Elon Musk’s dream of Mars landing by 2029: Bold vision or political theater?

Elon Musk has a habit of making audacious predictions. On Saturday, the SpaceX founder declared that Starship—the world’s most powerful rocket—would set course for Mars by the end of 2026, carrying Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. Even more astonishingly, he suggested that human landings could begin “as soon as 2029.”

If this timeline holds, it would mark one of the most transformative moments in human history. The dream of becoming a multi-planetary species would no longer belong to the realm of science fiction but to the tangible future. But the real question is: does Musk truly believe in these projections, or is this just another instance of him thinking out loud—leveraging grand promises to energize investors, engineers, and policymakers?

Musk is more than just a visionary; he is a shrewd businessman and an increasingly influential political player. His bold proclamations serve multiple purposes. On one hand, they spark excitement, mobilizing resources and talent to push SpaceX’s ambitions forward. On the other, they strategically reinforce his economic and political influence—keeping SpaceX at the center of government contracts, shaping space policy, and cementing his status as a figurehead of technological progress.

History offers ample reason for skepticism. Musk has made bold promises before—about self-driving cars, hyperloops, and Mars colonization—many of which have yet to materialize on schedule, if at all. Space exploration remains one of the most complex and unforgiving endeavors imaginable. While SpaceX has undeniably revolutionized the industry, the reality of human landings on Mars by 2029 remains deeply uncertain.

I don’t believe Musk’s 2029 Mars landing is a genuine target. Rather, it is a calculated narrative—one designed to appeal to an audience that craves American exceptionalism and the projection of global technological and military dominance. Whether Musk’s prediction is an earnest aspiration or a strategic exaggeration, one thing is certain: We will know the truth in 2029, which is just four years away.

Reforms by Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Gorbachev, Deng, Trump and the Risks of Transforming a Nation

In his 2021 book Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, historian Vladislav M. Zubok argues that Mikhail Gorbachev’s well-intentioned but misguided reforms were the primary cause of the Soviet Union’s dissolution. 



Rather than stabilizing the economy, strengthening political structures, and improving living conditions, Gorbachev’s twin policies of Perestroika (economic restructuring) and Glasnost (political openness) acted like the fabled Sorcerer’s Apprentice—unleashing forces he could not control.

Instead of fostering a more resilient Soviet state, these reforms ignited long-suppressed nationalist and ethnic grievances, while also raising expectations for democracy. The unintended consequences of Gorbachev’s reforms accelerated the unraveling of the Soviet system, culminating in its collapse in 1991.

Contrast this with China, where Deng Xiaoping faced a similar challenge in 1989. The Tiananmen Square protests, driven by demands for political freedoms and ethnic autonomy, presented a direct threat to the Communist Party’s control. But unlike Gorbachev, Deng took decisive and brutal action—deploying tanks and troops to crush the uprising. This show of force ensured the survival of China’s one-party system and its continued economic rise. 

China’s rise as a global superpower was not merely the result of economic reforms but also of ruthless political control. Had Deng Xiaoping not ordered the military to suppress the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, China could have faced prolonged political unrest, potential regime instability, or even fragmentation—similar to what befell the Soviet Union.

By crushing the pro-democracy movement, Deng ensured the Communist Party’s unchallenged authority, creating the political stability necessary for China’s rapid economic growth. This brutal decision was arguably the linchpin that preserved the centralized power structure essential for China’s transformation into the world’s second-largest economy.

The lesson is clear: Reforming a nation is a perilous undertaking. Like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, leaders who attempt transformation without fully grasping the consequences risk unleashing forces that may ultimately destroy the very state they seek to strengthen.

Now, as Donald Trump once again attempts to reshape the United States with sweeping proposals on immigration, government institutions, and the economy, one must ask: what happens if his reforms destabilize American society? If social and political forces spiral out of control, will Trump—if given the opportunity—have the will to act decisively, as Deng Xiaoping did? Or will he, like Gorbachev, preside over a nation fracturing beyond repair?

I believe Trump is more likely to follow Gorbachev’s path, overseeing a rapid decline in America's military and economic dominance rather than strengthening it.

Holi: A festival of water, colors and nature

Happy Holi!

Holi, the festival of water, colors and joy, is deeply intertwined with the natural spirit of Hinduism. Unlike many faiths rooted in deserts or dry landscapes, Hinduism emerged in the lush, fertile lands of the Indian subcontinent, where monsoons breathe life into the earth and sacred rivers flow. The celebration of Holi, marked by water and vibrant hues, is a reflection of this ecological connection.

Water holds a sacred place in Hindu tradition, and no story captures this reverence better than the legendary descent of the River Ganga. According to ancient texts, Sage Bhagiratha’s penance moved the heavens, and with the aid of Lord Shiva, the mighty Ganga flowed from celestial realms to earth. This tale is not just mythology—it symbolizes the life-giving power of rivers, the sanctity of nature, and the harmonious relationship between Hinduism and the environment.

The roots of this reverence stretch back to the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu scripture, where the Ganga is first mentioned. The very genesis of Vedic Hinduism coincides with the river’s earthly flow, signifying the spiritual and ecological bond between the religion and its surroundings. Holi, celebrated with splashes of water and an explosion of colors, is a tribute to this natural heritage—a reminder of the blessings of monsoons, rivers, the fertile land and the vibrant colors of the natural world.

