WTO NEEDS TO ACT IMMEDIATELY

Now that the powerful nation like US has taken the initiative to waive the patent on vaccines its incumbent on multilateral arbitrator like WTO to ratify at the earliest without wasting even a single day. People are dying every minute all across the world while the situation is dire in India. It will be criminal negligence that these are delayed further. Already so much time is wasted, and if you recall this blogger had republished a letter by concerned group calling on the WTO to waive the patent. That was 21days back (504 hours back) since then hundreds and thousands of people have died and many are in serious conditions. Also, as the virus spreads its mutation rate will increase and chance of dangerous variants too will increase which may make the vaccine ineffective. So time is of much importance. There is too much at stake. PLEASE ACT IMMEDIATELY

Yes millions of dollars and skilled time was spent on research for the vaccine. It is but natural that these must be compensated. Also considering that most nations did not even invest adequately on crucial health infrastructure and were generally lackadaisical and incompetent, and so to now ask for help for sake of humanity is rather hypocritical. But these are extraordinary times and precedence set by multilateral cooperation in vaccine manufacturing must be consolidated further to fight the virus. Distinction of geography should not matter when the threat is on humanity. This template needs to be nurtured as the future threats needs multilateral cooperation and sharing of information. It is unfortunate that UN is not really living up to its role at this crucial juncture. 

I am reminded of Jonas Salk who developed the much anticipated polio vaccine in 1955 after years of dedicated research and chose to not patent the vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution. When asked "Who owns this patent?” He replied, "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Salk was an amazing human being and its about time to invoke his value system to fight the pandemic.   

Meanwhile people die

Meanwhile people die

They die

And they die

They die waiting

in the queue, 

at the gates of hospital, in the autos, in ambulances, 

On the cart, in the arms. 

Next they are stacked to be cremated 

It is difficult to tell from the smoke through the crematorium chimney 

Where the mother ends and brother begins 

Or whether it is the son or grandmother 

That is the problem with the smoke 

It doesn’t tell 

It keeps its secret 

But sometimes a swirl of breeze 

Conjure a shape 

Wisp a tug

Attempts a final farewell

Collapsing medical infrastructure

 

What we are seeing is horrifying reality of real time collapse of medical infrastructure in India. International community needs to intervene. WHO please take note. This is building up to a human tragedy of colossal scale that humanity has not seen for a long time. Most market media, as is the affliction, is concentrating on big cities where ‘people like us’ are suffering, it is quite likely a calamity of much bigger scale is unfolding in hellholes of small villages where discrimination and exploitation are rampant and systemic, where health centers are non existent. Life in India is series of tragedy for most Indians which are orchestrated by cunning arbitrators. Willful neglect of what was crucial for common people i.e. public health infrastructure is defining characteristic of this society. It is a society that lack compassion or care but position itself as moral authority with assortment of deeply disturbing nonviolence posturing and cannibalistic vegetarianism that impresses west. It’s about manipulating narration.

You cannot manipulate for too long nor recruit charlatans as PR agency, and when reality strikes it has to be dealt. Check few oft repeated data to again show how desperate the neglect is. India ranks 184 out of 191 countries in public spending on health. Despite the fact that almost 70% of India’s population lives on less than $2 a day, the country continues to have one of the highest out of pocket expenditures on health. It is estimated that 62.4% of the total current health expenditure is paid for by the patients themselves and the government only contributes 16.7%. It’s a vicious cycle that most Indians are trapped in. What we are seeing now is an accumulation of neglect of last many decades. Castetva forces put the framework and consolidated this at the expense of lives of common people as they viciously milked aspirations into personal gains. Hindutva only accentuated the misery with its own unique depravities (but yes health insurance for 12R/annum through bank accounts was commendable initiative).

The effort was always to provide template to accentuate blessing while cunningly working the narration of spiritual nation of satisfied people (who seems to have found some eternal connection that west will never comprehend. Western fluffs meanwhile dropped in to take pictures of smiling impoverished Indians for their amusement). Effort was rarely to solve the problem or be genuinely interested in finding solution, to sincerely work to develop infrastructure for human development. Fate therefore became the significant reference for common people. Take for instance how Castetva deviously encouraged culture of statue building (as an extension of valued attribute of sycophancy modified from squatter sanctum references) on street corners to consolidate their ideology in public space. This was replicated by new entrants (like say mayawati or Dravidian parties in TN), and then taken to next level by Hindutva. One cannot blame hindutva it had to establish its narration onto common people into public space. This is just another example of how castetva worked to create framework to undermine and degrade the democratic institutions. How scarce resources were being used to capture mindspace of common people and firmly push them into snarling herds. Meanwhile lacking any understanding of responsibility –expressed through competence, the society slipped into worst of references producing mediocre outputs and embarrassing attempts.

Crony capitalism produced its billionaires. As much as statues are vulgarities in public space antila -the home of richest indian, is the consolidation of collective crassness that castetva nurtured that has now possessed hindutva and is an aspiration for valueless populace. They also degraded media by nurturing nepotistic association through awards and perks. All these righteous barking by some section of media is the same that were given awards and perks by castetva, the same template now hindutva spreads –thus we have competing barking. Meanwhile an important institution of democracy stands degraded capitulated to power and market adding to the misery of common people. The same is true for art too –the one that is supposed to add richness of experience to society. Awards are being manipulated for decades. Mediocres with limited talents use power, perks and awards to consolidate their brand hence this constant haggling. What was supposed to be austere wise space like RajyaSabha (house of elders) has been ransacked by ruffians of all shape and size. Sometime back I wasted my time focusing on a disgust who posed as lyricist celebrity/ZK. Now this fellow, even as an elderly man (imagine the crassness), decides to spent time on trash talking TV feeding on vulnerable youngsters. With all opportunities one has this is how these people decide to spent their time. What kind of people are these? These crude were nurtured by Castetva (specifically because of muslim name), now Hindutva has its choice. It’s a fake binary. A waste of time. In these counter posturings of those salivating for power majority of the people across this huge land are neglected. It is but natural that they didn't have the time nor the inclination to create a robust health infrastructure nor enlightened framework for quality education. The intention was to showcase blessing, and lessons on fate. They worked their deceit by firmly controlling and manipulating narration, and that seems to be the expertise. This is the foundation of this society. It has failed miserably.              

This society failed to even invest in what was basic for survival. They thought they can handle reality by illusions of grandeur embellished by sickening sanskrit quotes of plagiarized ideas, by manipulating narration and doing some PR work (with huge population and exploitable resources corporate conglomerates have dropped money for powerful marketeers as influential mercenaries, the fixers). A society that doesn’t even understand what community means is incapable to face reality. Democracy adds to chapter of deceit. Trapped in a depraved society common people can only curse their fate and pray more fervently, and that is precisely how it is scripted. Pity.                    

