Tag: politics

The aftermath of a pandemic- The way global communities will change!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Whether you in self imposed isolation or into an isolation because someone unwittingly gifted you the virus- whatever the case is- the fact remains this is perhaps the biggest opportunity in your life- where you have your employers paying you to think further and beyond for your own life! (unless you are working for yourself or you have got those gifted employers who are tracking you by those sinister cameras on your laptop- to check if you are indeed working!). This article is not about checking what could have been done or not and what is being done- it is about trying to unravel the scenarios that will come to play when all this dust settles in the next month or two and the new world order will have reset priorities – for almost everything- how businesses are conducted with whom, how people travel and how they stay connected, where the opportunities are and who will eventually benefit from all this mayhem until the next big episode which will dawn upon us! – Which certainly will- but of course – no predictions here on the timelines for the moment! So here we go!

To begin with, take a moment to reflect how the world was just before this pandemic started to become one. In terms of the health of the world economy- Majority of the top economies across the world were in dire straits for one or the other reasons with each nation slipping away into ever-increasing fiscal deficit (this is one way of simply telling you that each nation has been living beyond it’s capacity to create and spend wealth- either through internal or external borrowings!). Next, what are the major events that happened as this was breaking out- withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan- Trade deal with China and Brexit. Now with global economies under pressure and still scratching their heads individually as nations and as collective groups of the G7, G20, ASEAN, You pick a block and you will see a trend that there have been meeting of each large trading or business block during the period preceding this pandemic. Well I am certainly not trying to suggest anything here, but these are facts and these meetings did happen and they did happen before this “pandemic”went live! Now hold your thoughts on this right here and let’s move into another space for the same timeline- just before the pandemic!

Travel and tourism- This sector too had been struggling for long for some or the other reason- whether it was the plane manufacturers, hotel chains or the average traveler- who again have been shifting and changing their travel patterns for the last two years because of economic indicators (which in turn have been equally shifting and dodgy on an ongoing basis). This complete lock down and a clamp down of sorts again has come as a blessing in disguise (whether by accident or by design- perhaps we will never know). To this add a slew of other sectors which have suddenly announced to produce chemical compounds, instruments, equipment’s- all aimed to fight this “pandemic”(some of these companies have never had their core competency in the longest time in history- for what they propose to manufacture and offer!). Now all these business will use their respective laws of their land to rejuvenate, re-boot (read- government write off’s on loans, waivers and job losses). Now hold this thought and try to think and see what your intelligence is saying to you! (I may be wrong- well the whole point is to make you think!)

More importantly, this is going to alter the hardwired approach that people have always had towards dealing with each other as societies! Ironically densely populated societies will emerge as more isolated and even more disconnected after this all ends and will end up being more self-centered (read selfish and self-serving) then before. However, the communities and societies across the developed world will find a new reason to practice heightened care for other members of their societies and emerge as more connected and and more empathetic then before! This will partly be because the way communication around the “pandemic” has been propagated and dished out! Human brain too, being what it is, will trick people form one segment of societies (which have high densities) to follow the norm that distance is good and will factor this into everything going ahead (anyways much of the human societal interaction and engagement has been shallow and self-serving for the longest times of history). When it comes to societies with lesser population density- the human mind  will play the other way around- it will reach out on the note of empathy and care (as few number to a sparse society) will trigger the part of the brain where duty of care, respect and mutual affection (with now available access to medication) will ensure that health and wellness emerge as the top most priorities of those societies and will go on to reflect in every choice that they make- whether be food, travel, fashion or whatever element you want to choose!

Well, since there is a limitation to a blog, I can’t go on picking every space and zone of human lives and possibly discuss how I think those will be altered- but wherever you are and whichever society class you are a part of – you will see all this playing out right in front of you! In the times ahead- based on which society you are specific aspects will become costlier- say you belong to societies with high population density- travel, medical costs will go up and since this societies will get hard wired to social distancing and start becoming withdrawn even data costs will start to rise! Before anyone realizes access to transport, travel, data and healthcare will end up being costlier at least by 40% then what it is today- by 2022. This will further make the society withdrawn and fragmented within- and based on what type of a government you have- it will just help the people in power to gain complete control, which  will finally rest with few people who will have a greater advantage to influence and navigate a fragmented society to a point  that they want to! As far as societies that have fewer number of people- well they will be more resilient and will give away a lot of baggage and make the governments feel lighter- once these people start to take more care of their individual health- recurring health costs will start to come down and as these societies already have ongoing capped prices for utilities and services- there will be a flattening of the service costs to societies and people in these societies will be in a more advantageous position then the ones’ those have higher densities!