In a world where environmental concerns are growing, Holi stands as a testament to Hinduism’s deep respect for a natural and spiritual way of life. It is not just a festival of joy, but a vibrant acknowledgment of the elements that sustain life—water, earth, air and the eternal rhythm of seasons.

The Illusion of Choice: Trump, Ukraine, and the Limits of Western Power

At a recent press conference, Donald Trump said: "I think Ukraine wants to make a deal because they have no choice. I think Russia wants to make a deal because, in some way—one that only I know—they have no choice either.”

This is classic Trump—framing himself as the ultimate dealmaker, the only one with real power and full information, while the leaders of all non-Western countries are in the dark and left with no options. He wants his conservative base in America to believe that all nations will bend to his will, but the reality is far different.

America is no longer the all-powerful empire it once was. Economic strain, political divisions, and shifting global dynamics have weakened its ability to dictate terms unilaterally. Even key Western allies like Britain, France, and Germany are struggling with the economic and political will to sustain a prolonged war in Ukraine. Whether they admit it or not, they, too, have little choice but to seek an endgame.

Meanwhile, Russia isn’t just holding the line—it’s advancing. Reports suggest a major offensive in Ukraine’s Kursk region, with heavy losses on the Ukrainian side. If the conflict drags on, Moscow could push even deeper into Ukrainian territory, raising an unsettling question: how far will this go?

History has seen Russian troops enter Berlin three times. The first was in 1760 during the Seven Years’ War, when they briefly occupied the city. The second came in 1813, after Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia, when Russian forces helped drive the French out of Germany. And, of course, the third time was in 1945, when the Red Army stormed Berlin, ending Hitler’s reign and dividing Europe for the next 45 years.

Will history repeat itself? If the war in Ukraine escalates further, the idea of Russian forces moving deeper into Central Europe no longer seems like pure fiction. The real question isn’t just whether Ukraine or Russia has a choice—but whether the West itself does.

Democracy’s War Machine: How Elected Leaders Keep the World in Conflict

The belief that democracies are inherently peaceful is a widespread but misleading notion. History suggests that democratic states have often been more prone to war, internal instability, and systemic violence than non-democratic regimes. 

In fact, democracies have been responsible for significant instances of slavery, genocide, and imperial conquests. Western historians frequently celebrate Ancient Athens as the birthplace of democracy, highlighting its contributions to governance and philosophy. However, this narrative often omits the darker aspects of Athenian society. 

Athens was a major instigator of wars in Ancient Greece, engaging in expansionist conflicts and brutal subjugation of its rivals. The city-state's military dominance was defined by hoplite warfare, where heavily armored infantry fought in tightly disciplined formations, resulting in brutal and large-scale bloodshed. Slavery was not only present in Athens but was more deeply entrenched there than in its chief adversary, Sparta. Paradoxically, the Persian Empire, often depicted as the antagonist of Greek democracy, had a lower percentage of enslaved people and afforded women greater social freedoms than either Athens or Sparta.

In the modern era, the two most catastrophic conflicts in human history—World War I and World War II—were primarily driven by democratic Western nations. 

While they are commonly referred to as "World Wars," they were, in essence, conflicts centered around Western powers vying for dominance. Following World War II, the global balance of power shifted toward the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S., a self-proclaimed champion of democracy, has been consistently engaged in military interventions and conflicts worldwide. By contrast, the Soviet Union—despite being labeled an authoritarian state—was involved in comparatively fewer wars.

Even today, the United States plays a central role in global conflicts. In Ukraine, American strategic interests have led to policies that exacerbate the ongoing war, using Ukraine as a geopolitical tool to counter Russian influence in the Black Sea region—often at great human cost to the Ukrainian people.

A fundamental issue with democratic systems is the tendency for populist leaders to rise by promising military glory, economic spoils, and national prestige. In the United States, presidents often seek war as a means to secure their legacy and rally domestic support. The cycle of conflict perpetuates itself, driven by electoral incentives and the demands of an interventionist foreign policy. The United States appears to be on a relentless quest for everlasting military and economic supremacy over the world.

Ultimately, the idea that democracy equates to peace does not withstand historical scrutiny. A more balanced understanding of history reveals that democratic states, far from being pacifist, have frequently been among the most militaristic and aggressive actors on the world stage.

The Ukraine War: How U.S. Policies Set the Stage for Conflict

The U.S. political establishment insists that Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked.” But this narrative ignores the deeper origins of the conflict—rooted in decades of Western expansionism.

One key trigger was NATO’s push to incorporate Ukraine and Georgia, tightening a military noose around Russia in the Black Sea region—an existential red line for Moscow.

Another was the U.S.- and U.K.-backed coup on February 22, 2014, which ousted Ukraine’s democratically elected, pro-Russia president, Viktor Yanukovych. His removal ignited war in Donbas and led to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Donald Trump pins the blame on President Zelensky, but Zelensky himself is a creation of U.S. and British intelligence interests—widely seen as a Western puppet.

Had Washington not pursued NATO expansion or orchestrated regime change in Ukraine, the devastating war may never have happened.

In this brief but powerful video, Jeffrey Sachs unravels the dark and twisted history of U.S. involvement in Ukraine with striking clarity.

Oval Office Spectacle of Immaturity: The Decline and Fall of American Leadership

American conservatives, self-proclaimed patriots, are celebrating the heated Oval Office confrontation between Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Volodymyr Zelensky.

