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From the Publisher’s Desk
We Started it, who will Finish?
by Dr. Dev Anuroop Brar, MD
In 1600 A.D., Lord Clive stepped on Indian soil as a representative of the East India Company—a trading company in the guise of a government agency with a political agenda to invade and occupy India, diplomatically as well as with force if necessary. It was around the same time that the British started making inroads into America. The policy was the same—diplomacy but force whenever necessary.
What set America apart from India at that time and eventually from the rest of the world forever was the attitude of its people, their grit, patriotism, sacrifices, and thinking beyond their own selfish needs. Meanwhile in India, greedy kings and emperors were falling for British bait, and were lured into secession through baseless, short term, and empty promises. India lacked the foresight and willingness to sacrifice that Americans possessed, which led them to become occupied by the British Empire. On the other hand, America became a free country in 1776 and is the one and only country to come out of the vicious grip of colonial British rule by defeating the mighty empire on the battlefield—an unbelievable feat that no one has achieved until today.
It was not until 171 years later and after many sacrifices by millions of Indians, that India regained its independence—August 15, 1947. It will be only 51 years this year, whereas America celebrated 232 years of Independence in July 2008.
The reason that India remained in slavery to the British for an additional 181 years was that its leaders and citizens lacked the character that the Americans possessed. The delay cost India many more decades of being under-developed, poor, and backward. Fortunately, in the mid 19th century India began to develop the character of Americans through the efforts of India’s freedom fighters who instilled the spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice in the Indians by using the American freedom fighters as role models.
Now, in the 21st Century, we are seeing a major shift. We see the mighty United States deteriorating because of the selfishness of political leaders as well as a number of its citizens. The short- sightedness of many Americans has led them to elect bad leaders and to think just for today instead of the future; and most importantly complacency…believing that because we are America we will always be the richest country in the world. The middle class is what made America the richest country in the world, but the shortsightedness and protectionism of our national and international policies is eroding the very backbone of the American economy, which is a death knell for any power. A sentence from a recent movie says it all, “In the richest country of the world more and more people cannot afford to live.”
On the other hand, because of the hard working people who are focused and ready to sacrifice…as well as having an education system that is unmatched in the world, India is slowly climbing to the top as not only the largest democracy in the world (since 1947), but also as the strongest free economic power in the world.
Even though the country still has a long way to go, the Indians are making their way to the top in the same way that Americans did 200 years ago. We as Americans started it, but who will finish...on the top? I believe Americans are and should be the best. Moreover, we have what it takes to be the best! We need only to follow our fore fathers’ example.
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