It can be no accident that economists are so highly valued in Bangladesh. The Chairmen of Transparency International, Bangladesh and the Centre for Policy Dialogue are highly respected economists. They serve as exemplars of the economic doctrine of maximizing personal income, the nation be hanged. Nearly half the people live below the poverty line, and have little chance of augmenting their income -- and with the rising price of rice, the poverty level is bound to increase. That makes the achievements of Vietnam and China all the more irrational. Their rulers actually work for the people's welfare. They don't scurry off to attend seminars in New York to gain prestige; they don't kowtow to Caesar. They don't genuflect before Geeta Pasi or the current US ambassador to Bangladesh, Dan W. Mozena. An elite should learn to sell the national interest to the highest bidder, to make sure that their children can live in Europe when the nation collapses. And what if women are going to be raped by the student armies of the political parties? So long as it's not my sister, why should I care?
Not to love thy neighbour -- that's rational. Only the doofus loves his neighbour as himself. In Bangladesh, we're not doofuses.
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