Economics Explained: Why do 'smart and educated' people display harming behaviour?

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Explain with examples this quote.

The quote mentioned is attributed to Upton Sinclair, an American writer and social reformer. It highlights the idea that people may be resistant to accepting certain truths or realities when it conflicts with their personal interests, particularly when it comes to their financial well-being.

Here are a few examples to help illustrate this concept:

Climate Change and Fossil Fuel Industry: The fossil fuel industry has a significant influence on the global economy, employing millions of people and generating substantial profits. However, the burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor to climate change. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking human activities to climate change, some individuals within the industry may deny or downplay the issue. Their salary and livelihood depend on the continued production and consumption of fossil fuels, so acknowledging the environmental consequences could jeopardize their financial interests.

Tobacco Industry and Health Risks: For decades, the tobacco industry engaged in efforts to downplay the health risks associated with smoking. Studies have consistently shown that smoking causes severe health problems, including cancer, heart disease, and respiratory issues. However, the tobacco industry funded research and disseminated misinformation to create doubt and prevent public awareness. Executives within the industry, whose salaries were tied to tobacco sales, had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo despite the harmful effects on public health.

Corporate Lobbying and Regulation: Various industries engage in lobbying activities to influence government policies and regulations that could impact their business operations. In some cases, this lobbying can lead to the blocking or dilution of regulations that would protect public health, safety, or the environment. Those employed by these industries often participate in lobbying efforts to protect their company's profits and job security, even if it means disregarding the potential negative consequences for society at large.

Conflict of Interest in Research: Researchers who receive funding from certain industries or organisations may face conflicts of interest that can bias their findings or interpretations. Pharmaceutical companies, for instance, may financially support clinical trials for their own drugs. In such cases, there is a risk that researchers may have a bias toward positive outcomes or downplay any adverse effects, as their salary or future research funding could be tied to the success of those drugs.

These examples demonstrate how financial incentives can create a cognitive bias that hinders individuals from fully understanding or accepting certain realities. When people's salaries or economic interests are directly linked to a particular outcome, they may be inclined to ignore or dismiss information that challenges their existing beliefs or threatens their financial stability.

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In the context of the quote, "not understanding" does not imply a lack of intelligence or education. Rather, it refers to the act of consciously or subconsciously refusing to accept or acknowledge certain truths or realities due to personal interests or biases.

While individuals who fall into this category may indeed be highly educated and rational, their understanding may be clouded or biased by their financial dependence on a particular outcome. The quote suggests that people may be resistant to accepting information or evidence that contradicts their existing beliefs or challenges their financial interests, even if they possess the intellectual capacity to comprehend it.

In many cases, these individuals may be aware of the information or facts being presented to them, but their motivations or incentives prevent them from fully embracing or acknowledging the implications of that information. This can manifest as denial, scepticism, or selective interpretation of evidence to protect their financial interests or maintain the status quo.

It is important to note that the quote does not imply that every person in such a situation will exhibit this behaviour, nor does it suggest that all individuals with financial interests are incapable of understanding or accepting opposing viewpoints. Rather, it highlights a common tendency for some individuals to resist or downplay information that may threaten their financial well-being, regardless of their level of education or rationality.

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Brand loyalty and religious beliefs can also fall into the category described in the quote. While they may not be directly tied to salaries, they can still involve deeply ingrained personal interests and biases that affect one's ability to understand or accept certain information.

Brand Loyalty: Brand loyalty refers to the tendency of consumers to consistently choose and support a particular brand over others. When individuals develop strong brand loyalty, they may become resistant to accepting or considering information that challenges their perception of the brand's superiority. This loyalty can be driven by emotional connections, personal experiences, or even social identity. Even when presented with evidence or information about better alternatives, individuals may continue to support their preferred brand due to the sense of identity, familiarity, or other psychological factors associated with it.

