Rao govt. in 1991. It was a push factor rather than a choice. So India ‘had’ to open her gates wide to the rest of the world. Thus the poor and humble Indian consumer was made aware of his magical powers and he got a choice like never before. India got a fast makeover, and faster in the later part of this decade. Thus, it can be concluded that socialism flopped but this does not means that capitalism is infallible!

The salesman for capitalism, USA saw its biggest nightmare come true. Though India struggled a lot to stand properly after independence (if we compare to Japan, then we have performed poorly) the reverend king USA has also not been an A grader. Most people do agree with socialistic model of the government but to say capitalistic model is right, I feel is not appropriate.

At last everyone seems to be turning to a mixed economy model, may be with minor modifications.