Freedom is something that is of paramount importance to every living being. Freedom is the sense of being expressive about one's feelings whether it be of individuals or of societies. Since the dawn of human race, countless lives have been laid on the line to defend something so awesome and which cannot be expressed in words, something so beautiful and something so mystical, something so priceless that one's life doesn't weigh heavier and something without which life would be a barren wilderness.This invisible thing only uttered from the lips of men and which can be felt in it's own light is 'freedom'.
Throughout the history of mankind there have been countless struggles to win freedom. Civilizations that didn't allow freedom have slipped into oblivion and infamy.The world now stands divided between free nations and those that are not, even though they are sovereign. There are nations continuously pushing towards greater freedom of their people while there are those nations that believe freedom for their people will not see them scaling the heights of communal success(China). But, it is to be noted that history is full of instances where societies have imploded owing to a perennial build up of discontentment.
It is an irony that the communists rose up to fight against inequality and ended up squashing the people they liberated. We have to ask ourselves why this happened, after all, the communists were dreaming of a world where there is mo master and no slave,no condescending giver and an inferior taker. The hands that toiled for and built the great pyramids of Egypt of course should equally share the glory their designers are attributed. So, why did the communists fall? what went so terribly wrong with the Utopian dream? The answer lies with the human tendency to take to extremes when there are insurmountable odds to be faced.
I have, in the past many years come across people who say India needs iron fist dictators to rid it of all it's aliments. I have, always terribly disagreed with them, well I believe a nation belongs to it's people and not to a single person. Erstwhile Soviet Union is the best example for this. The Russian revolution was spearheaded by men from different schools of thought, as is evident from the crushing of the Kronstadt Rebellion(which wanted democracy for Russia) and exiling and killing of Leon Trotsky. Russians were under the most severe conditions imaginable for a country that is so rich in every natural resource, most people in the revolution wanted drastic and long lasting changes and most believed that hardliners were an answer. They were all wrong, as is evident from the course of history. There's one crucial aspect people tend to forget, HOW LONG WOULD A FEW IRON MEN REMAIN SANE AND NON-PARANOID TO RUN A NATION WITHOUT PUTTING IT'S PEOPLE TO PERIL?? The answer is they will not for long, there should always be change in leadership and people should decide the course. Stalin simply believed that he was best for Russia and saw all others as a threat to Russian progress, he was right from his perspective, until he had gone paranoid and insane to send millions of people to Gulags and planting the roots for discontent that blasted out after Gorbachev decided to loosen the grip slightly. And then there are the North Korean people who were coaxed into believing that they are the most developed nation in the world by their leaders.
All people of all nations should have a say in deciding their destiny. Freedom will nurture stability and guarantee that no one is crushed under the burden of insanity of a few powerful people. Free people can contribute more to their nations and to the world, after all, there have been uncontainable rebellions for lack of freedom and long lasting stability in countries like those in Europe and North America, possible only because of their free societies.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Competitive Economies And Corporate Loyalties
Looking at the header of this post you might be thinking what competitive economies have got to do with loyalties......Well this is the biggest challenge corporations the world over are facing today. It is a paradox that sprang up from the way free markets work viz., competition...ruthless competition.
Competition is the key factor that has driven the success of free markets and ensured that free economies don't stagnate after a period of growth. Competition is one thing that the Soviets couldn't imbibe into their economic policies which eventually lead to Perestroika and Glasnost in the erstwhile Soviet Union and then on to it's eventual fall. All business endeavors are to see profit, and governments that support free markets make sure there always is profit. The way they achieve this is to leave ground for multiple players, thus making sure that no one rests on their laurels for long.
So big corporations run with a single mindedness called 'profit', this hunger for profits has now hit individuals as well. There is a real sense in asking oneself this question......."why should I lose this opportunity to gain more money?" Corporations keep asking themselves this question, and now individuals do as well. The answer to this question is to keep looking for better pastures all the time and switch to a new job whenever there are better opportunities. The first thing that private organizations think of during a stormy time is throwing people overboard!! so why should individuals be loyal to any organization that treats them no more than instruments of profit? well nobody seems to be.......