Religious Beliefs: Religious beliefs often form a significant part of a person's identity and worldview. People's religious beliefs can provide them with a sense of purpose, meaning, and moral framework. When faced with information or evidence that contradicts their religious beliefs, individuals may experience cognitive dissonance or resistance to accepting alternative perspectives. This can be particularly true when the information challenges core tenets or fundamental beliefs that are integral to their religious identity. As a result, individuals may be inclined to dismiss or rationalize conflicting information in order to maintain the coherence of their religious worldview.

In both cases, brand loyalty and religious beliefs can create cognitive biases that hinder individuals from fully understanding or accepting alternative viewpoints. The emotional, psychological, and social dimensions associated with these beliefs can strongly influence how individuals process and interpret information, leading to a resistance to accepting conflicting evidence or perspectives.

It is important to note that not all brand loyalists or religious individuals exhibit this behavior, and there are individuals who are open-minded and receptive to alternative viewpoints. However, for some individuals, brand loyalty and religious beliefs can become factors that influence their ability to objectively assess information or consider perspectives that contradict their established loyalties or deeply held beliefs.

Economics Essay 70: Evaluating Current Account Deficits

To what extent should a government be concerned by a large current account deficit?

 A large current account deficit can raise concerns for any government due to the following reasons:

1. Economic Dependence: Reliance on capital inflows to finance a current account deficit can create economic dependence on external investors. For example, countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea, experienced significant current account deficits in the late 1990s. When investor confidence waned, they faced a sudden withdrawal of capital, resulting in financial instability and economic downturns.

2. Debt Accumulation: A persistent current account deficit may lead to an accumulation of external debt. Greece serves as an example where a large current account deficit, partly financed through borrowing, resulted in a high level of external debt. This debt burden became unsustainable, leading to a severe debt crisis and the need for international financial assistance.

3. Exchange Rate Volatility: A large current account deficit can put downward pressure on a country's currency exchange rate. This can lead to increased import costs, higher inflation, and reduced purchasing power for consumers. For instance, several Asian economies experienced currency depreciations during the Asian Financial Crisis, making imports more expensive and adversely affecting their economies.

4. Loss of Competitiveness: A persistent current account deficit may indicate underlying structural issues, such as low productivity and a lack of competitiveness. The United States, with its long-standing trade deficit in goods, is an example where the manufacturing sector has faced challenges due to increased competition from countries with lower labor costs and more advanced technologies.

5. Vulnerability to External Shocks: Countries with large current account deficits are more vulnerable to external shocks. For example, during the global financial crisis in 2008, export-oriented economies like China and Germany experienced a decline in their current account surpluses due to reduced global demand. This highlighted their vulnerability to changes in global economic conditions.

These examples illustrate the concerns associated with a large current account deficit, including economic dependence, debt accumulation, exchange rate volatility, loss of competitiveness, and vulnerability to external shocks. Governments need to address these issues by implementing appropriate policies to promote sustainable economic growth, such as export diversification, improving competitiveness, attracting foreign direct investment, and implementing structural reforms.

While capital inflows can provide temporary relief for a current account deficit, it is important for governments to prioritize long-term economic stability by addressing the underlying structural issues contributing to the deficit. This involves diversifying the economy, enhancing productivity, and ensuring a competitive business environment. By doing so, countries can reduce their reliance on external financing and achieve a more balanced and sustainable current account position.

Economics Essay 33: Dependency on Primary Commodity Production

Explain why dependency on a narrow range of primary products may damage an economy’s economic development.

Dependence on a narrow range of primary products can have significant implications for the economic development of a country. Economic development refers to a broader concept that encompasses not only economic growth but also improvements in living standards, human well-being, and structural transformation. Here's a comprehensive explanation of why such dependency can damage an economy's economic development:

1. Vulnerability to external shocks: When an economy relies heavily on a narrow range of primary products, it becomes highly vulnerable to external shocks such as changes in global commodity prices, natural disasters, or shifts in international trade policies. Any adverse event that affects the primary product can have a severe impact on the economy, leading to revenue losses, reduced government spending capacity, and lower economic growth. This vulnerability hampers the overall progress and stability needed for sustained economic development.

