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Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
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3 Dec, 5 tweets, 2 min read
I was in Rome a few years ago visiting a friend and I would often stop at this cafe near his place to grab a coffee before I'd embark on touristy things. One day the barista asked me where in America I was from.
I told her I was from Phoenix (not really true, but that's where my parents are), and she asked if we could switch places because she was bored of Rome. That was the day I went to the ara pacis and the villa borghese, both amazing.
I couldn't get her words out of my head. Why the hell would anyone want to trade the beauty, food, and history of Rome for endless suburbs and 120 degree summers? This was pre-Trump, so I don't know if it's still the case, but a good reminder that despite all of its flaws,
America still offers the promise of adventure and escape from stagnation for the world. Anyways, thought of this because I was listening to @MacaesBruno's interview with @tylercowen. Worth listening to. Also glad to hear that he's familiar with Naipaul's India trilogy
open.spotify.com/episode/4BZMBF…

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More from @vjgtweets

Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
4 Dec
Interesting piece on the geography of farmer suicides in India. Looks like Punjab and Mizoram are the two states where farmer suicides in 2018 surpassed the overall suicide rate. What's driving this?

livemint.com/news/india/the…
"In the analysis of farmer suicides between 1997 and 2012, the researchers argue that farmer suicides are a result of three broad factors, including existing vulnerability in a region, agrarian crisis, and lack of alternative opportunities."
Looks like farmer suicides in Punjab are concentrated in the Malwa region, where land is primarily is leased by "small and marginal farmers" (i.e. holdings of 1-5 acres)

indianexpress.com/article/explai…
Read 14 tweets
Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
3 Dec
This is a super interesting conversation, between @srajagopalan and @adam_m_auerbach about slum politics in India
"Interestingly, statistically speaking, in terms of an association, I find a positive association between ethnic diversity and public-goods provision. I think the mechanism through which this happens is that ethnic diversity tends to fragment leadership,
particularly in the beginning stages of a settlement. There are simply more nodes of informal authority with which parties can then extend positions. It intensifies this competition among the slum leaders themselves."
Read 5 tweets
Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
11 Nov
If you've been following the India reportage in western media over the past year, you would expect the BJP to be in a vulnerable position following the "nation-wide, grassroots" protests against the "fascist" CAA, alleged mismanagement of pandemic, etc

livemint.com/elections/asse…
But assembly elections in Bihar (pop ~100m, and home to the bulk of migrant workers) just wrapped and the verdict was clear: The BJP/Modi are as popular as ever. A timely reminder that self-proclaimed "South Asia" experts are selling you a mental model of a country and a people.
And like any other model, you can test it against the available data to see if it fits. Spoiler alert: it does not. So as you see the divergence between the model and data grow, you are left with two choices:
Read 6 tweets
Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
9 Nov
One of the interesting things about the America-India relationship is witnessing the intersection of two peculiar national pathologies of "exceptionalism." American exceptionalism is messianic, which simultaneously endows it with a brazen confidence and a
relentless outward gaze to whatever is next. The default assumption is that America's founding represents a fundamental break with the past, and therefore the laws of history don't apply to us. OTOH, Indian exceptionalism is inward looking and obsessed with the past.
Indians are convinced that the world revolves around them, and as a result every global event is interpreted through a provincial lens. Each has its pros and cons: America moves fast and breaks things, which gives its people immense creative energy,
Read 6 tweets
Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
1 Nov
Just watched Shithouse. Great movie. Revisiting freshman year music.
Read 5 tweets
Vishal Ganesan Profile picture
1 Nov
An excellent point by @esaagar. Opposing hindutva is one thing, but treating it as a lunatic fringe is simply inaccurate, and a rhetorical ploy often used to justify reductive, bigoted attacks against hindus, under the guise of opposing "hindutva, not hinduism"
When you claim that BJP supporters are all fascists/extremists, you're not referring (as you might imagine) to a small cabal of elite conspirators, but ~300m Indians-- many of whom are poor and "low" caste-- who support the BJP and subscribe to its ideology.
That's almost the entire population of America! Now, if you think that they're _all_ irredeemable fascists, then please just say so. Alternatively, consider the fact that maybe your understanding of an emergent political phenomenon in another country whose ascendance is
Read 13 tweets

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