It was incredible to me that members of one community could kill members of another not for anything personal that they did but simply based on their identity.
Amartya SenWhile I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.
Amartya SenThe opportunities, income, schools facilities, the basic income support that the government provides or any of these things .. public transport arrangements we have.. all these are part of the way our lives and freedoms are effected.
Amartya SenOpponents of globalisation may see it as a new folly, but it is neither particularly new, nor, in general, a folly.
Amartya SenSometimes the lack of substantive freedoms relates directly to economic poverty, which robs people of the freedom to satisfy hunger; or to achieve sufficient nutrition, or to obtain remedies for treatable illnesses or the opportunity to be adequatley clothed or sheltered, or to enjoy clean water or sanitary facilities.
Amartya SenFamines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers, cannot help but make such an effort. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence... they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and... a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have.
Amartya Sen