2. Limited diversification and structural transformation: Dependence on primary products can hinder diversification efforts and structural transformation in the economy. Economic development requires the expansion and development of various sectors, such as manufacturing, services, and knowledge-based industries. By relying on a narrow range of primary products, a country misses out on opportunities for diversification and fails to develop other sectors that can drive innovation, create higher-skilled jobs, and increase productivity. This lack of diversification limits the country's potential for sustained economic development and puts it at a disadvantage in the global economy.

3. Lack of value addition and low technology adoption: Primary product dependency often involves limited value addition and low technology adoption. Countries primarily engaged in the extraction and export of raw materials tend to focus on exporting the unprocessed products without adding significant value. This results in missed opportunities for increasing value through processing, manufacturing, and innovation, which are crucial for economic development. Without value addition and technological advancements, the country's competitiveness and productivity remain low, hindering overall development prospects.

4. Unequal distribution of wealth and income: In economies dependent on primary products, wealth and income tend to be concentrated in the hands of a few individuals or sectors involved in the primary product industry. This can lead to income inequality and socio-economic disparities, hindering inclusive development. The lack of equitable wealth distribution can undermine social cohesion, limit opportunities for social mobility, and hinder efforts to reduce poverty and improve living standards for the broader population.

5. Environmental and sustainability challenges: The production and extraction of primary products often have significant environmental consequences, including deforestation, pollution, and depletion of natural resources. Countries overly reliant on primary products may face environmental challenges that can damage ecosystems, impact biodiversity, and jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the economy. Sustainable economic development requires balancing economic growth with environmental conservation and ensuring the responsible use of natural resources.

An example that exemplifies the challenges of primary product dependency is several African countries heavily reliant on a single commodity, such as oil, diamonds, or minerals. Despite having substantial natural resources, these countries have struggled to achieve sustained economic development and have faced issues related to economic volatility, limited diversification, environmental degradation, and social inequalities.

In conclusion, dependence on a narrow range of primary products can damage an economy's economic development by exposing it to external shocks, hindering diversification and structural transformation, limiting value addition and technology adoption, perpetuating income inequalities, and posing environmental challenges. Promoting economic diversification, investing in human capital and technology, enhancing value addition, addressing income disparities, and pursuing sustainable development practices are essential for breaking the cycle of primary product dependency and fostering long-term economic development.

When evaluating the impact of primary product dependency on economic development, we can consider the theory of comparative advantage. The theory of comparative advantage suggests that countries should specialize in producing goods or services in which they have a lower opportunity cost compared to other countries. This specialization allows for increased efficiency and trade, leading to mutual gains.

In the context of primary product dependency, the theory of comparative advantage provides some insights:

1. Comparative advantage in primary products: Countries with abundant natural resources may possess a comparative advantage in producing primary products. They can exploit their resource endowments and export these products to earn foreign exchange and generate revenue. This specialization can initially bring economic benefits by capitalizing on the country's natural resource advantages.

2. Limited diversification challenges: However, reliance on a narrow range of primary products can hinder diversification efforts. The theory of comparative advantage suggests that countries should diversify their production and trade to fully capitalize on their comparative advantages in different sectors. By focusing excessively on primary products, countries may miss out on opportunities to develop and expand other sectors with comparative advantages, such as manufacturing or services. This limited diversification can impede economic development and make the country susceptible to external shocks.

3. Volatility and instability: Primary product prices tend to be more volatile compared to prices of manufactured goods or services. Changes in global demand, technological advancements, or shifts in supply conditions can lead to significant price fluctuations in primary product markets. This volatility can impact the stability of an economy, making it more vulnerable to economic downturns or revenue shocks. Economic development requires stability and predictability, and excessive dependence on primary products can hinder these objectives.

4. Building a knowledge-based economy: Comparative advantage also emphasizes the importance of building a knowledge-based economy. This involves investing in education, research and development, and technology adoption to enhance productivity and competitiveness. While primary products can provide a short-term advantage, long-term economic development relies on the ability to innovate, add value, and move up the value chain. Overreliance on primary products can discourage investment in developing a knowledge-based economy, slowing down the overall pace of development.