Eventually, in the smoke of the settling dust, from this episode; billions and billions of dollars worth of money and resources will change hands and ownership, simply to ensure that the world order remains sane (the way “they” want it) and to disallow “anarchy” (as “they” see it). This is just a step away and anarchy sets in  once world leaders start to believe that they will not talk to each other! (which thankfully doesn’t seem to be happening at least for now!). If you are wondering who these “they” are- Well I leave it to your wisdom- possibly you are working for one of them in one way or the other at this very moment- as have generation before you and possibly after you will!

I leave you here, and hope you use this time to reflect on how you are changing and what are the changes that you will allow and not allow so that when the freeze is over, you emerge as a better version of yourself- that is the only hope that the world has for now- that each one of us emerges as a stronger and better human being from this ongoing war!

Ciao for now and have your coffee- if nothing else- it will keep you warm and alert! I will be back soon with another piece and that will be on discussing the probable mental health challenges that we face in times ahead!

 

 

Rescuing Imploding Polarized Societies.

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

No matter how hard I try to avoid writing something this serious, well, the politicians globally and locally seem to ensure I end up writing a piece around this topic, at least once- whether or not it helps us to be a bit more sane or otherwise!

What we see around us, is a figment of the society that we live about and trust me, it has noting to do with how affluent you are! Money can never guarantee you any safety if you continue to flirt with danger; thinking money will rescue you while you live about in polarized society is equivalent of thinking that the Tiger will not eat you, because you do not eat a Tiger!

Polarized societies work to the advantage of the political class, the bureaucrats and the big blue blood tycoons who want to exercise absolute control (which borders on the thin line of becoming a global psychopath- like Hitler and other friends’ of his were). The question is why do these idiots want to exercise so much control and what is that they want to do with it?

Revisit recent history and start connecting the dots; Arrive at AD 1910 and start from there- as fruits of rapid industrialization and accessibility of resources and land started to become a reality , with it flowed the cardinal sins of greed, gluttony and all that goes with it. When greed coupled with an infinite access to money becomes a reality- power is but a slave and this cocktail is by far the most deadliest and damaging one! This is indeed the seed that has flowered into different tress and worn different overalls- sometimes polarizing societies by camouflage it as a call of a religion, community, gender, caste, belief systems, value systems, ethnicity, you name it and you will find an example somewhere on the 30% of land that we move around on! At times I feel so grateful that water covers close to 70% of our planet, else just amplify the nuisance even two fold- its just outright spooky and needless to say outright dangerous!

Through evolution we have been hardwired to hold on to our community and individuals emerge as leaders within the pack, in the earlier times, being seen as a leader, King, Captain, Head of a group, needless to say would provide the individual with the best that the clan or the community would have had to offer, be it luxurious foods, the most sought after part of a steak, ability to choose a bride over others, wear rustic ornaments without any questions, set rules and regulations (which were always binding on others); well all this happened when we were tribal communities or farmers surviving from one meal to another, but the question still remains, “Why would majority of other members yield into this?” I will answer this in a bit; just see what is happening around you in the modern context, irrespective whether you are based out of the US, UK, some country from the EU, India or any place that you can think of- look closely- who are the people running (or ruining your nation and society)? Who are they? What are their backgrounds? What are their belief systems, values, affiliations and causes that brought them into the space of public domain- what is that they are hiding in plain sight? I won’t be surprised if you feel awkward that the society you are moving about is at times directly or indirectly creating subtle or direct divisions within, using one garb over the other. Few nations allow it camouflaged (by suggesting certain benefits are for some sections because they have been “deprived” – well sure deprived- but, “who deprived them”, to begin with!; when each part of the society started together as one- “What was happening all the time which was not visible!?

