Posted on 02/25/2009 12:47:20 AM PST by voletti
Some of my neighbors are Indian, and through them, many of my friends. Several times I have been tasked to bring them into the Republican Party. Generally all goes well until some Jesus Freak starts lecturing them on how they are all going to hell and it is his personal mission to save them.Their religion is important to them and they are not going to hang around somewhere it is ridiculed.
Now, I just tell the Party to leave them alone.
Yeah, we have all those unemployed American doctors just begging to take care of patients.
Just tell your Christian friends that your Indian friends have promised to come back as Christians in the next life. Problem solved!
Our media influence must also be broadly felt. Are most Indian films done in English?
I think some of them are — I’m not a fan of Indian films. And I don’t see them getting traction with American audiences. Though isn’t the universal appeal of American films interesting?
Or, I could point out to the Indians that the Christians have come back this time as a horse’s patoot.
Great point. Dems nail them down two ways. One - all inclusive everything goes. Two - they ask to put up a sign, just an innocent sign for our incumbent (fill in blank).
They understand that kind of petty intimidation and favors/debts system as well.
Indians from India are intelligent, work hard, and are super achievers. They don’t commit much crime, they don’t chop their wives’ heads off, they don’t fly planes into buildings.
Therefore they will never be included among the victim groups.
>>Are most Indian films done in English?
Almost none are.
Hollywood has an audience amongst the urban middle class.
But Bollywood is mostly Hindi and then there are a dozen regional languages with their own littlewoods.
I don't know if our better movies are that popular, though? Since movie production is such a luxury, I wonder if we just have a situation like post WW2 in which there just is not enough competition?
Thanks. Is English the language taught in schools?
It’s quite simple really. These people were the socio-economic elite of a highly ossified society where they were at the top. Their natural affiliation would be conservatism. However, coming to America they no longer are, and have embraced the Democratic model of liberalism which is more tolerant towards migration particularly from people of color. Which is why they have no problem keeping the poor and downtrodden “back home” poor and downtrodden while demanding “equal rights” in the U.S.
>>Is English the language taught in schools?
English is the de facto language of business, of government and of all higher education. A legacy the Brits left behind, inadvertantly perhaps.
There’re almost 150-200 million English speakers in India (*All* of them multilingual). English is now just another Indian language, their prime minister once joked. But it is not, really. It is the passport to a better life.
You can see English coaching and teaching centers, English medium schools etc bloom everywhere these days - even in small towns and large villages.
I believe that there are four main castes, the Priests, the Warriors, the merchants, and the farmers, followed by the untouchables. The priests and the warriors (political leaders) have a smaller tendency to migrate, IMHO, so the merchants are the highest castes to move here.
The thing is that it’s now quite feasible to up and move half-way around the world. The world IS shrinking
If you take out the action/sex, then you’re still left with movies that portray a hero, a core optimism, the underdog winning, and a general worldview that says “life is fair.”
Of course, there are exceptions, but look at the biggest grossing movies, like Die Hard, Men in Black, etc.
Makes sense given honor/power issues. The Patels are farming caste though, no? Or are they also a merchant caste in India?
I had thought the story was that villages pooled their funds and sent their best here to make it. Is that a myth?
>>However, coming to America they no longer are, and have embraced the Democratic model of liberalism which is more tolerant towards migration particularly from people of color.
Certainly, the impression from the outside is that the Republicans are a WASP party whereas the Dems never fail to put up colorful faces in key, often decorative roles.
>>Which is why they have no problem keeping the poor and downtrodden “back home” poor and downtrodden while demanding “equal rights” in the U.S.
Sounds a tad condescending.
The vast majority of the yindu Indians who land here support the nationalist BJP party back home - which is conservative to the core (in a good way) - open markets, property rights, individual liberties, strong military, promotion of culture and traditions, and (surprise surprise) *against caste discrimination* of both the negative-social and affirmative-govt model.
Besides, their economic reforms started 1991 after languishing in socialism for 40 yrs prior to that. They’re growing now and gradually tackling poverty now. I would wish them well and not grudge them their few successes.
It’s been shrinking since the telegraph, but nobody seemed to notice.
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