5. Structural transformation challenges: Comparative advantage suggests that countries should undergo structural transformation, shifting resources from low-productivity sectors to high-productivity sectors. Excessive reliance on primary products may hinder this transformation process by locking resources and labor in a specific sector. This can limit the development of higher-skilled industries and impede overall economic growth.

In evaluating the impact of primary product dependency on economic development through the lens of comparative advantage, it becomes evident that while countries may initially benefit from their comparative advantage in primary products, overreliance can pose challenges to long-term development. Diversification, building a knowledge-based economy, addressing volatility, and promoting structural transformation are critical for sustained and inclusive economic development.

It is important to note that the evaluation of primary product dependency should consider country-specific factors, such as institutional quality, governance, and policies. Each country has unique circumstances that can shape the outcomes of primary product dependency, and a comprehensive assessment requires analyzing these factors in conjunction with the theory of comparative advantage.

If you cheat on your partner, it’s probably about more than just sex

Phillipa Perry in The Guardian

According to a study published this week, the likelihood of people cheating on their partners rises if they are financially dependent on them – and especially if they are male. From the research carried out by a Connecticut sociology professor, Christin Munsch, it seems that men still expect to be breadwinners in the family, and that they can still feel emasculated when their female partners make more money. Old scripts die hard, it seems.

Babies and toddlers, as anyone who has lived in close proximity to one will know, are not always terribly good at articulating what they feel, but they are very good at acting out their emotions: they bite, they scream, they lie on the floor and beat their fists and generally try to squirm out of situations that don’t appeal to them. We adults do our best to put into words how they are feeling so that they will eventually learn to talk about their emotions, which in therapy-speak we would call “processing feelings”. If you don’t learn how to process feelings, you tend to carry on “acting out”. We don’t dispute that when a baby throws his toys out of the pram, he is actually doing his best to show how he feels.

A man or woman who has an extramarital fling is also very possibly doing their best to manage their feelings by acting out and having an affair. It can be hard to start a conversation with a spouse who is doing their best to provide for the family about how dissatisfied you are with the lack of meaning in your life, about your envy, or your boredom. You don’t want to appear ungrateful. You don’t want to rock the boat.

When unpicking the fallout of affairs in couples counselling, quite often the person who has had the affair says things like, “it just happened”, “it didn’t mean anything”, “it wasn’t anything to do with you”, “I was drunk”, or “it was just a one-night stand”. The financially dependent party might wish they didn’t feel how they feel, and try very hard to push what seem like ungrateful feelings away. But even if they do try to process how they are feeling with their partner, that partner might find it understandably hard to listen to and easy to dismiss. Feelings don’t go away just because we want them to, and unconsciously we look for a way to deal with them.

So when a distraught couple is in the counselling room and the so-called guilty party is saying “it didn’t mean anything”, the counsellor might try to help them find out what it really did mean. It’s probably true that the straying partner does not prefer their one-night stand to their long-term lover, but it might mean that they do have unresolved issues with their partner, that they could not find a way to articulate or have heard. And the so-called innocent party may have even contributed to the event by not being sufficiently open and sympathetic to their partner’s feelings. Too often people in a relationship do not want to listen to their partner’s woes because they feel that means they are to blame, or that they have to fix them, but actually, being heard non-defensively and sympathetically goes a long way to restoring equilibrium.

 An affair is often an enactment of some deep, pushed away resentment. The fling can seem to temporarily cure feelings of an imbalance or a lack of meaning. This is but one explanation for something complicated that probably has many determining factors. It may be that the stay-at-home wife or husband is someone with attachment issues. For example there are people who seem to always need to have a lover as well as a partner because they dare not rely on just one person in case that person abandons them. This situation may be heightened if they are financially reliant on their partner. Such a situation can arise from early attachment issues with their first primary caregiver. Likewise some people feel they need secrets, otherwise they fear merging with their spouse. This feeling may be heightened when their spouse seems to have a stronger identity than they do.

