Politics, Economics, Development, Terrorism

We do get a gloomy picture on the state of the world we live in, when we look at things from near. Then, we get to see the flaws, and tend to miss (may I dare to say?) the beauty in the way societies have progressed across hundreds of years all around the world! Of course, we do not live in a perfect society. But we are slowly and steadily moving towards the better, from the worse. This path is not linear. At times, and at places there is regression. Yet, if we look at the past 2000 years, we live in better times today than at any time before in recorded history (definitely in Kerala, but also in India)! In the attached video, Steven Pinker looks at one factor, violence, across centuries. But it is possible to look at almost any other aspect of social life, and the findings may not be too different! https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_the_surprising_decline_in_violence?language=en

  I suppose that no one would prescribe "violence" as a solution to a problem -- unless reasonably assured that this would serve the intended purpose. Thus, violence as a solution to a problem would mostly appeal to those who believe (rightly or wrongly) that their side would emerge the clear winner -- and within a reasonable time frame, and without too heavy collateral damage. Violence may also sometimes appeal to some, despite being assured of grave injury or death as a result of this. I suppose this is possible only when such persons are under the grip of a "higher" motivation -- such as one of attaining heaven, or martyrdom in defense of a principle, dharma, religion, nation or whatever. Coming to more practical situations... What if some one slaps me? Do I slap back, or do I show the other cheek? Is there a "fit-all" response that would apply under all circumstances where some one may get slapped? Let us consider a few such circumstances…. A grown-up ...

I am consistently opposed to death penalty -- even when this is awarded by a Court of Law, consequent to a fair trial (whatever may be the crime). And yes, for this very reason, I strongly condemn the killings that did occur under the regimes of Stalin and Mao. However when people say Stalin/ Mao "killed millions", we ought not to miss out the exaggeration; and the underlying political propaganda. For example, the millions killed in Soviet famine of the 1930s; and in the famine in China during the Great Leap Forward; are routinely counted "as instances of mass killing underpinned by genocidal intent".  [ Reference: Williams, Paul (2008), Security Studies: An Introduction, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 978-0-415-42561-2 ] If the same standard is applied for the Bengal Famine of the 1943, we would need to say "Churchill killed millions"! And this was not the only famine in the British Empire... The term "red Holocaust" was coined by the Munich Institu...

Kerala's Economy -- A Crouching Tiger?   In a Facebook group, I was asked by some one for the factors that may have contributed to the phenomenal success of the "Kerala Model".  Here is my quick response (No, I am not a professional economist! More qualified people are welcome to correct my errors!):- There are numerous studies done on Kerala's success story, including by academics in the US. I recently read the book titled, "Kerala's Economy: Crouching Tiger, Sacred Cows" co-published by The Stanford Center for International Development. http://scid.stanford.edu/publicationsprofile/1925 [ One of the editors of this compilation is Arun M. Kumar, who has been recently nominated by President Barack Obama to a key administration post to take charge of international trade at a critical juncture when the US is looking to increase its export. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/... ] A quote from the Introduction to this book by Arun M Kumar:- "K...

Aryans And Dravidians   Most scientific evidence would seem to suggest that both the Aryans and the Dravidians were migrants who arrived in  India  from  Africa  . (The "out of  Africa  theory", that is consistent with genetic evidence too). The differences in linguistic and physical features that we get to see today, would suggest that the Aryan and Dravidian peoples  were geographically isolated from each other for a few thousand years  (prior to around 6000 years back when they came in contact  again  in the Indian sub-continent). Only a large enough period of geographical separation  could have resulted  in these differences. It is also true that in the past around 6000 to 8000 years, the Aryan and Dravidian peoples have been in close contact. In this period, a significant amount of linguistic, cultural and genetic inter-mingling would seem to have occurred. The visible differences  that persist today  a...

Kerala Scores! This blog was written in January 2009. Much water has flown down the Periyar since. By 2011, Kerala's per capita income overtook this of Gujarat This month (January, 2009) the World Bank has published in its web site, a "Policy Research Working Paper"  titled, "The Investment Climate in 16 Indian States".  The paper defines and measures "Investment Climate Index" (ICI) for 16 Indian States, considering various aspects of business environment that private entrepreneurs would normally consider while deciding whether to invest. Guess what! Kerala ranks 2nd in the list, just below Karnataka. Gujarat is a somewhat distant 3rd, followed by AP, Haryana, WB, Maharashtra, Delhi, TN, Punjab, Jharkand, Orissa, MP, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan (in that order of ranking). To quote from the paper (which can be directly accessed at WPS 4817 ):- "While it is not surprising to see Karnataka as one of the states with the best investment climat...

Secularism And The RSS Ideology   Prologue  What is the RSS ideology on secularism? Surely, this can be independently assessed (defended or opposed) without repeating horror stories about Islam?   I do not think that our judgment of the RSS ideology is dependent on carefully selected quotes from the Koran. It needs to be clearly understood that no one is defending Koran or any other religion.  That being the case, let us wisely refrain from bringing in Islam to this discussion.   RSS and Secularism   With the above groundwork, let us now discuss the  RSS ideology .   a) The core aspect of RSS ideology is that Hinduism is intrinsically tolerant and secular. Thus,  ipso facto , a Hindu Rashtra too would be secular.   b) Abrahamic religions are by nature anti-secular, as these are intolerant and believe in only one path (their own) to God. Secularism -- as understood in the West -- is coloured by the fact that Western religions are non-secu...