 13th April 2021 

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Director General World Trade Organization 

cc. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director General World Health Organization cc. Members of the WTO 

Dear Dr. Ngozi, 

We congratulate you on your election as the Director General of the World Trade Organization. Civil society organizations signed on to this letter are encouraged that you would like to contribute to addressing the global challenges of inadequate supply and inequitable access to COVID-19 medical products, especially vaccines. However, we would also like to express our concern over the emphasis on industry-controlled bilateral agreements as the primary approach to addressing global production constraints and supply shortages. We note that some WTO Members have submitted WT/GC/230i . While the objective of this proposal may be well-intended, the proposed approach is also mainly centred on bilateral agreements controlled by corporate rightsholders. The same strategy has already been used by the pharmaceutical industry for the past year, including the oft-cited Oxford/AstraZeneca agreement with the Serum Institute of India. There is considerable experience on the constraints such agreements put on local production and equitable worldwide access to life-saving pharmaceuticals. Bilateral agreements that have been signed to date contain restrictive terms and conditions that reinforce vertical control of technology-holding companies, artificially limit production and supply to constrain global supply options and are mostly un-transparent with governments and the public learning about the limits imposed post-facto, if ever. For instance, Astra Zeneca almost entirely relies on one manufacturer in India, which it has licensed, for the supply of its vaccine to low and middle income countries including the COVAX Facility, and consequently billions of people are now primarily dependent upon the vaccine supplies from one company in India. 

Most of the existing bilateral agreements to produce COVID-19 vaccines are contract manufacturing agreements through which the contracted entity manufactures on behalf of a licensor that maintains full control over the use of its technology, the volume of production and where and at what prices vaccines may be supplied. Although contractors may help ease some production pressure in the short term, the model cannot guarantee sustainability because contractors have no legal rights to independently produce and supply the concerned technologies worldwide. We have also observed from publicly available information that in some agreements the technology holder maintains control over the vaccine component and prevents the licensee from manufacturing the vaccine component, hence creating dependency on the technology holder for the supply of the vaccine component, while others contain territorial restrictions . 

These agreements also depend on the “willingness” of the technology holder to license at all and as such are failing to mobilise global manufacturing capacity and diversifying supply options, on transparent terms that prioritize boosting global supply of the vaccine components and the final product. For instance, Moderna and Pfizer have yet to enter into license agreements with developing country manufacturers allowing for technology transfer and manufacture to supply developing countries. We recall that early on in the pandemic the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the COVID19-Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative calling on pharmaceutical companies to commit to transparent non-exclusive global voluntary licensing. However, this initiative has been rejected by the global biopharmaceutical companies. The voluntary bilateral contracting approach is the preferred choice of pharmaceutical corporations holding the technology for it allows them to control production and supply to markets, which they consider lucrative for their future profits. An example of this expectation of future profits is Pfizer‘s stated intention to shift some production to manufacturing booster doses for rich countries even while some low and middle income countries have not had an initial vaccine and to raise its vaccine price to an estimate $150-175 per dose in what it considers the post-acute-pandemic phase.

 We understand your recent call, alongside other proposals, for a “Third Way” that entails once again appealing to pharmaceutical corporations to take voluntary actions. As elaborated above, we sincerely raise your attention to the inherent limitations of being dependent on corporations' voluntary measures that have been proven to be insufficient in this pandemic. The world is in a state of a global health emergency, where societies, economies, and livelihoods worldwide are in a dire situation. And most pharmaceutical companies have benefitted from large amount of public funds invested in R&D, trials and spent on procurement, with little to no accountability and conditions attached to guarantee access. For instance, Pfizer and Moderna are expecting vaccine revenue of between $15-30 billion in 2021.vii It is time to realize governments' core and collective responsibility to collaborate and address monopolies on technologies concretely. 

We believe that the way forward should be to remove barriers towards the development, production and approval of vaccines, therapeutics and other medical technologies necessary for the prevention, containment and treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that more manufacturers, especially from developing countries, may independently contribute to the global supply. Global supply should not be dependent on the purely commercial prerogatives and exclusive rights of pharmaceutical companies holding the technology. There is simply too much at stake. In the context of WTO, temporarily waiving relevant intellectual property rules that reinforce monopolies, is an important contribution that the WTO as a rule-based multilateral institution can make on this matter in the pandemic, alongside reaffirming and supporting the full use of existing public-health-safeguarding flexibilities of the TRIPs agreement. Voluntary licensing, if pursued, should treat vaccine as a global public good, be open and allow for transparent global non-exclusive licenses with worldwide coverage of supply, and left to the WHO that has established C-TAP for this purpose. 

We look forward to further engagement and discussions on this matter. 