There are probably as many reasons for why people act out in the form of an affair as there are people, but Munsch’s research does show us that inequality between partners can be a problem, and it’s something worth considering in any relationship.

For Indian women in America, a sea of broken dreams

By Narayan Lakshman in the Hindu

When Pavitra’s Delta Air Lines flight flew into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on a crisp blue July morning back in 2008, her heart pounded with excitement. Though it was a dangerous time economically and few companies were hiring, her husband landed a good job with a major IT firm and was assigned to projects across the U.S.

Pavitra, who had a bachelor’s degree from India and some work experience, had made a careful plan to embark on a course of higher studies — permitted under her current H-4 visa — and then seek employment. It was all coming together for her, it seemed. But she was in for a rude shock.

Within months of her settling down in a strange new land, she found out that not only were higher studies a financially draining option, given the lack of funding for spouses of H1-B visa-holders, she was also unable to pursue a graduate programme because with her three-year Indian undergraduate degree she was not considered eligible for graduate enrolment in the U.S.

With a paucity of viable alternatives, she turned her attention to the job market, an effort that proved even more futile. “I tried applying for a job but as soon as the recruiters came to know of my H-4 visa status, they would say they do not sponsor H1-B,” Pavitra said.

Matters then took a turn for the worse. Trapped in a labyrinth of visa-related restrictions, she began to feel she had no purpose in life. “I started going through depression, loss of enthusiasm and self-esteem. I started having chronic migraines every day,” she said. As migraine attacks went, hers were so severe that she could not even open her eyes, often threw up, and had chills.

“I had to call my husband every day at work, saying I am ill and he used to come home running. Life for him was very difficult, juggling between work commitments and my doctor visits,” she said. He was unable to look for better work opportunities since he was worried and wanted to look after her.

Now in the midst of a mind-numbing routine of hobbies, she asks herself: “Where am I in my life today? Still a dependent, still need to start my career fresh at this age.” And her future looks cloudy too, as it is a shaky prospect to start and raise a family on a single income, and whenever she tries to get back in the job market, “getting back my self-confidence, independence, self-esteem... [is] going to be a struggle for me.”

If Pavitra’s situation were an idiosyncratic case of misery in the wilderness of American suburbia, it may not be a collective concern. Yet that is not the case and, to be specific, 1,00,000 to 1,50,000 people, mostly women, from India, other parts of Asia and the rest of the world are stuck in this deadening reality of joblessness and social isolation, rapid erosion of self-esteem, and attendant toxic malfunctions in their personal lives.

Let’s step back and consider the facts and numbers in question.

The issue of H-4’s debilitating impact on its holders is not a new one. In fact, writing on cases of abuse of H-4 women by their H1-B husbands in The Hindu in 2008, Shivali Shah, a New York-based lawyer, explained that the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service does not provide H-4 spouses with work authorisation until well into the green card process.

There is no prospect of working on the H-4 visa per se. The State Department’s guidance on a range of non-immigrant visas notes: “A person who has received a visa as the spouse or child of a temporary worker may not accept employment in the U.S. with the exception of spouses of L-1 visa-holders.”

“Therefore, these women are financially dependent on their husbands for anywhere from two to nine years,” Ms. Shah pointed out, adding “H-4 women are middle-class and have status in the U.S., but immigration laws can make them indigent and undocumented at the whims of their husbands.”

So how many individuals are affected by this law? Since around 2004, the USCIS has set the annual cap for H1 visas issued at approximately 65,000. Even if one were to conservatively assume that 50 per cent of these visa-holders were married, it suggests close to 32,500 spouses or partners on H-4 visas a year.

Given that the H-4 visa is often of six-year validity, it would not be far off the mark to assume that there are well over 1,00,000 individuals stuck with this visa, possibly over 1,50,000. Further, the most recent USCIS data quoted in a study by the Brookings Institution suggest that 58 per cent of the H-1B visas are granted to Indians. This means that well over 50,000 Indians are in this position.

