If the US were a person it would be a mollycoddled CEO who has lost his job, has no savings leftover from a couple of lifetimes of binge spending and is now finding it frighteningly hard to adjust to a life without salary or perks.
This spectacle has thrown up a rather piquant stand-off that illuminates the human condition well.
A week ago a Republican called Paul Ryan produced a financial strategy. The punditocracy of the right went into raptures over it.
The Economist the erudite standard-bearer of the conservative rich, praised it in last week's issue in a leader titled "Praising Paul Ryan. At last somebody is trying to grapple with America's fiscal trouble".
Sample the piece:
"He also outlines a simplification of America’s mad tax code, bringing the top rate for both individuals and businesses down to 25% by eliminating loopholes"
This would force them(them being broadly the old, the poor and the profligate sate and local governments that hands out dole to these blood-sucking sections of society)to manage their budgets more responsibly than they have needed to when they have been able to send much of the tab to Washington.
So now you have the salient points of Ryan's strategy.
President Obama last evening tore into Ryan's proposal.
The Wall Street Journal, that rabble-rousing poodle of the rich, jumped into the fray this evening.
"The Presidential Divider. Obama's toxic speech and even worse plan".
No need to quote this Murdochian paragon of virtue. It just fulminated against Obama.
The pundits of the left have of course joined the fray.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate in economics, wrote an opinion piece in today's New York Times titled "Who's Serious Now?".
Krugman deserves quoting:
"Then people who actually understand budget numbers went to work, and it became clear that the (Ryan's)proposal wasn’t serious at all. In fact, it was a sick joke. The only real things in it were savage cuts in aid to the needy and the uninsured, huge tax cuts for corporations and the rich, and Medicare privatization. All the alleged cost savings were pure fantasy."
This battle is pure black and white. The reason why I follow the US so closely is that it is that one country that highlights all of humankind's myriad drama's which are in other places lost in the detail (like the wag said "to me Hollywood is not an American product.To me America is a Hollywood product").
What's happening in the US highlights that class struggle as a defining socioeconomic and cultural theme is back after hibernating for close to a century. It is now Rich versus the Rest all over the world. It is on the streets of the Middle-East. It is in Delhi's cocktail chatter about a hungry man on a podium. It is in the euro-crisis. It is behind the uneasiness of China's rulers.
World War 3 is among us. The Rich versus the Rest. Decide where you belong. I have.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Stripping to The Core
As yesterday's summer sun dappled through my window, I found myself unreasonably happy.
Over the last month as I went about my quotidian tasks, I had begun a process of spring-cleaning on the inside. No heavy duty retreat or meditation, just a quiet second attention to the self. The result is a lightness of being. No weight of what ought to be or what should be. Just being. Every moment it's own master. Independent and unique. All encompassing of nothingness.
Yesterday as the sun dappled my happiness, Steve Winwood was on the stereo with Low Sparks of the High Heeled Boys singing:
If I gave you everything that I owned
And asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you
Or take me for a ride
And strip me of everything, including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
It struck me then, as Steve crooned on, that stripping ourselves back to our core is our greatest source of happiness.
Let go of the heaviness and you will rise to happiness.
Over the last month as I went about my quotidian tasks, I had begun a process of spring-cleaning on the inside. No heavy duty retreat or meditation, just a quiet second attention to the self. The result is a lightness of being. No weight of what ought to be or what should be. Just being. Every moment it's own master. Independent and unique. All encompassing of nothingness.
Yesterday as the sun dappled my happiness, Steve Winwood was on the stereo with Low Sparks of the High Heeled Boys singing:
If I gave you everything that I owned
And asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you
Or take me for a ride
And strip me of everything, including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
It struck me then, as Steve crooned on, that stripping ourselves back to our core is our greatest source of happiness.
Let go of the heaviness and you will rise to happiness.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
What time is the 3'0 clock parade?
I ain't looking for praise or pity
I ain't coming round searching for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch
Just a little of that human touch
- Lyrics for Bruce Springsteen's Human Touch
Freudian analysis has faded away as a valid way of studying the human psyche because it paid too much attention to the dark motivations of the human "id" and too little to the simple yearnings of the human soul.
Avoiding loneliness and seeking human warmth is the central motivating tenet of human civilization. Cavemen huddled besides the fire not just because of economies of scale. Being childlike is when you express this need without guile. Childishness is when you let it make you a page three neurotic. To us ordinary mortals it is the seeking and nurturing of friends and families. The evolved answer this need at the highest level- by being one with the world and thus banishing loneliness, root and branch.
In Disney's amusement parks the question that visitor's most frequently ask of park personnel is "What time is the 3'0 clock parade?". The park personnel recognize the question for what it is - yet another tendril looking for human contact and warmth and are trained to answer to engage with civility: "It is best if you take your position by 2 30pm near Jo's for the best view of the parade"
I ain't coming round searching for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch
Just a little of that human touch
- Lyrics for Bruce Springsteen's Human Touch
Freudian analysis has faded away as a valid way of studying the human psyche because it paid too much attention to the dark motivations of the human "id" and too little to the simple yearnings of the human soul.
