Ten Issues -24

1- Smokers’ Corner: Real revolutions by Nadeem F. Paracha.

2- The Night Shastri Died And Other Stories by Kuldip Nayar.

3- Why Elites Fail by Christopher Hayes.

4- The real wealth of nations - The Economist

5- Children of the Taliban - PBS Frontline

6- The wedges between productivity and median compensation growth By Lawrence Mishel

7- 'A Perfect and Beautiful Machine': What Darwin's Theory of Evolution Reveals About Artificial Intelligence by Daniel C. Dennett.

8- Why so many communist philosophers? by Santiago Zabala

9- Destroying the commons by Noam Chomsky.

10 - Theories of Oppression and Another Dialogue of Cultures by Ashis Nandy Perspectives

Jonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservatives

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.

Ten Issues - 22

1- Banning middlemen from oil trade could drive down price of crude by 40% : These middlemen add little value and lots of cost as they bid up the price of oil in pursuit of financial gain. They are "pure" speculators - investors who buy and sell oil futures but never take physical possession of actual barrels of oil.

2- Daron Acemoglu on Inequality - The US, the UK and many other countries have become far less equal over the past 30 years. The MIT economics professor says it's important we understand how and why this happened, and what it means for our societies. He also review Five Books.

3- The Emperor Uncrowned - A complete reportage on the rise of Narendra Modi.

4- The new think tank by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha:- Dry intellectual pursuits such as neuroscience and auction theory are solving problems on the ground. We met four people whose models prove how.

5- December 1984 By Sathyu Sarangi : Many of the battles begun 25 years ago, in the aftermath of catastrophe, continue today. A deep and moving saga of the struggle of Bhopal victims.

6- Of chick charts, hen charts and other such women’s stories: Saba Dewan - This could be termed as a pioneer of the Feminist movement in modern-day Delhi. It will be difficult to fathom that such sexist and misogynist behaviour existed in educational institution.

7- Plutonomy and the precariat: On the history of the US economy in decline - Prof. Chomsky explains that the current US economy is built on 'growing worker insecurity' - people who are too busy and poor to make demands.

8- The Importance of Not Being Earnest : The larger implications of a country that takes itself too seriously. - We as the Public India seems to have no sense of humour at all. And all attempt of sarcasm and other sharper kinds of humour.

9- Marx at 193 by John Lanchester - Writer review here importance of Marx and he really did have the most astonishing insight into the nature and trajectory and direction of capitalism.

10- Great biographic article on Prof. Amartya Sen who studies of social choice, welfare measurement, and poverty and do research on fundamental problems in welfare economics.

Quote of the day :- Personally, I'm in favor of democracy, which means that the central institutions of society have to be under popular control. Now, under capitalism we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level - there's a little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I'm opposed to economic fascism. I think that until major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy.” — Noam Chomsky

On Education

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity



Richard Dreyfuss on Education



George Carlin - Education and the Elite

Blind Faith : Irrationality

Irrational behaviour happens due to social and emotional biases. People are very much less rational than is commonly thought and it may be attributed to obedience, conformity and peer pressure.

Its often that North Indian come to Chennai and criticize every cultural and social norm. West European or American traveling to India and disdaining from poverty, chaos and dust. A religious and deeply conservative person being shocked by the open culture of Las Vegas.

Why does all these three events happen?

This happen because all want the whole world in their own image – this is their identity, to which all alterities must – they so wish – yield. Even they migrate to different culture, the idealism and self glorification of their ancestors comes with the baggage. These culturally uprooted persons in a economic stable society can afford to and became source of more intolerant ideologies. They supports back to the roots with a very closed realm of their identity and remain unaware of the dynamic changes back home.

Let us take example of Pakistan. Proliferation of extremist thought and jihadi groups started in 80's Pakistan and there was emergence of the middle class supporting military rule in the favour of economic stability. Zia was celebrated as one of their own in 80's by similar Pakistani group that today blames him for all wrong deeds. These are prime example of irrational behaviour where initial conditioning has retarded the curiosity and questioning nature of the human being. Hence, irrationality appears when a person refuses to move to another set of beliefs even the proper reason is given in the first place. Static system of beliefs lead us to the path of irrational behaviour.