This includes only H-1 spouses. There is a host of other visa-types, for example, I-visas for journalists, all of which are subject to the USCIS work ban for their spouses — except L-1s, usually issued for senior executives who are on intra-company transfers from other nations. If the spouses of visa-holders in these categories were also counted, the number of frustrated, but often talented, individuals unable to work would perhaps grow exponentially.

To truly come to grips with the intensity of the problem faced by individuals trapped in the H-4 visa quagmire, a glimpse into the corrosive nature of the visa’s work restrictions is useful.

Rashi Bhatnagar, a H-4 visa-holder in the U.S. who was willing to have her real name used in this story — all others have been changed to respect privacy concerns — set up a Facebook group called ‘H-4 visa, a curse,’ after facing the deadening reality of joblessness, having enjoyed years of a successful career in India. Though she had a master’s degree from India, she had numerous doors of opportunity slammed on her in the U.S. after she had to relocate to this country to join her IT-worker husband.

However, Rashi counts herself among the fortunate few, whose spouses have a senior role, some leverage with their employer and hence some hope for flexibility, such as an early or expedited green card application. For most other “H-4s,” the mathematics of the waiting time for the right to work is debilitating, killing off their most productive work years from their late twenties to late thirties.

In the EB2 category of temporary, non-immigrant workers, a H-4 visa spouse would typically wait for six years before a green card application is made and then potentially another six years for the issuance of the green card. This makes a total of around 12 years, time spent languishing in the aisles of Walmart, making small-talk with vendors on street corners, engaged in the soul-destroying household chores and the limited joys of child-rearing.

In the EB3 category, the six-year wait for the green card process initiation is compounded by an even longer eight-12 year wait for the green card itself, requiring the H-4 visa-holders to hold their life in suspended animation for a staggering 14-18 years. Over the passage of such a length of time, all hope of resuscitating one’s passion to pursue a meaningful career is likely to be extinguished, with only a sense of lonely desperation left in its wake.

Part 2

To better understand the impact of the U.S.’ H-4 visa, the non-working visa given to the spouse of a work-authorised H-1B visa holder, The Hindu conducted a limited survey via a Facebook page that is a portal for H-4 visa holders. Along with the administrator of that page, Rashi Bhatnagar, who is herself on an H-4 visa, respondents were asked about the circumstances they found themselves in after they arrived in the U.S.

The responses not only hinted at a wide range of personal and health setbacks for female Indian H-4 visa holders but also testified to this visa’s impact on those from other nations, grown children of H-4 visa holders and, in some rare cases, male H-4 visa holders.

Take the case of Kathy, who used to be Senior Principal at a firm in the United Kingdom. After she and her children moved to the U.S. to join her husband, they had to put their oldest daughter through college with absolutely no access to financial aid because they were not permanent citizens of the U.S.

To make matters worse, when her daughter finished college she found herself, like her mother, stuck at home and unable to earn a living using the skills acquired at university. “She sits in her room all day, on her own,” Kathy worried, adding that her daughter had few friends and got very depressed.

Kathy herself fared poorly and it took a drastic toll on her health. Initially she and her daughters had private health insurance, but after she was diagnosed with a pineocytoma, or non-malignant brain tumour, she was dropped from her insurance. Apart from the compelling case that such instances make for reform of the H-4 visa restrictions, they underscore the need for the sort of health insurance reform that President Barack Obama has pushed through. As for Kathy, she and her daughter have no health insurance, no prospect of working and face a daily routine of social isolation and despondence.

Another striking case that the survey revealed was of Rahul, a male H-4 visa holder who followed his IT-professional wife to the U.S. For him, too, the stark reality of U.S. employers’ unwillingness to sponsor an H-1B struck home after many months of a frustrating job search. Cut off from friends and family and no longer the sociable, buoyant person he used to be, Rahul turned to alcohol — at a heavy cost. Caught in a downward spiral of depression, he attempted suicide several times. “I hurt myself very badly during one of these attempts and had to be hospitalised after calling 911,” he said. However, he showed resilience and tried to bounce back from that low point. He returned to India to change his field from sales and marketing and gain a greater IT focus. He even found work in a U.S. firm’s India office in the hope that the firm would apply for a work visa for him.

