The future as India?

The future as India?

I had the same reaction as Kevin Drum to this story, In India, Dynamism Wrestles With Dysfunction. Drum says:

Basically, Gurgaon has turned into something from a dystopian science fiction novel: an archipelago of self-contained corporate mini-cities that provide their own power, water, sewage, transit, postal service, schools, medical care, and security force. Meanwhile, everything in between is no man’s land. And growth has been spectacular.

I my pessimistic moments I wonder if the world will transform into what India seems to be becoming. Yes, developed societies have created relatively homogeneous pockets of middle class baselines, but we’re in the age of migration today. It seems possible that at some point cosmopolitan elites will simply force free labor movements as the new norm, resulting in massive spikes in inequality as the world reequilibrates, with labor moving where there’s demand.

It’ll be nice if my pessimism is totally unfounded. I think it might be. But if the cyberpunk future comes into being hopefully I’ll be well connected enough that my offspring can find a place in a safe private community.

Razib Khan