People behave ethically all the time without relying on myths and religion. The comfort that religion brings to an individual comes at a terrible price. Probably the majority of wars in our history have been fought over religion. Ahmediya sect killings is clear example of ethnic cleaning in the name of religious (Islamic) purity. Human life sanity is clearly violated for an old school of thought.

Let us take example of U.S.A. Tea Party baggers genuinely don’t see the contradiction in their opposition to welfare state with taking state aid with one hand and jacking off angry pseudo-libertarian mobs with the other, much in the same way that some Wall Street people genuinely can’t see the problem with their company, say, taking $13 billion in bonuses in the same year that they accepted $13 billion in state bailouts. You wave a pitchfork at them with little post-its of the relevant figures taped to the ends, and ask them to confess – and they can’t, because they literally don’t see your point.

Patriotism is also such a irrational belief system. In words of Emma Goldman: We Americans claim to be a peace-loving people. We hate bloodshed; we are opposed to violence. Yet we go into spasms of joy over the possibility of projecting dynamite bombs from flying machines upon helpless citizens. We are ready to hang, electrocute, or lynch anyone, who, from economic necessity, will risk his own life in the attempt upon that of some industrial magnate. Yet our hearts swell with pride at the thought that America is becoming the most powerful nation on earth, and that she will eventually plant her iron foot on the necks of all other nations. Such is the logic of patriotism.

Hubris, ignorance and apathy among the privileged are a potently destructive mix and a sure recipe for disaster. A society or nation degrades in civility once a set of beliefs are not evolved with the time. Even people have developed an acute consciousness of their own pain but their senses have become dulled to the suffering of those others who does not share their belief system. Irrationality is born out of such static system of beliefs where no reasoning has been applied to challenge ongoing traditions.

I am ending my search on the blind faith here only. When people are free to choose what type of discussions they want to have, they often gravitate toward an equilibrium that is easy to maintain but one that no one really enjoys or benefits from. Hence, it is hard to argue in the case of blind faith . While breaking the taboo has two effects. First, there is the domino effect, which applies to other taboos. Then – and even more importantly – a complete way of thinking has finally been pushed aside. And we evolve as more humane and rational.

Bill Maher on Larry King Live

Bill Maher realistically criticise what is wrong with the U.S.A. !
The People Are Sick!" - Part 1 of 3



The People Are Sick!" - Part 2 of 3



The People Are Sick!" - Part 3 of 3

Ten Issues - 7

1- How America Can Rise Again : The simplest measure of whether a culture is dominant is whether outsiders want to be part of it Any great nation can be judged on two parameters : continued openness to immigration, and a continued concentration of universities that people around the world want to attend.

2- (Hi)Story, Truth and Nation: South Africa is facing the process of developing a new identity for itself and its people, and to deal with its past. Jyoti Mistry looks at the meaning of nations and the nation state in examining this process of creation of a national identity. Story-telling, history and memory play vital parts, particularly in South Africa, in building this "whole". In a story that has no end in sight, she looks at how a country is dealing with its past and stepping into its future.

3- A virtual counter-revolution: The internet has been a great unifier of people, companies and online networks. Powerful forces are threatening to balkanise it. The future of the internet is looking bleak;

4- Power, privilege, corruption, hypocrisy : There is nothing to be proud of India's ranking in the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index 2009. The country ranked low also in the Bribe Payers Index among emerging economic giants.

5- The Economics of Monogamy and Polygyny : Overview of the the economics surrounding marriage institutions by professor Marina Adshade who teaches a popular undergraduate course called "Economics of Sex and Love," in which students apply the analytical and statistical tools available to economists to examine human sexuality.

6- Creating scientific culture : The first step towards an African culture of science is to make science relevant to local people, says development expert Oyeniyi Akande.

7-Loving the enemy: Al qaeda version of west - 9/11 organizer Khalid Sheikh Mohammed exploited his trial to remind the court of its own human rights obligations, while Osama bin Laden's video statements include appeals to religious pluralism. Al-Qaeda's use of liberal categories is central to its rhetoric on war and justice, writes Faisal Devji.