“Unfortunately the recession hit in 2008 and the company did not do well,” said Rahul. He had to resign himself to the prospect of staying on in India and battling the spectre of alcoholism that had arisen once again, not to mention thoughts of depression and suicide. Meanwhile, his wife and three-year-old child live out their lives in the U.S. without him.

Among most respondents to the Facebook survey, health issues arising from depression and a sense of hopelessness appeared to be common. One respondent, Joyita, said she was constantly visiting neurologists and physical therapists for treatments related to psychological turmoil “which have their roots in H-4 visa’s work restrictions”.

Even where physical symptoms were absent a sense of utter despair replaced the initial optimism that these spouses of H-1B workers had felt. Shauravi, for example, felt that she could not afford an MBA or other professional degree given the lack of funding opportunities. But the alternative, to “be at home for whole day without working and be very dependent to my husband ... has made me very weak just thinking about it”.

Another respondent, Ketaki, worried that the only degree she could afford was of no interest to her and lack of friends and complete dependence on her husband in a new environment had made her lose her self-confidence. Similarly Lavanya, who left a senior post in the Indian government, found herself struggling to keep up her self-esteem when she could not find any job, not even one that required far lower skill levels than those she possessed.

For several survey respondents their vulnerability had led to abuse within the marriage, in some cases resulting in complete familial breakdown. Priya told The Hindu that after suffering numerous beatings by her husband, she managed to file a police complaint and had him arrested. However, because as an H-4 spouse she had no access to bank accounts and other paperwork — all of which were controlled by her husband — she was unable to afford an attorney to fight the case. She was left praying for a denial of visa renewal for her husband for she had no other means to reach out to her family back in India.

A similar case was Poorvi who, despite overcoming financial hurdles and completing a U.S. academic degree, faced marital trouble, loneliness and spousal abuse that ultimately led to divorce.

The severity of personal problems faced by individuals in this position begs the question of why the spouses of H-1B, I, and a range of other visa holders have been denied the right to work, while L-1 visa holders’ spouses were granted the right some time ago,

Sheela Murthy, an expert on immigration law, told The Hindu that there had occasionally been talk in official circles about granting H-4 visa holders the right to work, but “that was before the economy tanked”. Apart from the sheer political pressure that any government would face if it tries to push through such a reform, it could also lead to some uncomfortable questions as to why the spouses of other visa holders — including the A, B, C, D, G, and F visas — could not similarly be given the right to work .

The H-4 case may be a “strong but not a winning argument”, said Ms. Murthy, noting that another fact pertinent to this case was that India ranks among the top 10 nationalities of illegal immigrants in the U.S.

On lobbying the White House and Capitol Hill for relaxing the work restrictions, she said: “I do not think we have been able to make the case clearly and strongly, with statistics and numbers, and have a very limited and strong message, to take up the drumbeat that gets both Houses of Congress on board.” There was still something missing in the strategy and articulation, she suggested.

In the end there is a complex argument to be made that must consider all of the difficult questions relating to the politics of post-recession unemployment, the plight of spouses of other visa holders, and the broader context of comprehensive immigration reform and illegal immigration.

Yet even as the weight of these unanswered questions stalls progress on H-4 visa reform, thousands of individuals in this category will continue to live with their broken dreams.

