Peter Navarro, His Statements and Boston Brahmins
In the last 48 hrs one statement by White House trade adviser
Peter Navarro, has caused a furore in Idia with andhbhakts taking to social
media and abusing him, even running hashtags like #PeterNavarroKMKB without
realizing the context and reason for his such statement. Geopolitically this is
very important statement and directed at several countries of BRICS.
He had previously said ‘Ukraine
conflict is ‘Modi’s war’. So, lets’ just re-read the current statement by Peter
Navarro here below, picked up as it is published by news outlet, The Hindu:-
‘Brahmins
profiteering off Indian people’: White House trade adviser Peter Navarro
His remarks followed Prime Minister Modi's bilateral
engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, August 31, on the
sidelines of the SCO leaders' summit.
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, while talking about
50% tariff on imports from India, has said in an interview to Fox
News on Monday (September 1, 2025) that “Brahmins” are profiteering at
the expense of the Indian people and it needs to “stop”.
"Referring to India as "nothing but a laundromat
for the Kremlin", White House Trade Adviser, Peter Navarro, during an
interview with Fox News on Monday (September 1, 2025), once
again accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances
that run counter to U.S. interests.
"And on top of that, by the way, 25% or 50% is because
India is the Maharaja of tariffs. They have the highest tariffs in the world.
They won't let us sell to them, so who gets hurt, workers in America, taxpayers
in America... Ukrainians in cities are getting killed by Russian drones,"
the White House Trade Adviser said.
"So, you know, look, Modi's a great leader... But I
don't understand why he's getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping...when
he's the leader of the biggest democracy in the world. I would just simply say
to the Indian people. Please, understand what's going on here. You've got
Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to
stop," he added.
His remarks followed Prime Minister Modi's bilateral
engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday (August 31, 2025),
on the sidelines of the SCO leaders' summit, during which both leaders welcomed
the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their
last meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October 2024.
The statement comes as the world is grappling with U.S.
President Donald Trump's tariffs, which the U.S. Appeals Court has itself ruled
as "illegal."
This is not the first time that Mr. Navarro has made such
remarks to justify Trump's tariffs on India. Earlier on Friday, Mr. Navarro
accused India of profiting from Russian oil in scalding remarks. "India's
Big Oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive
refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin. Indian refiners buy
cheap Russian oil, process it, and export fuels to Europe, Africa, and Asia -
shielded from sanctions under the pretence of neutrality," he said in a
series of posts on X.
It is clearly evident from the above that Peter Navarro was
actually referring to the business elites of India. As of today, though there
are several influential and politically well-connected business families in
India, but there are 15 families/groups who figure at the top; some of them are
operating for more than 100 years now. but even among the 2 families/groups
have grown to be called ‘elites’ owing to their closeness to the current
political dispensation. They are ‘Ambani’ and ‘Adani’ Amid allegations
that the current political dispensation, works overtime to ensure favorite
deals are grabbed by these 2, even going to the extent of changing rules that
suit the 2 groups. Everyone knows how Adani got management of Hyderabad
International Airport or control of media house NDTV.
In relation to Russian crude oil imports, it may be known to
all that Ambani’s Jamnagar Refinery and Adani’s Kandla port have benefitted the
most. Peter Navarro was actually referring to this, both ‘Ambani’ and ‘Adani’
have made a killing from Russian crude oil imports, which Russia
supplies at less than international rates to India. But then question arises
has the price of petrol, diesel dropped in India and has the Indian Economy benefitted. Answer is a BIG ‘NO’, the
Indian economy and its populace of over 140 crores has not benefitted from reduced import cost
of crude oil from Russia. This is exactly what Peter Navarro was referring to,
but unfortunately Indians, now mostly exposed to #WhatsappUniversity and #socialmedia,
started abusing and trolling him, even running hashtags like #PeterNavarroKMKB.
