India trained a post-colonial elite that is exceedingly skilled at talking about India's problems, but totally inept at fixing them. Unsurprisingly, it is a commonly held view among this class that even attempting to fix India's problems is futile without first ushering in a
nebulous social revolution, the nature of which is heavily contested.Whereas status games in "doer" cultures are driven by ingenuity in problem solving, status among this class is measured by an ability to formulate increasingly arcane-- but rhetorically attractive-- explanations
for why India is the way it is. Ironically, despite the faux radical posturing, this makes Indian intellectuals natural conservatives, since any actual progress renders their elaborate explanatory models obsolete. This is one reason why there is such a dramatic asymmetry b/w
the views of actual Indians and western reportage/received diaspora opinion; these explanatory models are more robust outside of India, where counter-evidence is not as readily available and people's knowledge base about the subject matter is generally less developed.
What's changing now is that more Indians are online and it is far easier to simply get information directly from the source. This has precipitated a moment of crisis among Indian intellectuals, who now either have to double down or come to the terms with the fact that they can
no longer concoct convenient fantasies for western consumption without any accountability. There are promising signs that certain writers see which the way the wind is blowing, and are updating their approach accordingly.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
