This blog post is a strange assortment of many different ideas, responses and a jumble of analytical and even non-analytical ideas that flirt the boundaries of "good" v/s "good-looking" and science v/s reality. So pardon the apparent brownian motion that the floating part of my brain indulges in.
I am starting to feel that there is a fine difference between "action" and "deed". Marriage is an institution started by humans. The deeds committed by the politicians are in no way a reflection of how the society operates. I wouldn't necessarily widen the scope of a political dynasty and it's deeds to be attributable to the overall performance of a national system. The moment you start questioning their performance based on their deeds, you start to realize there are many political leaders and well-regarded scholars around the planet that were popular in public life, but however had an outrageously "immoral" execution of their private lives. Perhaps certain centers of the brain or neural system are strangely in proximity, that create such tendencies. Have we done a clinical or even psychological analysis of this behavior. Perhaps that's what makes us human.
Is, to be human, to be perfect? The truly flawless, perfectionist exists in the imagination or in the movies. The fact that we screw up, is not because we are NOT Gods, but because we are just a bunch of sophisticated logic which may still have bugs. It's not that machines are more predictable about their malfunction. It's just that the patterns of human malfunction are a lot more complex and probably predictable in non-linear, polynomial or even polynomials with imaginary exponents.
Would an alien know the difference between good and bad? How would they define abuse of environment? Would our knowledge and control over our nature and environment give us more liberty to plunder it. Would our scientific advancement in terms of mastering the basis of life or even synthetic life, give us the license to re-invent environment itself or manipulate our existential dependencies on them? What exactly would constitute responsible "living" in a planetary system of NGC-58 that supports alternate forms of life.
That brings us to the next question. What is life really? Why can't I blame a dining table of larceny? Why is gambling unheard of in the ant colony? And why is it legal for birds to drink and fly? Or is it? Does it even matter? Is there such a thing as a good-looking tiger or peacock? And do hummingbirds become mean and nasty ever?
The three sensations of "pain", "pleasure" and "itch" are in close proximity in our brain. Is there a reason for this? Or is this the reason why we sometimes create rapists, murderers and lovers in our society, all depicted in movies as frequently the same character that commits these "crimes".
Now, there are two questions:
1. Do we judge politicians based on what they did in their private lives, or public lives or both?
2. Do we attribute their success or failures in execution while on job, to our ability or inability to elect or not elect an appropriate leader?
Now, my answer to the first question is, that I usually don't judge the success of any political leader's public life based on anything other than the actions they perform while executing their position as a leader or President of the country. Now this is complicated when their private lives get public. Another point ... human desires have no walls around them. I don't think religion or culture or any legacy plays an important role when humans have a physical or mental desire to seek pleasure. While this is common in animals, we tend to draw lines around morality when it comes to humans. The question I ask: Did all the Gods marry? What did Jesus do? What did Krishna do? When I start thinking about these fundamental questions, is when I like to tune out of this all together.
My answer to the second question, it is definitely our responsibility to ensure good alternatives available at the top when we go voting at the booth. It's always hard to choose between two evils. I don't think I ever saw a flawless candidate on the presidentential ticket in the world history that I have lived with.
The planet, to me is now more important than the deeds of the politicians I have helped elect. It really doesn't matter anymore who runs a nation and what they do. What matters is what we as a human kind can do to reverse the climate changes and prevent ourselves from being self-annihilated by moody tyrants.
People like Al Gore and Michio Kaku have encouraged us think about the big picture. They have asked us to look beyond politics, beyond wars, beyond economies, beyond power and beyond wealth and instead look at the basis of life and existence itself. In this bigger scheme of things, we have demonstrated a very poor ability to grasp that.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Listen to Santana's "I am winning" and do your work!
Tired of bailing out the fiscally irresponsible who you trusted so much with your hard-earned money? Wouldn't you rather spend time doing something else that will guarantee a benefit for yourself, just when your frustration is at it's highest. Tired of playing by the rules only to realize that all your tax dollars are being spent to bail out all the banks? Well, if you say yes to even one of these questions, you are not alone and you are not abnormal. Nor do you need any kind of help or counseling.
It's time you started thinking about "winning" because that's the going attitude of the day. The winning attitude is going to help keep yourself optimistic, and take charge of your life. You will find that you have stopped complaining and started working towards improving your life and your surroundings. Don't expect Obama to be your Messiah. He is not going to come and save you, and don't ever believe it when they tell that you have been living irresponsibly borrowing too much to buy homes, and which has what has lead to the nations' banking issues. You are probably the only element in the economy that has got it all right. You worked 12 hours a day for the last 8 years, paid all your bills, skipped half your vacations and in return all you expect is an affordable home that is not too far from your place of work. Market forces have determined how much your home would cost. You have not been going to auction houses and trading on mortgage securities. You have not been going on eBay and buying that piece of barren land in New Mexico that you have never seen. You have pretty much been rushing to get home from work in the commute traffic so you can pick up your child from school. You have been maintaining a family and working hard to keep your job while you find the employers are getting tax incentives to export the jobs abroad.