He was referring to elite’s business houses of India, especially the 2 top
elites ‘Ambani’ and ‘Adani’ benefitted the most and general public
gained nothing. He was not referring to the ‘Brahmin’ caste in India. So, who are the ‘Brahmins’
Peter Navarro was referring to, they are actually ‘Boston Brahmin’ a community
in USA which presence in all spheres of life in USA.
Who are ‘Boston Brahmin’
A 1768 illustration of Boston
Common in Colonial Boston, home to many Boston Brahmin. The Boston
Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From
the late 17th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated
with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism,
and traditional British-American customs and clothing. Descendants of
the earliest English colonists are typically considered to be the most
representative of the Boston Brahmins. They are often considered White
Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).
Etymology
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., coined
the phrase "Brahmin" in a January 1860 article he authored for The
Atlantic Monthly. The phrase "Brahmin Caste of New England" was
first coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., a physician and writer, in a
January 1860 article in The Atlantic Monthly. The term is
derived from the brahmin, the chief priestly caste in the Hindu caste
system. The appropriated term became a shorthand to refer to the old, wealthy,
and elite New England families of traditionally British Protestant origin
that became influential in the development of American institutions and
culture. The influence of the old American gentry has been reduced in
modern times, but some vestiges remain, primarily in the institutions and the
ideals that they championed in their heyday.
Characteristics
The typical dress of the Boston elite, c. 1816–1817
.jpg)
Beacon Hill, a preeminent
neighborhood for Boston Brahmin located near the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
The nature of the Brahmins is referenced in the doggerel "Boston
Toast" by Holy Cross alumnus John Collins Bossidy:
And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God.
Many 19th-century Boston Brahmin
families of large fortune were of common origin; fewer were of an aristocratic
origin. The new families were often the first to seek, in typically British
fashion, suitable marriage alliances with those old aristocratic New England
families descended from landowners in England to elevate and cement their
social standing. The Winthrops, Dudleys, Saltonstalls, Winslows, and
Lymans (descended from English magistrates, gentry, and aristocracy)
were, by and large, happy with this arrangement. All of Boston's
"Brahmin elite", therefore, maintained the received culture of
the old English gentry, including cultivating the personal excellence that they
imagined maintained the distinction between gentlemen and freemen, and between
ladies and women.
They saw it as their duty to
maintain what they defined as high standards of excellence, duty, and
restraint. Cultivated, urbane, and dignified, a Boston Brahmin was
supposed to be the very essence of enlightened aristocracy. The ideal
Brahmin was not only wealthy, but displayed what was considered suitable
personal virtues and character traits. The Boston Brahmin, were expected
to maintain the customary English reserve in dress, manner, and deportment,
cultivate the arts, support charities such as hospitals and colleges, and
assume the role of community leaders.
Although the ideal called on him
to transcend commonplace business values, in practice, many found the thrill of
economic success quite attractive. The Brahmins warned each other against avarice and
insisted upon personal responsibility. Scandal and divorce were unacceptable.
This culture was buttressed by the strong extended family ties present in
Boston society. Young men of Boston Brahmin community attended the same
prep schools, colleges, and private clubs, and heirs married heiresses.
Family not only served as an economic asset, but also as a means of moral
restraint.
Most Boston Brahmin are extremely wealthy and belonged to the Unitarian or Episcopal churches, although
some were Congregationalists or Methodists. Politically, they were successively
Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans. They were marked by their manners and
once-distinctive elocution. Their distinctive Anglo-American manner of dress
has been much imitated and is the foundation of the style now informally known
as ‘preppy’. Many of the illustrious Boston Brahmin families trace their ancestry back to
the original 17th and 18th century colonial ruling class consisting
of Massachusetts governors and magistrates, Harvard presidents, distinguished
clergy, and fellows of the Royal Society of London, a leading scientific body,
while others entered New England aristocratic society during the 19th century
with their profits from commerce and trade, often marrying into established Boston
Brahmin families. Most of them have gone on
to play major role as politician, businessmen, industrialist, administrator,
scholar, military men, artist, players, and much more.
Some of the most important and well-known Boston
Brahmin families are:-
and more.
Peter Navarro, His Statements and Boston Brahmins
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