Why brown people need a developed world of their own
In a conversation between Donald Trump and Steve Bannon for Breitbart radio in 2015, both of them talk about the case of immigrants in the tech industry in USA, where Trump is seen to be
supporting South Asians staying in America so they can create jobs, but then Bannon seemed to disagree, stating that over two thirds of CEO’s in silicon valley were from South Asia(which seem to be more than he wants it to be) and he mumbles that a country is more than an economy but a civic society.
Donald Trump’s rise to power with Steve Bannon by his side has seen fear creeping into some non white populations in the United States, namely, hispanics, muslims, and indirectly H1B holding Indians.
I have read various articles on the internet and otherwise, on why Indians are good for the US economy. I have seen pieces arguing about the benefits of having people from Mexico and Central America coming into the States. It reminds me strangely of an Indian caste, the Nairs who used to live in giant wooden houses and estates called Tharavadus in the Southern Indian state of Kerala, and which usually had a “Karyasthan” or an atypical man friday. The Karyasthan used to be a middle aged man who maintained and managed most of the menial and daily affairs of the tharavadu. The head of the nair family had a love hate relationship with the karyasthan, so much so that when he feels the Karyasthan is gaining more control than he has, he would feel insecure and fire the karyasthan at times. The Karyasthan would disappear for a few days,
causing much havoc to the tharavadu and the pampered people in it who are dependent on his efficiency that he is usually called back to his former post.
Coming back to modern day politics, Indians, Mexicans, and the others very much look like the karyasthans of yore, who are indelible to the US economy, but are often misunderstood as a
threat to the majority. The H1b holders, Mexicans, and other immigrants may be requested to
stay on after America realizes why they were there in the first place. But this is not the crux of my piece.
I notice that most people who seem to be on the present government’s bucket list of over staying guests are brown in color. Brown people are usually hard working, intelligent, and creative in a western system. This need for South Asians, Mexicans, Central Americans, Indians, Middle Eastern people, who are churned to become karyasthans of the west, as the only modern alternative to a better life has to stop. Not from the western perspective, but from the indigenous one. The modern brown person’s burden is to convince themselves that he or she is good enough, good enough to form modern, efficient systems in his own country and move into the future, sans the west. The brown people need a renaissance in their own countries, a digital one preferably, and not seek out western spaces for a better life. Sure, an average Indian or a Mexican can never make as much money in India or Mexico, but they can work hard and make sure that their children or grand children grow in a very bright brown future. This is not nationalism or counter
-racism. The reality is that if one is to be a increasing minority where there is a homogenous racial or religious majority, there is a chance that one will encounter a Donald Trump or Steve Bannon, or Marine Le Pen, or his kids will, or the grandkids will.
THE NEED FOR DEVELOPED BROWN SPACES
The west was not created in one fell swoop. It is a product of nationalism, wars, colonialism, innovation, democracy and trade. And it took them at least two thousand years to get to where they are. The brown person may be in his or her comfort zone and find it easy to settle into western spaces by being highly skilled or performing tasks for lower rates. In the end, they are only creating systems that export talent, knowledge and people to the developed world. The point is to focus on the creation of thriving and burgeoning Indian, Latino, or Middle Eastern spaces in the planet where people who look beige or brown, are the beacon of hope as a variant of the human story, and where there are opportunities to grow not only as an individual, but as a
civilization. It is not going to be easy, battling old traditions, staunch religious practices, and mindsets but there are enough young people in these countries to make that change to the future.
TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL
A mastery of technology can help the brown world enter the new robotic age as equal partners in our planet,
and not in animosity with the west. The digital age will help as a great leveler, destroying class,
old professions, inequality, caste, and much of what plagues the developing world. Perhaps,
instead of crowding around certain countries and demanding multiculturalism, there should be more of an effort to make this a multicultural planet, where no culture is lesser than the other, and the need to migrate would diminish.