Comment

Comment by Hari Menon on June 25, 2013 at 2:04am

Dear Captain,

      You certainly know that , moves are afoot for bringing down the levels of corruption by the corrupt themselves in different countries and such things take time , and when it happens it will be only a transformation of an emotion into something either lesser or more and judgements will be made on its efficacy or inefficacy by the various segments of society . In America if we were to take it that it represents an acceptable level of corruption for a civilized society , what we can easily discern is that this basic human inclination "shifts" to other areas , for instance which are equally corrupting but under another guise , say banking , or the Financial markets, or The Pharmaceutical or Armaments Industry , the nexus between corporates and Policticians which in any case are higher than in many countries around the world . What essentially a person sees as corruption are not the insidiously corrupting forces , but rather a very naiive assumption as to grease money and kiting of public funds etc. So it is a fact of life and human behaviour whether we are in a New age of hope or in the New world it does not ensure anything like eradication of the human sentiment to spot an opportunity or render a service (in case of grease money and other things) with an eye on profit . It is human nature . and very fluid , tendencies will happen to crystalize in other areas . If for example you look at the historicity of the growth of modern commerce - it has its roots in banditry and organized piracy ,usury and other practices which we look down upon as base these days , but the evolution of modern commerce coupled with accounting which is quite structured and  a traceable history shows this very clearly . These (base - we do not know for sure since at that time a necessuty and now unnecessary) tendencies evolved into the present corporate commerce with social responsibilities to society , man and child etc and management theories came up that further obfuscated the truth of the origins of todays corporates . One has to look deeply to discern these small truths , I would not term Wall street as greedy but rather as corrupt , nor the politician corporate nexus as something advancing life but rather a form of corruption . When media is manipulated it is corruption , when media kow tows against their ethics it is corruption - i is simple , what is really corrupt is the baying for blood for the expediting of business and progress in other countries based on ones own having exhausted possibilities and arm twisting to get the thing done - this is also corruption , the aiding of anarchy in others but frowning on the same when it comes to oneself - this is corruption .

I still retain the fondest memories of one of our Prime ministers (Indira Gandhi) who gave as good as she got , once whilst being Interviewed by the BBC they enquired about the corruption in Indian society (it is now almost 36 years after we are still being hounded on this point ). And she just remarked "Corruption is  a  global phenomenon" and obviously our previous masters who knew the language pretty well understood and did not pursue the matter anymore . As with the  commerce which started in India by the East India Company "requesting" to set up a trading out post, to the scene of necklaces and trinkets being offered to the natives of America by "visitors"   , to people who escaped due to religious persecution and who in turn years later did the same forgetting their own history to their own people - and of which we are now blamed also for at present in varying degrees . One has to understand that every institution in a country has arisen from strife alone and its roots are what we call base . The mafioso in america, trade unionism all countries go through such things - it happens never at the same time everywhere since conditions have to be the same , but modern progress and where we stand (the world I mean by we) today is the totality of different ages happening at different times .Somalia is going through the pangs of coming to terms with which in essence almost every country that we call the developed world today has gone through at some time in their history , it is the way humans evolve , failing which if the natural dissipation of tendencies do not take place it takes place later in some other form at some other age as if like an anachronism . We cannot blame anyone for being too slow or fast , every culture has its way of doing things and evolving , one country may favour the setting up of businesses with immense ease , another may not , many things may have to be undergone which are probably streamlined in the other - the pressure of population , the geography of the country, its ethnicity , the neglect handed down by history - many things come into the equation . Europe is so fascinating more than any piece of earth in this world , it has been strife alone , but they have managed to achieve a semblance of a welfare state which even today America cannot match  - though not quite the ideal. Look at countries like the Scandinavian countries mostly top ranked with singapore or other places like monaco in either HDI or per capita .  What is the combined population of all countries taken together , Daily in India the number of people travelling on Trains (both long distance and metropolitan Together) exceed the combined population of more than 10 european countries . It is a very big truth that the common man is really common , both in intellectual capabilities and in understanding - price rises are experienced but not understood , protests are carried out but never comprehended - it is like jilted lovers rebounding , a sense of having "been let down" or a trust betrayed is perceived and then acted upon , when neither exists if one looks carefully - apples to apples , a politician promises nothing and the normal common ideas of trusts and promises are not part of politics- and  to think so is to know nothing of what politics is . Carefully viewed most protests are just idealogical reactions based on ones own inadequate knowledge of a country and people and institutions , it is in effect a subtler form of anarchy . righteous indignation in the individual collectively becomes a protest or a popular movement . Protests are a very potent source of strength in democracies , but there are ways and means to do it intelligently to extract maximum benefits and lasting changes.

In the Brazilian context you have to understand that it is the self same country that is always on the opiate of its love of football , which is using the same as a tool to bring things to the notice of the authorities . It is an intelligent one , so that there is a wake up call and notice will be taken of the protest . But anything and everything is not a protest . Inequity when at the base of a protest and in sufficient numbers will always be successful to the extent that some rethinking and attention is garnered . In america if we reflect carefully , nothing has been learnt from the  financial meltdown , the methods used were not punitive or regulatory they were and still remain cosmetic .On the contrary as usual new terms were coined and used against an unsuspecting public who have not the discrimination to understand the secret of language and how it operates .

