Dates and Debates

Yes - Happy Ramadan to one and all. I pray that everyone gets blessed with patience. Lots of it!

New Ramadan, new people, same debates. Calculation vs. Sighting, Local vs. global, 8 vs. 20 - you know what I mean…

IMHO - we have strong opinions on either side for the local versus global moon-sighting. Both have been ratified as genuinely correct, and yet we have all the time in our lives to debate the superiority of one over the other. I think the ego of the community leaders greatly overweighs the need of unity in the land. This is a simple agreement that can be decided upon at the city level, and we stick with it. Leaders should only implement it, focusing their energies on other debates.

Two extremely simple solutions stand out -

The-voting-solution: Come Muharram, all the muslims in the city cast their ballot whether they want a local or global sighting, and we accept the opinion of the masses. Breakaway splinter masjids - who don’t appreciate the unity of the land - in my opinion, don’t accept the ruling of unity in Islam and there is something wrong with them, that only some strange force can impart unto them. May the force be with the united mass.

Ding-dong-solution: Even=global, odd-numbered-year=local. Publish and accept. You happy this year, I happy next year, Islam always happy, unity always at the forefront.

Bind your self. Give your bayah. Pledge your allegiance. But don’t waste precious time explaining the superiority of your opinion.

Retaining a Developed World Status

I am trying to answer the question – what constitutes a third world country or the milder version “a developing economy”, and especially what led it into being a developing country. Specifically was India, at the turn of the 20^th century, a developed country or a developing country?

My understanding is that when the East India Company started trading, India was a developed country, where finished products were available for trade resulting in revenue and capital for further development (economic or military). However the industrial revolution in Europe far outpaced the production capacity of India, not matching the finesse of Indian artistes. On the whole it was cheap, people could afford more of what Europe produced and local industries got destroyed in the process. A little arm-twisting from the now British shareholders over the spineless manipulative rajas and maharajas, no doubt, helped in a wider adoption, and subsequent transformation of India as an excellent base of raw supplies. People were exploited for their raw supplies and squeezed to produce more, but was the economy of India still a powerhouse, if we add all the revenues created from the individual provinces etc? I believe it was a great economy but with unequal distribution and welfare. Considering that to be the case, I think that the fall from developed to developing, came about with independence, and the realization that India has lots of raw supplies but no useful method and process of materializing on this treasure. It took India a good 50 years to realize its potential, getting manufacturing knowledge established for profit, getting manufacturing infrastructure in place, and for knocking on some certification agency for a “developed  country” status.

India = USA 

East India Company/British = China 

20^th Century = 21^st Century 

Rajas/Maharajas = Senators/Congressmen

Independence -> dreadful wait

50 years for India = ?? years for USA 

Moral of the story – Manufacturing knowledge is paramount to success.