8- Language, Poetry, and Singularity: A joint Arab-Jewish identity seems an impossibility given the current political situation in the Middle East. And yet it was a reality, exemplified by Arabic-speaking Jews and their writers. In his extensive essay Reuven Snir investigates the complex history of Arab Jews.

9- Fellows Friday with Sunita Nadhamuni: Water and sanitation are among the most crucial issues facing India today, Sunita Nadhamuni notes in her interview with TED. But while these problems are daunting, Sunita says India’s many innovations in managing water can teach the rest of the world a thing or two.

10- An Open Letter to Manmohan Singh : Not everyone is happy with the working of our appointed prime minister due to his apathy towards corruption and the issue becomes large as an IAS officer wrote an open letter in Livemint journal - The government has lost all credibility with the people, and the buck stops with Manmohan Singh;

Quotes:

“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion” - Henry Steele Commager

"Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government." - B. R. Ambedkar

The Buddha said: ‘If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.’

Dictatorship and Democracy -1

It's a great myth that democratic nations support democracy in other parts of the world. China and India are on the same page in the case of maintaining relationship with Burma's dictatorship government. Both of these developing nation will eevntually walk on the same path of USA i.e. supporting puppet dictators for its own development. There is no doubt on the rise of US economy after 2nd world war. Let's have close look on foreign policy of American government in last 60 years.

Pakistan prominent newspaper, Dawn covered a pin pointing editorial on relationship of America and Dictators : Would Pakistan in the 21st century be wracked by militancy and terrorism if the US hadn’t supported Gen Zia and pumped millions into the Afghan ‘jihad’?

The point here is that America has long been hand in glove with military dictators and varied despots, not just in Pakistan but across the globe. In Central and South America it has even engineered coups to oust democratically elected administrations. Bloodbaths followed but that did not deter the US from throwing its full weight behind regimes that were answerable to no one but Washington. US foreign policy inflicted grievous harm on countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile and Nicaragua in the Americas and Indonesia and the Philippines in the east.

Then there was the generous support for the likes of Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran and of course every single Pakistani dictator dating back to Gen Ayub Khan. A lot of this had to do with the exigencies of the Cold War. But the fact remains that the US itself has derailed democracy throughout the world.

I am not asiding the era of cold war in dealing with the issue of American interference. Yet, the moral policing of American government has not stopped post soviet era.

The Southasian Idea commented long back on the backdrop of USA in Iraninan youths protest against forged elections: This is not the first time that an election is being stolen in Iran. Only American citizens remain uninformed of what happened in 1953. [There was a 1953 CIA coup against Iran's democratically elected prime minister.] And that was not an aberration: leave aside Chile (known in Latin America as the first 9/11) and the banana republics of Central America, the US government has even intervened in elections in Greece and Italy during the 1960s. There is need to ask the question: Why? Why has even the American government been so scared of democracy? And why does it desire democracy in Iraq but not in Saudi Arabia?

In the coming blog post, we will discuss that there is huge relation between development and mode of governance in the state. Till now, the readers would have easily guessed the answer of question : Why does USA desire democracy in Iraq but not in Saudi Arabia? Oil.

U.S.A. - Uncle Scam America-2

"Remember", the instructor said to the class,"a 35 year old American's brain and IQ is the same as a 10 year old Indian's brain.... Americans are dumb, just accept it. " - pg 53, One Night in a Call Centre

1- New York taxis, of course, are known for their polyglot driver population - reflecting a country that welcomes immigrants. "Taxi cabs are both loved and hated by New Yorkers" says the NY.com website. Ditto America's sentiments towards immigrants.

2- Thank you for smoking, 9/11 Fahrenheit, Sicko, Fast food nation and Bowling for columbine are best documentaries about deep rooted problem of theirs. Blacklisting of writers with communist background in Hollywood had showed an ugly picture of America. Also, they hate the term communist and ignore the term socialist. They only know free market with unbounded flow of capital and restricted motion of labor force.

3- Outsourcing becomes one of the prime topics of the election. Obviously, the Green Card Lobby is fast becoming the strongest vote bank in the US. FYI, Obama's campaign database is probably being managed by TCS!

