> What do you think of India's future
> prospects?

In a nutshell... not very good.

While potential can be seen if it is focused on... there is too much "stuff" dragging them back. Stuff which would not exist if it weren't for the "do gooders" and "greed mongers".

To get ahead... in any area... first thing is to STOP going backward. (First thing to do to get yourself out of a financial hole is to stop digging. Trying to climb faster while you continue to dig won't work.)

The first thing to do to stop children dieing because of lack of food is to stop having children! NOT giving them medicine to keep them alive. (Some thirty years ago India's population was large around 300 million, it is now over one billion - on the same small amount of land.)

To help the people become more independent you must first stop providing everything for them. With truck loads of food always available, why should the farmers farm?

With such a large population and the huge demand for food, vast areas of forest are cut down all the time for use as fuel. This "clearing" has, in fact, created a shortage of wood fuel. Cattle dung is burnt instead. But that dung used to be left to help re-fertilize the soil. But now that it is burnt, the soil becomes less fertile, which means lower yield. More land is thus needed to get the same volume of food. In comes the slash and burn clearing. Round and round it goes.

Instead of giving them fertilizer for their nutrient-leeched soil - which does not really solve the tree burning process - provide an electricity system with appropriate cooking devices.

But first stop giving the huge volumes of food. It removes their will to be self supported. And to combat the growing population, stop having kids.

It never ceases to amaze me how after all these years of giving food to those without food - Aid For Africa, etc. - every time you see new footage, you see children!? What kind of parent has a child knowing there is NO FOOD to feed it!?

How else can we Hurt India...

Allow the class structure to continue on as it does. This gives "control" to those often least able to handle it. A "brain" of a lower class person might be able to run business much better than the "business class" person who has become entrenched and lost business management skills because their position has been protected, and they haven't had to adapt as they otherwise would have to do under a more capitalist equality system.

Let leaders inexperienced in handling large sums of money etc., rule the country. All third world countries suffer from the same fate... as they enter the world of the West and money starts flowing into their country due to investment, etc., they "enjoy" the money because they have never learnt to deal with so much. They are like the lotto winner - spend spend spend and then it is all gone.

Solution is to introduce money management skills first.

We can let them owe us for everything - buy now pay later. This "credit" is the same thing which gets loads of Westerners into trouble. The debt load is BIG. Too big to handle even when given according to set 30% of gross income formula guidelines. Slow and steady... operating from and within your own means... creates a strong entity (person, family, country). Too much debt creates a situation where the money can never be paid back in full - always chasing the tail.

The Motley Fools and every other investment information of worth recommends to be free of personal debt BEFORE attempting to grow. And to grow only within a Positive Cash Flow situation.

Same rules apply to third world countries trying to emerge.

Sure the road is longer - BUT - it does not create the vast array of problems you now see. Problems which will only get worse. Bandaid solutions do not stop the bleeding.

How else can we hurt India...

Agree to pay Slave Wages. You would NOT ever let a person in your country work for $1 a day, and yet this is precisely what happens when buying products from India.

Granted, the $1 per day in India might have the same buying power as $100 a day in your western country. But that's not the point. You are knowingly taking advantage of a situation to turn a buck.

If the correct pay for a certain job in your country is $100, and you want to save a few bucks, pay the Indian person $50. You save and they get rich. Their increase in wealth will spread throughout the economy as it is spent and the whole country will benefit.

How else can we hurt India?

Every answer you give will reveal a practice that exists right now. And now that you see how to Hurt India, the best way to Help India live up to its potential becomes clear.

Unless we stop hurting India, their prospects do not look good at all.

Michael Ross