My father always used to say of his organization... "dear, this is the entity that's feeding us and sending you to school", his organization, even during very hard times never threw anyone overboard, even those who were asked to leave were given money equivalent to what they would earn till they retire!! This loyalty is a rarity to people of our generation. No one has any loyalties to anybody, it is just a hunger for profit that drives people and corporations. So, can we go back to the old system? definitely not, as we have seen where it had lead us. The best example is that of DoorDarshan in India, they were holding 100% market share for television channels in India, I haven't seen it in many years and many like me have forgotten it, DoorDarshan was and is one of the most inefficient machines around.
So, what is the answer to all this volatility we see with individuals and corporations alike? The answer is a pretty tough one, and we can say we still haven't learn't economics properly. Could Communism be an answer to this? May be, time will tell this as people move ahead perfecting the way things are handled. It is to be noted that Karl Marx never thought of forcing Communism onto people, he believed that brutality of Capitalism will lead to a desire in people for an equal share for all humanity to the resources no single person truly can inherit.
Competition is the key factor that has driven the success of free markets and ensured that free economies don't stagnate after a period of growth. Competition is one thing that the Soviets couldn't imbibe into their economic policies which eventually lead to Perestroika and Glasnost in the erstwhile Soviet Union and then on to it's eventual fall. All business endeavors are to see profit, and governments that support free markets make sure there always is profit. The way they achieve this is to leave ground for multiple players, thus making sure that no one rests on their laurels for long.
So big corporations run with a single mindedness called 'profit', this hunger for profits has now hit individuals as well. There is a real sense in asking oneself this question......."why should I lose this opportunity to gain more money?" Corporations keep asking themselves this question, and now individuals do as well. The answer to this question is to keep looking for better pastures all the time and switch to a new job whenever there are better opportunities. The first thing that private organizations think of during a stormy time is throwing people overboard!! so why should individuals be loyal to any organization that treats them no more than instruments of profit? well nobody seems to be.......
My father always used to say of his organization... "dear, this is the entity that's feeding us and sending you to school", his organization, even during very hard times never threw anyone overboard, even those who were asked to leave were given money equivalent to what they would earn till they retire!! This loyalty is a rarity to people of our generation. No one has any loyalties to anybody, it is just a hunger for profit that drives people and corporations. So, can we go back to the old system? definitely not, as we have seen where it had lead us. The best example is that of DoorDarshan in India, they were holding 100% market share for television channels in India, I haven't seen it in many years and many like me have forgotten it, DoorDarshan was and is one of the most inefficient machines around.
So, what is the answer to all this volatility we see with individuals and corporations alike? The answer is a pretty tough one, and we can say we still haven't learn't economics properly. Could Communism be an answer to this? May be, time will tell this as people move ahead perfecting the way things are handled. It is to be noted that Karl Marx never thought of forcing Communism onto people, he believed that brutality of Capitalism will lead to a desire in people for an equal share for all humanity to the resources no single person truly can inherit.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
We Got A Submarine !!
Finally India got a Submarine, great news!! But wait a minute....we already have submarines and they have been with the navy since the early sixties. So, why are we so excited about the addition of another submarine? Well, yes there is reason to be excited, all the submarines that we got till now are not true submarines, they can invariably be called 'submersible ships'.
Conventional diesel powered submarines constituted all of our submarine force till now and will stay so for the next 15 years at the least. Diesel submarines don't run their engines all the time, their diesel engines are run when the submarine surfaces, the power from which is used to charge the batteries. These powered batteries are then used to run the submarine when it gets under the sea. Surfacing is the biggest weakness of conventional submarines, they become vulnerable to attack and this is the very reason they cannot form part of a defensive response against enemy nuclear attacks.
I will make an attempt at explaining why nuclear submarines are a deterring factor against nuclear attacks.........It had been the strategy of the Cold War powers to send their nuclear submarines to ocean depths when the war begins or position them near enemy territory and launch an attack that cannot be tracked by satellites or ships or aircraft. In this aspect the Soviets reached the farthest, they built the world's most silent and largest submarines ever built, the Akula class. Their size is something that no one else can still match even today!! Soviets built them so large for two reasons viz., carrying more fire power and staying submerged for longer durations before a surprise attack can be launched. It is said that Soviets built Akulas to send them to ocean depths whenever war started and to keep them there for an estimated 100 - 150 days and then bring them up to rain fire, when all means to launch an attack had been exhausted during attacks and counter attacks from NATO, a frightening prospect indeed !! The submarines were so large because they even have swimming pools and other things to keep the crew sane, virtually unknown on all other submarines. So Soviets definitely scored an edge over Americans with Akula submarines, Americans came to know about their existence very late, we never know what answer they had against Akula, a true master weapon.
