India is a hell-hole. Let’s invest there.

The pundits on the internets tell me that China is fucked. They see India as the Next Great Growth Engine. They cite major investment by Apple and others.

I am wary. I have my reasons. Let’s start with the Caste System, shall we?

Things have not changed very much for the poor slobs who are born into the lower castes. The poverty in the country is apalling, basic sanitation is nonexistent. Ancient hatreds between Muslims and Hindus fester. The Authorities appear completely ok with this and have shown a willingness to lie about things such as the prevalence of gang rape – there are many documented cases where gang rapes have been denied because the victims are from lower castes. The Untouchables are real.

Toilets are only for the upper castes, apparently. And the response of the Authorities, rather than upgrading infrastructure, is to foster an environment where antibiotics are prescribed for just about anything from the common cold to a small scratch on the arm. India is now one giant Petri dish of drug-resistant bacteria, threatening the entire planet as hospitals everywhere grapple with pathogens that laugh at penicillin, ciproflaxin and other drugs that have protected us from dying horrible deaths for the past century.

Now, every Indian, Bangladeshi, and others from the area that I have met here in the States and in the UK are wonderful people. Smart, hard-working and trustworthy folk. And they have that wonderful cuisine. I can only assume this is due to the fact that they have escaped hell and are very happy about it.

At the same time, as one who has spent my life in Information Technology, I have nothing but loathing for that overly-friendly yet clueless person on the other end of the phone who I am forced to deal with on a tech support call. I miss the olde days, when the person on the other end of the line could actually be understood and did not need to read from a prepared script in a lame attempt to fix my problem.

Call this a rant, I suppose. I just do not feel comfortable investing money with the threat of instability and social upheaval on the table.