Comfort has blunted the ability to intuit even on the lowest level , and the common man has become more common albeit a prosperous common man .Indiscriminate use of words result in the "morphing" of knowledge and mixing of concepts and dissemination of falsehood willfully - and it affects all speakers of the language everywhere over time . There was a system previously in Religion (this normally happens in every religion) it is called officially "Exegesis" - meaning a cutting away of the flab in religious teachings were carried out from time to time to maintain the keenness of its central teachings , over a period of time every religion becomes overburdened with an excess of the historical thoughts and opinions of the interpreters , which would be liable to

distort the teachings if not done correctly , and normally in the Christian religion it was the church which officially proclaimed that an exegesis has been done and so some tenets were not allowed etc etc . it is in a way good - but the problem is this being a subtle exercise and to be done by a man of knowledge would retain the flavour with the time line . Now what happened in the Western world is that , the concept of religion itself is wrong , as a reason of which the time line was disturbed , Heremeticsm, Judao- Greek, Latin Proper , Gnosis , Rosicrucianism etc were phyisically "removed" . And so they subsist as some esoteric philosophy scattered as culturally different over time and space and ages and countries - whereas they do form a single body of evolving thought in the Western world , now to make things difficult it fell on the shoulders of Academicians and Scholars to differentiate what is what and how each stood in Relation to each other and to exhibit the common thread in the Western thought structure - which is what people like Faivre,Sartre, Camus, and many others as also great American thinkers of their age have done , but unfortunately since the point of this activity is missed out by many - each thinker in his age was credited with having "redefined" and so most modern - but in reality they were just drawing the basic limits , unfortunately taken as abiding and authoritative and all things as following from their interpretations and a cancelling out of the rest , the growth of thought is what they have tried to portray essentially but due to a closed mind based on previous concocted words pigeon holing the past into and as some vague theory , whilst endowing a catholicity to their thoughts but again over time became their own thoughts and led to them being classified and labelled as such and such a theorist  etc. So there is a profusion of systems of thoughts (really speaking opinions only and cannot be systems per se , not even minor) which confuses the earnest seeker . This is an outcrop of an imperfect understanding of words , which are our primary means of communicating knowledge . The very multiplicity and in increasing volume has ultimately led to a population that would rather not go into all this but would like to dream of Aliens and galaxies and wholesome entities which take you by the hand etc etc . This is debility in reason and judgement .Terms were previously very well defined (and still are ) and with immaculate conception in the Christian religion and ennabling a person to achieve the highest satisfaction. But hardly anybody understands them barring a few dedicated people . Scholars know as too academicians so they are able to put out gems of wisdom in their thoughts , but then they do not go anymore further and so it ends there , the next man comes along and an exegesis of the previous man is done and the common intellect is taught that it is Neo Platonism , or Antiquity, or philology, Or Empiriscm or Science - so he too becomes retarded .You learn one thing which is considered self sufficing and most modern only to find it discredited a few years down the line . Something like a software engineer or a man who buys a new car or a mobile phone . Basically the consciousness has been splintered and what they are essentially trying to do is to bring it back , but not quite succeeding due to the nature of the western world where particulars are the truth and comprehended , generalities are a bother . Which is why there is a real problem and definition upon definitions and restatements and proofs and theories upon theories arise which give rise to followers and confuse the situation more . So you have a situtation where a central idea is lacking , and central purpose is lacking which is so necessary for true philosophy to emerge , and synthesis is by sci-fi or in terms or more exploded consciousness relating to the latest thoughts and further splintering takes place . It takes deep understanding to see the whole thought structure as one , without preconceptions but it would take a man of deep understanding for this in which he does not require Philosophy at all .It is a vicious circle , so anything and everything becomes an inspiration for a movement , or the boundaries of reason and judgement are stretched to "accomodate" each other as per ones own fantastical thinking , removing it even further away from reality . THings are really bad now - by reality I mean of how we relate the physical to the mental , now everything and I really mean every nonsense is allowed as a connection between two ideas - it does not help it when adherents are not lacking , it is boredom and boredom alone born out of superfluity which cannot correctly inhere itself in that most creative of fountains which is inexhaustible - the ground noumenon .This what distinguishes man from beast , and which raises him to unimaginable heights previously unknown even to him.

Comment by Capt. Anand Kumar on June 24, 2013 at 10:46pm

Wall Street Journal reported Brazilian President promising a plebiscite for political reforms including corruption. This is a major victory for the protesters.

Are Indians listening?

Comment by Hari Menon on June 24, 2013 at 10:12am

This IS the New Age Movement's long awaited global revolution in progress.  How much more evidence do we need?.....................Charming!  Well, it's now happening.  Expect them all to come out of the woodwork!

     There exist people who have understood about the revolution of the earth , and have been waiting for New ages a million times . There ought to be a law prohibiting the promotion of self importance and ones place in society and its impact , and a study done on its deleterious effects on the decline of otherwise healthy cultures and societies- the use of appropriate chemicals are recommended to  drive away all the white ants and other pests that share in the common destiny with human beings. I do sincerely pray that the Turkish and Brazilian nations have risen up to the desired expectations and will continue to do so as the solstice approaches over the isles of peace we call central asia .