Signatories (updated as at 14 April) Global 1. Amnesty International 2. AVAC 3. Casa Generalizia della Societa del Sacro Cuore 4. Congregation De Notre-Dame 5. Congregation of the Mission 6. Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) 7. EqualHealth Global Campaign Against Racism 8. Fondation Eboko 9. Health Alliance International 10. Health Action International 11. Health GAP 12. IndustriALL Global Union 13. International Network of Religious Leaders living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS 14. International Presentation Association 15. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) 16. LDC Watch 17. Médecins du Monde 18. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign 19. Oxfam International 20. Passionists International 21. People's Vaccine Alliance 22. Reality of Aid Network 23. Regions Refocus 24. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur 25. Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, Society of Jesus 26. Social Watch 27. Society for international Development (SID) 28. Vaccine Advocacy Resource Group (VARG) 29. Yolse, Santé Publique et Innovation Regional 30. AIDS and Rights Alliance in Southern Africa (ARASA) 31. African Alliance 32. Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) 33. Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV (APN+) 34. Asian Indigenous Women's Network (AIWN) 35. Corporate Europe Observatory 36. Focus on the Global South 37. Health Action International Asia Pacific 38. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPCru), (Eastern Europe & Central Asia) 39. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition Latin America and The Caribbean 40. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition ITPC-MENA, (Middle-East & North Africa) 41. Jesuitenmission Germany & Austria 42. Pacific Network on Globalisation 43. Project Organising Development Education and Research (PODER) 44. Red Latino Americana por el Acceso a Medicamentos (RedLAM) 45. South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication 46. Southern African Programme on Access to Medicines and Diagnostics 47. Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) 48. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines Europe (UAEM) National 49. Access to Medicines Research Group, China 50. Acción Internacional para la Salud, Peru 51. Action against AIDS, Germany 52. ActionAid Australia 53. Active Citizens Movement, South Africa 54. Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN), Belgium 55. Africa Faith and Justice Network, United States 56. Africaine de Recherche et de Coopération pour l’Appui au Développement Endogène (ARCADE), Senegal 57. Africa Japan Forum, Japan 58. Aid/Watch, Australia 59. Alboan Fundazioa, Spain 60. All India Drug Action Network, India 61. American Friends Services Committee, United States 62. Asian Health Institute, Japan 63. Asociación por un Acceso Justo al Medicamento, Spain 64. Association for International Development and Research in Sustainability, Malaysia 65. Association For Promotion Sustainable Development, India 66. Association Marocain des Droits Humains, Morocco 67. Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (USA), United States 68. Association of legal entities Association of harm reduction "Partner network", Kyrgyzstan 69. ATTAC Hungary Association, Hungary 70. Auckland Peace Action, New Zealand 71. Australian Arts Trust / Music Trust, Australia 72. Australian Council for International Development, Australia 73. Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australia 74. Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, Australia 75. Balance Promoción para el Desarrollo y Juventud AC, Mexico 76. Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, Inc., Philippines 77. Belgian Lung and Tuberculosis Association, Belgium 78. Belong Aotearoa (Formerly known as Auckland Regional Migrant Services Charitable Trust - ARMS), New Zealand 79. Both ENDS, The Netherlands 80. Brazilian Federation of Library Association and Institution – FEBAB, Brazil 81. Brazilian Interdisciplinary Aids Association, Brazil 82. Bread for the World, Germany 83. Building Inclusive Society Tanzania Organization (BISTO), Tanzania 84. BUKO Pharma-Kampagne, Germany 85. Campaign for Access to Medicines-India 86. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canada 87. Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research, Canada 88. Canadian Jesuits International (CJI), Canada 89. Canadian Society for International Health, Canada 90. Cancer Alliance, South Africa, South Africa 91. Cancer Patients Aid Association, India 92. Center for Accountability and Inclusive Development (CAAID), Nigeria 93. Center for International Policy, United States 94. Center for Peace Education and Community Development, Nigeria 95. Centre Europe- Tiers Monde (CETIM), Switzerland 96. Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), South Africa 97. Charitable organization "100 Percent Life", Ukraine 98. Christian Education and Development Organization (CEDO), Tanzania 99. Citizens Trade Campaign, United States 100. Citizens' Health Initiative, Malaysia 101. Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development (HEPS) Uganda 102. Coalition for Research and Action for Social Justice and Human Dignity, Finland 103. Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS, Malawi 104. Coletivo Mangueiras, Brazil 105. Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, United States 106. Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario MX, Mexico 107. Consumer Association the Quality of Life, Greece 108. Consumers' Association of Penang, Malaysia 109. Crisis Home, Malaysia 110. Delhi Network of Positive People, India 111. Diverse Women for Diversity, India 112. Drug Action Forum-Karnataka, India 113. Dua'a Qurie, Palestinian NGO Network, Palestine 114. Ecologistas en Acción, Spain 115. Equal Health and Medical Access on COVID-19 for All! Japan Network, Japan 116. Edmund Rice International, United States 117. Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, Mexico 118. Fair World Project, United States 119. Fairwatch Italy, Italy 120. Federation of Democratic Labour Unions, Mauritius 121. Food Sovereignty Alliance, India 122. Fórum Nacional de Prevenção e Erradicação do Trabalho Infantil – FNPETI, Brazil 123. Foundation for Research in Science Technology and Ecology, India 124. Freshwater Action Network Mexico, Mexico 125. Fundación Arcoíris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual, Mexico 126. Fundación Entreculturas-Fe y Alegría España, Spain 127. Fundación Grupo Efecto Positivo, Argentina 128. Fundación IFARMA, Colombia 129. Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar, A. C. MEXFAM, Mexico 130. Fundación Salud por Derecho, Spain 131. Gandhi Development Trust, South Africa 132. Gestos (soropositividade, comunicação, gênero), Brazil 133. Global Health Advocates / Action Santé Mondiale, France 134. Global Humanitarian Progress Corporation, Colombia 135. Global Justice Now, United Kingdom 136. Grandmothers Advocacy Network, Canada 137. Green Without Borders, Kenya 138. Groupe d'Action, de Paix et de Formation pour la Transformation (GAPAFOT), Central African Republic 139. Grupo de Incentivo à Vida (GIV), Brazil 140. Handelskampanjen, Norway 141. Health Justice Initiative, South Africa 142. Health Equity Initiatives, Malaysia 143. HIV Legal Network, Canada 144. Human Rights Research Documentation Center (HURIC), Uganda 145. Ignation Solidarity Network, United States 146. Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), India 147. Indonesia AIDS Coalition, Indonesia 148. Indonesia for Global Justice, Indonesia 149. Initiative for Health & Equity in Society, India 150. Instituto Cidades Sustentaveis, Brazil 151. International Treatment Preparedness Coalition-South Asia, India 152. International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific), Malaysia 153. IT for Change, India 154. It's Our Future, New Zealand 155. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) Rajasthan/Prayas, India 156. Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, Kenya 157. Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa, Kenya 158. Jesuit Missions, United Kingdom 159. Just Treatment, United Kingdom 160. Justice is Global, United States 161. Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS, Kenya 162. Knowledge Commune, Republic of Korea 163. Korean Pharmacists for Democratic Society, Republic of Korea 164. Lawyers Collective, India 165. Life Concern, Malawi 166. Little Sisters of the Assumption, United States 167. Madhyam, India 168. Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), Malaysia 169. Maritime Union of Australia Victoria Branch, Australia 170. Mauritius Trade Union Congress, Mauritius 171. Médecins sans Frontière, Japan 172. Medical Action Group, Philippines 173. Medical Mission Institute Würzburg, Germany 174. Medico International, Germany 175. Médicos sin marca Colombia, Colombia 176. Migration and Sustainable Development Alliance, Mauritius 177. Milwaukee Fair Trade Coalition, United States 178. MISEREOR Germany, Germany 179. Missionary Society of St Columban, Australia 180. MY World Mexico, Mexico 181. National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal, Nepal 182. Nelson Mandela TB HIV Community Information and Resource Center CBO Kisumu Kenya 183. NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, United States 184. New South Wales Retired Teachers' Association, Australia 185. New Zealand Alternative, New Zealand 186. NGO Federation of Nepal, Nepal 187. Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers Association, Nigeria 188. Observatoire de la transparence dans les politiques du médicament, France 189. ONG Positive Initiative, Republic of Moldova 190. Oxfam New Zealand, New Zealand 191. Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC), Japan 192. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Pakistan 193. Passionist Center-Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Inc., Philippines 194. People PLUS, Belarus 195. People's Health Forum, Malaysia 196. People's Health Movement Canada, Canada 197. People's Health Movement (PHM) - Japan Circle, Japan 198. People's Health Movement Nepal, Nepal 199. People's Health Movement Uganda (PHMUGA), Uganda 200. People's Health Movement South Africa, South Africa 201. Pertubuhan Kebajikan Intan Zon Kehidupan, Malaysia 202. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines 203. Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights), Philippines 204. Phoenix Settlement Trust, South Africa 205. Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+), Malaysia 206. Public Citizen, United States 207. Public Eye, Switzerland 208. Public Health Association of Australia, Australia 209. Public Health Research Society Nepal, Nepal 210. Red Argentina de Personas Positivas (Redar Positiva), Argentina 211. Red de Acceso a Medicamentos, Guatemala 212. Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continentale (RQIC), Canada, Quebec 213. Rural infrastructure and human resources development organisations, Kpk, Pakistan 214. Salesian Missions, Inc. United States 215. Salud y Farmacos, United States 216. Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, India 217. Save the Children South Africa 218. SEATINI-Uganda 219. SECTION27, South Africa 220. Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Philippines 221. SHARE, Japan 222. Sisters of Charity Federation, United States 223. Social Development Through Community Action (SODECA), Kenya 224. Social Watch Philippines-Alternative Budget Initiative Health Cluster, Philippines 225. Southern and East African Trade and Negotiations Institute - South Africa 226. Southern African Programme on Access to Medicines and Diagnostics (SAPAM), South Africa 227. Students for Global Health, United Kingdom 228. SWP-ABI Health Cluster, Philippines 229. Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education), Philippines 230. Terra Nuova, Italy 231. Third World Network, Malaysia 232. Trade Collective, South Africa 233. Trade Justice Network- Canada 234. Trade Justice PEI, Canada 235. Trade Justice Pilipinas, Philippines 236. Trade Justice Prince Edward Island, Canada 237. Transnational Institute, The Netherlands 238. Treatment Action Group, United States 239. UDK Consultancy, Malawi 240. UNANIMA International, United States 241. UnionsWA, Australia 242. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK, United Kingdom 243. War on Want, United Kingdom 244. Washington Biotechnology Action Council, United States 245. Watch Democracy Grow, United States 246. Women's Coalition Against Cancer – WOCACA, Malawi 247. WomanHealth Philippines 248. Women’s Probono Initiative, Uganda 249. Youth and Small Holder Farmers, Nigeria 250. Zimbabwe National Network of PLHIV (ZNNP+), Zimbabwe

