Thursday, March 10, 2016

History is repeating; only it may be much bigger this time

"Democracy is the road to socialism."
—Karl Marx (German, 1818-1883)
Word for the day
Rabble-Rouser (n)
A person who stirs up the passions or prejudices of the public, usually for his or her own interests; demagogue.
Malice towards none
Dear FM, if nothing else is working, trying renaming the proposed GST Act  as Rajiv Gandhi GST Act (RGGA)
First random thought this morning
The famous 2014 general election win of PM Modi also popularized his designer kurtas and phoren returned PR agent cum election strategist Prashant Kishore. The day is not far when our vigilant media discovers the hair stylist responsible for the new look of Modi Ji.
It is good that PR agencies, fashion designers, hair stylists are getting their due share in Indian democracy. I hope a day will come soon when Indian politicians will publically proclaim their life partners and a victory kiss in full public view will not be a matter of blasphemy or national shame. That day, the statute book will rewrite itself and "gender equality" will no longer be a mere "intent".

History is repeating; only it may be much bigger this time

On March 09, 2009 when Nifty 2555, many were left wondering, whether it's the end of stock market investing.
Today, after seven year, Nifty is 3x, and many people are still wondering whether they should be investing in equity at all.
A Wikipedia tour of human history is sufficient to realize that the "globalization" is as old as the human race itself. Since ancient times, people (and animals) have been immigrating to far off, and often unknown, places in pursuit of water, food, congenial weather, and safety of children. The pursuit of material knowledge and spiritual elevation has also taken people to new places. In relatively recent history, people have also moved in the search of wealth and power.
With people, also immigrated their knowledge, food, life style, traditions and prejudices. The global growth was therefore faster, more symmetrical, and definitely development and growth oriented. The quality of human life improved dramatically each century till the end of 19th century.
Though the concept of travel permission and documentation is known to have existed since long, it was not till WW1 that it became restrictive. The history would suggest that most modern day fundamental scientific inventions were made in pre war era. In post war period the scientific developments have been more oriented towards defence (including internet and means of transportation), offence and disease control.
The modern day concept of Nationalism (restrictive immigration of knowledge & people) has not helped anyone but a handful of people endowed with leadership qualities who chose to become political or military leaders. The global growth therefore has been slow, asymmetrical and often harmful to the humanity in general.
The evolution of modern day mathematics, and therefore, other branches of scientific enquiries, are a classic example of collaborative research, enabled through free movement of people and knowledge. The concepts of zero and decimal conceived in Indian sub-continent travelled unhindered to the western world via Arab mathematicians and laid foundation for modern economics, mathematics, physics, astronomy, aeronautics, etc.
The entire north American continent is outcome of mass immigration of people from various parts of the world. Regardless of the repeated political rhetoric no one has ever tried to stop foreign knowledge and resources entering US borders. That is the strength of the US economic and political model. Trust me, no one (including Trump and Hillary) is even dreaming of closing US borders to foreign knowledge, workers or money.
The mass immigration that we are witnessing in Europe today, may be similar to what happened, more recently, in Europe during 8-12th century, and during 16-18th century in the USA, Asia and Indian subcontinent. It is bound to have significant economic ramifications - mostly positive.
The Congress style of Nationalism has perhaps irreparably damaged largest pool of knowledge, skills and other valuable resources. by making India a closed economy in post independence era. It needs to be immediately deserted and buried forever. The world is presenting a humongous opportunity that comes once in many centuries. VISA restrictions are easing worldwide. Global capital is looking for avenues where it can earn some nominal return. In my view, the whirlwind global tours of PM Modi should be evaluated in this context.....to continue tomorrow

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