Noam Chomsky, the Salon interview: Governments are power systems, trying to sustain power - Salon.com

Noam Chomsky, the Salon interview: Governments are power systems, trying to sustain power - Salon.com:

God, Hayek and the Conceit of Reason | Standpoint

God, Hayek and the Conceit of Reason | Standpoint:

Freedom to what, for what ?

Japanese researchers help unravel mystery of the Indus civilization- Nikkei Asian Review

Japanese researchers help unravel mystery of the Indus civilization- Nikkei Asian Review:

New light on Indus Valley Civilization

A cure worse than the malady? - The Hindu

A cure worse than the malady? - The Hindu:

Can Lokpal & Law change common Indians' mindset?

The Decay of American Political Institutions - The American Interest

The Decay of American Political Institutions - The American Interest:

'via Blog this'
Decay of political institutions is universal trend . India's political institutions have decayed beyond repair.

Literature and Bureaucracy by Tim Parks | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

Literature and Bureaucracy by Tim Parks | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books:

Literature, by its very nature, is anti bureaucracy.

The Kaipullai's Vetti Thoughts : The outer playground of my inner devil | The greatest Heist in Indian history..How Indian History was changed and we didn’t even notice. Part 1:The lost eon 6th Century B.C to 1174 A.D

The Kaipullai's Vetti Thoughts : The outer playground of my inner devil | The greatest Heist in Indian history..How Indian History was changed and we didn’t even notice. Part 1:The lost eon 6th Century B.C to 1174 A.D:

'via Blog this'

Democracy's Dual Dangers - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Democracy's Dual Dangers - The Chronicle Review 

The Smart Set: Culture Shock - November 3, 2013

The Smart Set: Culture Shock - November 3, 2013:
Art, Culture and Porn

'via Blog this'

Better to be Wrong than Right? Isaiah vs Isaac - philosopher vs political activist.

 Better to be Wrong than Right?:
 Isaiah Berlin, the philosopher of Liberty and Isaac Deutscher, a biographer and political acitivist, both Jews, were unlike each other.

The Would-Be Philosopher-King - The Chronicle Review

The Would-Be Philosopher-King - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Those intellectuals who think that they can reconcile philosophical life with demands of politics are in for a shock as Michael Ignatieff was forced to do.

Exile to the Ages (or, Returning Karl Marx To Our Time) |

Exile to the Ages (or, Returning Karl Marx To Our Time) |:

SC to bureaucrats: Don't take oral instructions from netas - Will the bureaucrats show some guts vis-a-vis the politicians?

SC to bureaucrats: Don't take oral instructions from netas - The Times of India:

Sexual cultures of contemporary India - The Hindu

Sexual cultures of contemporary India - The Hindu:

'via Blog this'

Fading Judicial Independence

Fading judicial independence - The Hindu:

Politicians of all hue want to make judiciary their handmaiden. The proposed amendment to the Constitution passed by Rajya Sabha as 120th Constitution Amendment Bill makes sinister attempt to throttle the independence of judiciary.

Why readers love big biographies -

Why readers love big biographies - Salon.com:

As we want to know all about the subject we prefer gargantuan biographies.

Proportional representation: A difficult choice

Proportional representation: A difficult choice:

Public Books — The History of Secrets

Public Books — The History of Secrets:

Right to Privacy - a consequence of the need of secrecy.

Gandhi Used His Position To Sexually Exploit Young Women. The Way WE React To This Matters Even Today | Youth Ki Awaaz

Gandhi Used His Position To Sexually Exploit Young Women. The Way WE React To This Matters Even Today | Youth Ki Awaaz:

Gandhi's 'experiments' with 'Brahmacharya' have been a matter of common knowledge. However, in the context of Asaram it has acquired a sort of contemporaneity.

Down the rabbit hole : Why is political philosophy not taken seriously by politicians?

Down the rabbit hole:

Political philosophy is not taken seriously by politicians. Why?

