Why are people so suspicious of Big Business in the Western world ?

[aneeshm]

Well - why ? Why are mega-gigantic businesses looked to with so much suspicion and distrust in Europe and America ? I find it rather strange , considering the system we have .

Over here in India , the buggest businesses are run and owned by the great business families ( the Tatas , the Birlas , the Godrejs , the Ambanis , etc. ) of India . The business always stays within family hands . All top managerial posts are , as far as I know , filled by family members . Yet the whole of India trusts them to behave properly , and behave they do . Till now , there has not been a single violation of the trust the public placed in these businesses .

My question is - why is it that the Indian system , which has an inherently higher potential for abuse ( the whole thing in the hands of one family ) , still works to the point that the people have trust bordering on faith in these businesses , whereas in the west , though the system is less prone to abuse , big business is still looked to with suspicion and distrust ? What is the difference ?

[Provost Harrison]

Because their sole concern is profit, not the welfare of the individual/public. It should be quite self-evident...

[aneeshm]

Half the question remains unanswered - why are we in India so trusting ?

As for the sole concern thing - that is definitely not true in case of the business families . They do a very large amount of work which actually benefits the nation . The Birlas have opened the sought-after Birla Institute of Technology and Science ( BITS , in Pilani ) , which is the second-most sought after institute of technical education in the country . The Ambanis ( they're relatively new ) have opened an institute of technical education , admission to which is coveted .

During the time when India followed absolutely absurd , semi-communist economic policies , these businesses somehow kept the Indian economy alive . Without them , the business world may have collapsed . Today , Reliance Telecom , owned by the Ambanis , is one of the driving forces behind the telecom revolution sweeping the country . They have laid out enough fibre optic cable to last them another fifty years .

The question remains - why ? Why do Indians trust , and not have that trust violated , and why do you not trust , and get behaviour in line with your expectations ?

[Pekka]

Why SHOULD we trust anyone?

If the case is like you described in India, just look at what happened/happens in Russia with the Oligarks.. or Zaibatsus in pre-war Japan. To have that much power in the hands of few relies solely on faith, that nothing will ever happen. That said, people are bastards.

I don't necessarily see anything wrong in big family business, but they do have power and I don't trust anyone with power.

[Gangerolf]

just brainstorming here, so I'm probably wrong

maybe it got something to do with the legacy of the caste system. you know, everyone knows their place, and keeps to it...

as for why the west doesn't trust big business: hitler, ig-farben, bush, berlusconi, the military-industrial complex, and in general, we are just pretty paranoid

[Dauphin]

Have there been any Indian Enrons, Maxwells or Gekkos (I forget the guys real name) yet. It may only be a matter of time.

[aneeshm]

A small clarification - these businesses have almost no political power . These family businesses have never had any such scandals associated with them yet , and though it may be just a matter of time , how is it that no such scandals have occurred even though some of these families have businesses going back over a hundred and fifty years ?

Another thing is that their position is not based on keeping others down . The newest addition to this elite club , the Ambanis , have made it big only relatively recently ( just one generation ago ) . There were no attempts made by the old timers to use unfair means against this new competitor . In fact , these businesses were the unhappiest under the socialist regime which was there until 1991 . If they had political power , they would have used it . But somehow they kept chugging along , and it is thanks to them that we have half the economy we do now . Without them , we'd have sunk .

[General Ludd]

Re: Why are people so suspicious of Big Business in the Western world ?

People should always be distrustful of the ruling elite.

[Pekka]

Families with money ALWAYS have political influence, IF they show wish.

[DRoseDARs]

Why are people so suspicious of Big Business in the Western world ?

Two words: Robber barons
Three more words: The Gilded Age

We already went through the "mega-wealthy families controlling industries" stage of the Industrial Revolution, the stage you're growing through now in condensed time. In all likelyhood, the least and median-income among you and your people will come to despise Big Business too when the gap between rich and poor skyrockets and the government has no interest in representing anyone but the mega-wealthy.

[Sandman]

Yet the whole of India trusts them to behave properly , and behave they do . Till now , there has not been a single violation of the trust the public placed in these businesses .

I'm not about to trust a self-declared Randian libertarian from one of the poorest places on Earth on whether Indians are trusting of big business.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs


Two words: Robber barons
Three more words: The Gilded Age

So basically because of your bad experiences in the past .

Originally posted by DRoseDARs

We already went through the "mega-wealthy families controlling industries" stage of the Industrial Revolution, the stage you're growing through now in condensed time.

On the contrary - these companies do not control their respective industries - they are only very , very large players in them . There is still competetion .

Originally posted by DRoseDARs

In all likelyhood, the least and median-income among you and your people will come to despise Big Business too when the gap between rich and poor skyrockets and the government has no interest in representing anyone but the mega-wealthy.

Nobody in the country grudges the rich their wealth , but everyone hates the politicians and their power . The political class of India has long ago recognised that the opportunities for political corruption are vast , and that for that you have to have power . The quickest way to get power is to disregard the rich , as they have no political power , nor do they have power as a voting bloc , and focus on the poor .


The gap between the rich and the poor has always been sky-high - spending just a day in Mumbai will tell you that . But the political class still panders to the poor , not the rich , nor has it ever pandered to the rich , because the poor always have more votes .

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Sandman


I'm not about to trust a self-declared Randian libertarian from one of the poorest places on Earth on whether Indians are trusting of big business.

A randian libertarian ? Whereved did you get that idea ? And if you do not trust me - fine . Your problem , not mine . At least all the people who I have come in contact with - from the poorest to the richest - trust family-owned business ( but not necessarily all big business ) .

[Sandman]

Whereved did you get that idea ?

From your posts.

[Hueij]

Hmm... India... Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL)...

Wasn't there this little incident in 1984?