They see it as a display of American strength. But after watching the full exchange, I see something different—Trump and Vance came across as bullies, while Zelensky appeared desperate and overwhelmed. The entire spectacle was a glaring example of the immaturity now defining U.S. leadership.

If Trump wanted to pressure Zelensky, a far more effective approach would have been to deny him an audience altogether. Letting lower-level officials handle negotiations would have placed America in a stronger position.

Instead, the President of the world’s most powerful nation, the only so-called superpower, demeaned himself and his office by engaging in a public shouting match with the leader of a war-ravaged, oligarch-infested and debt-ridden country.

Diplomatic and military strategy discussions should never be conducted in front of TV cameras. A private negotiation, followed by a carefully managed press statement, would have been the responsible approach. Instead, Trump—ever the narcissist—chose to turn it into a spectacle, prioritizing attention over diplomacy.

I have previously argued that Trump is to America what Gorbachev was to the Soviet Union. This latest Oval Office debacle only reinforces my belief—Trump is presiding over America’s decline, much like Gorbachev oversaw the Soviet Union’s collapse.

HIV & AIDS: Truth versus lies

Everything that you have ever learned is a lie. The trick to remaining sane in a world full of falsehoods is to find the lies that are worth accepting as the truth. Does HIV cause AIDS? Most people would say yes. But it seems that this is a lie. 

I am reading Peter Duesberg’s 1996 book Inventing the AIDS Virus. In this book, Duesberg, a renowned molecular biologist, argues that HIV does not cause AIDS. 

He presents scientific evidence to show that HIV is a harmless passenger virus and that AIDS is caused by a range of lifestyle related factors, drug abuse, antiretroviral medication, chronic malnutrition, poor sanitation and hemophilia.

He contends that HIV is common in human beings and millions of people have it but they never develop AIDS. He accuses American healthcare institutions—Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation—of stifling research into the real cause of AIDS and spreading a false fear of HIV for financial and political gains. 

I learned about Duesberg’s book from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s book The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health. Kennedy has discussed in detail Duesberg’s evidence and arguments refuting the theory that HIV is the cause of AIDS. 

“In fact, AIDS commonly occurs in people who test HIV negative. If HIV is truly the only cause of AIDS, this should not be possible,” Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. writes in his book. 

Kennedy also claims in his book that the definition of AIDS is based on non-scientific and political considerations, and that Canada and the USA follow different definitions of AIDS. Someone diagnosed with AIDS in the USA instantly becomes AIDS free the instant he moves into Canada, he says.

Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Trump’s MAGA: The fate of two superpowers

The Second World War led to the end of European colonial power and the birth of two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the USA. From 1945 to 1991, the two superpowers (de facto empires) were in intense competition and cold war to dominate the world. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, left the USA as the world's only superpower. 

The precipitous decline of the Soviet Union began when a reformist leader took power. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and he launched the policies of Perestroika and Glasnost which are often argued to be the significant cause of the dismembering of the Eastern bloc and the Soviet Union’s demise. 

Donald Trump can be seen as the Gorbachev of the USA. Like Gorbachev, Trump wants to reform the USA. He wants to reform the political culture, cut down the bureaucracy, and significantly reduce America’s military budget. He wants to Make America Great Again. But what if, instead of making America great, his policies lead to the rise of political chaos and economic woes which become the catalyst for America’s demise?

History tells us that drastically reforming a superpower (an empire) is a risky business — more often than not, the reformist policies have unexpected consequences and lead to the empire’s demise. What if the USA, under Trump, suffers a severe stock market collapse? What if America faces a significant military debacle? What if the value of the dollar plummets? What if food inflation goes out of control in America? 

Trump’s supporters might ditch him if the country faces a large-scale economic and political chaos, just as Gorbachev was ditched by his supporters in the erstwhile Soviet Union when his reformist policies of Perestroika and Glasnost led to economic chaos and the dismembering of the Eastern bloc. I won’t be surprised if at the end of the Trump presidency, the USA is much-much weaker than it is today.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s book: The Real Anthony Fauci

Just finished reading Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s book The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health. This book is an explosive exposé of Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, the global healthcare bureaucracy and the multinational big pharmaceutical companies.  

I am convinced that allegations that Kennedy makes in his book are mostly true. Governments around the world should investigate these allegations. The American tech and pharma industries are out of control. They have grabbed too much power in all the major countries. They are no longer helping people—to maximize their own power and profits, they are subverting freedom of speech, robbing people of their freedom and destroying millions of lives.

Here are some thought proving lines from Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s book: 

“Complex scientific and moral problems are not resolved through censorship of dissenting opinions, deleting content from the Internet, or defaming scientists and authors who present information challenging to those in power. Censorship leads instead to greater distrust of both government institutions and large corporations.” 

“Pretty soon the incessant lies and propaganda will have successfully instilled in the masses that the only hope for staying alive is via injection, pill-popping, so in sum, no natural immunity.”

“The very Internet companies that snookered us all with the promise of democratizing communications made it impermissible for Americans to criticize their government or question the safety of pharmaceutical products; these companies propped up all official pronouncements while scrubbing all dissent. The same Tech/Data and Telecom robber barons, gorging themselves on the corpses of our obliterated middle class, rapidly transformed America’s once-proud democracy into a censorship and surveillance police state from which they profit at every turn.”