Lust: A Hidden Influence on Foreign Policy | The National Interest

Commentary: Lust: A Hidden Influence on Foreign Policy | The National Interest:

The Impact of Lust or ' knavish lad Cupid' on international relations.

Crimes Against India - Stephen Knapp

Crimes Against India:

Crimes Against India by Stephen Knapp

Crimes Against India:

10 past Republicans who’d never make it in today’s crazy GOP - Salon.com

10 past Republicans who’d never make it in today’s crazy GOP - Salon.com:

Fake Liberalism which turns into Populism gives a fillip to strong Conservatism.

Despicable charade - How the authority of PM's office has been shattered?

Despicable charade - The Hindu:

This is the fate of every PM who occupies office as someone's dole.

Measure for unconstitutional measure

Measure for unconstitutional measure - The Hindu:

Happily the Indian democracy has triumphed and the discredited UPA Cabinet has decided to withdraw the Bill.

The real clash is within civilisations | Frank Furedi | spiked

The real clash is within civilisations | Frank Furedi | spiked:

Clash of Civilisations and clash within civilisations are taking place simultaneously.

Ronald Dworkin : Wrong in the right way | Rationalist Association

Wrong in the right way | Rationalist Association:

Ronald Dworkin, the atheist philosopher who supports the right to pornography, gives secular reasons in support of the right to religion.

Machiavelli: Still Shocking after Five Centuries | The National Interest

Machiavelli: Still Shocking after Five Centuries | The National Interest:

No political philosopher is as misunderstood and as vilified for things he didn't do as Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli only advocated autonomous space for politics. He was not unethical, but simply amoral realist. From Kautilya, Mencius & Thucydides to Hobbes and Morgenthau philosophers of statecraft have taken position which is called Realism. Machiavelli was simply a realist.

Four SC verdicts that will change the way we vote

Four SC verdicts that will change the way we vote - The Times of India:

The judgments delivered on July 10, Sept 13 & Sept 27 this year are of immense significance for our polity.

C. Rajgopalachari - the voice of Right thinking India.

Rajdeep Sardesai's Blog : Narasimha Rao, VP Singh, LK Advani: The tragic heroes of politics

Rajdeep Sardesai's Blog : Narasimha Rao, VP Singh, LK Advani: The tragic heroes of politics:

As a rule RajdeepSardesai's views on Indian politics are coloured by his 'secular-liberal !' bias, but the present analysis is fair and catches the essence of post-Indira Indian politics.

Judiciary vs Parliament: SC delivers series of verdicts political parties find unpalatable - Hindustan Times

Judiciary vs Parliament: SC delivers series of verdicts political parties find unpalatable - Hindustan Times:

From First Amendment to the Constitution in 1951 to 120th or so Amendment Bill in 2013 politicians have trampled upon the spirit of the Constitution while the Supreme Court as guardian of the Constitution has been trying to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution.

Prof. Dawkins Battles a Frankenstein

Prof. Dawkins Battles a Frankenstein:

Why Fundamentalists decry Reason?

“Your fatwa does not apply here”: Muslim artists battle fundamentalism

“Your fatwa does not apply here”: Muslim artists battle fundamentalism - Salon.com:

Fatwa vs Rationalism

Let’s talk about Sonia - Shekhar Gupta

Let’s talk about Sonia - Indian Express:

Sonia Gandhi's shenanigans and her total control over Govt have killed India's chances of prosperity. She inherited a prosperous India, but has turned India into the sick man of Asia. India can't and won't forgive her disservice to the nation.

Significance of Durga Shakti: A turning point for better governance?

Significance of Durga Shakti: A turning point for better governance? | The Hindu Centre:

Has Civil Service Neutrality been an idea of the past? Has the role of permanent executive changed? How & when will things improve?

Why Violence Works ? One Point of View

Why Violence Works? - The Chronicle Review Does it really work?