Herds are threat to humanity

Herd everywhere is a threat to humanity everywhere. Systems that degrades humans into unthinking entities who are then readied to be manipulated, used against every notion of being human, is persistent danger to life and to all living being. A dehumanized human is a tragedy on humanity. An emasculated human has lost the faculty that makes him or her human. As they spread they negate all the consolidated knowledge and understanding through the ages as also pose serious impediment to contemporary and future understanding and challenges. Herds are more than just passive animals but a serious threat not only to human progress but survival itself. Herd is an infection that systematically invades the mind making it useless.

Systems that create and nurture herds whether its religion, cult, traditions, feudal norms or market or insular ideologies, persistently undermine freethinking, egalitarian references, humanist contexts, anything that encourages inquisitiveness and critical thinking. Such systems are incapacitated to have compassion or nurture any nuanced values. They produce humans with sedated senses incapable to connect to their surroundings or any reality nor aware of their unique context. An unexamined life is grievously inept to examine the surrounding nor anticipate the future or potentials for learning herein. Their life is hinged to fate of the herd and blessing of the agency that control. These are carbon units with no potential or hope except as enthusiastic herd member. They are biomass that encroaches and degrades biodiversity, the habitat and finally the earth system. They are gangrene on earth. It is also important to identify herd controllers –who seek and encourage herds and work to manipulate. Herd matters as it is not about humans but numbers. In democracy numbers matters as voters which consolidates power hence control, for religions numbers are about followers or devotees, more followers means power and clout as also initiative to spread and garner strength while for market numbers is consumers which converts to money and clout. In recent times societies across the world have degraded as urgency of virtual connection have provided platform for these to consolidate. What was supposed to be means to evolve has become end in itself to rot the core. Ofcourse these vary with societies, those lacking civilized bearings deteriorate faster. What is certain though is herd controllers are inching into space of humanity at a rapid rate. They diminish egalitarian value systems and decimate hopes of progress. Promise of education is reduced to curriculums of followers and replicators, answering machines vomiting memories of mythical glories, rotting minds as guide into dark alleys of future.  Education is a strategy to multiply money and power. Youngsters get trained into herd quite easily having apprenticed in deviant families with parasitic relations. Lack of investment in education, substandard education system churning out amazingly focused herds, all these are hallmarks of herd controllers. Herd controllers make herds happy and contented. Carefully trained in myths of grandeur herds are eased into fantasy. Politicians tell them what they want to hear. Market feed them with inane entertainments of self-fulfillment as also framework of juvenilities of achievements that further sedates their unthinking minds. Religion assures their unexamined selves as blessing while presenting the slave minded with steps to glory. Since future is perilous, insecure, and are incapable to even fathom any hint of, reality is obfuscated with glories of past. Make it great again. Unavoidable bleak future that barge in as daily tragedies of woefully lacking society is delegated onto individuals as fate. When humanity is reduced to herd when humans are reduced to numbers it is but natural that deaths are just statistics which can be manipulated. The herds therefore don’t even get sanctity of numbers. They are nothing. They are kept insecure so as to become fatalist, kept occupied in their self-defeating grinding chores which are made much difficult in a combination of incompetence and apathy while herds are also kept in constant strife. Very soon they learn to pay obeisance to the oppressive system and work to perpetuate it. If they are sufficiently clever they understand the deceptiveness of herd controllers and with blessing of the system can upgrade to become sought after herd controllers. Market actively nurture these template for herd controllers, nowadays they are called influencers. An evolved person of subtlety, exposed to excellence, essentially compassionate nature, will rarely fall for herd controllers nor will aspire to be one and with his or her sensibility can only pity herds. They know it is a loss of humanity. The reason why herd controllers actively work to degrade the system, as also define the success as an extension of herd aspiration. Non thinking frames like crass entertainment, sports so on becomes sought after mechanism for herd controlling. So on the one side excellence of sports or art become competitive exhibitionism of market and hedonistic aspiration for herds like in US while it is reduced to games of manipulation to stampede for gravy in extremely mediocrity thriving societies like India –where these so-called sportspersons and artists having filled their coffer by titillating the herds in a egoistic drive aspire to influence policy making. A crude world of herd controllers coalesces through crony capitalism, nepotism, deviant traditions and values to create a much dangerous world. Herd controllers will go to any extend to keep the world in their sinister grip. Every innovative idea becomes potential for manipulation while the latest gadgets an instrument of intrusion and control. Herd controllers persistently squeeze the humanity out of herds leaving them as vulnerable pitiable carbon units waiting to release their carbon as redemption for better afterlife, ironically having wasted their present life but under the compelling illusion of having lived fulfilling life as herd member. Carbon is carbon. It doesn’t have afterlife. Herds live and die in their fantasy. Sometimes it is helpful as an individual but the problem is when these coalesce into herds and into rigid frames of dealings that is actively controlled.

As much as climate change or climate breakdown is immediate existential threat herds too are equally debilitating and imminent danger to humanity. Challenges faced by humanity whether its climate change, pandemic or violence gets accentuated in direct proportion of herd spread. Herd is a waste of life. They are an insult on being human, an embarrassment on humanity and a threat on existence.  

Nonagenarian Chomsky

The other day I was watching an indie movie wherein they celebrated Chomsky’s birthday instead of Christmas and were ready for a discussion with anyone who ridiculed! Chomsky has aged considerably with his post pandemic Santa beard. It is quite saddening to see him shriveled in recent online talks, he is 92 but remains as always amazingly measured and insightful. Chomsky is one the very few living person who have had a considerable influence. I recall (it was probably in 1997) when I encountered “manufactured consent”, next few months was reading Chomsky. There were also some discussion groups in JNU that I occasionally dropped in where Chomsky was hot and anyone who didn’t know about Chomsky’s work could be murdered. He still is popular in campuses across the world. Ofcourse now there are younger Chomsky videos online. It was in 2001 after 9/11 when he was on a visit to India that the craze really picked up. I recall we were in stampede to listen to him (one fellow even caught a flight to Chennai to listen to him, ofcourse those were pre-internet era indulgences). There are few things one may disagree (I factor in as white patronizing the mysified other. Also, it is insisted that religion cannot be and will not be allowed to define identity nor meaning and significance of minority. Cannot pander herds nor authenticate herd controllers, these are done by cunning manipulators) but his views makes one think. He is brilliant. 