“Ellison, Gates, and the other members of this government/industry collaboration used the lockdown to accelerate construction of their 5G network of satellites, antennae, biometric facial recognition, and “track and trace” infrastructure that they, and their government and intelligence agency partners, can use to mine and monetize our data, further suppress dissent, to compel obedience to arbitrary dictates, and to manage the rage that comes as Americans finally wake up to the fact that this outlaw gang has stolen our democracy, our civil rights, our country, and our way of life—while we huddled in orchestrated fear from a flu-like virus.”

“Vaccines are one of the rare commercial products that multiply profits by failing. Each new booster doubles the revenues from the initial jab.”

“The vaccines are so risky that the insurance industry has refused to underwrite them, and the manufacturers refuse to produce them without blanket immunity from liability. Bill Gates, who is the principal investor in many of these new COVID vaccines, stipulated that their risk is so great that he would not provide them to people unless every government shielded him from lawsuits.”

“No one wanted Americans to know that you didn’t have to die from COVID. It’s 100 percent treatable,” says Dr. Brownstein. “We proved it. No one had to die.”

“Dr. Fauci’s business closures pulverized America’s middle class and engineered the largest upward transfer of wealth in human history. In 2020, workers lost $3.7 trillion while billionaires gained $3.9 trillion. Some 493 individuals became new billionaires, and an additional 8 million Americans dropped below the poverty line. The biggest winners were the robber barons—the very companies that were cheerleading Dr. Fauci’s lockdown and censoring his critics: Big Technology, Big Data, Big Telecom, Big Finance, Big Media behemoths (Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch, Viacom, and Disney), and Silicon Valley Internet titans like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and Jack Dorsey. The very Internet companies that snookered us all with the promise of democratizing communications made it impermissible for Americans to criticize their government or question the safety of pharmaceutical products; these companies propped up all official pronouncements while scrubbing all dissent. The same Tech/Data and Telecom robber barons, gorging themselves on the corpses of our obliterated middle class, rapidly transformed America’s once-proud democracy into a censorship and surveillance police state from which they profit at every turn.”

“Across Western nations, shell-shocked citizens experienced all the well-worn tactics of rising totalitarianism—mass propaganda and censorship, the orchestrated promotion of terror, the manipulation of science, the suppression of debate, the vilification of dissent, and use of force to prevent protest. Conscientious objectors who resisted these unwanted, experimental, zero-liability medical interventions faced orchestrated gaslighting, marginalization, and scapegoating. American lives and livelihoods were shattered by a bewildering array of draconian diktats imposed without legislative approval or judicial review, risk assessment, or scientific citation. So-called Emergency Orders closed our businesses, schools and churches, made unprecedented intrusions into privacy, and disrupted our most treasured social and family relationships. Citizens the world over were ordered to stay in their homes.”

“Anthony Fauci seems to have not considered that his unprecedented quarantine of the healthy would kill far more people than COVID, obliterate the global economy, plunge millions into poverty and bankruptcy, and grievously wound constitutional democracy globally.”

“Therapeutic nihilism was the real killer of America’s seniors.”

On The False Dichotomy Between Socialism & Capitalism

On one side is the Western ideology of socialism which claims that all means of production are controlled by the people (which is a euphemism for the state). On the other is the Western ideology of capitalism which claims that all means of production are controlled by individuals (which is a euphemism for private corporations). 

We are told that they are opposites and that they are the only two ways of running a modern society. But this is a false dichotomy. Socialism and capitalism are two sides of the same coin. Both socialist and capitalist states fund their operations through paper money fueled by government debt which can never be paid. Both create markets. Both require cheap or slave labour. Both control the masses by alienating them from their traditional culture and creating the myth of individual freedom and progress. The capitalist markets need the government as much as the socialist markets do. 

Socialism and capitalism are not an either-or. The war between them is a mythology propagated by Western philosophers and politicians. They always exist in tandem. Neither can exist without the other, at least, in the form that we can recognize. All societies, which have adopted the Western model, have mixed economies — they have elements of both socialism and capitalism.

Trump orders America’s exit WHO, India should do the same

I am pleased to learn that President Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the USA from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said while signing the executive order. 

The WHO has ripped off not just America but many other countries, including India. 

The Indian government made a big mistake by allowing the WHO to exercise major influence on healthcare policy and systems in India. The Government of India even allowed the WHO to dictate the standards for traditional Indian systems of medicine like Ayurveda. 

We need to exit the WHO immediately. This organization cannot be trusted.

End of History & Clash of Civilizations

The Hegelian “end of history” and the neoconservative “clash of civilizations” are two sides of the same ideological and mythological coin.

Those who believe in the end of history, must also subscribe to the idea of clash of civilizations. This is because, the end of history, in the Hegelian sense, can be achieved only after one perfect civilization has vanquished and converted every other civilization. Thus, clash of civilizations is the process by which the end of history is achieved.

End of history, or the vision of a perfect society, is rooted in our mythological and utopian imagination. Clash of civilizations is rooted in the history and memory of past conflicts, rivalries and wars. The internal dialectics of a civilization works out the strategy for using the vision of the end of history to drive a clash with other civilizations.

Being scientific & being religious

You don’t have to choose between being scientific and being religious. It is natural for human beings to be both. 

