Uber - the story of Technology Terrorism

Socially disruptive Technology?

    In India, we have seen the tragedy of a woman assaulted by an Uber taxi driver, and it has saddened all of us. We want society, the government, to do everything to prevent its happening again.
    Uber however is unrepentant. It is stating that it is not a taxi service at all. It asserts that it is only a web app. According to Uber, it is only a 'platform', the app only 'connects' the driver to the passenger.
    So even though it advertises and promotes its taxi service aggressively, it claims it is not a 'transportation company' and therefore is not responsible for what a normal taxi service would be accountable for.
    For Uber, our sister in Delhi is not a 'passenger' or 'customer'; she is just another data entry in their web app. As far as they are concerned, one data packet had a glitch; they claim no other relationship with the raped woman.
    One can sense strongly that something is terribly wrong in this whole buisness of web cabs. And in investigating this 'thing' called Uber, we discover a deeper and more worrying story - that of Technology Terrorism, which is the emerging face of free market liberal economy..

Will you apologise, Mr Modi?

Is her village her problem, Mr Modi?

    Amidst the uproar in Parliament over the abusive language used by a BJP minister, what has slipped unnoticed is a statement of grave significance by the Prime Minister of the country.
    Faced wtih protests over the behaviour of his intemperate colleague Niranjan Jyoti, Narendra Modi sought to excuse her on the grounds that she is 'from a village'. In one stroke, he has exposed his own gross ignorance, as well as done a great injustice to 70 per cent of Indians living in villages.
    The Indian villager already suffers from the stereotype of being ignorant, or a fool - Modi's statement now multiplies that untruth and suggests that she is also foul-mouthed and abusive.
    Actually, the truth is quite the opposite. Having watched village life closely for the last five years, I can say with certainty that it is the villagers who move out to towns who, on return home, come with a variety of bad habits, including the use of vulgar language. A second source of depravation is tourists, again from the cities, who apart from the material filth that they throw out of their cars, also 'educate' villagers through their own behaviour of drinking and gambling and the use of foul language. A third source is television, and movies, again produced by those in the metros, which introduce the villager to previously unheard of and unimagined ways of (mis)behaviour.
  So, will you apologise now, Mr Modi?

Open Letter to Aamir Khan

Dear Shri Aamir Khan,
    For a nation faced with a largely incompetent and irresponsible media, your production and presentation of Satyameva Jayate comes as a breath of fresh air. Indeed, I feel that the only three groups doing real journalism in the nation today are RTI activitists, Whistleblowers, and the Satyameva Jayate team.
    I write this letter mainly in response to the episode on mental disorders which was aired a few weeks ago. I feel that, unknowingly, you may have caused much harm to those suffering such illnesses. Let me elaborate.
    A key point that emerged during your discussion was the very persuasive advise to the viewers to go in for medication, with a strongly hinted assurance that mental illnesses could actually be cured with psychotropic drugs.
    Nothing can be further from the truth..

Chacha Modi

Did Nehru create a Modi?

Our first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was enthusiastic about 'developing' India. Present Prime Minister Narendra Modi too is showing great enthusiasm for 'development'. So is Modi a new avatar of Nehru?
I feel there is an important distinction which motivates their development dream, but also a significant common-ness among these two leaders. The latter is a cause for concern.
Not much should be made of the fact that Nehru fancied state-dominated enterprises, while Modi fancies a private capital dominated enterprise. Actually, both prime ministers are following the popular trend of their times.
The 1950s and 60s were a period of humane, welfare state thinking - even western capitalist nations in Europe developed strong state welfare programmes during that time. Today's political climate is quite the reverse; it is dominated so much by a mercenary capitalistic thinking that even communist China is developing capitalist expertise..

How to Self-Destruct a Second Time

Naidu brings in the Colonisers - again

Shri Chandrababu Naidu has done it again.

Nineteen years ago, he became Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and spent 9 years on the job. But he made a mess of it because he believed blindly in what the foreign management experts told him. In the process, he nearly sent the state to economic ruin.

Four months ago, Naidu once more took over as Chief Minister of a truncated Andhra Pradesh. And he is taking exactly the same steps as he did 15 years ago. He has hired McKinsey as his economic advisor. They are preparing a 'vision' document to liberally develop the state. State assets and resources are being prepared to be given to private corporations. Millions of farmers may lost their land and forced to migrate.

Did we say he is doing all this for the second time? A little recap may be useful.

Principles of Economics, Governance and Education

     In an earlier post 'The present disorder in the nation', I ended with a question as what could be an alternative to modern-day chaos. This post tries to answer that question, with a proposal listing fundamental principles of economics, governance and education. 
     Basis 1: Economics

     A large society, or nation, is a collection of sustainable communities. Economically, it is important that every community be sustainable in itself, in as much as it produces a large number of its needed goods. Every citizen is assured of a livelihood in that community itself. When we don't have this, then we see the sorrow of migration, exploitation and poverty.

     A community is a socio-economic-ecologic unit; a sustainable community implies that social concerns, economic concerns and environmental concerns are all effectively addressed within the system. This underscores the fact that livelihood is not just about 'making money' – it is a socio-economic-ecologic action. Every family is provided opportunity to be industrious – it works to produce goods needed by itself and its community, it derives satisfaction from that action and result, the work is done in social harmony, strengthening the social fabric, and that work, done on and using natural resources, ensures ecological balance.