Thread by @harMaal10

Halfway in this interview with a Chinese oligarch @mehdirhasan questions the incessant Chinese defence spending comparing it with the defence spend of India , the former being multiple times the latter. #Agniveer

“ They wish they had the money to spend”,retorts the Chinese with some chuckles from audience in the hall . His searing response kinda embarrasses me and I begin to think when exactly did this shift in attitude where a Chinese could mock us or show us down on valid facts happen?

I realised , in my mind , I am still living in early 2010’s when there would be frequent editorials and debates in newspapers whether it will be the Indian tiger or Chinese dragon that will ultimately win the race of economy in next 10-20-30 years.

“Democracy will prove to be our strong point in the long run”, was the point Tharrors and Menons made even though China was the right answer based on facts .
Chinese economy has scaled up by leaps and bounds since then and our economy has just gone south in manners such …

They can mock the state of our economy like this publicly . Which reminds me , as a teenager I would do the same and ridicule Pakistani economy in the rabbit hole called YouTube comments.

You could see this worked beautifully as they would resort to ad hominems like ‘Cow Piss Drinkers’ etc rather than address the point (which was the whole point of my actions btw) .

My larger point is : You can’t escape your economic climate as a country . Govts might not shout the economy is doomed from rooftops , because of the do it that raises fingers on them , but it will show in their actions.

Also a simple but mind blowing fact from @amitvarma’s podcast wid @karthik_econ (when after the calamity we endured during Covid wave we all wondered why can’t our medical infra be the best) - Govts spending capacity = Total of spending capacity of its populace .

So if your Doodhwala is cutting on his expenses and has to increase prices or your Aunt’s boutique now hires 1 attendant instead of 2, that’s an as good sign as any of similar tough actions to follow from the govt.
#AgnipathScheme #Agniveer

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