'via Blog this'

Indian Philosophy Explained

M. Hiriyanna on the Message of Indian Philosophy:

Published in the Centre Right India

The capable state - Gulzar Natarajan

The capable state - Indian Express:

Ideally there should be ' Maximum governance with minimum government ', but in India we have ' Maximum government with minimum governance ' instead. State capability has been sacrificed at the altar of politicking and vote bank politics in India.

Let’s Shake Up the Social Sciences

Let’s Shake Up the Social Sciences 

Have Social Sciences stagnated? If yes, why?

Origin of Great Sanskrit Mottos you read all around you | Sulekha Creative

Origin of Great Sanskrit Mottos you read all around you | Sulekha Creative:

Could any other culture make an improvement over these? These are aphorisms/sayings valid for the whole humanity.

Into the Darkness | Bar and Bench

Into the Darkness | Bar and Bench:

Bad political leadership brings bad administrative, economic & judicial leadership. A combination of bad judicial & political leadership results in catastrophe.

The modern Prince - The Enigma That Is Machiavelli

The modern Prince - FT.com:

Was Machiavelli a philosopher of evil as Leo Strauss believed or a philosopher of republicanism & rule of law? Francis Fukuyama's take on this.

BBC News - Stinking fish and coffee: The language of corruption

BBC News - Stinking fish and coffee: The language of corruption:

In India corruption is ' kar prasanna' - make happy. A fish starts to stink at the head and in India the stink of corruption begins from the top.

While we were silent - Pratap Bhanu Mehta

While we were silent - Indian Express:

A brilliant write up by P B Mehta. The Congress has deliberately pursued policies, in the name of Aam Aadami & secularism, that has put India on destruction course. The UPA has been successful in wrecking the polity from within. Mehta, however, missed to mention UPA's suicidal foreign policy.

The new Galapagos - Pratap Bhanu Mehta

The new Galapagos - Indian Express Mobile: Pratap Bhanu Mehta

A beautiful depiction of Delhi's political bio-diversity. Hilarious, yet true to an extent.

The Middle-Class Revolution - WSJ.com

The Middle-Class Revolution - WSJ.com:

A dissatisfied & disenchanted Middle Class is the most effective carrier of Revolution. From Aristotle to Hannah Arendt to Francis Fukuyama -- this has been the running theme.

Bhutan Is No Shangri-La

Bhutan Is No Shangri-La - NYTimes.com:

Appearance is clearly different from reality in Bhutan. Behind the charade of peace, tranquility & happiness lies a tyrannical mindset of the Drukpas.

Tantra Illuminated

 Tantra Illuminated: One Point of View about Tantra

'via Blog this'

Millennials likely aren’t as conservative as they think

Millennials likely aren’t as conservative as they think 

In the mid-1960s when we were students Link, a leftist weekly, lamented that while scholars & students of other sciences were getting 'progressive', those of political science were getting conservative & reactionary. Now this study shows that people who are about 30 are more centre of right than any thing. Why is it so ?Is it the consequence of triumphant capitalism? Or is there more to it? Find out in this study.

Is there a “liberal bias” in academia?

Is there a “liberal bias” in academia?

I won't call this merely a bias. In India, in the 1960s, with active support of politicians in power, the radical lefties occupied positions of authority & influence in the academia, particularly in Central institutions like JNU, DU, ICSSR, ICHR . These radicals saw to it that only fellow travelers are appointed teachers & fellows in these institutions. They constructed Indian history in their own image, without caring for facts & truth. Most of our academics & journalists are the product of these institutions, who openly show bias in their work. I was enlightened by this article in the London Review of Books that even in the USA such attempts were made in the 1960s.

Veer Savarkar: the Historian extraordinary

Veer Savarkar: the Historian extraordinary:

Only those who read their history correctly can arrive at the truth. V D Savarkar , with his Pitribhoo & Punyabhoo, Fatherland & Holy land concepts, understood the essence of nationhood.

An Insider's Look at Hannah Arendt's Life—and Love – Tablet Magazine

An Insider's Look at Hannah Arendt's Life—and Love – Tablet Magazine:

A peep into the life of one of the most ravishing beauty & brilliant mind of her time.

