call for de-austerisation
the recession started about a year ago. and it’s pretty much going out of fashion now. all the romanticism associated with recession is all dying a slow death. people are getting their jobs back, people are thinking of and buying homes, the market indices are crawling their way back on the y-axis. in short, life’s getting back to normal.
the politicians in India however, are however very late in responding to the recession with their current austerity drive. and their response to controlling spending our money is a bit late — whether it’s a response to recession or a long-due enlightenment within, to stop wasteful expenditure.
while the delay is understood — they all take about a year to respond to anything anyways — this small issue is alarming. it has all the characteristics of becoming a big issue; one that will hurt the common man in more ways than one.
if these austerity measures aren’t rolled back very soon — and we allow them politicians to travel by their personal jets and helicopters, the common man’s hard way of life will be severely affected.
politicians using our means of travel and living, means that now there will be a grid-lock in traffic, and increased security risk to you and me. with these folks travelling economy, regular commercial flights will be delayed for politicians never respect the schedule of a commercial flight. with these folks travelling in the same train as you and me the train will come under the scanner of every person who wants to attack the politician and will target the train rather than the politician. with these folks travelling by a vehicle on pre-congested traffic, you and I will be sitting in our cars longer than before.
today’s small issue. all those who are responding with an “about time” in their head, need to think twice. our hard way of life will be ours no more.
taxing times
i read, with great amusement, in ht today (mumbai/metro edition, 30jul2009, p3, top-left, headline: travellers give a thumbs up to fleet taxis at airport, by soubhik mitra) about the scene that is a result of the b&y (black and yellow) taxis “agitating” against the presence of the fleet taxis. this is a good small issue.
in the article, a few passengers relate stories of how they took a walk to get to a fleet taxi. how they prefer the fleet taxi to the b&y or the cc (cool cab). while my name doesn’t figure in the article, it could have well been my testimonial. since the arrival of fleet taxis, three now, i have completely shunned the b&y taxis. i have never taken the cc – it has fraud written all over it – they spell it as – cool cab. there was a time when i travelled a lot by taxis and there were no options. i didn’t own a car then. i was mercy to their wish and whim.
the fleet taxi phenomenon is relatively new to mumbai. it was born out of, probably, the frustration that every person in mumbai faced whenever he or she was in need of transport. the constant refusals, the badly tuned meters, and the very uncouth drivers (most of them).
the b&y’s had enough time to realise that they would need to upgrade – they were the ones who were moving about the city, privy to the smallest change that this city was undergoing. the disposable income, the need for comfort, and the requirement of an honest fare. they were the first ones to pick up the foreigners in their cabs; they must have noticed their numbers swell. there is a limit to how much the government can keep falling at its knees at your every whim. when the consumer has a choice, all that the government can do comes to a nought.
the violent agitation they have caused amuses me because i see this as the tremble before a certain death. there is time before this death occurs, but the disease is so gangrenous, there isn’t a cure, unless they shed the decaying b&y body for a healthy corporate colour.
the days when they could hold a weary traveller hostage, are over.
why am i not surprised?
the surprise is not because i found this article. the surprise is that this article never got the attention it deserved. proves, how one-sided the original argument was.
bye, al!
now i don’t see; now i don’t drink
why am i not surprised? yet another legal product faces discrimination.
“Critics fear next could be a ban on serving alcohol on international flights and turning pubs into salad bars, but Ramadoss is unfazed.”
(Via HT: Ramadoss’ next: No alcohol ads at airports- Hindustan Times.)
this is yet another classic distraction technique that the health minister has initiated. success is addictive; so after a while it quite doesn’t matter what the initiative is, if you know you are riding a wave, you will extract the maximum of it.
in the uk, you can already see the subtle imposition of government agenda through advertising. and the alcohol companies are following suit, there is an obvious alignment to government agenda. almost as if saying, “please don’t ban us, we will ask our customers to drink responsibly.”
the question, as most may misinterpret, isn’t about health issues. it is about creating classes and de-normalisation of certain behaviour. and it is happening slowly, one day to become a big issue.
relent at one place and they will take over the world.
can marry; can fight; can’t drink
in some ways i am sad about this move, in some — am happy. happy only because i am not surprised — it wasn’t long before this was to happen. so it follows now, you can get married, can go to war if you are under 21, but you cannot buy a drink. and it won’t be long before this spreads soon enough. the first battle, against smoking, is won — onwards!
“Proposals to tackle Scotland’s binge-drinking culture have been announced by the Scottish Government.