No matter which society you are a part of, polarization is an ongoing threat- it could be religious, economic, access to societal benefits of development, access to opportunities for advancing lifestyle, ability to express oneself- it could any of these or all of these depending on how bad and faulted the society is turning out to be! Coming back to the million dollar question-“Why do majority members of a society tolerate this?” -When individually they know is unwise, collectively why do they seem to be frozen! This is because Unless there is a proven alternative which can demonstrate loud and clear, an ability to lead and assure members of the society that they will be safe and secure always- this societal freeze continues.Once an alternative has been found and established- the society wastes no time to overturn its earlier choice (read revolution) and that’s how when a society says, “Enough is Enough” (even as the self-obsessed drivers of society seem to ignore everything around)- A new order comes into play!

If you are trapped in any such society (we all are frankly speaking to a smaller or greater extent), there is absolutely no need to be overwhelmed, rather you can choose your responses at an individual and a community level by collaborating and coordinating actions which are lawful and non-violent to ensure that the balance is struck and a mid-way is achieved which serves the majority of the population – Something that helps them to achieve equal access to their aspirations, economic, social and perhaps political. Detailing on how you go about it, step by step will simply not be possible – because these will change based on ground realities and contexts and vary community to community even withing nations!

The blue print is simple- Identify the arena from where the headwinds of polarization are coming in, seek the source and reason behind it- expose the ill found reason and create a more acceptable and powerful alternative narrative that will simply douse out the ill found earlier narrative! Sustain and no matter what- never go down to the level of hate that an opponent brings along- for that just takes away all the legitimacy that you try to bring to the society as an alternative. Keep going and be forward looking and rest assured your alternative narrative will eventually come out as a winner and will ensure you are able to create a new order which is all encompassing and more inclusive– As any society should be- which presents equal opportunities to everyone irrespective of who they are to live a dignified life! A simple way to start at your own individual level would be cut the cord with everyone around who thrives on division and hate and tries to sell you the idea of one section of the society being better then the other by virtue or how much money they have or by virtue of their lineage or faith and belief systems! This, one small step will ensure sooner or later we have more able minds and warm hearts that are keen to build societies which are more inclusive and futuristic where “duty of care” is at the center of everything that we ever plan to build and develop!

I will leave you here, with these thoughts, take a step today and do what you can do with what you have and do it well!

Deciphering the Hate rhetoric!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Whether we agree or not, we see an ever increasing instance of hate and negative emotions at play around us;more then ever before and ironically these are “allowed to be ok”! When we genuinely come across “normal good behavior” (which by itself is a rarity!) we start to doubt intentions of people! This piece is about trying to see what causes this anomaly and how can we deal with it- should we join the bandwagon of hate or should we be doubting every person around us!

Human brain is simply brilliant- ask any psychiatrist, psychologist and have a chat with that young neurosurgeon who just got a chance to open up and see one! All of them(irrespective of their approach of study) will agree to one thing- this is one machine that evolution has been absolutely brilliant at- so much so that even decades after the first time the brain was surgically opened up- it still keeps throwing surprises – when it heals and when it ends up having a mind of it’s own!

The human brain, like any machine provides an output proportional to the input. You feed it with garbage- garbage will flow out; feed it with stimulating and complex challenges, it will throw out ingenious solutions and provide answers (almost always) either by itself or by collaborating with other working brains (read progressive and purpose driven team work!). Now the million dollar question- If the brain is so evolved and able to take wise decisions- what in the world is wrong with it- when you actually see people, leaders alike using negative emotions and “hate” in particular as a rhetoric to address and reach out to masses or communities! What’s going wrong here? The answer lies in the hard wiring of our brains!

Through evolution, the brain has developed ensuring that as species we survive- the onslaught of nature, wild animals and eventually are able to ensure individual succession through battling and protecting oneself from other tribes and clans- it was and is the master control- to ensure the survival of the fittest all through evolutionary history of human species- and evolution never stops- its an ongoing phenomenon- which is on even now as I type this and you read this and will go on long after you and I do not exist! The earlier battles were simple and more of an survival instinct- with time as societies evolved, safety and security was more or less settled, the brain started to navigate the nuances of living with more and more number of people like never before and that’s where societal structures and rules began to came into play- this order was necessary to ensure channeling of human resources happened optimally through division of labor or other structures that a society would have had. At this point of inflection- as human greed began to take seed more then ever before- the brain started to learn the traits that today display all the negative elements and more importantly of societal level and community level hate mongering!

