Some thoughts

"While religion could rightly be a private concern of each person, it could not serve as the basis of public activity. Pure self interest becomes the sole basis for establishment of the state" - John Locke

Adam Smith like Locke, beleived that basis of all human activity is material self interest. Since this is natural, we should not condemn selfishness by erecting social barriers to its pursuit.

Beleiving that men and women are basically egoists in pursuit of economic gain, Smith's theories subordinate all human desires to the quest for material abundance to satisfy physical needs. There are no ethical choices to be made, only utilitarian judgements exercised by each individual pursuing self-interest.

"A science is any discipline in which fool of this generation can go beyond the point reached by the genius of last generation" - Anthrapologist Max Gluckman.

Living systems are open systems. Both matter and energy are exchanged with the outside. Living systems can never obtain an equilibrium state, while they're alive, because an equilibrium state means death.

French Proverb : "Happy People dont make History"

Technological specialization so limits the scope of operation of each function in society that it is virtually impossible to readapt a particular function to perform a different task. We have come to the point where each of us knows more and more about less and less until as a society we all know almost everything about nothing.

Political Thoughts - Contd.

The trend [key witnesses turning hostile] which was recently spotlighted in Best Bakery and BMW hit-and-run cases has undermined public confidence in the criminal justice system and contributed to the abysmal rate of convictions in India. Preventing witnesses from turning hostile doesnot mean merely making them feel more secure. The Jessica Lal case suggests it is also about making it less troublesome and inconvenient for them.

"BJP is communal by day whereas Congress is communal by night"

Leftist Views

The long drawn out economic and political tensions, for instance, in Latin America have moved the Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales trio towards an international agenda for social reconstruction within which socialism does not need to be replaced but must be put forward as a programme to salvage a world from inequality and the abuse of power, especially the hegemony of the White House.

The insistence that the egalitarian project of the Left was a product of a specific historical epoch and that it now has no place in a "post socialist" world is a serious allegation and rather off the mark when one considers the recent steps taken by Chavez in sending grants up to $41 billion to Cuba and in return getting the much needed medical servcies offered by thousands of trained Cuban doctors. He along with other Latin American leaders, has moved socialism back on to the centre stage.

It is, therefore, clear that within the context of the structural transformation of capitalism that has led to the decline of the classical working class and the generation of new forms of social protest, the Left has moved towards a new identity, so visible in the communist comeback in Russia, in France, and now in Latin America.

Some Political Views

Appeasement seems to be the UPA Governmenst's priority. Minority status for AMU, reservation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, amendment to the Foreigners Act, creation of a Ministry for Minority Affairs, and now the headcount. Even a child knows it does not have Christians, Sikhs or Jains in mind when it talks of minority uplift. There is no statesman at the helm; only politicians with a limited agenda.

Little personal

Started using internet from home !!! Tried connecting to office using vpn. Some problem with the xp instatllation prevents from setting up the connection. Hmmm had a good start. Hope to better in the coming days.

Had a online meeting with JC friends today. But none of the NRI were found online !!