Friday, March 20, 2009

Dr. Shiva Again

Since I took one crack at Dr. Vendana Shiva, I might as well take another. This Post article today on the burgeoning middle class in rural India paints a different side of the picture than the poor, oppressed farmers committing suicide she has depicted in the past. An excerpt:

India's rural destiny still depends on good monsoon rains and robust agricultural production, but four years of bumper crops and heavy government investment in rural infrastructure have given birth to what some analysts call an emerging economy within India.

In the dusty market along a bumpy road in Yadav's village, 40 miles south of New Delhi, sales of microwave ovens, washing machines and 32-inch, flat-screen plasma televisions have risen in the past year. Branded-clothing stores called Rich Look and Charlie Outlaw have sprung up, looking to attract upwardly mobile farm youths.

I suspect the truth is in between--commercial, yes "industrial", farming with its chemical fertilizers produces winners and losers, Dr. Shiva sees only the losers, this article shows the winners.

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