The plan would see anyone under the age of 21 banned from buying alcohol in off-licences and set a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol can be sold.”: BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Alcohol clampdown plans unveiled
how long, before age restrictions and controls apply to what we can buy appropriate food and clothing?
is there a small issue here? i think there is. instead of creating awareness (which is does exist — by scaring the daylights out of you, through horrific imagery), it’s just the easy way out. it all starts small. to quote william walters:
“The answer’s easy; we just need a historical reference. When the anti-smoking zealots started out, they too went after a relatively small target by demanding non-smoking sections on airplanes. That success emboldened them to demand no smoking on planes at all and in airports as well. Then came laws against smoking in restaurants.” CapMag | Trans Fat Ban | by William Walters
this is, therefore the small issue, the effects of alcohol notwithstanding, it is a foot-in-the-door for controlling alcohol consumption to different levels. this will soon become a big issue and will die its natural death. alcohol companies had taken the cue long time ago and began advising their customers to drink responsibly. hardly useful, i say, we will soon not be required to be responsible — we can’t drink any ways.
also, it seems like an opportunity for the pharmaceutical companies to invent another patch — alcoholette (requires will power)?
no big issue started out big, it was this small and apparently inconsequential allowed change, that made it the big issue.
defend the profit motive
a wonderful article to read. true, that the world is today a majority of compliant rebels and terrorised heroes.
An Open Letter to CEOs: Defend the Profit Motive–or Perish by Alex Epstein — Capitalism Magazine
blood, sweat and b-shirts and bbc bias
“Six young fashion lovers swap shopping for the factories and backstreet workshops of India to learn how the clothes they wear are manufactured. The group embark on the most shocking leg of their journey so far in Mumbai, as they are put to work in the backstreet factories of Dharivi [sic], the largest slum in Asia. But when they stumble across child labour they are forced to delve a little deeper and find out the extent of the problem and what is being done to prevent it.”: BBC – BBC Three Programmes – Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts, Episode 4
right.
but somewhere the narrator, the producer, the script-writer lost the purpose of the programme. attempting to focus on child-labour issues in India, they forget who commissions this work; who sets prices. if shops and chains around the world buy from these Indian “factories” and the people in these various countries buy these clothes, just how does this become the “Indian Fashion Industry.”??? what would this “Indian Fashion Industry” be, if there were no buyers? wouldn’t you rather call it the global fashion industry?
and yes, i haven’t travelled by train for a while, but as far as I remember there isn’t a third-class in Indian Railways.
bottling it down, all of it
“Mayor Ken Livingstone of London is urging his citizens to forego bottled water in light of the drag it puts on the environment. Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York has done the same. Others, meanwhile, have taken the further step of an outright ban on bottled water. Your thoughts? “: Bottled Water Is the Enemy – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog
(Via Freakonomics: Bottled Water Is the Enemy.)
yet another small issue. notwithstanding the arguments for global warming climate change, this is the small change i have been waiting for; dreading, but waiting for. it is inevitable.
it is, really, the case of being addicted to winning. what you win, is fairly immaterial, after a while. the purpose doesn’t exist – it is just the need to see where victory is possible. in banning the bottle, they are bottling all possible choice.
the basics are under attack now.
women’s contribution to climate change
here is a snip from a comment posted on the article (link below)
I bought [my first Ferrari] because, with a growing trend towards the politics of envy being thinly veiled as saving the planet, I believe these nincompoops are sadly gaining ground and have a chance of winning. Therefore this may be the last chance to enjoy such engineering masterpieces.
Chief scientist in sports cars warning to women – Telegraph
in the article, Sir David King urges women to “stop admiring young men in Ferraris” – their contribution to helping control climate change.
next ban, ferraris and such. (you’d have to wonder if Toyota is funding this?)
the more i read statements from authoritative figures like these, the lesser i believe that the one world theory is just a conspiracy theory.
ps: see the freakonomics take on this issue
ray of hope; it’s christmas
yet another tiny ray of hope regarding all things going politically correct. i must admit, i actually experienced some spiritual pleasure after reading the article. when, i first saw the headline, i was expecting to see yet another item about dumbing down any activity that related to identity.
“It’s time to stop being daft about Christmas. It’s fine to celebrate and it’s fine for Christ to be star of the show,” said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
“Let’s stop being silly about a Christian Christmas,” he said, referring to a tendency to play down the traditional celebrations of the birth of Christ for fear of offending minorities in multicultural Britain.
Hands off Christmas, say religious leaders: Reuters
if the pc activists have their way, we will soon be living in a world of very small vocabulary made of vague words that quite doesn’t mean anything and and a world where events don’t signify anything.
i cannot stress the happiness i feel when a celebration is due. it doesn’t matter who is celebrating and for what reason. the sheer joy that envelops you is enough reason for a celebration to be.
if Mr. Phillips is looking for a vote, he sure has one.
Merry Christmas, all of you!
