PH In India

[Tracy Johnson]

The source is one of the best law blogs in the country with a perfect quotation 
too.  I had good basis for that joke.  Criticism is easy, comedy is hard.

brian_matthewsbrian matthews wrote:
> I think someone needs to go see a few more Michael Moore films, or even 
> read some of his books, at least before criticising India; most of the 
> victoms of the Indian caste system believe it will be a thing of the 
> past withoin a generation or two - how many years before the USA and/or 
> South Africa get on board I wonder ?
> 
> regards Bri,
> 
> 
> 
>> From: "Johnson, Tracy" <Tracy.Johnson at meas-spec.com>
>> To: <powerh-l at lists.sowder.com>
>> Subject: PH In India
>> Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 09:26:01 -0400
>>
>> Back to the discussion earlier this week ...
>>
>> Perhaps one needs to be in the right caste to be a PH programmer in
>> India?
>>
>> Tracy Johnson
>> Measurement Specialties, Inc.
>>
>> BT
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> NNNN
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>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: volokh-bounces at lists.powerblogs.com
>> [mailto:volokh-bounces at lists.powerblogs.com] On Behalf Of
>> notify at powerblogs.com
>> Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 8:04 PM
>> To: volokh at lists.powerblogs.com
>> Subject: [Volokh] David Bernstein: Affirmative Action in India:
>>
>>
>> Posted by David Bernstein:
>> Affirmative Action in India:
>> http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_06_03-2007_06_09.shtml#118126102
>> 7
>>
>>
>>    [1]Taipei Times:
>>
>>      Enraged mobs from one of India's myriad lower castes blocked roads
>>      with fiery barricades, stoned police and battled rival castes
>>      across a wide swath of northern India for a week to make a single,
>>      simple point: They want to be even lower.
>>
>>      With 25 people dead, the unrest spread to the fringes of the
>>      capital before the Gujjars  a class of farmers and shepherds
>>      called off their protests.
>>
>>      They did so only after officials agreed to consider their demand to
>>      be officially shunted to the lowest rung of India's complex
>>      hereditary caste system, so they can get government jobs and
>>      university spots reserved for such groups....
>>
>>      Discrimination under the system was outlawed soon after
>>      independence from Britain in 1947, but its influence remains
>>      powerful and the government has sought to redress discrimination
>>      against those on the lower rungs by setting up quotas for
>>      government jobs and university spots.
>>
>>      But instead of weakening caste affiliations, the result has been a
>>      fracturing of politics along caste lines, with each of the lower
>>      groups vying for its share of the quotas....
>>
>>      "Nowhere in the world do castes queue up to be branded as
>>      backward," [the Indian Supreme Court] said. "Nowhere in the world
>>      is there a competition to become backward."
>>
>>    Affirmative action has its good points and bad points, but I think
>>    it's undeniable that when government distributes benefits based on
>>    particular characteristics, lots of people will want to be identified
>>    as having those characteristics, there will be lobbying to ensure
>> that
>>    the relevant characteristics become legally immutable at a minimum
>> ,or
>>    broadened, and people will organize and lobby around their common
>>    claim to the relevant characteristic. This all makes it a lot less
>>    likely that the relevant societal distinctions that led to the need
>>    for the affirmative action policies to begin with will wither away.
>>
>>    Query: If the Irish, Scandinavians, and Italians in the United
>>    States--all groups that were once suffered a great deal of
>>    discrimination and were relatively disadvantaged compared to the
>>    Anglo-Saxon/German majority (plurality?)--had been offered government
>>    benefits based on their ancestry one hundred years ago, would these
>>    groups be as integrated into American life as they are today? If not,
>>    than this is a cost to such policies that must be weighed against the
>>    benefits.
>>
>>    Thanks to my colleague Lloyd Cohen for the pointer.
>>
>> References
>>
>>    1.
>> http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/06/06/2003364132
>>
> 
> 
>> << ATT42518.txt >>
> 


-- 
BT

Tracy Johnson
Justin Thyme Productions
Ye olde free telnet games at:
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