We need a narrative to aspire to.

Every human being creates a narrative about himself or herself which guides the way they behave, writes a professor form Harvard. Similarly politicians create narratives about their nations which are not based on facts but which guide their policies. Thus, President Obama creates a narrative which portrays the US as a country of values, marching bravely towards freedom and equality, from banishing slavery to equal rights for women and minorities. That probably clears his conscience for the thousands of civilians, including children, killed by indiscriminate drone strikes. Similarly liberals and socialists have constructed a narrative in India in which poverty is good, any progress is bad, terrorist attacks from Pakistan are unfortunate but any retaliation is Hindu nationalism, to be condemned in the strongest language, and cars in Europe are a fantastic sign of wealth but cars are causing pollution in Delhi. Never mind that there are over 600 cars per 1000 people in parts of Europe, 439 in the US, while there are only around 18 cars per 1000 people in India. And farmers burning stubble in Punjab are a very big cause of pollution. A census conducted in 2011 showed that 1 in 5 Indians walk to work, 11.4% travel in buses, 12.7% travel to work on two-wheelers and only 2.7% use cars. Delhi has the highest number of car users at 10.79%, followed by Chennai at 6.14%. Dismal, shameful figures which show how poor the country really is. Yet the automobile industry contributes 7% to the Indian GDP and employs 19 million people. In 2013 it contributed 22% to manufacturing GDP and 18% to government excise duties. It is one of the few manufacturing industries with products that can compete with China. 93% of Indian workforce are in the unorganised sector which include such professions as landless laborers, bonded laborers, fishermen and construction workers. The full list is too depressing. But even in the so called organised sector around 46% of labor are contract workers which means that they are employed for short periods, as per demand, and do not get the same benefits as those employed by the industry itself. In 2012 a manager was burnt to death by such workers at a car plant in Haryana. Surely then, liberals should be rejoicing at the 48%  increase in Foreign Direct Investment in India. The Congress, which has kept Indians bound in the shackles of poverty and allowed Pakistan to snatch victory from every defeat, has criticised FDI in defence. Why? Apparently because there has been no national consensus. Shameless liars. They have not allowed the Rajya Sabha to function so how can there be any consensus without discussion? The narrative created by politicians in India is one of abject poverty, defence paralysis and grovelling to the west. Wonder why?