Open society and its friends!

 Karl Popper wrote in his book "Open society and its enemies"  that Paradox of Tolerance leads to more intolerance. He explained that in order to maintain a tolerant society,the society itself must be intolerant of the intolerant. He openly borrows his idea from Plato's concept of Benevolent despotism or benevolent dictatorship.

Indians have understood this contradiction in governance and according to the best of statecrafts defined by them State Governance has four ways of taking action : Sama,Dhana , Bheda and Dhanda. When it should actively encourage dharmic ways of living, it should seek out and identify those who are bent upon disturbing this peaceful coexistence. It may be its own citizens or enemies from outside. For dealing with them it should employ the above four ways and it can move from one to another subtly, discreetly or sometimes directly. Dhanda is always the last resort and even for criminal acts and for offenders, punishment is a must. This is intolerance of the intolerant. Punishments should be given after speedy and fair inquiry and justice must be seen to be delivered without delay. This will have a deterrent effect.

However the contrast is to see who are Friends of Open society. Friends are Those who forge consensus, those who encourage cohesion, those who believe in cooperation, those who trust collaboration, those who practice transparent communication, and those who want syncretic, synergistic community development.

The tolerance towards genuine failures, mistakes in trying to invent, missteps in search of progress will go a long way in supporting open societies that are productive and supportive in the long run. When the societies are young in age such openness provides the youth power to blossom out full harnessing its potential.

But, many times, these friends of open society work in silence and with lot of patience. But earnestness, perseverance and persistence are their hallmarks. Friends of Open society will always build checks and balances to prevent even unintended misuse of power, influence, nepotism etc.

When Voltaire declared Liberty as the fulcrum of modern human society, he meant , civil liberties, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. He is widely believed to have written "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Those who subscribe to his views are all Friends of Open society.Such open societies will bring forth positive changes in human dynamics and nurture inventions, innovations in all spheres of life from poetry ,arts to physics,biology.All this leads to prosperity in society and the virtuous cycle is set in motion.

It is our bounden duty to identify and safeguard these Friends of Society who are pillars of Tolerance and not to discredit them wantonly by imputing intolerance.

Orwell and Covid vaccine

  "All animal are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," wrote George Orwell in his allegorical novel Animal Farm. the stody in short conveys the meaning that the absolute power corrupts absolutely.

His novel 1984 which is a classic dystopian novel, also wrote about Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking . This novel and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" rank as two of the best dystopian novels of twentieth century. Huxley's novel describes a world where people are born and raised  through engineered artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination into predetermined classes or castes based on intelligence and labour.

In all these novels, a world covered by intelligence which gives it an order and discipline predetermined by its rulers, is a dire prediction.

Coming to Covid 19 driven world of today, our ways and methods are directed by rulers assisted by doctors, epidemiologists and virologists , and we are not at liberty to do and act on our own. The overarching societal welfare notion constrains individual liberty and movements. Since it is viewed as a temporary measure many have been living with it.

But once Vaccine is made available, this may give way to more individual liberties and rights.

However there is a lingering question: "who will get Vaccine first".

Pl. read the opening sentence now again. Some people are considered more equal than others and they are the powers that be and those close to them.

But this notion is against the principles of natural justice and would not hold waters in a democratic society in a free world. The Vaccine adminstration should have a free protocol without any strings of power, money, position pulling it. This is very very important for the society or any country to think they are still democratic and free.Only then future is secure and people can look forward to prosperity guided by a truly compassionate Govts.

Are we still democratic society?

India's research, design and manufacturing capabilities!

If you do a SWOT analysis of India's capabilities, certainly Software prowess will be among the top in the list in terms of technological leverage. Pharma will come next to it and there are others like leather goods, cotton textiles, garments etc.

There is one niche area where India has excelled in all- Research, Design and Manufacturing capabilities and that is two-wheeler production. Even though India borrowed the technology from Japanese manufacturers initially, now India has its own name in the world for 2 wheeler manufacturing competing and even outshining the best in the world.

Yesterday I was listening to a panel discussion on defence manufacturing. Two out of the four panelists predicted in about 5 to 10 years time, India will be among the first three in terms of Research, Design and Mfg. of niche defense equipment incl high-end weapons built on the cutting end technology. According to them ,it has been made possible by the coherent, calibrated and painstaking efforts of this Govt. starting from Manohar Parrikar as the Defence Minister.

One of the panelists being Air Vice Marshal(retd) knew what he is talking about in terms of Govt. policies and the dilly-dallying attitudes of bureaucrats in carrying the agenda of the Govt. forward. He said that the dance involving the Govt, bureaucrats, and the armed forces have got into synchronized steps with well thought out targets after listening to the Defence Mfg.Industry.

Apart from these industries, India is also looking at developing capabilities in semiconductors, smartphones, chemicals and high-end pharma, renewable energy power equipment production, Mobility solutions etc. India stands to gain by investing in cutting edge technologies in Nano, AI, Robotics, Space, IoT, ML, DL, etc. For these things, India's investment in Targeted Research and Development will have to be substantially scaled up as a percentage of GDP.

Alvin Toffler in his "Powershift" mentioned about Knowledge, Wealth and Power/Violence as the three dimensions (கல்வியா,செல்வமா,வீரமா?) of the society with Knowledge being mentioned as the most democratic of all levers.India has to use that lever to its advantage.

Then, India can leapfrog into Industrial Revolution 4, since India was forced to miss the first three Industrial Revolutions by design!