4- The American university system, funded by wealthy donors and alumni, for example, is actually bhai bhatijawaad and paisa power at its worst. The stench of money and influence has long been concealed by the heady fragrance of ‘High Up There’ college brand name. But a recent book by Pulitzer Prize winning Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Golden painstakingly unmasks it all. ‘The Price of Admission’ chronicles how America’s ruling class buys its way into elite colleges. And ‘who gets left outside the gates’.

5- Best universities are filled with foreign students as they bring not only quality but high revenue to colleges. Of course, getting a job after a Bachelor's, or Master's in the US is apparently not a cakewalk. An employer needs to prove there is no American citizen or permanent resident skilled for enough to take on that particular job, in order to sponsor your visa. The company must want you pretty badly to go to that much trouble.

6- With Indian IT companies cornering more and more H1B visas in recent years, things seem to be getting tougher.66,000 H1B visa issue is such as example of restricted movement of labor. Only highly skilled or knowledge driven labor can get entry into their market.

7- Contrary to this,American MNCs are plundering third world and developing countries with their product. Giants like Pepsi or Coke exploit local natural resources i.e. water of 3rd world to for their sole benefit. The experiments done by medical companies in poor countries are now open to all world now. The movie 'Constant Gardener' shows such case by drug companies with full honesty and coverage.

8- The comment of Bush Jr. over food crisis was really also shows a new way of mind boggling and height of stupidity.And 'Teach the controversy' programme by Bush Jr. is really a threat to scientific community.

Jean Luc Godard : ‘A film is ‘the truth 24 times a second.’ Hollywood has buried cinema’s search for truth beneath the search for marketable concepts. Most American directors are like orphans, they have no parents, no history. There’s no story, so they have to invent one. I was always accused of doing pictures will no plot. But a picture is first a story, second a story and third a story. The Americans just spread their story all over the world, hoping that a majority of the audience will buy them the history they don’t have.”

But you have to give credit to America for standing tall as symbol of democracy and free voice in the changing times. It supports the views of  Noam Chomsky and P Krugman even after their economic and political opinion. People like Michael Moore & Al Gore are real pioneer of bringing change in America.

Alexis de Tocqueville quotes (French Historian and Political scientist. 1805-1859)---“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”

What India can learn from America
http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2005/03/what-india-can-learn-from-america.html
For comparison of family values read:
http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2005/02/great-indian-family.html

U.S.A. - Uncle Scam America

Half of people in America do not read news paper and remaining half does not vote;we hope they are same bunch of people or god help that mighty country.

Stereotype truths that all blacks are prevailed in crime. While truth is almost 33% of black youths aged between 18 to 25 are involved in crime.They are either in prisons or roaming in society on parole. Yaa, it is true that now multi-ethnic races residing there are following the same American dream.

Consumer culture is at peak in America than anywhere n the world. The sub-prime crisis in America surfaced when defaults were reported in payments for housing mortgages. The 5% population consumes 25% resources of the world. 90% of GDP is consumed in loans (Sources: Business India 5,October 2008). It is the real face of the capitalist economy of America which wants bail out package from the government now.

Ancient Indian had described consumerism as tendency to "Rinam kritvaa ghritam pibet "/"Take a loan and drink the ghee". Take a car loan or home loan or even a holiday loan. Live for today - but, make sure that you are not in debt tomorrow. America has 115 million such suicidal loan bombs who carry forward credit card debt every month. That is one aspect of consumerism that no Indian certainly don't want to emulate from the Americans. For better present, they are dumping their future. Hence, next generation similarly dumps their previous generation ideas and values. Hippie culture was born by these hypocrisy of western values. Indians don't consider shame in poorness and self content is far more characteristic of east. Read my take on consumer culture for more detail.

