Liberty Now!

The ToI has goofed up real bad. An editorial on tourism advises our The State to do the following things - but never mentions the sweet word "Liberty":

It's well-known that many of our heritage sites are in a deplorable state of disrepair. The problem lies in haphazard management, divided between the Centre and the states. The possibility of a single nodal agency for preservation of all historical monuments along with the participation of private players in maintaining them needs to be explored. The future of the tourism industry lies in customising services. The government would do well to provide greater support to niche segments such as medical tourism and spiritual tourism by creating the infrastructure hotels, transport facilities, easier visa norms, etc to facilitate their growth. In the context of security for foreign tourists, a dedicated tourist police force is a good idea. An integrated approach whereby the tourism industry benefits from other sectors and vice versa is the way forward. The government should keep in mind that tourism generates more jobs for every rupee invested than almost any other sector. It's also more environmentally benign than, say, heavy industry.

First: Isn't there already an Archaeological Survey of India that "owns" and maintains all heritage sites - badly?

Second: Why should State support be extended for "niche segments" like medical and spiritual tourism? Why should the State build hotels? Why "transport facilities"? Why not just ask them to build roads? The rest the private sector can easily do.

Third: A "dedicated tourist police force"? What a ghastly idea! The Rule of Law should apply uniformly to foreigner and local alike - and when our own people are dying on the streets, what will this dedicated tourist police do to protect tourists who want to walk around our cities and towns. Ridiculous, really.

Now, why not ask our The State to just step aside - and let The Market do everything for tourism. Tourists come to enjoy holidays - to have FUN!

Our is NOT a fun country.

Everything is banned or licensed or overtaxed.

Why not a FREE MARKET? Why not LIBERTY?

The ToI talks about medical and spiritual tourism. What about ganja tourism? What about hash cafes? What about casinos and nightclubs, discotheques and dance clubs?

The critical point to remember is that The State is as clueless about how to keep the tourist happy as are the editors of the ToI. The only person who can anticipate in advance what a tourist might want is the ENTREPRENEUR.

So, some entrepreneurs are selling dope, others are setting up bars and restaurants, others opening massage services, still others, casinos, and so on and so forth.

Our The State is fucking up the happiness of most of these entrepreneurs.

Thus, tourists are getting screwed too.

So, get the message: Whether you are a foreigner in India or a domestic tourist - what you need to enjoy your holidays is LIBERTY!

So lets have Liberty right NOW!

And someone else please tell them to build decent roads. Tourism is about TRAVEL.

Travel in India is HORRIBLE!