Why are nations unequal? Apparently a simple question but hard to answer. I am writing a set of columns on that topic with reference to India. Here’s part 1. A slightly different version of this appeared on NitiCentral.com earlier this month.
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Category: My writing elsewhere
The Iron Lady who Fought for Freedom
“Freedom, freedom, freedom . . . Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long way from my home,” sang Richie Havens at Woodstock. Lots of people struggle for freedom. What are they seeking freedom from? From other people. We have to remember this: People need to leave other people alone. Do what you will and don’t impose your will on others. That should be the totality of the law.
Below the fold, the text of my recent column at NitiCentral.com, “The Iron Lady who Fought for Freedom.” But first here’s Richie Havens in 2009 singing that song which he sang in the 1969 music festival held on Yasgur’s farm near Woodstock, NY.
After 40 years, the man still retains his voice. Watch him at Woodstock here.
Buildings Don’t Matter, Intentions Do
I. UC Berkeley
My alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, is an extraordinary place. It consistently ranks among the top few universities in the world. The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked it fourth overall—behind Harvard, Stanford and MIT. It ranks world’s second best in science, and third best in engineering, and in social sciences.
Continue reading “Buildings Don’t Matter, Intentions Do”
“The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems.”
{This piece was published at NitiCentral.com last week.}
Ron Paul is retiring after serving in the US Congress for 23 years over a 36 year period. There’s a striking line in his farewell speech he gave on Nov 14th to the US Congress. “The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems.” It strikes me as the crux of practically all of humanity’s problems, not just political problems. All the manifest problems that we collectively face involve the immoral use of force or coercion. Look and you will find what lies beneath any problem is clearly an instance of someone or some organization using force to take what is not given freely.
Continue reading ““The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems.””
The US Elections Are a Spectacular Sideshow
The US presidential elections are scheduled for next week Tuesday, Nov 6th. A lot hangs on the outcome for the US — and perhaps the world. In a piece that I wrote a few days ago for NitiCentral.com, I argue that its importance for India is overblown since what happens in the US does not materially affect India’s fortunes. For the record, here it is below the fold. If you wish to comment, please do so on NitiCentral.
Continue reading “The US Elections Are a Spectacular Sideshow”
Sex-selection is a good thing
Over at Quartz, my piece on the topic of sex-selection in India is titled, “Why Indian parents should be allowed to choose whether to have girls.” Writers often don’t have control over the titles of pieces but this one is not bad compared to the really lousy title of my piece in NitiCentral published yesterday which should have been titled “Sonia Gandhi’s travels are more mysterious than the Shroud of Turin & costlier than going to Mars.” C’est la vie and all that. Anyway, an extended excerpt below the fold.
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Aakash, blue skies vaporware
In the information technology sector, the two well-known categories of goods are hardware, the stuff you can hold in your hands, and software, the bits that have no weight. The third category is termed vaporware: hardware that exist only in the fevered imagination of their promoters and which will never hit the stores.
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The Coming “Citizen War”
The Citizen at War
Political freedom must be used to fight for economic freedom
July 2011.
Witnessing the recent skirmishes between some segments of the “civil society” and the central government of India, it is hard to keep cynicism at bay. On the one side there are sincere people with not inconsiderable following who are trying to bring about change in governance and the reduction of public corruption which has reached astronomical proportions. While they may be motivated by worthy goals, not all their means are above reproach. Their passion is not matched by their understanding of what should be done and how.
On the other side are powerful people in the government who are not particularly perturbed about the reports that allege, often with substantial evidence, their involvement in scams that run into billions of dollars. These people have the power of the state on their side and are not hesitant in using overwhelming force to defeat the people on the other side. Not just the police force, but they have used government agencies—such as investigative and taxation institutions—to fight their opponents. Continue reading “The Coming “Citizen War””
The Illusion of Freedom
The April 2011 edition of “Pragati — The Indian National Interest Review” is here. I have a piece in there — The Illusion of Freedom. Here it is below the fold, for the record.
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Creating New Vote Banks
It’s been a while since I contributed to “The Indian National Interest Review: Pragati.” I had to write a piece. I didn’t want the editor, Mr Nitin Pai, to get mad at me. It’s always best to be on his right side. Never get the press angry, is what I always say. Now if you know me, you know that it takes me forever to write anything. At the very mention of writing, I feel a writer’s block coming on. Writing is the hardest thing I try. But anyway, I dusted off the old keyboard, put on my thinking cap and pondered market failures, government failures, and what can be done about them. Here it is for the record.
(Click on image for a PDF copy of the issue.)
Continue reading “Creating New Vote Banks”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 