Comparing India, China and Egypt

A A

New York Times : Feb 07 2013, 03:31 IST

The country that will thrive most is the one that most successfully converts its youth bulge into a demographic dividend
Thomas L. Friedman

It’s hard to escape a visit to India without someone asking you to compare it to China. This visit was no exception, but I think it’s more revealing to widen the aperture and compare India, China and Egypt. India has a weak Central government but a really strong civil society, bubbling with elections and associations at every level. China has a muscular central government but a weak civil society, yet one that is clearly straining to express itself more.

Egypt, alas, has a weak government and a very weak civil society, one that was suppressed for 50 years, denied real elections and, therefore, is easy prey to have its revolution diverted by the one group that could organise, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the one free space, the mosque. But there is one thing all three have in common: gigantic youth bulges under the age of 30, increasingly connected by technology but very unevenly educated.

My view: of these three, the one that will thrive the most in the 21st century will be the one that is most successful at converting its youth bulge into a “demographic dividend” that keeps paying off every decade, as opposed to a “demographic bomb” that keeps going off every decade. That will be the society that provides more of its youth with the education, jobs and voice they seek to realise their full potential.

This

... contd.

Ads by Google

Single Page Format

1 | 2 | 3 | Next

Return of the G2 Vishwaroopam, an American storyThe season for objections Freedom without a centre

Previous Story Big Mac prices show which euro zone states best at belt-tightening Next Story Letters to the editor

Reader's Comments (2)| Post a Comment

Comparing India, China and Egypt

Satish Kapoor | 07-Feb-2013Reply | Forward

Friedman has correctly assessed the situation. Unfortunately democracies are driving the governments to dole out freebies, rather than preparing their children to cope up with the advancements in Science and Technology. MNREGA, about which UPA is feeling proud, is designed to go back to previous century and replace more productive and mechanical means of production with inefficient ways, by artificially created manual jobs. Youth are mired to toil as manual labour. It is draining and frustrating the productive and precious human resource. Frustrating youth will be like diverting atomic energy from productive channels to bombs. The same finance and energy would be better used if we prepare our youth to develop knowledge and skills to handle modern equipment or adopt new avenues of professions and services which are popping up with the advancement of technology. Tourism, Hospitality, Sports, Entertainment, etc. are few examples.

Not a weak, It is passive government

kedar | 07-Feb-2013Reply | Forward

Thomas L. Friedman explained that India has a weak Central government, but i think not weak central govt. it is passive govt. and the writer talking about strong civil society, on his position i think so when we talking about corruption, violence against women that time so called civil society get active and strong, but when violence against dalit and tribes, farmer suicide,subaltern groups that time so called civil society not get active and not agitation, there is no social obligation can we call thus organisations are civil society.... ?