Edmund Burke& the liberal causes

Burke & Sons - FT.com:

Edmund Burke, father of Conservatism, really fought for liberal causes & justice in India, the USA, France & his own Ireland.

“Hannah Arendt”: The big Twitter war of 1962

“Hannah Arendt”: The big Twitter war of 1962

Hannah Arendt was one of the most brilliant writer scholar and upholder of liberal values of her time. In her "Men in Dark Times" she clearly foresaw that we were witnessing dark times and in her "Crises of Republic" she saw the ills that were to engulf human society. In her seminal work "Origins of Totalitarianism", she dissected Totalitarianism and the origins of the idea of totalitarianism, i e, Nazism, Fascism & Communism. In "Human Condition"/ "Eichman in Jerusalam" she tries to find out the factors that propel a human being to act inhumanly. In many senses Arendt was a maverick thinker who didn't care about the popular opinion of the time.

When C in CAG stood for confrontational

When C in CAG stood for confrontational

CAG - the guardian of national purse or a bloodhound?

Masani and Swatantra Party

Masani and Swatantra Party:

What C Rajgopalachari, Minoo Masani & Prof N G Ranga expounded in late fifties and early sixties became the reigning ideology of nineties & 21st century.Their writings in Swarajya may be treated as Bible of Modern Liberalism.

Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) - Left Wing Extremism(Naxalite), India, South Asia Terrorism Portal

Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) - Left Wing Extremism(Naxalite), India, South Asia Terrorism Portal:

When one is driven simply by hatred differences with others is bound to occur. Maoism is driven not only by an ideology, but a medley of other factors like anger, hatred, envy, greed,and of course, some sort of heroism. If you don't know your destination, any road will lead you there. This is what has happened with the lovers of violence.

Syphilis, sex and fear | How the French disease conquered the world | Books | The Guardian

Syphilis, sex and fear | How the French disease conquered the world | Books | The Guardian:

What’s the point of political philosophy?

What’s the point of political philosophy?:

Political philosophy gives meaning to the anarchic world of politics. It tries to make human life orderly & coherent.

When Derrida discovered Marx - LARB

When Derrida discovered Marx - Salon.com:

For Derrida & his generation and even afterwards Marxism was ' mother's milk'. But in course of time Spectres of Marx began to haunt them. Why? Find out the connection between Derrida's ' deconstruction ' and Gorbachev's ' perestroika '.

Do public intellectuals matter?

Do public intellectuals matter?:

An intellectual is acquainted both with history and history of ideas. Public intellectuals try to advance freedom and knowledge. Relevance of public intellectuals will always be felt.

‘The Undivided Past,’ by David Cannadine

‘The Undivided Past,’ by David Cannadine - NYTimes.com:

Conflicts & divisions are considered moving force of history by many ideologies, notably Marxism. Will divisions be a thing of the past? Find in this review of a book a fresh insight.

Historians of the Moment try to recapture Russian history from Gorbachev to Yelstin to Putin & from perestroika & glasnost to Pussy Riots & intellectual pugilism

The Brilliant Rage of Alexander Herzen - Michael McDonald - The American Interest Magazine:

Resistance, Rebellion, and Writing - Albert Camus

resistance, rebellion, and writing - bookforum.com / current issue:

Albert Camus invited the wrath of fellow Leftists for disagreeing with the then prevailing view that violence was a necessary part of revolution, resistance and change. Frantz Fanon derided him as ' sweet sister ' and Sartre talked of his 'beautiful spirit' mockingly. But Camus was right as later course of history proved.

GOP’s backward sexual politics - Socio-Political policies & Sexual Politics

GOP’s backward sexual politics - Salon.com:

The End of Everything

The end of everything - The Washington Post:

Ever since Raymond Aron described ideology as opium of intellectuals and Daniel Bell declared the End of Ideology and Francis Fukuyama predicted the End of History, the End literature and predictions have flooded the intellectual space. From End of Politics to End of Science , from End of Men to End of Future have been craving for our attention. Find in this Washington Post article the real significance of this End business.

