I'm not on PEN-L -- can barely keep up with LBO-Talk -- and would appreciate if you sent me the stuff you posted. TIA.
I did go back to your original post. So Sainath is CPM. I'm not up on the arcane politics of the Indian left and it would be strange indeed for anyone to defend China as socialist -- although it's got to be said that the CCP is doing a pretty masterful job of managing China's transition to capitalism (with the NYT doing a pretty masterful job of showing up the massive inequalities and suffering, going by the series last year).
But really, that's neither here nor there with regards to Indian farmers' suicides and the effects of policies on them.
So, it's largely restricted to parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Marashtra -- which between them have about, what, 20% of India's population? That kind of response -- I'm sorry -- is like saying, hey, small farm distress in the US is limited to parts of a few states which together probably have even less of the US population, or someone pointing out that 'small farm' in the US is large by, say, E Asian standards.
Anyway, which parts? The rural? -- sorry!
That it should include Maharastra is perhaps even more distressing. That has Mumbai as its capital and has the highest PCI of all states, no? And if it doesn't include Bihar, with the lowest PCI, but apparently with higher wage rates for day-labourers than Andhra Pradesh, that would be even more distressing.
Was it, or was it not the case that Andhra Pradesh under Naidu was feted? Is it or is it not that the case that some 80% of AP's population are small/marginal farmers and landless labourers, and were they wrong to throw out Naidu -- even if the new government may not have done much?
Are the claims about the way suicides are counted or not counted accurate?
Are the suicides worthy of coverage, and are they or are they not related to the policies pursued? Or should we just dismiss them as part of the price for reform and capitalist growth -- a small price to pay in comparison with the stagnation (was it stagnating, problems aside?) of "socialist" India?
Finally, since you dismiss suicides -- and it is dismissive -- by saying they are restricted to parts of states, can you tell us what's been happening in Punjab or Haryana? Not only with regards to suicides -- they are only the most dramatic manifestations -- but with regard to distress.
kj