During those days I was under the influence of, apart from other thinkers (mostly western, Indians don’t really measure up despite valiant effort by likes of Amartya Sen, though advaita of Shankaracharya is compelling thought but comes enveloped in muck, and yes Buddha can hardly be referred to as Indian since his enlightened thoughts were decimated from the mainland by monster mullahs and caste cannibals), Nietzsche, later existentialist like Sartre, Camus –his early impetus on writing fiction with much aid from Gogol, Chekov, Dostoevsky, Kafka so on and guidance from Dickinson, Tagore, Whitman, Rilke, Thoreau so on . Much later I shifted to Spinoza. In between there was an interlude with Derrida. Now Derrida’s deconstructionism had a powerful influence but I worked it into an idea for my requirements. It even influenced me to pick up a name! Not many people know about this nor have I explained. It was while I was travelling on a night train from Allahabad to Delhi (in 1997, I guess) that I started working on names. Deconstruction was on the mind. So I took De, and then something that should suit Indian condition for name but meaningful. Palan in Hindi/Sanskrit/Malayalam means “to follow”, and follow I was not going to! Hence depalan. Previously it was confined to contributing articles or literary gatherings but now it is official! Many times people use de as in day then I have to insist with much pleasure 'de as in deconstruction'. Unfortunately at one place (while I worked as copywriter) they shortened it as de as in day, located in Bangalore with mostly south Indians these precariously dangled on derogatory, it was a valiant effort to keep it from slipping. 

Live theatre of climate disaster

Climate disasters are getting acute in its frequency and intensity. Australia –a continent nation, is fast becoming a showcase example. I use words like theatre and showcase because for majority of people these are spectacles that is shared and ‘liked’ while recommender algorithm takes it to worst possibilities of riveting disasters to blunt sense and hooked for self-worth. They are perpetual spectators addicted to the last eye catching fare, attention seeking inanities. It’s a market opportunity. They are not much bothered about what are the connections or reasons that perpetuate these disasters. In world bereft of subtleties and nuances knowledge makes sense if it serves the purpose. Market therefore streamlines knowledge for limited use as the vision gets narrower and narrower. Disasters seem to be happening at faraway place. For others, patched into securities of juvenile conceptions like religions, these are easily understood as wagers of sins. Never was majority of humanity so isolated from reality. It’s ironic since latest technologies and gadgets were meant to connect to the reality and open up amazing possibilities. It seems to have provided platform for the worst aspect of humans –the majority that were piggyback riding on best of lot and freeloading the benefits, to coalesce and create their alternate reality that is sucking into existential crisis, wasting energy and undermining effort. This majority of unthinking/incapacitated to think humans –the herds, are being pandered by competing forces to exploit. The Age of Morons has come at the worst time. This is no longer joke. Trump was no joke. Nor these moron herd controllers propping up all across the world are accident. They create immense damage. This foolhardy arrogance can no longer be overlooked. Younger generation –who will face the consequences, are teaming up and raising their concerted desperate voice. They have kept calm and have conducted orderly despite the fact that their future seems increasingly periled. Every day it’s their future that is being destroyed, ofcourse with hundreds and millions of species that forms the biodiversity. The world is collapsing in real time while majority are not concerned at all or that they are incapacitated to be concerned since are incapable to think. How long can younger generations keep straight face, raise their fist and take long marches? We are reaching the tipping point, about to breach the point of no return with cascading implications.

It’s perverse but Australia facing the brunt has some assertions to it. White rich people facing the worst could help drill in the urgency to herds across the world. Opulent people seeing their homes swept away or backyard burning into their palatial house can pause herds into thinking. If it were poor ‘third world’ then these disasters or worst get easily dismissed as oft repeated sad story of ever suffering miserables, or as Indians see: less blessed. White rich people are capitalistic aspiration that is fed all across the world through herd trapping popular culture. It’s the carrot for the hamster for perpetual success. A narration that hinges on perpetual wants and perpetual consumption wherein earth is seen as gifted for perpetual exploitation for blessed humans. It’s god’s plan executed ably by capitalist.  

There is an urgent need for radical transformation of systems that controls human.                

 

Climate catastrophe accentuated by arrogance

Glacier breaking into an avalanche in Himalaya leading to flash flood and destruction are definite signs of climate change emergency. With global warming glaciers are receding, and will substantially weaken to collapse into flash flood. It is similar to what is happening in polar regions except that instead of breaking into the ocean (that has become alarmingly regular) the high altitude glacier collapse into river.  These are expected to increase in near future as also with glacier receding the perennial source of water for major river systems too will be depleted. India’s vulnerability to climate change needn’t be reiterated. It is now a fact which the short sighted and amazingly imprudent policy makers haven’t really able to lodge in their intellectually challenged blessed mind. This tragedy was compounded by foolhardy decisions of cutting trees and constructing hydroelectric projects (that were tossed aside by nature’s fury) in geologically vulnerable and environmentally fragile regions. It’s easy to get literacy but to become educated is a big deal. It needs humility and understanding both casualties in entitled world that poses sycophantic humbleness to power, greed and collective hallucinations that please the herd. People living in fragile regions are aware and carry the wisdom of centuries of connection with the nature (which is not broken by squatter sanctum’s grand estimations and appropriated flowery commands in alien language since these are fragile regions hence people are very much in touch with reality as any lapse would kill so they don’t have time for crap. Ofcourse in recent time these have broken with delusion of market and religion working its bigger plans as people reduced to pawns patronized and used as the occasion demands).

This region has vibrant environmental movements. It’s time that people raise their voice vehemently and forcefully against these grand projects conceived in grand ivory towers of insular mind trained in medieval notion to dominate and subjugate nature. Earth can very well survive humans. So it is better to learn to work with forces of nature, understand that we are only part of a system. Humans have no exclusive right nor are there any gods waiting to save humans. It might be difficult for blessed minds to fathom but you are not special. You can save yourself by understanding nature. Or else get ready to face the wrath of nature. In the meantime it’s time that policy makers start working on adaptive measures.  

Vanishing wisdom

 It is expected in an ideal situation that as people get old they gather experience and with knowledge and insight through exposure to wide range of ideas and thoughts acquire holistic understanding, compassionate and mindful presence. Through scrutiny and critical thinking an examined life is deemed to possess wisdom (if not in the entire gamut of life atleast in some aspects that adds to collective wisdom). We are so much fortunate that wise thoughts over the centuries have been preserved through printing and now disseminated by internet and available at one click. Whether it’s simmering thoughts of Walt Whitman or talks and searing writings of Toni Morrison or an astounding expression of deep connection of remote tribe…all are available. Despite deluge of insights it has become increasingly rare to come across wise elders or perceptive views that gives deeper analysis into the quandary these days. Not that the elders hold the key nor becoming old makes anyone wise. The numerous, and kinds of perceptive thoughts available, can save lots of time so even younger minds can acquire insights previously impossible. Younger minds bring newer ideas but older minds are tempered with experience and emotions hence high probability of wisdom. However if society itself is evolved then possibilities of young minds achieving amazing insights becomes quite likely. There is a reason why breakthrough ideas and exalted subtlety emerge from very few diminishing spaces of the world.       