Reason, which is the driver of scientific thinking, coexists with faith, the driver of mystical thinking, in the mind of all mentally healthy human beings. Since ancient or prehistoric times, science has been driven by religious leaders and institutions. The ancient rishis or sages, the preachers of religious ideas, were also great scientists. 

There is no conflict between reason (science) and faith (religion) in the human mind, we use both to develop our view of the world. In fact, it is impossible for us to tell what views we accept on faith and what views on the basis of reason.

Modern man’s intolerance of uncertainty

Intolerance of uncertainty is the major problem that modern society faces. People have been brainwashed into believing that with modern science and technology they can be certain of how they and their society will fare in the foreseeable future. They feel shocked when they are struck by random events which they could not have foreseen.   

The tools of science and technology can provide a lot of information, but more information does not necessarily translate into certainty. In fact, excess information often creates confusion and makes it difficult to analyze a situation for taking the right decision. Those who know a lot about any subject, the so-called experts, are mostly wrong. 

The idea that man can overcome uncertainty is a mythology crafted by Western philosophers. This mythology has been propagated around the world by Western system of education and mass media. Schools, universities, newspapers and the news TV channels brainwash people into believing that the world is knowable and the future is decipherable. 

The only thing that mankind can be certain of is that much of the universe is unknowable to us and there will always be uncertainty in our life. There exists a universe inside our body and mind—much of this universe is unknown to us. There exists a universe outside our body and mind—of this universe we know hardly anything.

Is Western way of life antithetical to human nature?

Creatures living in their natural environment tend to procreate at a high rate resulting in a rise in their population. When deer, lions, wolves, zebras, species of fish and plants and other living creatures are in their natural habitat, their population rises. 

Thus, we can define natural habitat for a particular species as an environmental ecosystem which enables faster procreation and, thereby, rise in the population of the species. What does this definition of natural habitat tell us about humans and their societies? 

It tells us that the Western way of life is antithetical to human nature— it leads to decline in birth rate and paves way for the decimation of the original population. In every nation founded on the Western model the death rate is higher than the birth rate. 

Even the Asian countries which made the mistake of adopting the Western model, and diluting their original culture, are facing steep decline in their birth rate. In Japan, the birth rate has dropped to 1.26 births per woman, which is far below the death rate. 

All nations with high birth rates are non-Western. In fact, the degree of decline in population in nations is directly proportional to their level of Westernization. More Westernized a nation is, the sharper the decline in birth rate that it faces.

Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in Pursuit of Health by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, Dr. Steven Woloshin, Dr. Lisa M. Schwartz

Human beings are incapable of developing anything that will always be perfect, moral and useful. Every system, technology, process, product and movement that we developed in the past has, at some point of time, become inefficient, evil and corrupt. 

A hammer is a useful tool; it allows us to take care of a number of tasks. But it can also be used as a weapon to injure or kill.  

The analogy of a hammer applies to everything that humans have created throughout the history of civilization. Everything that we take for granted is necessary for leading a healthy, happy and fulfilling life has the potential to be used to plunder, enslave, loot, brainwash and destroy. 

In their book Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in Pursuit of Health, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, Dr. Steven Woloshin and Dr. Lisa M. Schwartz argue that while in some areas new medical technology and diagnostic methods are useful, there are several instances of overdiagnosis and overtreatment causing irreversible harm. 

The book argues that with the diagnostic threshold being moved lower and lower, there has been a phenomenal rise in the number of people being classified as sick. Millions of people who do not have any symptoms of disease and face little health risk are being classified as sick and are being put on treatments which can cause more harm than good.

With the low threshold for diseases, being mandated by the medical establishment, almost every human being on this planet can be diagnosed as sick and coerced to take regular treatments. Modern medical technology has the capacity to detect diseases in almost everyone, even though most people show no symptoms and face minor health risks.

The authors identify several instances where the treatment proved to be worse than the disease. They advise that people who are not having any symptoms, should avoid having full body scans. 

They write: “Patients could help by being a little less enthusiastic about scanning in general. In particular, they should avoid whole-body scans, which can open a Pandora’s box of incidentalomas. They could also be a little more hesitant about other scans and, when given the choice, choose the most anatomically focused exam to avoid stumbling onto things outside of the area of interest.”

Civilizations cannot be judged based on their outcomes

The cream rises to the top and so does the scum. This is true not only of broth but also of human affairs. Sometimes good people attain success, but there are numerous instances of scum rising to the top. Therefore, the character of a human being cannot be solely judged based on the success or failure that he has attained. An extremely successful man might be a total scoundrel, while an utter failure might have been a saint. 

The same is true for civilizations. Too often, we make the mistake of judging a civilization by its economic, geopolitical and military power. Just because any civilization has been at the top at any point of time it cannot be said with certainty that it was moral, intelligent and efficient. History tells us that civilizations which have the characteristics of scum often become world conquerors and attain economic prosperity.  There are numerous instances of civilizations with high culture getting conquered and wiped out by barbarians who go on to leave their own barbaric imprint on the future generations. 

The character of a civilization cannot be judged based on outcomes. The origin and development of all civilizations is shrouded in mythology, lies, propaganda and stories which make it impossible for us to take an objective view of history.

The mythology of truth

Truth is a mythology that we use to explain the universe to our own mind. Sometimes our truth conforms to reality; sometimes it doesn’t. 

