Do you care about the Caucuses?

[Ramu Mutt]

Keeping tabs on things in New Hampshire? Iowa? South Carolina? No?

Besides the fact that Barrack Obama exists and he's fighting for the Democratic nomination with Hillary Clinton, not a lot of desi people seem to care for what's happening state-side.

So while the most elaborate and globally followed political exercise goes on in the US, young Indian people like you and me don't seem to care. And why should we, you might ask. We don't even care for our local politics. So why check up on John Edwards, Mike Huckabee and John Mccain? (All candidates by the way.)

Well several reasons. For one the US economy is deeply linked to ours. A president who is bad for US economy is bad, eventually, for the Indian economy. The last few days of bloodshed in the Sensex is proof of that. And when that keeps happening, suddenly your Wipro, Infosys and TCS don't recruit off campus as much.

That can suck. Ask anybody who got an engineering degree shortly after the dotcom crash.

Secondly a president can have huge influence on visa policy. So you really can't take that student visa for granted after your GRE next year. And immigration law is a huge issue this year too. This is also relevant if you work for a software firm and are hoping to get a chance to work in the US. (H1 B!)

Besides jobs and visas you can also get jacked on your expenses if the wrong guy comes to power. Any escalation in the War on Terror can send oil prices shooting up. And that normally means a rise in cost of living. From sabji to ipods, everything get more pricey.

And finally there is the issue of getting a new, defacto ruler of the world. I am sure no one cared when George W. Bush won his election either. But he is now probably the biggest, most universal bad guy in the world. From global warming to Muslim fundamentalism has all been blamed on the man.

So, when you come to think of it, a new US President is a lot more critical to your life than you think.

So have you been following the caucuses? The debates? Got a fave candidate? Or a youtube video or website you want to share? Or maybe there is an issue you think is critical to the US elections. No, its NOT nerdy to give us your opinion. Tell us what you think. And tell us who you'd vote for if you could.

[Rashmi Bansal]

Looks like the answer is 'no'. We in India could hardly care about our own elections... unka kaun follow karega.

[Tamanna]

I just lurve the debates these candidates have. Bickering like school children! It's so much fun! I hope one day we Indians have this ritual too with elections.

PS: I wud vote for Obama if I were an American.

[Aditya Kulkarni]

The "You should care because it affects you" argument can be made for all kinds of things, but that doesn't mean that people do.

You should care about astronomy, because if an asteroid hits earth, you're toast
You should care about the LHC being built at CERN, because it might create a black hole can swallow the entire earth
You should care about the World Economic Summit at Davos, because all kinds of Free Trade Agreements are being discussed there which have a direct effect on prices.

There's just too much stuff to worry about, and I have only so much time. I think most people don't worry about stuff that has more than 1 level of indirection from them.

[Ramu Mutt]

Hmm. Well there are two aspects to that of course. One, what is the probability of it affecting you, and two, what can you do about it.

So while who the US pres. is will affect you... you can really do nothing about it.

Fair point AK.

[Vivek Shah]

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

–Mahatma Gandhi.

I guess sounds pretty pointless especially in this regard in today's lifestyle but a thought that counts :)

[Vivek Shah]

I think we should care about American Elections coz they affect the entire nation unfortunately.. See what Mr Bush Junior has done to the Middle East and the world as such..

[Vaishnavi]

Like I even care what the Americans do. I'd rather follow the elections in Kiribati (Do they have those there?) than pretend to be a know it all of the elections in the U.S.A (Useless Suckers of America)..... Gone are the days when USA was a "superpower" ...the world is changing....and there re more imp things to worry bout, like counting the number of times my neighbour's dog has barked today.

Elections it seems.....that too in the USA......

LOL