As it is the contemporary world has become much crude and louder with market crassness that has kept the crowd mesmerized over large public space. While anachronistic religions with juvenile compelling narrations have created herds out of insecure and pitiable humans who have become more than nuisance in recent times. Politics is a convenient intersection of market and religion for charlatans to ensnare herds as voters. Older these politicians get worse they propose. Hence these contexts can be negated to produce wisdom and perceptiveness to evaluate cascading existential problems that humanity faces. It was therefore such a pleasant surprise to come across fresh whiff of wisdom through octogenarian Sugatha Kumari in her talks and prose, without any characteristic arrogance or entitlements or positioning that this society relishes and traps people in. In the severe stampede for the loot in the name art and activism, the pecking order established through nepotism, blackmailing and fervent haggling in and around power center, decency is the first causality. She passed away the other day from covid infection without much ado. It is quite rare to have insightful people that too in primitive society reeling in overwhelming mediocrity.  A region of fragile ecosystem and biodiversity placed in crass consumerism of crudest of people self-assured in varying idiocity of religions.  

It is a significant loss to humanity when wise people pass away. And when one is middle aged it tends to expose oneself to uncertainties that are left behind. As a generation of amazing people is passing away suddenly a protective shade of assurance is being snatched. Insights to comprehensively understand and deal the challenges are being lost. They now live in their writings and talks. But then who has the time as the society without any ethical anchor or compassion bearing swirls in the entertainments of glittering golden shitpot waiting to be flushed out into gutter of puerile entitlements.   

Post Script:

Once, and no more

The dirty brown splotched caterpillar munch the last of the leaves

yawns and indicates that it’s to roll up into dried leaf pupa

The wonder that emerges as brush footed commander  

Surprises itself by flying to the top of golden shower tree to share its colors

That’s too many things in a life, I yell to the butterfly

So what’s the trick?

How do I know how to live, be alive?

He surely did hear me.

I could tell from the way he unfurled and furled his proboscis  

My life is too short for your queries.   

Once, and only once to be here

And no more.  

He spreads his wings as bed spread

And stitch dreams from one end to another

For a long long sleep

And connect the constellations to exchange his life

          For the atoms and all                    

To find meaning

Presence is most important understanding. That is, you as a sentient being connect to the reality with all the senses. This then links, slowly but deliberately, as conscious to what is not perceived. Over the years with dedicated work and scrutiny one attunes to the best that is to offer. Getting attuned to excellence –pinnacle of possibilities, takes lots of effort as much as getting connected to simple and common. It could be subtlety of sights epitomized through nature or efforts of art. It could be ideas or thoughts that one seeks through searing presences in books, talks or writings or sometimes through visual mediums or images, that connects to the best thoughts over the centuries and contemporary and points to fertile future and possibilities. Meanwhile the mind works through its own ways of assimilation and consolidation and evolves its individual conceptions and insights in this nurturing ecosystem. Internet has made the connection to excellence much easier and eclectic thoughts accessible. There is no need to walk to the library and spent time on searching though not denying that these were charming activities. 

It is in this rich tapestry that one encounters words. Words that consolidate meanings into ideas and possibilities herein. These words carry insights and understandings of thinking minds that deliberated. These words with rich meanings, subtleties of thoughts and ideas encapsulated are being wrenched and thrown into haggling and deceit of market media. Visual media is defining arbitrator of issues and topics to highlight and is influencing majority of unthinking minds into herds which is having severe repercussions. Debate, which is a serious degradation of sane discussion into neoliberal social Darwinian binary, is ruining interactions and articulation to act. It is reduced to show of absurdities that is sucking reality into farce. For instance words like liberal and conservative are being tagged, boxed, into narrow binary meanings devoid of any subtleties or nuance of deliberation or context hence is meant to indicate bearers as competing forces thus cleverly segregating people into warring camps. There is an ease of effort, a monstrous simplification, meant to land into deep recess of herds and keep them held there. Market media and greedy arbitrators are accused of dumbing down and reducing issues as spectacles for consumption.                     

Words are not dead. They live and thrive. They have rich meaning that are an intrinsic aspect of evolving minds, an elemental aspect of individual presence, social interactions and defining feature of society. All these assimilate the words into richer tapestry of communication and meaning. Words therefore must be assigned its nuance to hold the possibilities. When words are taken out of context and held into single restrain meant as identity it dies. And with it dies the diversity of possibilities and contexts. These attempts to convert words into staid transactional currency to please and trap the herd must be resisted. Herds must be jostled from their market festooned bovine comfort and religion supported relaxing swings into the chaos of life and possibilities of individuals merging and emerging from multitude. And for that to happen words must be alive.          

Evolving post modernism into synchronous world

Modernism was natural evolution of enlightenment. Indeed enlightenment period was the brightest phase in human history, atleast European history, emblematized by virile minds of likes of Leonardo da vinci. It had significant impact on humanity and decided the course of action. Modernism was built on triumph of reason that was essentially intertwined on liberty and freedom setting the foundation of democracy and modern world. It led to technological innovation and set the industrial revolution catapulting humanity into frenzied action. Somewhere in its enthusiasm it neglected the ambiguous. Ambiguity that veined through the nature and firmly rooted in human mind. There was a split from the very nature that sustains. Technology was seen as a potent instrument to remove ambiguity as it percolated into all aspects of life. Binary valuation gained significance. Digital media entered every home to occupy mind. Internet became source for interactive reactions and associations that consolidated binary. Meanwhile computer ran on binary, 0 or 1, and compete with the intelligence of human brain. This then permeated into social systems and mindsets. Certainty led to binary of thoughts. Yes and No. Us and Them. There was a constant push towards extremities in order to squeeze out the ambiguous. Issues were sought to be cleaved into neat halves, ostensibly for better understanding but meant for consumption. It became a preferred mode to deal the confusion and give the appearance of control. Indeed ambiguity was seen as something terrible. Admitting not knowing was weakness, and constantly admonished. This led to firming of binary while the ambiguous space (what Syzmborska refers as ‘I don’t know’) was usurped by certainties of religions and market. Knowledge, instead of creating awareness and understanding, was consolidating into utilitarian and focused on specific needs. This set in motion a dangerous value system that polarized society as it degraded debates and social issues. The binary narration taken into the absurdities of polarized politics is what you see in US, very much the culmination of these inanities that brackets everything and anything devoid of reason or compassion. A vociferous section of society constantly mainstreamed binary value system and had clear ideas of the world of what is good and bad. Since they were never confused they exude confidence and easily influenced masses with solutions to all their problems. (“…they ‘know,’ and what they know is enough for them once and for all. They don’t want to find out about anything else, since that might diminish the force of their arguments” -Syzmborska). They are abetted by certainities of market and religion. This gives transactional quality to relations and humbug at the core of interaction. While creative engagement i.e. art end up embellishing and pandering the majority or mainstream narration meanwhile constantly marginalizing the protest or vigilant interventions.     