Most of the development in U.S.A. is achieved by foreign immigrants struggling hard to acheive green card or citizenship. Insecurity among originals is nothing new here. Red Indian extinction shows the real face of west and condition of Aborigines in an Oz country follow similar track. These migrating workers form the major head of American economic and political position in coming decades. Either the Jewish lobby of business groups or German and Russian scientist community had given best years of their life to reach success as individual and community. Chinese make rail road there when Irish and British settlers were fully Americanized. Then Jewish, Italian and Deustch intellects or labor class flow to U.S.A. in world war times. Russians, Iranian and Afghan flow for better future in cold war times. Japanese came through trade routes and established their supremacy in electronics market. African American involvement in crimes are now known to whole world thanks to Hollywood.The constant influx of Latino has feel their presence in drug and human trafficking. Irish, Italian, Chinese and Russian mafia are now better known to us through film and fictional novels. In between Indians also got entry through green cards except sardars coming for cheap labor by illegal means.

Facts about America:
Land of conspiracy theory: JFK murder to UFO case.
Buy burgers and sell guns to dictators around the world.
Hate speech and gang violence between races is now a major problem.
Bill Monica scandal was a gossip to read....
Donkey is the perfect sign of republic party and stands tall with George Bush Jr.

This America is far from the dreams or philosophy of Thoreau and Emerson. I am sure that even most of Americans would not have heard the name of Henry David Thourea. Continued bashing in the next post....

American Desi

American Consular Officer: "How do we know you'll come back to India?"
Student: "Sir, my roots are here - my family, my property, my business... I want to study in America, but I will come back and put my education to good use."

I read this conversation from someone'sblog and idea about state of indians living abroad struck me. Thousands of Indian students have given this earnest answer at their visa interview. A significant number never return to their motherland. You have to wonder - why bother to ask? Because the idea of America, to a large extent, is to attract the brightest and the best from around the world. NRI ideally stands for Non Resedential Indians. Practically NRI means- Non Returning Indian or Non Reliable Indian.

When the race for food, clothing and shelter becomes over, then green card migrants try to find a identity for themselves. Next generation faces issues like choosing their sides between Indian family and American culture. Desi Indians may perceive herself as 'American' but the colour of her skin and country of birth still make her/him a 'foreigner who's done well' as far as (a section of) right-wing America is concerned. It is about finding identity in a country that will treat you as alien if you are born there. They become like pendulum bob swinging between Indian family and American social surroundings.

Desi is all about rediscovering your roots. Generally, Desi is turned usually associated with Indians living abroad. Now, a new term is framed for the generation born there: ABCD .

ABCD: American Born Confused Desi ;American Desi is used in short for them. The movie 'American Desi' was really upper view of lifestyle and relation of Desi youths. For cool pass time watch it with open mind and heart....

The Namesake as a novel and movie is one of the original and first attempt to address this issue from American perspective. The settling of a family in alien land for the search of livelihood. Their gradual acceptance of the new land. A bemused incomprehension of their extended family to appreciate their better (different?) way of life. Clinging on to certain customs while leaving others. The alienation of the second generation from the first. The second generation's assimilation into a more modern way of life. Halted communication of the first generation to the second. Three hardly identifiable characters mostly lost in a distant land from their own makes Namesake a passable attempt at winning western audience. And i will not spoil the plot here.

Lets put our attempt to understand about Indians living abroad. We were not much aware of America before 90's as brown skinned natives who didn't elect George Bush and live 3000 miles from Graceland. With the globalization era, the periphery of an average Indian with outside world has increased dramatically. The journey starts with Bollywood.

“Watan se chitthi aayi hain” (sung on screen by Pankaj Udhas) was NRI anthem from film 'Naam' but the movie was mainly targeted to middle east based Indians. Forget Purab aur Pachim, now bollywood can make film like Salaam Namaste, Kal ho na ho, Namaste London, Kabhi khushi kabhi gum and Dostana (list cont...) . But movies like 'Provoked' gives also other face of the reality. They are entirely based on NRI life with fictional Indian value embodiment in them. Now,an overseas market are targeted with Desi junta as potential consumers. Swades was genuine Indian attempt to pull the strings of NRI to their motherland. Sivaji was also on footstep of swades but on a much broad fictional stance. Some are worth mentioning here as they have done Real Life Swades.

Worthy to mention Punjabi NRI who's mixed bhangra rhythms with hip-hop and reggae to create new genres of music altogether. I am mere observer here. Its flight of elites and plight of masses in mine motherland India.