-
Political correctness run amok?
Last weekend, my grandson DJ, came over to spend the afternoon. After a while he asked if I had any funny DVD of TV programs to watch. I told him I had the whole series of “All in the Family” on DVD but I did not think he would find it interesting since although it was a hugely successful program over 40 years ago, it would be a bit dated for a teenager. Surprisingly he seemed to enjoy it but more relevant to this posting was his shock at the things that were said routinely during the program especially by Archie Bunker that today would be deemed politically incorrect and…
-
A modern day “pogrom” – the expulsion of Indians from Uganda
It has been forty years since Idi Amin expelled all the Asians living in Uganda. Some of those who were expelled were born and brought up in Uganda – they were Ugandan citizens – and did not know have a sense of belonging to any other country. The trauma and upheaval experienced by these Asians are heart-wrenching in many cases but what is remarkable is the success that many have achieved in the countries that received them. What happened to the Indians in Uganda cannot accurately be described as a “pogrom” since that word connotes a massacre or organized violence against an ethnic group. This did not happen for the…
-
Physician heal thyself ……….and other observations
Gender selection with a marked preference for male children has been a major problem in India and some other countries. It has resulted in severely skewed male/female ratios in some parts of India with major repercussions as a shortage in the number of eligible young females has caused social unrest in these locations and the need to find eligible young women from other parts of India where the ratios are not as skewed. The graphic below shows the extent to which these ratios are skewed because of gender selection which occurs mainly through the abortion of female fetuses. It shows the worst offenders among states in India where the greatest…
-
“Frugality is in the Indian DNA”
The title of this posting was the headline of an article in an Indian publication. Indians have a reputation for being frugal or thrifty …. though some would describe them as being cheap. Perhaps some of the explanation is because of the absence of any social safety net in India which causes people to feel the need to save and invest money for the proverbial rainy day. I know my father was quite disapproving of my more profligate days when I was single and a lot younger when saving money was a low priority. He, on the other hand, graduated from college about the time of the Great Depression and…