Captive Capitalism

Yet another form of socialism is captive capitalism. Such an economy mines the capital and deploys the same to its full potential, and here the government's hands, and not the market's invisible hands, move the economic wheel. Its milder version is crony capitalism, which we often talk about.

 

Niraj Kumar Jha

If wishes were horses

If economics were a horse, the Rajapaksas would have continued with their joyful rides.

NIraj Kumar Jha

The International Order

The international order, as it exists, is not an order that streams from the nations' relations. It is a thing, an object. It was victors' booty, which they churned out of the global conditions then. It is a resource they have been keeping and exploiting thence. But, as it stands, it is overdone. It is not serving even the victors now, and more critically, it is no longer effective enough to impose itself as an order. A revamp must be thought over and carried out. 

Niraj Kumar Jha  

Mankind's Arrogance

They say men are destroying nature. Really! To say this is sheer arrogance. They are only destroying what nature has offered to them. They are on self-destruction.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Unknowable and Knowable

Truth in its final form is an unknowable abstraction. Yet, the claims and acts of divulging the truth have been incessant in history. Nothing wrong, a person has the right to their flight of imagination. But, this requires mindfulness that the so-divulged truths may be weaponised for domination or instrumentalised for contented coexistence The democratic pedagogy must include some course on the nature of the conceptualisation of truth along with how amoebas reproduce. Perhaps the former is far more important for human or civic life. Secular authoritarian regimes do concentrate on amoebas.

The Sanatana tradition kept its constituents in the know of the nature of the truth. It appears from historical analyses that the Indians on occasions got truer to the truthfulness and became complacent to the knowledge of statecraft, which requires manipulation of truths. Kautilya-Kamandaki tradition got muted. It served well their life but it turned out to be a debilitating weakness whenever hordes of brutes infested the land. Moreover, even under subjection, they made peace with 'the truth', which occurred to them.

The truth certainly cannot be known, but it remains a germane pursuit. We know and can know more of it to our benefit. And, at the same time when we align the truth with time and space and locate the regularity of conduct or the firmness of property of existential constituents, i.e. when we do science, we get the truths to favour us. In delimitations, truths are not only knowable but also workable. The history of civilization reveals that truths are evolving, unfolding, and performing.

We must see the Truth, the one beyond time and space, and the truths of time and space. The challenge is that even spacial and temporal truths inhere the transcendental nature of the Truth. Letting it not distract us, we have to see the people who are ruthless exploiters of the Truth and the truths. We have to save ourselves first and only after securing ourselves we can work for others.

Niraj Kumar Jha

$-Trillionisation of State Economies

Uttar Pradesh is drawing a roadmap to quadruple its SGDP in the next five years to $1 trillion. The goal is ambitious and the jury is out on its viability, but this is the most sensible thing to do in the present circumstances. The working of the roadmap, despite all the difficulties it would bring in or the lacunas it would have, would lead to clearing out much of the messy cobwebs all around, which make doing businesses and even simple living very challenging. Other bigger states must follow the suit if they wish to work in the national interest and make life worth livable for ordinary folks.

Why do I write on such topics?

I repeatedly post on such themes. Why do I do so, or post such things at all? I reason and find that it does not count at all; it is absolutely inconsequential.

But, as I reason, I believe too. And, I believe that any expression does have some cascading effect. However, this is not to say that what I say is worthwhile; rather it may not be of any worth at all. But, the thing is that I take the citizen, who is me, seriously. If I do not respect this citizen, how do I expect the republic to be a reality than remain a notion? I know self-respect is a debilitating burden, but the burden is worth bearing.

How does a true republic manifest itself amidst us? It manifests through the respect and trust we have for ourselves and in our relations with fellow citizens. Ironically, we lack in this abysmally. I see it invariably that it hurts people if one treats them with the respect of equality. Equality is rather the lone form of respect but people are genetically disinclined to see this as respectful. Whenever we meet any person, our immediate reaction is to place the person as a superior or an inferior. We do this placing even among our close relations and friends. I know that subjecthood is too deep-rooted but we can at least think about getting rid of this. 

We need to be serious, we cannot afford things doing otherwise. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

Reflection and Expression

A distinction can be made between reflecting and expressing and should be made. If such a distinction is kept in mind, it would be helpful in improving public discourse. Mostly, people while writing or speaking in a solemn mode, try to impress others. In such endeavours, they rely mindlessly on the words of people who they perceive as greats or high-sounding phraseologies. This may be called reflection: one simply reflects without understanding or adding to the idea. They seek to bask in the reflected glory and expect others to praise the light they seemingly emanate. These do contribute to the public good, but very little, and on the flip side, these mislead. For instance, one can be reminded of this: 'The executive of the modern state is nothing but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.'

The expression occurs when you speak your own heart and mind, you speak of your experiences: of your pain, agony, happiness, and excitement; of the treatments you get at the hands of others: good, bad, or ugly;  of the realisations of what you do to others. These are vitals of life but tragically we refrain from speaking about them. An expression may be called writings and speeches which expresses you, a living being, a feeling being, a sensible being. 

Yet, expressions again can be differentiated from egoistic hyperboles; those coming from persons who have the airs of personifying wisdom, and when they open their mouths, only gospel truths come out. The expression must be identified with the words of human beings, not with those of superhumans. 

Niraj Kumar Jha