India is not a developing country but a re-developing country. A developing country implies that the country has never been developed before and is attempting to be a developed country for the first time in its history.
India and China have had a thriving civilisation for thousands of years and their economy constituted more than 50% of the world’s economy. According to a study by Angus Maddison on the economic history of the world.
India was the world’s largest economy from 1 to 1500 AD and in 1700 AD. The last few decades have witnessed China reclaiming its place in the global economy while India is slowly catching up and we will probably see both these countries replicate their position from centuries ago.
The concept of a country or a nation is a very rigid definition and of recent origin. There were thriving civilisations across the world that were restricted by geography i.e, nature-made boundaries and not man-made ones. From the Mayan, Incas, and Aztecs that built great civilizations in Mexico and Central and South America, natives of Australia and the United States of America, along with the various tribes in African countries. They relied completely on nature and belonged to resource-rich geography, which met all their needs.
The Aztecs were an advanced civilisation with advanced techniques and technologies, one of which was a technique to create earthquake-resistant structures.
The developed countries of today were built at the expense of the developed countries of then and are partly if not fully responsible for keeping them poor. We should let bygones be bygones and need to get out of the zero-sum mentality of growing at the expense of others as the world has many opportunities for everyone to be prosperous.
However, no country wants the kind of prosperity where everyone is rich or well-off but lacks happiness and struggles to find the will to live.
The suicide rate is the highest in Europe: UN health agency report
There is no model of prosperity in modern times but most people consider the American way of living as the benchmark for a prosperous lifestyle. However, an American lifestyle for the entire world would be a disaster as it the most unsustainable way of living and our planet is not meant to handle that kind of excesses. Most of their population is unfit and wastage has become a part of their life. The family structure has been destroyed to create an individualistic society where everything is contract-driven and no relationships at all (even marriage requires one).
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Re-developing countries cannot superimpose the lifestyle of the west and import their economic ideas as their culture, climate, and conditions are vastly different and such way of life is not only unsuitable and at odds with nature thus, unsustainable.
The US has a much lower population density but consumes many times more than a high population density country. For example, Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day – that’s roughly 200 billion more than needed.
The entire developing block — which includes South American, African and Asian countries – that constitutes about 80% of the world’s population – just requires its people to maintain a basic standard living that is necessary to live a fruitful and satisfying life, which includes
Housing with basic amenities such as water, electricity and communication, nutritious food, access to education and healthcare, and most importantly, freedom for entrepreneurship and freedom to choose their way of spirituality
This ensures prosperity and happiness for any population in addition to the long-term sustainability of the planet. The key to achieving rapid development and provide a basic standard of living, away from the darkness and ruins of poverty is INNOVATION.
Innovation is a positive-sum game, which guarantees a win-win situation for all nations.
Innovation can provide us an opportunity to leapfrog in areas where we lack severely. Focusing on disruptive and low-cost–high impact technologies such as digital technologies, blockchain, mobile phones, and drones, can bring about transformative changes in re-developing countries. Infrastructure is a major constraint for all re-developing countries thus, innovation for low-cost infrastructure projects such as pre-built structures that just have to be assembled, and 3D-printing of bridges and solar-powered 2-wheelers are areas worth exploring and investing in.
Economies of re-developing countries need a few sectors to perform exceptionally well to achieve high-growth rates and bring money into the economy that will also unleash the entrepreneurial energy of its population.
Countries like India can leverage their long and unique history to expand and scale up their tourism sector while Africa can deploy its uniqueness and distinct style, that is beautifully woven into the wild, to become a hub for global fashion as sustainability becomes the prime focus of not only the fashion world but the entire world.
It’s time to take control of our future and narrative.
References: 1. Economic History of the World by Angus Maddison (Link)
First published on Medium.
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