Human beings have no way of knowing whether their truth is in conformity with reality or isn’t. We accept as truth whatever conforms with our subjective view of the universe. Our culture, our social ecosystem, our emotions, our imagination, the mythologies that we have grown up with, our philosophical and political opinions, our fears, our prejudices, our hallucinations, and our sense of science and mathematics— all these play a fundamental role in deciding what we accept as the truth and what as the untruth. 

Truth for human beings is not outward looking. It is introspective. It is a mythology crafted by human minds. Truth is propagated not by observation, scientific proof or philosophical arguments but by propaganda and indoctrination. The most widely accepted truths are always those that are backed by powerful institutions and governments.

Currency Wars: Trump Warns BRICS Nations

In his social media platform Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump has warned BRICS nations that they should not deal with any currency except the American Dollar. Let’s hope that the BRICS nations and other non-Western nations do not succumb to  American pressure. 

The American dollar is the most crooked currency in history of civilization — the dollar is an intricate financial system for enabling the transfer of wealth from Asia, Africa, South America to the USA and other Western countries. It enriches America (and the West) at the cost of the hardworking and poor masses in non-Western countries. The world needs freedom from the tyranny of the American dollar, which represents the last vestige of colonialism. 

Trump has no right to impose his currency on other countries. I think BRICS nations should call his bluff and go ahead with their plan to start a new currency.

Truth Never Prevails: In Philosophy & Politics, Truth is Irrelevant

The idea that “truth always prevails” is widely accepted as the universal truth. But history tells us that truth is irrelevant as far as politics and philosophy are concerned.  

Throughout history, we can’t find a single instance of a side fighting for the “ultimate truth” going on to win the political battle or the philosophical argument. Again and again in history we find that political and intellectual supremacy is attained by the groups which are able to brainwash a significantly large number of people with their lies and mythologies. Humans are easily brainwashed because we lack the mental, psychological and sensory tools to identify and understand the ultimate truth. How can we fight for the truth, when we don’t have the ability to discover the truth? 

Every political movement, every philosophical system of the past, and the present, has been driven by lies, mythologies and false propaganda. The same will hold true in the foreseeable future. Civilization is not the outcome of our ability to reason or our wisdom—it is the outcome of our ability to create a web of lies, mythologies and false propaganda, and strongly and passionately believe in them.

Truth is not eternal & objective, it’s temporary & subjective

The truth is not something that humans can discover through observation and study of reality, as the materialists claim; it is a point of view that we deduce in light of the information that is available to us at any particular point of time. 

As the information available to us evolves, grows and transforms, the nature of what we perceive as the truth changes. What was the truth in the ancient age, became hearsay in the middle ages and mythology in the modern age. All that we accept as the truth today will get labelled as lies, fiction and mythology at some point of time in the future. 

Mankind’s quest for the truth is never-ending. People will always be questing for the ultimate truth, which can never be falsified, but they will never find it.

Lies and fiction are the fountainhead of civilization

“As we have seen again and again throughout history, in a completely free information fight, truth tends to lose. To tilt the balance in favour of truth, networks must develop and maintain strong self-correcting mechanisms that reward truth telling. These self-correcting mechanisms are costly, but if you want to get the truth, you must invest in them.”

~ Yuval Noah Harari in Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Harari is right when he says that “in a completely free information fight, truth tends to lose.” Today, most people accept as the universal truth that in a society where there is freedom of speech and a vibrant mainstream media industry, the politics and culture will be driven by “facts.” But that is never the case. In such societies the facts tend to lose, and the news cycle, or the politics and culture, are driven by propaganda and pseudo-history (lies, absurdities, fictions, philosophies and mythologies). 

The masses in countries with freedom of speech and thriving mainstream media companies are as deeply brainwashed as those who live in totalitarian countries.

But this is not a new development—all civilizations of the past were founded on lies, absurdities, mythologies, fictions, unprovable philosophies and utopian visions. There has never been a society founded on the basis of truth. Truth is unknowable and certainty is impossible. The human capacity to lie and believe in lies has always been the fountainhead of all tribes, cults, nations and civilizations.

Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World

“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

The above line is, in my opinion, the most thought provoking one in Samuel P. Huntington’s book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World. 

In history books, we find accounts of between 50 to 70 major empires which once ruled large parts of the world. All of them were founded by warlike people who possessed the capacity to unleash unimaginable violence to crush and enslave other people and conquer their land.

In our time, due to the rising popularity of progressive, libertarian, postmodern and woke philosophies, most people have forgotten the fundamental fact of history that the Western empire was carved through violence. People blindly accept the myth that the West won in the last 250 years because of democracy and free trade. 

We should not fall for the notion that democracy and free trade lead to civilizational success. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when the West expanded its powers, the Western nations were neither democratic, nor free traders. Democracy and free trade became popular in the 20th century and since then the West has been declining. 

We should listen to Huntington when he says that powerful civilizations are forged by “superiority in applying organized violence.”

Peter Thiel’s Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

I just finished reading Peter Thiel’s book: Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. The book is full of interesting lines. Here’s a sample: 

“The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them.”

“Every culture has a myth of decline from some golden age, and almost all peoples throughout history have been pessimists. Even today pessimism still dominates huge parts of the world. An indefinite pessimist looks out onto a bleak future, but he has no idea what to do about it. This describes Europe since the early 1970s, when the continent succumbed to undirected bureaucratic drift. Today the whole Eurozone is in slow-motion crisis, and nobody is in charge. The European Central Bank doesn’t stand for anything but improvisation: the U.S. Treasury prints “In God We Trust” on the dollar; the ECB might as well print “Kick the Can Down the Road” on the euro. Europeans just react to events as they happen and hope things don’t get worse.”

