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Futile pursuit

“The Chinese Answer to the West” (TSI, August 8-14) accurately depicts the impressive might of the emerging superpower. But before lauding China and, to a lesser extent, India, for their considerable economic growth, we should ask ourselves why do we so eagerly chase targets set by the West. Are we blindly jumping on the growth train just because everyone else is? Will these tracks lead us off a cliff and into the abyss of environmental destruction? Like the American financial crisis, will we derail ourselves by getting greedy and going too fast? China and India are regarded as wise, ancient civilisations. We ought to reflect on ourselves, both individually and as nations, to realise our inherent greatness. We need to appreciate what we already have before chasing other goals.
Kiva Bottero
Leh, Ladakh

Follow suit

Sir, your Independence Day Special Issue (Aug 15- 21) made our week. The unsung heroes you brought out through TSI’s pages were really praiseworthy. Kerala’s Fidel Story reveals much about an environmentalist and his one-man army. Though Kerala is famous for its lush green surroundings, much needs to be done to protect its environment. Prof. Sobhindran Mash is doing yeoman's service even though he is above 60 years of age. We need to preserve our earth’s resources more than ever before, as our very existence depends on them. We specially need to save our trees. We need to create awareness among people about the importance of preserving nature. Every state government should take note of this and make all out efforts in order to save our earth from  the menace of global warming.
Philip Verghese ‘Ariel’
Secunderabad

Time to rethink

The article ‘US Debt Ceiling: Prolonging a crisis’ by Amir Moin (TSI, August 8-14) illustrates to what extent political brinkmanship can go. An eleventh-hour deal reached between the Democrats and the Republicans to raise the borrowing limit from current $14.34 trillion by $2.4 trillion, and to cut spending by an equivalent amount warded off an imminent default risk. This deal cleared a month long political deadlock which had dented America's stature as the world's capitalist superpower. If the borrowing limit was not raised, the country would have run out of money to pay interest and principal on treasury bonds as well as for other expenses such as social security and medicare benefits. With the US government planning to cut spending, its economy is likely to grow at an even slower pace. Possible cuts could force more layoffs both in the public as well as private sector, taking the 9.2 per cent unemployment rate higher. The US needs to take some hard steps to put the financial system back on track. After all it is the global economy that is hanging in the balance.
Uma Sarkar
Kolkata