Don’t let me stop your great self-destruction. Die if you want to, you misguided martyr. I wash my hands of your demolition. Die if you want to, you innocent puppet! ————– Pilate to Jesus at the trial in Jesus Christ… Read More ›
Month: November 2004
The Trick is not to Mind the Pain
I came across this quote in Myke’s weblog. T.E Lawrence wrote in the Seven Pillars of Wisdom: All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to… Read More ›
The Price of a Revolution
The recently concluded elections in the US gives credence to what H. L. Menken (1880-1956) predicted when he wrote: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some… Read More ›
Corruption and Economic Development: A Reference
Yesterday I claimed that India is the world’s largest kleptocracy somewhat along the lines of the claim usually made about India being the world’s largest democracy (if you use a really flexible definition of democracy, of course.) One reader, Sudhar,… Read More ›
India, the World’s Largest Kleptocracy
My brother came to visit me at our offices in Lower Parel in Mumbai this afternoon. He was duly impressed by the spanking new buildings that occupy what used to be Morajee Mills land. I guess I can understand why… Read More ›
India and Utility Computing
Stand-alone computing a la PCs delivering “services” is fine for those who can afford that luxury, but is definitely a show-stopper for those who have very little disposable income and yet can make use of those services that PCs deliver…. Read More ›
You might be a third world country if …
Indian roads reflect the amazing diversity that is India, a mix of the modern and the ancient. It is as if a cross-section of the entire history of transportation were displayed for all to marvel at. A huge mass of… Read More ›
A Path with a Heart
Many years ago, while in high school, I had read a bunch of books by Carlos Castaneda about the Yaqui shaman don Juan. Later on in the US, I learnt that Castaneda’s claim that don Juan was a real person… Read More ›
The Poor as a Fertile Source of Slave Labor
I have never been able to shake off the conviction that there must be a very good economic reason for why there are so many poor people around the world. You may say that I am crazy to connect what… Read More ›
Sir, won’t you buy this bridge and the Employment Guarantee Act?
The converse concept of bounded rationality, it seems to me, must be unbounded stupidity. So is the statement that humans exhibit bounded rationality merely an euphemism for the fact that humans are prone to unbounded stupidity? A moment’s reflection should… Read More ›