Modernism no doubt reformed social institutions and evolved on the ideals of renaissance. But its fatal flaw was its undoing. It unleashed horrors of binary as humans slipped into pragmatism of flipside that compromised ideals. The deterioration was swift and led to world wars and amazing level of atrocities in the modern settings (alarmingly among ostensibly refined bearings of classical achievements of modernism, and to make it worse simulating efficiently run industry). Vandalism of modernism was brutally achieved while remnants were dealt by prostituting semantics to highest bidder. Words like liberty and freedom were casually used devoid of any meaning. Refined ideas of logic were stretched to its irrational limits. Art was made inconsequential entertainment that played on the binary to consolidate the narration into fantasy, the victory of accepted good, nationalism, mythical identities and regressive contexts. While fascists, demagogues, fanatics…had easy walk through altars of modern state. The happenings in the early 20^th century baffled sane people out of their complacency into intense soul searching. Post modernism was a backlash. It sought to rectify the mistakes of modernism by identifying the complexities of individuals and diversities of societies. Instead of clubbing humans into achievable and prescribed ideal state it sought to assert uniqueness of human experience. It set out to destructure the systems that were mortifying humans. It was meant to consolidate democratic ideals. The problem with post modernist experience is that it took it to the extreme of nihilism into human centric (ironic, since the deal was not to remove human from the center of discourse) irresponsibility -thus a conduit to hedonism, which was effectively tapped by market. What we see now is the worst of modernism and post modernism in a tussle. The binaries of debates, percolate as values, taking it to absurd extremes while on the other side there is assertion of regressive collectives and irresponsible careless selves.           

Agreed objective truth is difficult to arrive but what is true and sacrosanct is the identity of human beings as humans. This is a timeless and valued universal identity. What is also real is the reality of the world that we face, and nothing, nothing at all must be allowed to diminish this reality. The way we deal with the reality determines the future. There is no relativism in this reality. We have to restore faith in human reason. These cannot be always dismissed as mere rationalization but expressions of thinking human, of human consciousness. It is a potent cognitive tool to deal with reality of our existence. It’s an indelible aspect of being a human. Reasons are consolidation of human experience. For the experience to matter it must be attuned to the reality of existence. In a globalised world of 21^st century facing unique global challenges human identity has never been as significant as also as precarious. There are differences but there is also common humanity, aspirations and challenges. Instead of nurturing systems that seeks segregation and dehumanisation in the garb of differences a synchronous world is a conscious tango with post modern world. It respects humans as humans, and doesn’t assign identities or contexts that negate these. It accepts chaos and realize the absurd. A synchronous world has individual awake to their reality, are creatively involved to assert their uniqueness and synergically associate for global challenges and enlightened goals. This is paramount to consolidate the gains of post modern meanwhile correcting the mistakes that lead to impasse that humanity is in. Mistakes of post modern nihilism led to scattered world stuck in its self-fulfilling prophesies, and ironically, with egoistic humans self-absorbed at its centre. This hubris is responsible for human acquiring fantastic notion about themselves and seeking it as identity undermining humanity as also egalitarian values gained through conscious evolutions of society and subconscious assertion of liberty. It is ironic (indeed deeply disturbing) that post modern context is being flagrantly used to invigorate medieval identities and regressive value system. Sane people must resist this dilution of humanity. They must attempt to creatively involve in a deteriorating world. There must be greater understanding and sincerity in dealing while empathize with predicaments and contexts of fellow humans.

Sometime back I was reading about human brain signals and how it differs from signals from heart while heart exhibits repeated smooth pattern and erratic is a sign of alarm the brain works just the opposite. There were no pattern, it was determinately erratic, as if brain connect to the chaos for possibilities while any indications of repetitions was signs of stroke or seizure. Human mind is attuned to the chaos of the universe. Therein lay the possibilities. The other day I was reading Roger Penrose. It is impossible for AI to attain consciousness in the language of algorithms that is based on binary. Mind works on quantum possibilities. Consciousness is entangled in chaos to retrieve a synchronous world. As much as earth bubbles in the mind boggling concoction of chaos while it knits the beauty of life.

This is an incredible picture of a Malaysian moth that i came across few years back. It has murals on its wing delicately depicting two flies feeding on bird dropping. This evolution happens as life constantly attunes and synchronize with its surroundings. This synchronizing is achieved through constant exchange of information, some conscious, while mostly subconscious that gradually seeps into genetic material –the discerning witness and sensitive acquirer. It’s a closed loop of heightened awareness that keeps refining itself as it is passed on through hereditary material for better chance of survival. And very possibly in few million years in the chaos of quantum possibilities this moth could evolve into specie with as sophisticated consciousness as human being. This sophisticated consciousness is equipped to create sophisticated world but it has to hinge with reality, it will have to synchronize with life.           

 

Will of the herd and the rise of democratic demagoguery

Democracy expects individuals to be aware. It’s hinged on responsible citizens, who use security provided by the state, modern health facilities and opportunities through education, the technological innovation, to enhance their critical thinking and understanding of the world around them. It's only when the citizens are aware that the democracy can function as an optimal system. Otherwise it’s the will of the herd that votes for manipulative herd controllers based on primal fears and atavistic association who then pander to gain more control by undermining rule of law and severely degrading democratic institutions. It is the rise of democratic demagoguery. Authentication of dehumanizing system and rise of authoritarian values and regressive revivalism across the world is not at all a coincidence but natural extension of systems that is being nurtured in the garb of liberalism by manipulative elites who grabbed power after WW2, and set to work liberal democracies across the world. The liberal here was rarely about thoughts and actions but seeping into crony capitalism and nepotistic association. These had dire consequence in nascent democracies. 

Democracy is an evolved thought to associate human into a thriving system that safeguards individual liberty and strives for equality. It therefore provides space for humans to evolve into better selves while synergizing to create a better world. But as Socrates warned more than two thousand years ago that it needs people to be skilled to vote and not be based on their emotions or random intuitions or birth right. Voting is an intellectual right that checks the reason and persuasion, and it has to be earned. It has to be earned by making an effort, being responsive to society and by educating oneself. The reason why education becomes such an important parameter for the survival of democracy. Education therefore is a birth right of every child. Education must be necessarily be attuned to exposing all the ideas and thoughts to encourage inquisitiveness and logical rational choices based on empathetic awareness and philosophical predicaments (and a possibility for wisdom). A civilized society will necessarily invest in education on a priority basis. It will be concerned about education system, and will keep refining it while continuously augmenting the infrastructure. Future of humanity is dependent on it. Primitive societies and its conceptions are therefore assault on humanity and constantly seek to degrade. Education produces the wherewithal to be vigilant. Hence quality education should be wrenched out of religion and market frame as these plays to ineffectual efforts and creates pliant human that works to mindlessly enhance the system. It seeds potential to herd. Contemporary problems can be pointed to these mindlessness.          