“The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that’s hidden from the outside. A great company is a conspiracy to change the world; when you share your secret, the recipient becomes a fellow conspirator.” 

“Tolstoy opens Anna Karenina by observing: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Business is the opposite. All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.” 

“Darwinism may be a fine theory in other contexts, but in startups, intelligent design works best.”

“That’s why hiring consultants doesn’t work. Part-time employees don’t work. Even working remotely should be avoided, because misalignment can creep in whenever colleagues aren’t together full-time, in the same place, every day. If you’re deciding whether to bring someone on board, the decision is binary. Ken Kesey was right: you’re either on the bus or off the bus.”

Socialism, Capitalism and the Hegelian Mythology of Reason

The Western systems of capitalism and socialism are unworkable, because they are based on the pseudo-secular Hegelian mythologies which stipulate that history is the progress of human condition till perfection is attained through the dawn of Age of Reason. 

Hegel defined three epochs of history: the Age of the Orient, the Age of the Greeks, and the Age of Reason. The Western capitalists and the socialists have been at war with each other in the last 100 years. Some of the most violent conflicts of the 20th century have been the wars between these two Western groups. The capitalists claim that they are the world’s only repository of reason. They label the socialists as nihilists, irrationalists and collectivists. The socialists counter them with the claim that only socialism and communism can usher mankind into the mythical Age of Reason, and they label the capitalists as imperialists, bourgeois and anti-poor. 

Both are wrong. The so-called Age of Reason is a myth because the working of the human mind and the nature of the universe are beyond human understanding. We have no way of identifying which choices we make on an individual level or on the level of society are based on reason and which are based on mythologies, emotions, delusions, fears, and political and social agendas. Humans are incapable of looking at the universe through only reason. Hegel believed that he was the world’s most perfect embodiment of reason. But his philosophy is wholly irrational and mythological.

On Capitalism & Socialism

Capitalism and socialism are good at accumulating power, wealth and information. But they are not successful in acquiring wisdom. Being bereft of wisdom, the culture in capitalist and socialist societies is an easy prey to atheism and nihilism.

Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

I highly recommend Professor Gad Saad’s book The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Here are five quotes from the book:

“The Ideological Conformity of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Progressives seem to believe that if they say the words “diversity, inclusion, and equity” often enough, all problems will be solved. But of course only certain types of diversity, inclusion, and equity matter. Diversity based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity are foundational sacraments in the Cult of Diversity. On the other hand, intellectual and political diversity are heretical ideas that need to be expunged.”

“Any system that is built on a false understanding of human nature is doomed to fail. Building a society where the primary objective is to protect one’s fragile self-esteem from the dangers of competition will only lead to a society of weakness, entitlement, and apathy. Life is necessarily competitive; society is necessarily hierarchical. It does no one any favors to pursue a utopian vision of society where no one’s feelings are hurt.”

“Hope is an elixir of life. It is the engine that propels us forward in our pursuit of countless goals, all of which might otherwise be impossible to undertake if we were bereft of hope.”

“The radical snake always ends up eating its tail. ISIS kills all Muslims who are not Muslim enough. Progressives denounce all those who are not progressive enough.”

“Progressives consider it laudable to criticize, mock, or insult all religious beliefs—except for the one untouchable faith. To attack Islam in the West is “Islamophobic,” “racist,” and “bigoted.”"

On Michael Pillsbury’s book The Hundred-Year Marathon

In his book, The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, Michael Pillsbury opines that in China there exists a secret political cabal which is assiduously working on a long term plan to topple the USA from the position of the world’s superpower. 

This would imply that the leaders of the last Chinese imperial dynasty, the Great Qing, which was overthrown in 1918, and post-Imperial leaders like Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and the leaders of the post-Tiananmen Square massacre China were all part of the same secretive cabal which is determined to overthrow the USA and capture the world. 

This does not seem likely. It is impossible to visualize arch-enemies like Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping being part of the same cabal and having a singular geopolitical ambition. However, in the last two decades, China has shown a clear intention, if not the vision, to play a significant role in global geopolitics and economy. 

In my opinion, China’s marathon to capture the world from the USA began 20 to 25 years ago, and in 2024 it has achieved this goal to a significant extent. It is hard to predict what the world will be like by 2050, but it is likely that by then America will cease to be a superpower. But America’s fall might not automatically translate into China’s rise. 

In his book, Pillsbury presents China as a master of geopolitical deception. He writes: 

“Chinese literature on strategy from Sun Tzu through Mao Tse-tung has emphasized deception more than many military doctrines. Chinese deception is oriented mainly toward inducing the enemy to act inexpediently and less toward protecting the integrity of one’s own plans. In other cultures, particularly Western, deception is used primarily with the intention of ensuring that one’s own forces can realize their maximum striking potential … the prevalent payoff of deception for the Chinese is that one does not have to use one’s own forces.… Chinese tend to shroud their means in secrecy and not publicize the day-to-day activities of those in power; for surprise and deception are assumed to be vital.”

I think both the USA and China are masters of deception. Also, it is likely that when the USA ceases to be a superpower, China will decline, and that will pave way for multiple other centers of power to emerge. The age of a single superpower dominating the world is over. The world will not see America or Chinese hegemony in the times to come. 

