Lands of Catastrophe: The Case of India and Pakistan

Jayant Bhandari ...For imperialist rulers, it is the land — not people — that matters. ...Millions suffer every year in the subcontinent from a cycle of horrible floods and water shortages. Millions die of easily and cheaply treatable diseases. Hundreds of thousands die like flies — and nature gets the blame. ...Facts will continue to come to light..is really the result of human arrogance and stupidity...To "make the nation strong," the state of India controlled the cement industry. ...Cement houses were far less insulated and, in a final irony, they needed more wood for heating. So much for saving the trees...While the "environmentalists" and the state destroyed the natural order, the void in the construction industry was filled by corrupt bureaucrats...Kashmir is one of the world's most militarized zones...To enable them to prepare for war, Pakistan and India spend 3.9% and 2.5% of their GDPs respectively...The total deployed troops are a million strong. Lessons: ...the people in these countries should have learned long ago is that when the crisis strikes, the state disappears...human stupidity has no limits...the media will romanticize whatever they can...Millions will continue to die, suffer, and live in utter misery, and the people of these countries will keep electing the same rulers. The culprits and the victims are the same; they only change positions. ...Leftists in the West will keep blaming globalization and the free market for all these problems. http://www.mises.org/story/1951