‘If Germany and Japan could do it, why not India?’

In many discussions and debates amongst the urban middle class, the common refrain has been:

‘If Germany could get back to become an economic superpower after being bombed to smithereens in World War II, and if Japan could come back to become a super economy in the aftermath of being atom bombed, why could India not achieve super economy?' 

The above observation is slightly flawed.

As an organization in Japan that can build a Toyota car, even if the entire factory is obliterated, but if you still have 70% of knowhow in the workforce and leadership, you can always create another factory to create a Toyota car within few years.  

But a country like Ethiopia may not be able to do so even if it is given 100 years.

Comparing Japan to Ethiopia is therefore patently wrong. 

Japan, even after extensively bombed, can get back on its feet, because of the knowhow, the ability to tap into capital, create a new factory, based on experience, which Ethiopia thoroughly lacks.

A person who is well-educated, has experience under his belt, could get into entrepreneurship, and for some bad luck, could fall into harsh times, lose everything, all assets, all wealth, all cash reserves, and hit the rock bottom, BUT still could recover within few years, recover from penury, and hit another good idea, pursue new startup, use existing network to raise capital, create teams, and become prosperous and successful.    

However, a Dalit, caught in vicious cycle of poverty, facing discrimination, owing people money for the loans he took, lacking education, lacking access to opportunity, lacking network, lacking capital, even if given a lifetime, may not escape poverty. 

There are two lessons here.  

India cannot be compared to Germany or Japan after World War II, because our experiences have been different prior to World War II.  India had to go through necessary experiences, which is currently going through, to become an economic superpower, and it takes time, takes decades, to be able to acquire the experiences, have access to capital, create talent pool within, so as to become an economic superpower. 

The experiences of privileged class person going through poverty cannot be compared to a Dalit who has always been caught in the vicious cycle of being at the bottom of socioeconomic pyramid.  Sometimes it takes few generations for someone caught deep in caste-based discrimination, poverty, and indenture, to break the shackles and start climbing the ladder of opportunity.