Founding of the BJP - As told by its Architect, Builder and Mobilizer

http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/bjp-and-easter-sunday

What Was Neoliberalism?

Los Angeles Review of Books - What Was Neoliberalism?:

The Enigma of Neoliberalism. Was 'neo' a prefix of derision or an assertion of innovation? What was new about it?

The Throng of the Kumbh Mela Festival - Slide Show - NYTimes.com

The Throng of the Kumbh Mela Festival - Slide Show - NYTimes.com:

The Wonder That Is India. Amazing and Unbelievable

The politician vs. the economist - Economics vs Politics - the perennial debate

The politician vs. the economist - Salon.com:

Martin Heidegger: Hitler's Superman & Hannah Arendt's Lover

Hitler's Superman | Standpoint:

Karl Marx and the semantics of a “post-work left”

Karl Marx and the semantics of a “post-work left” - Salon.com:

Is the " right not to have a boss" a sensible right? Work is monotonous only for those who don't enjoy their work. Why there is a Marxist fixation with work monotony?

National Interest: Still Mandal, still Mandir - Shekhar Gupta's Subjective Analysis

National Interest: Still Mandal, still Mandir - Indian Express:

We, the students of social science, especially Political Science, know only too well that social & political beliefs colour our attitude and analysis. An honest analyst would declare at the beginning of his analysis his political leanings and beliefs. But to expect this from our highly partisan intellectuals and media is a bit unrealistic. It is not that Shekhar Gupta won't be knowing that the UPA, particularly the Congress, depends upon the support of Bangladeshi immigrants, minorities like Muslims & Christians, separatists and a fairly large number of anti-national elements to come to power. Similarly, the support base of BJP is not only Ram Mandir supporters. In fact India's resurgent nationalists are firmly behind the BJP and the Mandir Movement was nothing but the assertion of Indian nationalism. If India is to survive as a nation and civilization it has to facilitate the emergence and consolidation of Hindu nationalism. Religions like Islam and Christianity have other homelands also, but the Hindus have only India to fall back upon. A Hindu by birth is secular. See how Nepal, a Hindu Kingdom, has declared itself a Secular Republic.Parties, the rationale of whose existence was anti-Congressism, have now joined hands with Congress to stop the emergence resurgent Hindu/Indian resurgence.

In Bureaucracy Paperwork Against the People

Paperwork Against the People | Dissent Magazine:

How Bureaucracy came to acquire such negative connotation? There is goal displacement and tail wagging the dog in bureaucracy. There is an East European song which says: Satan doesn't have red tails; it has red tape.

Turning Ram Manohar Lohiaji on his head

Turning Lohiaji on his head 

In the present day Indian context, a Samajwadi ( Socialist) is one who discards society ( समाज बाद में, पहले स्वयं)  and thinks only about him/herself. No wonder, Lohia's ideas of anti-Congressism has been stood on its head.

Study: Are some people born conservative?

Study: Are some people born conservative? - Salon.com:

'via Blog this' This Political Science Research would like us to believe that all conservatives need not be fearful people, but all fearful people are conservatives. Strange research. The Conservatives want to conserve the present. Is it fearfulness? If it is fearfulness, it's the fear of evil forces taking over the reins of society.

Does “The Feminine Mystique” still matter? - Salon.com

Does “The Feminine Mystique” still matter? - Salon.com:

'via Blog this'

Torture and Taboo: On Elaine Scarry

Torture and Taboo: On Elaine Scarry | The Nation:

We are living in strange time. We are concerned with the rights and condition of the criminals, terrorists, anti-socials and persons of deviant behaviour, but don't care about the rights and condition of common people.When terrorists kill innocent people and police personnel, the protagonists of Human Rights remain mum, but when the State acts against these barbarians cries of Human Rights violation rent the air. Our permissiveness vis a vis the criminals is a reflection of the societal anomie.