This hate and despise rhetoric when carefully deciphered originates form nothing else but “insecurity”. That feeling of being inferior to someone or something- ideologically, financially (which limits the access to perceived comforts) and a touch of attention seeking disorder – a blend of all this leads to that vitriolic “hate” rhetoric. Insecurities- at individual level and society or community level can further originate from a number of socio-economic or political reasons- it could be neglect of a section of a society for a long time- depriving them of certain societal benefits because of who they are or what they are; there can be a hundred reasons why certain actions would have been taken towards specific segments of society/communities across the world- not all of them would be right and neither all of them would be wrong! It is in this grey space that all unfulfilled and half-served promises stay on like eternal ghosts and demons which go on to infect the most vulnerable sections of the modern days societies at both individual and community level!

At times, when long deprived sections of societies seem to develop and contribute in an increasing manner and seem to have better control and better solutions for the larger good, vested interests tend to come out to play and distort the trajectory under the garb that the majority and puritanical fabric of a said society is under threat (sounds familiar- well it should- no matter where you are on the world map now- this is exactly what is being played out and irrespective which side you are and who’s right and whos’ wrong (this is a mind-game that tricks individual brains into believing one thing and later as a collective society ends up doing exactly the opposite!) I will share a case in point here- Individually every brain (unless you are a clinically certified psychopath) knows that arson, abuse, violence (physical and otherwise) is unbecoming of being human being (keep aside all other values systems and belief systems for a moment- they are not even needed at this stage)- next you add another half a dozen brains- add a layer of a value system or belief that “because of “x”, “y” is not available and to achieve “y” we must enact “z”- That’s about it- it is this small aorta of collective hallucination and distortion in the thinking cycle that is needed to lead to a full blown crisis of captivated and manipulated thinking process that will undermine every ounce of common-sense, ethics and individualistic values systems of mutual care for ages to come- just one figment of collective distorted thinking- all that is needed to let all hell break loose- now with a population of over 7.5 Billion, coupled with an ever increasing insecurity at play- internationally, within nations, within regions of a nation and within cities and societies within a region- Now you know why “hate and despise” is so easy! and readily available for serving hot and cold all the time!

Science has ample evidence that the right to uphold value systems and beliefs which service the larger and greater good and difficult to come up with and even more difficult to sustain in an ever changing dynamic world wherein even friendships between nations seem to flirtatious at their best! Alongside this , you have the quick service restaurants that serve hate and vitriolic rhetoric by the dozen and on order, 24 hours a day! No wonder that when genuinely good humans walk by- we either end up awarding them after they are dead or award them the highest peace time awards and technically make them redundant so that they are as ineffective as the awards been given to them!

More importantly for the average person on the street, the world over the dilemma to trust, invest and hold the hands of a stranger seems to just become more complicated because of these varied and paradoxical hues that modern days societies preset themselves as! The ensuing result- No commitment for any relationship- within the family or elsewhere- modern day societies are turning into more and more individualistic silos hidden away within a fragile shell – add a little pressure of insecurity and each element within the shell will crack and stand up for himself/herself- there is no more “WE” and the “I” although looks good;, seldom stands a chance of defending or defeating anything worthwhile! So how do we manage this? Can we?

Well to be very honest, societies where hate/despise is served by so-called leaders of the society- God alone can help! The only other way to turn around such deeply flawed societies is a comprehensive revolution and well – history knows, revolutions are filled with sweat and blood- apparent or real! The cost of a revolution is evaluated by the benefit that will ensue once the dust settles- if there is no great incentive- then societies stagnate and implode within; too weak and too starved to even voice out anything- forget about addressing the world! But there is hope and the hope comes from the ingenuity of the brain itself- as like minded brains connect and interact and as they grow in number through education and progress of the said society-the more accommodating and human thinking gets ground- fewer will be the oddities that relish on hate and hence eventually they will get weeded out by Thought- The power of Human Thought- seeded by right education that embraces the over arching principle of being human and fostering care and affection for fellow humans is the only answer that societies can give to the underlying demons of hate despise which at times are apparent and other times lie in the wait to capture the weak links and bring havoc to our otherwise serene thinking!

I leave you with these thought, grab your coffee and seek the sane part of you and see how trusting you are and how others feel around you- that my friend is the first step to ensure and spread the warmth in the society which will dispel the ghosts of hate and despise- One enlightened mind and One warm soul at a time is all that it takes! Until next time ciao!