Now, since India is surrounded by two nuclear weapon states, and since we declared that we would not use nuclear weapons first against any country, we do need to have a credible way to launch a counter attack in the event that our launch capabilities are taken out in a first attack by enemies. A nuclear submarine is the answer to this need, navy could send the submarine to an undisclosed location and launch attack in secret from where it cannot be taken out. But it is to be noted that nuclear submarines proved to be deadly adventures for both the Soviets and Americans. The perils of a nuclear submarine that isn't properly built are portrayed best in the movie "K-19 The Widow Maker", which is the tragic story of one of Soviet Union's first nuclear submarines that went horribly wrong. Infact this movie is one of my favorites for an inspiring portrayal of patriotism by the submarine's crew, which is all real.
Hope that India doesn't have to taste this bitterness with Arihant, our first nuclear submarine. The fact that it took 3 decades to launch our first submarine is an indicator that a careful effort went into building the submarine and accidents are kept at bay. God be with the crew of Arihant while it undergoes sea trials.
If all goes well we will send out a message to the World that India can no longer be messed with, an assuring prospect for Indians but on another note also brings me sadness that one more country has brought the world closer to apocalypse, a country that has been the most peaceful of nations, undeniably in entire human history, but on another note we are not responsible for it, it is other irresponsible countries that pushed India here!!
Conventional diesel powered submarines constituted all of our submarine force till now and will stay so for the next 15 years at the least. Diesel submarines don't run their engines all the time, their diesel engines are run when the submarine surfaces, the power from which is used to charge the batteries. These powered batteries are then used to run the submarine when it gets under the sea. Surfacing is the biggest weakness of conventional submarines, they become vulnerable to attack and this is the very reason they cannot form part of a defensive response against enemy nuclear attacks.
I will make an attempt at explaining why nuclear submarines are a deterring factor against nuclear attacks.........It had been the strategy of the Cold War powers to send their nuclear submarines to ocean depths when the war begins or position them near enemy territory and launch an attack that cannot be tracked by satellites or ships or aircraft. In this aspect the Soviets reached the farthest, they built the world's most silent and largest submarines ever built, the Akula class. Their size is something that no one else can still match even today!! Soviets built them so large for two reasons viz., carrying more fire power and staying submerged for longer durations before a surprise attack can be launched. It is said that Soviets built Akulas to send them to ocean depths whenever war started and to keep them there for an estimated 100 - 150 days and then bring them up to rain fire, when all means to launch an attack had been exhausted during attacks and counter attacks from NATO, a frightening prospect indeed !! The submarines were so large because they even have swimming pools and other things to keep the crew sane, virtually unknown on all other submarines. So Soviets definitely scored an edge over Americans with Akula submarines, Americans came to know about their existence very late, we never know what answer they had against Akula, a true master weapon.
Now, since India is surrounded by two nuclear weapon states, and since we declared that we would not use nuclear weapons first against any country, we do need to have a credible way to launch a counter attack in the event that our launch capabilities are taken out in a first attack by enemies. A nuclear submarine is the answer to this need, navy could send the submarine to an undisclosed location and launch attack in secret from where it cannot be taken out. But it is to be noted that nuclear submarines proved to be deadly adventures for both the Soviets and Americans. The perils of a nuclear submarine that isn't properly built are portrayed best in the movie "K-19 The Widow Maker", which is the tragic story of one of Soviet Union's first nuclear submarines that went horribly wrong. Infact this movie is one of my favorites for an inspiring portrayal of patriotism by the submarine's crew, which is all real.
Hope that India doesn't have to taste this bitterness with Arihant, our first nuclear submarine. The fact that it took 3 decades to launch our first submarine is an indicator that a careful effort went into building the submarine and accidents are kept at bay. God be with the crew of Arihant while it undergoes sea trials.
If all goes well we will send out a message to the World that India can no longer be messed with, an assuring prospect for Indians but on another note also brings me sadness that one more country has brought the world closer to apocalypse, a country that has been the most peaceful of nations, undeniably in entire human history, but on another note we are not responsible for it, it is other irresponsible countries that pushed India here!!
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