But while you were living responsibly and doing everything right, there have been a few who have been playing with mortgage securities and trading it in the world markets, using exotic derivatives for the purpose of immediate gains. And while you were working hard and shopping for your necessities and saving the little money left for college education of your kids, there have been people who have approved emergency funds to be taken out of the nations' treasury in billions of dollars for fighting a war in a foreign country like Iraq, which should never have been started in the first place. They have falsely promised you about national security and they have indulged in fear-mongering to make sure you do not stop them from using that money. And while you were filling $5 a gallon of gas, you have been told that India and China have been largely contributing to increased demand for world's oil. And then you also read the headlines in the news that Exxon has made a record profit of $37 billion in 2008, the highest ever made by any company. You also learn that 12 of the world's largest 15 companies are oil companies.
And while you have been told that capitalism is under threat, you find that companies like AT&T and Comcast lobby the government of the major urban cities of the country to prevent the proliferation of high speed internet via Wi-Fi max or other cool technologies. And you find yourself shopping in Walmart, Target, Costco, more often than the convenience store right near your home because you know your 5/1 ARM is due a month from now, and you are fearing that your monthly payments are going to rise. You also learn that these stores pretty much carry most products that are no longer made in this country.
And while you hope that skilled American workers need to return back to their jobs, you also learn that we are adding 1 million illegal immigrants into this country's population. You are also told that the welfare, education, hospital and jail resources are pretty much being utilized by the illegals. And you have been told that you are not American, if you say no to illegals. So you have been historically blackmailed and held on a social leash for the span of your life.
All this will drive you to lose. You would prefer being a loser. But don't. You could be winning. Because you did everything right. And when nothing works for you to motivate yourself, just listen to Santana's "I am winning" and tune out of reality.
It's time you started thinking about "winning" because that's the going attitude of the day. The winning attitude is going to help keep yourself optimistic, and take charge of your life. You will find that you have stopped complaining and started working towards improving your life and your surroundings. Don't expect Obama to be your Messiah. He is not going to come and save you, and don't ever believe it when they tell that you have been living irresponsibly borrowing too much to buy homes, and which has what has lead to the nations' banking issues. You are probably the only element in the economy that has got it all right. You worked 12 hours a day for the last 8 years, paid all your bills, skipped half your vacations and in return all you expect is an affordable home that is not too far from your place of work. Market forces have determined how much your home would cost. You have not been going to auction houses and trading on mortgage securities. You have not been going on eBay and buying that piece of barren land in New Mexico that you have never seen. You have pretty much been rushing to get home from work in the commute traffic so you can pick up your child from school. You have been maintaining a family and working hard to keep your job while you find the employers are getting tax incentives to export the jobs abroad.
But while you were living responsibly and doing everything right, there have been a few who have been playing with mortgage securities and trading it in the world markets, using exotic derivatives for the purpose of immediate gains. And while you were working hard and shopping for your necessities and saving the little money left for college education of your kids, there have been people who have approved emergency funds to be taken out of the nations' treasury in billions of dollars for fighting a war in a foreign country like Iraq, which should never have been started in the first place. They have falsely promised you about national security and they have indulged in fear-mongering to make sure you do not stop them from using that money. And while you were filling $5 a gallon of gas, you have been told that India and China have been largely contributing to increased demand for world's oil. And then you also read the headlines in the news that Exxon has made a record profit of $37 billion in 2008, the highest ever made by any company. You also learn that 12 of the world's largest 15 companies are oil companies.
And while you have been told that capitalism is under threat, you find that companies like AT&T and Comcast lobby the government of the major urban cities of the country to prevent the proliferation of high speed internet via Wi-Fi max or other cool technologies. And you find yourself shopping in Walmart, Target, Costco, more often than the convenience store right near your home because you know your 5/1 ARM is due a month from now, and you are fearing that your monthly payments are going to rise. You also learn that these stores pretty much carry most products that are no longer made in this country.
And while you hope that skilled American workers need to return back to their jobs, you also learn that we are adding 1 million illegal immigrants into this country's population. You are also told that the welfare, education, hospital and jail resources are pretty much being utilized by the illegals. And you have been told that you are not American, if you say no to illegals. So you have been historically blackmailed and held on a social leash for the span of your life.
All this will drive you to lose. You would prefer being a loser. But don't. You could be winning. Because you did everything right. And when nothing works for you to motivate yourself, just listen to Santana's "I am winning" and tune out of reality.
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