(Concluded)

Having cancer is an education, and this is what I have learned

Illness introduced me to a beautiful network of dependence – and a struggle for autonomy I can't win on my own

• 
• • Mike Marqusee
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 July 2011 22.00 BST
  • larger | smaller

The discipline of nursing converts science into care. Photograph: Bert Hardy/Getty Images
Now entering my fifth year of living with multiple myeloma, a haematological cancer, I reflect back on a roller-coaster ride of symptoms, treatments and side effects. Whatever else this experience has been, it's been an education. But what exactly have I learned? To begin with, that any glib answer to the question misses the core of the experience – the complex dialectic of being ill, which is a social as well as physical condition. For me the experience has led to a heightened awareness of both our intricate dependence on others and our deep-seated need for independence. Sitting with my IV drip, I like to think about all the human labour and ingenuity that come together in this medical moment. I could dedicate the rest of my life to this exercise and still not complete the inventory. The first circle of dependence is immediate and sometimes intimate. Partners, friends, doctors, nurses, cleaners, porters. Beyond them is a vast network of people I never see: pathologists, pharmacists, IT engineers, appointments managers. Everyone who has anything to do with maintaining the supply of medications or the functioning of equipment or getting me to and from hospital. Everyone who makes sure the lights are on and the building safe. The whole intricate ballet that is a functioning hospital. One misstep, and the whole breaks down, with potentially dire consequences. Beyond that, I'm dependent on a long history of scientific development to which individuals and institutions in many countries have contributed. From the British chemist Bence Jones identifying the protein associated with multiple myeloma in the 1840s to the pathologist and one-time film star Justine Wanger developing the IV drip in the 1930s; from the first experiments with chemotherapy (a byproduct of chemical warfare) in the 1940s, through the protracted struggle to master the art of toxicity (a dialectic of creation and destruction, if there ever was one), to the discovery of proteasome inhibitors in the 1990s and the creation of new "targeted therapies", like the one I'm currently receiving. Without innumerable advances in immunology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, statistics and metallurgy, to name but a few, I wouldn't be where I am now – in fact I wouldn't be at all. The drip flowing into my vein is drawn from a river with innumerable tributaries. It is an entirely rational, intelligible process but no less miraculous for that. And it's not just a story of science. Alongside that – and necessary to it – is the long history of the hospital, of the discipline of nursing, of the social developments that made it possible to convert raw science into practical care. I'm acutely conscious of how dependent I am on those who built and sustained the NHS – including, pre-eminently, generations of labour movement activists and socialists. And as I sit with my IV drip, I'm mindful of those in government and business who would smash the delicate mechanism of the hospital and shatter the network of dependence that sustains me. I'm being kept alive by the contributions of so many currents of human labour, thought, struggle, desire, imagination. By the whole Enlightenment tradition, but not only that: by older traditions of care, solidarity, mutuality, of respect for human life and compassion for human suffering. The harnessing of science, technology and advanced forms of organisation and information to compassionate ends is by no means automatic. It leans on and is only made possible by the conflict-riddled history of ethical and political development. Beautiful as it is, this network of dependence is also frightening. Restrictions in capacity and mobility are hugely frustrating, and relying on others to supplement them is not a straightforward business – for patient or carer. I often feel I'm engaged in a never-ending battle for autonomy. I fight it out in relation to institutions, experts, medications, means of mobility, forms of diet. Not to mention the vital effort to live a life beyond illness, to hold on to that kernel of freedom that makes you who you are. Paradoxically the struggle for autonomy is one you can't win on your own. You need allies, and part of being a carer is being an ally, not a nursemaid or controller. Independence is the stuff of life. But you can achieve it only through dependence on others, past and present. That's a truth driven home to the cancer patient but applicable to all of us. Illness is not an ideology-free zone. Certainly not for the government, which aims to divide sufferers into acute cases deserving of support, and less acute ones that must be forced back into the labour market, where our only function will be to undercut wages. This is one reason why resistance to the attacks on benefits for the disabled ought to be a central plank of the anti-cuts movement. The crisis facing the ill is an extreme form of the crisis facing the majority of the populace. We don't want charity – the form of dependence that makes independence impossible – but rights, and the resources to exercise those rights. Speaking for myself, taking part in anti-cuts activity is some of the best therapy available, an unashamed acknowledgement of social dependence and at the same time a declaration of political-spiritual independence.