Avoiding loneliness and seeking human warmth is the central motivating tenet of human civilization. Cavemen huddled besides the fire not just because of economies of scale. Being childlike is when you express this need without guile. Childishness is when you let it make you a page three neurotic. To us ordinary mortals it is the seeking and nurturing of friends and families. The evolved answer this need at the highest level- by being one with the world and thus banishing loneliness, root and branch.
In Disney's amusement parks the question that visitor's most frequently ask of park personnel is "What time is the 3'0 clock parade?". The park personnel recognize the question for what it is - yet another tendril looking for human contact and warmth and are trained to answer to engage with civility: "It is best if you take your position by 2 30pm near Jo's for the best view of the parade"
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Unsquaring Corruption
The corruption around us and the constant exposition and sensationalizing of corruption by an ubiquitous, always on, intrusive media has an insidious and deep effect on all of us.
We start with decrying the state our country and our society is in. But we know we are as much part of this country and society as anybody else. As a result, the constant decrying of the state around us, in time, sub-consciously manifests itself as self-hate. And in the final analysis it is self-hate that is the root cause of corruption.
I call this phenomenon Corruption Squared.
The uncovering of this phenomenon in my mind has led to a realization.
The way to fight corruption is not to constantly focus on it and constantly decry it. It is to more intensely look at the good that is in our society, our country and in us. This increased scrutiny of the good will unsquare corruption and empower us to strike at the root causes of corruption besides eradicating its most virulent symptoms.
The media would do, I think, a great service to our society and our country if it follows the above recipe.
To begin with however, as an individual, I am going try and unsquare corruption
in my own mind.
Jai India !
Sleepless in Mumbai
Three in the night
The metronome rings empty
At dawn I will be asleep
Now barren, so barren, awake
Faith sleeps. Sleeps besides me.
Shall I mouth a prayer now?
Now when darkness reigns?
I turn. Turn away.
The metronome rings empty, so empty
We start with decrying the state our country and our society is in. But we know we are as much part of this country and society as anybody else. As a result, the constant decrying of the state around us, in time, sub-consciously manifests itself as self-hate. And in the final analysis it is self-hate that is the root cause of corruption.
I call this phenomenon Corruption Squared.
The uncovering of this phenomenon in my mind has led to a realization.
The way to fight corruption is not to constantly focus on it and constantly decry it. It is to more intensely look at the good that is in our society, our country and in us. This increased scrutiny of the good will unsquare corruption and empower us to strike at the root causes of corruption besides eradicating its most virulent symptoms.
The media would do, I think, a great service to our society and our country if it follows the above recipe.
To begin with however, as an individual, I am going try and unsquare corruption
in my own mind.
Jai India !
Sleepless in Mumbai
Three in the night
The metronome rings empty
At dawn I will be asleep
Now barren, so barren, awake
Faith sleeps. Sleeps besides me.
Shall I mouth a prayer now?
Now when darkness reigns?
I turn. Turn away.
The metronome rings empty, so empty
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The power of your future
The past is deadwood.
Yet often it overwhelms.
Consider the guy in Danny Boyle's 127 hours. Trapped under a rock with no help on hand, he flails about and then, giving up, prepares to die in the narcotic companionship of his past- a deadly cocktail of fond reminisces and deadly regrets.
It is only a glimpse of a possible future - in the form of a currently non-existent son - quietly egging him to live that gifts him the courage to brutally cut away the hand that traps him and flee to his future.
That's why I guess the sages ask us to live in the now.
Because our now closes the door to the past and opens a window to the future.
The truth sets you free. Your future fuels that hard-won freedom.
In conclusion here is a ditty I would like to share with you:
Creation
Cold suns light up dawn skies
The heat of the night dissipates
My left shoe bites
The heart's arryhtmia ticks
What's the time?
What's time !?
Poles apart meet
The world collapses
Into the everyday, commomplace
Here, now, everywhere, for eternity
Yet often it overwhelms.
Consider the guy in Danny Boyle's 127 hours. Trapped under a rock with no help on hand, he flails about and then, giving up, prepares to die in the narcotic companionship of his past- a deadly cocktail of fond reminisces and deadly regrets.
It is only a glimpse of a possible future - in the form of a currently non-existent son - quietly egging him to live that gifts him the courage to brutally cut away the hand that traps him and flee to his future.
That's why I guess the sages ask us to live in the now.
Because our now closes the door to the past and opens a window to the future.
The truth sets you free. Your future fuels that hard-won freedom.
In conclusion here is a ditty I would like to share with you:
Creation
Cold suns light up dawn skies
The heat of the night dissipates
My left shoe bites
The heart's arryhtmia ticks
What's the time?
