Even Hell has its Standards

They call themselves Kiwis (a flightless bird and also a fruit), have a wicked sense of humor, and they like to take the mickey out of each other. Taking themselves too seriously is not part of the national character.

We’re now approaching Auckland international airport, and will land in a few minutes if we can get these sheep off the runway. Please set your watches back 25 years.

They do have sheep. 40 million of them. The sheep outnumber the human population 10 to 1. In an area about the size of Japan, or the US state of Colorado, they have 4 million people. The economy is based on grassland agriculture and is one of the most egalitarian in the world. Instead of setting your watch back 25 years, you would be better advised to set it forward when it comes to schooling and dealing with problems national as well as international.

My primary motive in visiting New Zealand was to learn about their educational system. My guide was one of New Zealand’s favorite sons who is world famous in New Zealand (as he likes put it) — my friend, Mr. Gordon Dryden: journalist, radio and TV host, co-author of the best-selling book The Learning Revolution, a brilliant raconteur, an able and indefatigable tour guide, a man who knows his Pinot Gries, a legend in his own mind, and a bit of a bullshit artist. Gordon will soon celebrate 50 years of being married to Margaret. You have to know Gordon to fully appreciate why she is called St. Margaret.

(OK, Dryden, I have kept my part of the deal and said nothing that would embarrass your first wife St. Margaret of Auckland. Now go ahead and ship that case of Pinot Noir to me.)

As I was telling you, they like to take the mickey out of every one. Here is a simple billboard advertising — guess what — pizza!

Hell Pizza

Another billboard again with George W Bush’s picture in Auckland downtown simply declared:

Hell.
Even it has its standards.

They evidently say it like they see it. Just this past weekend, David Lange, the former prime minister of NZ, passed away at the age of 63. His wit was legendary. He is supposed to have told the US Ambassador H. Monroe Browne, who owned a racehorse called Lacka Reason: “You are the only ambassador in the world to race a horse named after your country’s foreign policy.”

Now I will take a break and go read the entry on David Lange in the wikipedia. After the break I will continue on what I learnt on my recent visit to NZ and Singapore. So don’t go away.

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Post Script: For an update on the “Hell Pizza” billboards, see “Hell and Censorship” (Feb 2007.)

Home, home again

In case you been wondering whatever happened to me — I am back home after wandering strange and exotic places. New Zealand and Singapore to be precise.

Sorry for not keeping in touch for the past couple of weeks. There are tales to be told and as soon as I settle down, I intend to record my impresssions of my wanderings around the globe.

More on Teresa

Following my post yesterday on abusing children Mother Teresa style, I came across Christopher Hitchens’ article in the UK Mirror, “Why Mother Teresa Should Not Be a Saint.” I will quote only a bit here for the record but really you have to read the article to get a better understanding of what Teresa was all about. (I got to know of the article from a post by Anthony Loewenstein titled Mother Teresa Slammed Again.)
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The War on Terror

If you ever wanted a brief on what the proximate origins of the Islamic terrorism you see around the world are, Juan Cole’s Informed Comment has a must read item called Fisking the “War on Terror.” Go read it.

Abusing Children Teresa Style

On Aug 1st British television carried an investigative piece by Donal McIntyre about the treatment of children in an orphanage run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. He quotes Dr Aroup Chatterjee, a medical doctor in London and the author of Mother Teresa: The Final Verdict, as saying that “the Indian government is “terrified” of her reputation but if similar practices were found in any other home, it would have been shut down.”
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Culture Matters

Economists conventionally list land, labor and capital as the three factors of production. If combined appropriately using the right technology, stuff is produced. This produced stuff is then the total income. Productive efficiency is important of course for a society to be economically secure. Then there is the matter of equity. You have to distribute the stuff produced equitably. Productive efficiency and distributive equity must be part of a healthy economy. But then if sufficient factors of production exist and the technology is also available, then how does one account for the failure of some societies in overcoming poverty?

I believe that the choices that society makes depends on the cultural and institutional capital of the society. As much as land, labor, capital, and technology matter, the social capital — that is the cultural norms and values and institutions — matter fundamentally.

This line of thought was prompted by a report in the New York Times. It was the story of Shazia Khalid who was raped and then persecuted by all and sundry for her “sin.” This happened in Pakistan. The culture of that place is such that the victim is blamed. Rape is seen as a insult to the family honor which can only be restored by killing the woman who was violated.

The values of the society matter more than the availability of PCs and the ability to surf the internet and get neat stuff off the world wide web. Third world under-developed societies need a change of values desperately if they are to get out of the cycle of poverty. Unfortunately, values are endogenous and they can only change with great difficulty. They cannot be imposed externally any more than “democracy” be imposed externally as the US is ostensibly attempting to do in Iraq.

The sense of fairness and justice is, in my opinion, the major determinant of how developed a society is. And in some sense, development is the basis for economic development. Until a society has justice and fairness as its core values, it cannot get beyond a Hobbesian existence.

Rain is coming down

Close to the Worli Seaface

Close to the Worli Seaface in Mumbai around 10 am today. The rain has been coming down since midnight last night. The wind is pretty high, as you can see below.

Windy Morning in Mumbai

The high tide today was not as high as it was last Tuesday. The Haji Ali mosque seen from my friend’s 13th floor apartment.

Near the Haji Ali area of Mumbai

Moving around in Mumbai

Best Mode of Transport in Mumbai
Well, thank goodness that there are options when it comes to transportation around here. This SUV is not going to be stopped by streets with 6-foot deep water levels. At water levels that would leave cars totally immersed, this fellow will barely notice it.

Now aren’t you glad that we did not go with those compact Japanese models of elephants? Sure they gave more miles to the bale of hay, and were easier to park in the crowded streets, but they were useless when it came to crossing overflowing creeks.

India – the Next Big Player

Perception and reality are two different things, of course, but they do influence each other. How India is perceived by the US (and vice versa) matters. A significant shift in that perception is clearly visible, going by the writings of observers of the developing India-US relationship. John Mauldin’s Thoughts from the Frontline carries an analysis by George Friedman titled India the Next Big Player.
Continue reading “India – the Next Big Player”