The whole point I was trying to make was, rather than learn from our own history and experience, the leaders chose to keep doing the same things the British did.
I look at Pre Independence India as a bunch of decentralised organizations/kingdoms/markets which were producing goods and maybe services that were sought after all over the globe. This is what made mercantilism and later colonialism attractive in the first place.
Then the British established controls which promptly destroyed Indian advantages in favor of their own.
These are the lessons which the post Independence governments should have carried forward. Gandhi understood these at a very deep level, and hence the satyagrahas. And the village economy model, which though unworkable, emphasized the central principle of decentralization. This understanding makes him stand out.
Whereas though Nehru has to be applauded for his efforts as prime minister, time has shown that he and his family never had the deep understanding about economics and history that Gandhi did.
I look at Pre Independence India as a bunch of decentralised organizations/kingdoms/markets which were producing goods and maybe services that were sought after all over the globe. This is what made mercantilism and later colonialism attractive in the first place.
Then the British established controls which promptly destroyed Indian advantages in favor of their own.
These are the lessons which the post Independence governments should have carried forward. Gandhi understood these at a very deep level, and hence the satyagrahas. And the village economy model, which though unworkable, emphasized the central principle of decentralization. This understanding makes him stand out.
Whereas though Nehru has to be applauded for his efforts as prime minister, time has shown that he and his family never had the deep understanding about economics and history that Gandhi did.