Glories of Classicism - Stephen Greenblatt and Joseph Leo Koerner

Glories of Classicism by Stephen Greenblatt and Joseph Leo Koerner | The New York Review of Books:

India vs. China vs. Egypt - NYTimes.com

India vs. China vs. Egypt - NYTimes.com:

A very interesting comparison between the govts & civil societies of China, Egypt & India.

How Obama is unraveling Reagan Republicanism

How Obama is unraveling Reagan Republicanism - Salon.com:

There was a time when ' political parties ' were considered as the Dark Continent because political scientists did not consider as a subject fit for serious attention. Not so now. Political party has, now, acquired centre stage in the study of Political Science. Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party has given way to Ronald Reagan's Republican Party. The Republicans fear that the White House is trying to ' annihilate them ' and ' shove (them) in the dustbin of history'. Same is the case in India where the so called liberal-secular and leftist parties in cohort with liberal-secular intellectuals & media are trying to shove BJP into the dustbin of history.

Speaking the Politically Incorrect Truth

Ashis Nandy's comments on SC, STs creates furore at Jaipur Festival - India - DNA:

We are a nation of hypocrites. What we know and believe is, more often than not, hidden behind a number of platitudes and explanations. Prof Ashis Nandy has said something which we all know and have ourselves experienced a number of times. In private conversations we talk about this, but from public platform to say that OBC, SC& ST officials are more corrupt than others requires courage. We don't know from where Prof Nandy has mustered this courage.

Dharma For The State? | Jyotirmaya Sharma

Dharma For The State? | Jyotirmaya Sharma:

One of the ironies of our time is that people with jaundiced view begin to analyse events, personalities which are beyond their comprehension. Sanatan Dharma is no religion in the sense Christianity, Islam & the like are. What is called Sanatan Dharma has no single book, no prophet, no messenger; doesn't talk about proselytization or conversion. It doesn't quarrel about the method of worship; one is free to choose his/ her method. Sri Ramkrishna Paramhans was a Sanatani in the true sense of the term. Swami Vivekanand, on the other hand, was concerned with the contempt the Sanatan Dharma was held in by the other religionists and some of the Sanatanis also. Swami Vivekanand wanted to awaken the sleeping Hindu nation like Swami Dayanand Saraswati. These Swamis through Sangathan, lectures, discussions wanted to rouse the Hindu nation, which during 1000 years of alien rule has acquired many faults & shortcomings.  

Jared Diamond: It’s irrational to be religious -

Jared Diamond: It’s irrational to be religious - Salon.com:

Religion has its own reason which only the religious understand. Rationality, as it is understood, and Faith are two different manifestations of our personality. Religion, basically, is a device to make us human and self-controlling.

Joan Acocella: The Radical Vision of St. Francis of Assisi : The New Yorker

Joan Acocella: The Radical Vision of St. Francis of Assisi : The New Yorker:

There were both Brahminical and anti-Brahminical elements in St Francis's thought. Like a true Brahmin he renounced wealth and detested hoarding; but his disdain for books & learning was anti-Brahmin.

15 GREAT THOUGHTS BY CHANAKYA

15 GREAT THOUGHTS BY CHANAKYA | Self Improvement Blog on Speakingtree.in:

The beauty, & sometimes real meaning, are often lost in translations. Yet take delight in these quotes of great Chanakya.

The war on female sexuality: Is globalization to blame? - Salon.com

The war on female sexuality: Is globalization to blame? - Salon.com:
This is not simply a struggle for or assertion of power; nor a conflict over d propriety right over female body, but a manifestation of the weakening of value system and resultant anomie.

Progressives don’t hold a monopoly on science -

Progressives don’t hold a monopoly on science - Salon.com:

The politicization of science, particularly social science, is a reality and must take notice of this.

Shakespeare's Tremor and Orwell's Cough : A Visit To Literary Ward

Book Review: Shakespeare's Tremor and Orwell's Cough - WSJ.com:

A very insightful peep into the diseases of some of the West's greatest literary figures. Find out what type of treatment they had to endure.