有大量证据证明,英国殖民政府和东印度公司的种族歧视和压迫是造成
The Great Bengal Famine (1770), Madras (1782–1783), Chalisa Famine (1783–1784) in Delhi and surrounding areas, Doji bara Famine (1791–1792) around Hyderabad, Agra Famine (1837–1838), Orissa Famine (1866), Bihar Famine (1873–1874), Southern India Famine (1876–1877), Bombay Famine (1905–1906) and the Bengal Famine (1943–1944).
的主因。
到今天,印度精英们,尽管做派和语言都像英国佬,提起饥荒都是对英国殖民时期忿忿不平耿耿于怀的。
为何印度挥之不去的饥荒,这个恐怖的顽疾,在她独立后戛然而止?答案很简单,民主政治。印裔诺贝尔经济奖得主阿马蒂亚·森,在他的《正义的理念》一书中是这么写的 -
“Though Indian democracy has many imperfections, nevertheless the political incentives generated by it have been adequate to eliminate major famines right from the time of independence. The last substantial famine in India — the Bengal famine — occurred only four years before the Empire ended. The prevalence of famines, which had been a persistent feature of the long history of the British Indian Empire, ended abruptly with the establishment of a democracy after independence”
这个以研究贫穷和粮食问题而著称的学者认为,二战后所有的饥荒都是人祸。
请注意,直到1943年英国殖民主义者还在印度干这些缺德事,1. 是针对被殖民地的底层大众的;2. 在战争时期;3. 在人类主流价值抛弃殖民主义之前。而我们小时候比爹娘还亲的那啥,是在和平和科技进步的年代,在知情和众人反对的情况下,悍然给本国人民制造了可能是史上最大的饥荒。
他咋在历史法官面前,有那么肥的胆呢?还不是因为中国人好欺负吗。
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
非常喜欢Bob Dylan写的歌,诺贝尔文学奖评委有眼光。