What's time !?
Poles apart meet
The world collapses
Into the everyday, commomplace
Here, now, everywhere, for eternity
Monday, December 27, 2010
Masters of War
Back during the Cold War,the people of the West feared nuclear annihilation. These days they worry about the coming loss of affluence and the need to share power with East. Very soon now the powerful and the establishment in the West will arrive at a solution. War. An industry they still dominate. Sooner then we think we might stop talking about the greedy bankers and financial skullduggery and get our focus back on those who really pull the strings. The Masters of War.
To get a get a sample of what you will feel then, pull out this Bob Dylan classic song titiled Masters of War (Bob Dylan, I think, is the poet that eternity will record as the chronicler of hi age even while transceding it)from the Cold War days when the memory of the World Wars still had bite, and give it a spin:
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.
To get a get a sample of what you will feel then, pull out this Bob Dylan classic song titiled Masters of War (Bob Dylan, I think, is the poet that eternity will record as the chronicler of hi age even while transceding it)from the Cold War days when the memory of the World Wars still had bite, and give it a spin:
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Ten Commandments for the Corrupt and the Crooked
1. Thou shall deny meritocracy with every fiber of your being, so that when the time comes to picking the fall guys from among your juniors, every poor sod seems equally deserving
2. Thou shall hate art, music and culture while loudly professing your passion for them. Because if you start really enjoying stuff that does not cost much what will you do with all the millions you are going to stash away? You can’t risk the fading of your amazing appetite for money, can you? At the same time remember the culture scene, the art market and show business are full of your kind and so you must pretend conviviality
3. Thou shall not stint on buying your children a business degree or two from abroad. Helps in creating front companies. And hopefully the nincompoops will learn a thing or two besides finding boring, wasteful ways of spending your ill-gotten wealth
4. Thou shall pretend to be pious. Besides being good for the image among the gullible, religious institutions and seers are, 9 out of 10 times, good and reliable partners for people like you. Moreover there is no evidence yet that God, if he exists, cannot be fooled
5. If you made the mistake of getting a good education thou shall strive to wash away its debilitating effects by dipping into every pool of inequity, crudeness and lasciviousness that you can find. This of course does not mean that you cannot preen at all the alumni gatherings that you can get to in your latest SUV. If you haven’t got an education, congratulations on your good sense. And remember that you can always get a honorary doctorate or two for a quid or a quid pro quo
6. Thou shall kiss-arse the rich and the powerful as often as you can and to compensate for the consequent hurt to your ego, kick-arse every one dependent on you, as often as you can
7. Thou shall banish love and passion (because they are the enemy of greed) from your life and make do with lust and emotional dependencies
8. Thou shall not worry about your inner ugliness showing because money can always buy cosmetic surgery, soft lighting, airbrushing, arm candy and fawning hanger-ons
9. Thou shall cultivate a high-order of stinginess when it comes to charity or spending on others because you know nobody, except perhaps your mother, really loves you, so why should you care?
10. You shall steal the tenth commandment because you are the quintessential 10% guy, aren't you?
2. Thou shall hate art, music and culture while loudly professing your passion for them. Because if you start really enjoying stuff that does not cost much what will you do with all the millions you are going to stash away? You can’t risk the fading of your amazing appetite for money, can you? At the same time remember the culture scene, the art market and show business are full of your kind and so you must pretend conviviality
3. Thou shall not stint on buying your children a business degree or two from abroad. Helps in creating front companies. And hopefully the nincompoops will learn a thing or two besides finding boring, wasteful ways of spending your ill-gotten wealth
4. Thou shall pretend to be pious. Besides being good for the image among the gullible, religious institutions and seers are, 9 out of 10 times, good and reliable partners for people like you. Moreover there is no evidence yet that God, if he exists, cannot be fooled
5. If you made the mistake of getting a good education thou shall strive to wash away its debilitating effects by dipping into every pool of inequity, crudeness and lasciviousness that you can find. This of course does not mean that you cannot preen at all the alumni gatherings that you can get to in your latest SUV. If you haven’t got an education, congratulations on your good sense. And remember that you can always get a honorary doctorate or two for a quid or a quid pro quo
6. Thou shall kiss-arse the rich and the powerful as often as you can and to compensate for the consequent hurt to your ego, kick-arse every one dependent on you, as often as you can
7. Thou shall banish love and passion (because they are the enemy of greed) from your life and make do with lust and emotional dependencies
8. Thou shall not worry about your inner ugliness showing because money can always buy cosmetic surgery, soft lighting, airbrushing, arm candy and fawning hanger-ons
9. Thou shall cultivate a high-order of stinginess when it comes to charity or spending on others because you know nobody, except perhaps your mother, really loves you, so why should you care?
10. You shall steal the tenth commandment because you are the quintessential 10% guy, aren't you?
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