  An ideal society is an egalitarian society that effortlessly rationally self govern in a grassroot level participation. In such society systems of dealing will refine itself as the participants. It is not a surprise despite shortcoming some societies produce best of human endeavors whether in science or art, and these hold future of humanity. It is but expected that conscientious objectors like Greta Thunberg can only arise from Scandinavian countries. For liberty to assert individuals must be free to think and associate, education therefore provides the necessary skills for discernment. Any system that pulls an individual away from this possibility therefore is a threat to liberty hence to democracy. It stifles the possibility of human hence the chance for thriving society. It becomes a violation of being a human. It’s an abuse of human rights. Two systems that pose such a debilitating threat to humanity are Market and Religion. Market because it exaggerates and manipulates need while asking to compete and consume. It creates a superficial world and dealings that constantly assaults human mind and converts it into constant craving, an unthinking consumers. It seeks to monetize everything and creates meaningless choices in a diminishing world. It nurtures humans who are least bothered about their surroundings except as investment for returns. It’s a dangerous system that has severely undermined individuality while exploiting nature and giving impression of liberal companion of democracy. While religion has been discussed umpteen times herein so will not be going into the details except that it is a serious threat since it isolates sentient humans from their surroundings into herds with fantastical vision frozen in time. It is not only a loss to humanity but a constant source of nuisance and source for most contemporary problems and strife.           

There are deep entrenched group that nurture these at the expense of humanity. This then ensnare the human minds as consumers and followers making it ineffectual. These “sweetshop owners” (as Socrates so rightly evaluates) nurture herds by pandering them with sweet talks and dire consequences. These herds are threat to democracy as they are incapable to make choices since they lack faculties to discern. They lack what make them human. What can be more tragic than this?        

Lacking common sense for common good

A society that lacks even the basic definition of engagement is incapable to handle crisis. They may show some responsibility if it becomes matter of survival otherwise they will seek to capitalize or exploit. In a hierarchal mindset people who are facing crisis are automatically valued below oneself hence fall into the matrix of exploitation (while those who get lucky make sure to showcase blessing –tawdry being the preferred mode, hence are ideal for sycophantic attention). The only tenuous possibility herein is patronizing for good omen. Being socially responsible and concerned about common good can be seen as weakness as it is against all the valuation of market success. Individuals in such beleaguered society live in constant mistrust, afflicted with prisoner’s dilemma, and are constantly in lookout for opportunity to secure themselves. With sanctum squatter’s moral vacuum spreading through family units and normalized as dealings the ethical context is absent or at the most works in the heuristic of the situation. Meanwhile effete elite are busy building narration of grandeur to awe the west (Castetva was quite sensitive on these matter so as to showcase as uber liberals –the kind the world is yet to encounter) recruited charlatans to work the narration, many have used nepotistic connections to settle in holes of West and frantically place their litters in gravy positions while emerging as local guardians, as blessed beings, to guide common Indians like gods showering petals or strike lightening as situation demands. What are the compelling reasons that made them settle in west is kept unclear. I gather these presences are automatically deemed as harbinger of competence. And for a society that is constantly seeking validation these are blessing. 

Literacy and health achievements provide a frame for humans to find their potential and function as synergic members of society that strives for excellence. Kerala model has limitations of primitive society, a limitation that Indians face. It really cannot and doesn’t have the capacity to use the opportunity. It doesn’t understand excellence nor capable to pursue it. Understand that a mindset that is deeply enmeshed in an empathetic connection to the surrounding is firmly hinged on critical valuation and inquisitiveness hence responsible. It’s a framework that nurtures open minded engagement to strive for possibilities. A society churning in putrid pit is incapable to produce such mindset. Indeed cannot have basic decency of engagement that forms the basis of community. Hence cannot form the foundation, nor has any possibility, of egalitarian society.

Kerala was hailed as a model to fight covid-19. Initially Kerala did well, and the investment on social health infrastructure helped to ward of the infection. Again, not entirely unexpected, it failed to work beyond the basic. As is the case with Kerala model which plateaued during 1980s –incapacitated by humans to capitalize, so is the case of pandemic. When society was expected to play its part, when individuals were asked to show responsibility and be concerned about others, it failed miserably. There seems to by no understanding of common good whatsoever. The data here shows that infection rate in Kerala is much worse than many bigger state with low literacy or health standards. The way individuals behave in society needs to be closely scrutinized to understand the spread. India is second only to US. The infection is set to rise exponentially. It can be prevented by following some basic simple rules. And that precisely is the problem. Blessed don't even have basic decency then what damn they will give about basic rules? People are aware of the mask, and how it prevents the infection, but there seem to be ego working that makes them believe that these are minor matter. Blessed as citizens of god’s own country with hundreds of temples, mosques and churches and what not –indeed waste land, there is a primal arrogance and matching sarcasm that becomes a toxic combination for pandemic to spread. Literacy is incapacitated to evolve into education as the primitive mind find solace in infighting of putrid pits that is elevated by charlatans as signs of vibrant democracy. That these are hollow engagements meant to satisfy primal urges of primitive society and only function to degrade any possibility that democracy presents, nor these have any connection with challenges of reality, is not realized. Then there is this bewilderment of blessed of not able to find the cure for virus and have to wait for the west to produce vaccine (meanwhile any link even a whiff to India is meant to be used as blessed Indians working to save humanity). There are always more than enough local “treatment” and “cures” against the virus that emerge in every street corner that is sought to cement blessed Indian’s connection to forces of universe which the world is yet to know indeed incapable to even perceive. Such is the audacity of the mediocres. This has given false sense of hope hence lackadaisical dealings in the public space, this amazing lack of responsibility towards fellow humans. Ofcourse to add, the obsessive eternal pursuit for purity without understanding basics of hygiene is defining characteristic of this society.  

Blessed narration has given hallucination of invincibility, special protection from guardian gods, hence exaggerated self worth, grandeur similar to white racist/trumpsters. They already know everything hence they needn’t know, indeed for some it is below their dignity to even read or understand about the virus. Although all the risks and details of virus, and all updates, are available on click they find it unnecessary. They could very well be living in medieval times. I am reminded of the Bergman’s The Seventh Seal where atrocities are committed to ward off spread of pandemic. They may be forgiven since they were terrified while the charlatans working the religion found victims to blame. We now live in a world that understands quite clearly what virus is and how it spreads. Attempts of anachronistic religion cannot be tolerated though politicians/market may try to humor the herd. This society lacks the foundation to take on the challenges of future. In a crucial juncture of humanity with catastrophic effects of climate change is being felt, and India is very much vulnerable, it doesn’t seem to be equipped with even basic nuances of dealing. We are looking at a scenarios where the blessed are set to abandon the unblessed as anthropogenic disasters start to hit with increasing ferocity and regularity. This seems to be a real possibility. The level of cruelty will be astounding. 

As the infection spreads it eviscerate the hallowed Kerala model as incapable and failed by humans. Only a year back these primitives were fighting to keep women out of temple (cannibalistic society is quite keen on dictating who to enter, who not to enter, what to eat, whom to eat with, where to go, where not to…) and now the same wasted temples are bereft of people due to fear of infection! Such disgraceful lives. Incorrigible bunch of buffoons incapacitated to evolve. It is precisely where India is heading. Castetva is trying to blame Hindutva, and is constantly in look out to trigger its nepotism built contact in international media to work the narration, but that is just a sham to wrest back power. It is the framework that was nurtured, undermining egalitarian value system and degrading terms of dealing, that were cemented which makes Indians incapable to fight the pandemic. A society that doesn’t even have an understanding on community cannot fathom social responsibility. Individuals nurtured in primitive values of hierarchal minds are incapable to understand common good. Pandemic has become a metaphor for cannibalism.