Pillsbury’s book is fast-paced and entertaining but his theory that the Chinese have a secret cabal with a 100-year-old plan to overthrow the USA is unbelievable in light of China’s tumultuous and violent history in the 20th century.

Civilizations & Their Sense of Time

How different the major civilizations are can be judged by examining their sense of time. 

When Hindus are asked to date a historical event, they will place it in the four Yugas: Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dwapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga. To date the entire universe, the Hindus will use cycles of time much greater than Yugas: Kalpa and Manvantara.

When the Chinese are asked to date a historical event, they will place it within one of their fourteen imperial dynasties. The first Chinese dynasty was founded by Yu the Great in 2070 BC, and the last Chinese dynasty fell in 1912, with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor.

When Westerners are asked to date a historical event, they will place it before or after the birth of Jesus Christ (BC or AD). For the events that took place during the AD phase, they will prefer to come up with an exact date in their Gregorian calendar. 

When the Islamic practitioners are asked to date a historical event, they will consider only those which happened after the advent of Islam, and dismiss the events before that.

On The Digital Dystopia

The digital technology revolution is the biggest scam of the last 100 years. It has led to easy access to information and services but this easy access has not translated into more freedom, prosperity, wisdom, privacy and better quality of life for mankind. 

Instead, digital technologies have enabled an unprecedented increase in the power of the political and financial elites by providing them solutions to monitor, tax and regulate the choices and actions of the masses. The political leaders, deep state bureaucracies and the oligarchs who own the digital technologies are today’s feudal lords, and they view the rest of mankind as the irresponsible and untrustworthy serfs who must be indoctrinated into believing that they live in a free and fair society, even though they toil for petty wages and every aspect of their life is being tightly surveilled, taxed and regulated.

The average person in today’s digitally connected world works harder, pays higher taxes, enjoys less freedom and privacy, and possesses less wisdom and experience than his counterparts prior to the digital revolution. The digital utopia, which the founders of the Silicon Valley mega-corporations promised in the 1980s and 90s, has hit mankind in the 21st century as an Orwellian dystopia where some are feudal lords (the Orwellian Big Brothers) while most are brainwashed and toiling serfs.

AI & the transformation of humans into Galactic Gods

Scientists estimate that there are between 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. The number of humans on earth is mere 8.2 billion. This implies that for every human on earth, there exist between 25 to thousands of galaxies in the universe.

If mankind’s foray into the realm of Artificial Intelligence is successful, then a stage might come when humans attain superhuman powers, and evolve or transform into a sort of omniscient and omnipotent God who is capable of controlling entire galaxies. 

We can foresee a future in which every individual on earth has been empowered by Ai, making him omniscient and omnipotent, and is the God of a number of galaxies. Being the God of the galaxies might be the ultimate destiny and purpose of mankind.

A note on Michael Crichton’s State of Fear

“False fears are a plague, a modern plague!” ~ Michael Crichton, State of Fear

I agree with Michael Crichton that false fears are a modern plague. What he didn’t say in his book State of Fear is that the American government, academia and mainstream media are the world’s biggest developers and propagators of these false fears or plagues. 

The American establishment understands that they cannot dominate the world by their military power, so they try to subdue other nations spreading false fears of climate change, ice age, global warming, catastrophic oil depletion, global pandemic, ozone layer depletion and much else. 

The latest false plague that the Americans are spreading is that of AI. They want the rest of the world to believe that the world is on the verge of being taken over by a super-smart software system. 

As long as the global mainstream media and the top global institutions like the UNO, WHO, World Bank and IMF remain under American control and the American dollar remains the world’s de facto reserve currency, we will remain in the grip of “Made in America” false fears and plagues. 

In his book State of Fear, Michael Crichton does a great job of debunking some of the most virulent fears or plagues that have come out of America in the last 70 years. I never liked Jurassic Park, which is Crichton's most famous book. I think State of Fear is his best book. 

Here’s another worthy quote from Crichton’s book: 

“Like a bearded nut in robes on the sidewalk proclaiming the end of the world is near, the media is just doing what makes it feel good, not reporting hard facts. We need to start seeing the media as a bearded nut on the sidewalk, shouting out false fears. It’s not sensible to listen to it.”

Ancient man’s God is modern man’s reason

The belief that human beings are rational is a myth. Everything of which we are certain is not based on reason and is not verifiable. The belief that man is a creature of reason is as mythological and delusional as the Ancient Greek belief that Zeus is the lord of heaven. 

For our most important philosophical, cultural, religious, artistic and political beliefs we have no evidence, except that the people with whom we are familiar and we trust hold the same beliefs. Herd mentality of human beings is the biggest driver of civilizations. 

The ancient man felt optimistic when he was led to believe that God was on his side. The modern man, who is generally an atheist, feels optimistic when he is led to believe that reason is on his side. Modern atheism has done nothing except replacing God with reason. 

Just as the ancient man didn't know what God is, the modern man does not know what reason is. God and reason are mysteries which the human mind is incapable of solving. God failed to save the ancient man. Reason will fail to save the modern man.

Nick Bostrom’s book — Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

“Far from being the smartest possible biological species, we are probably better thought of as the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization—a niche we filled because we got there first, not because we are in any sense optimally adapted to it.” ~ Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

The argument that Bostrom is making in the above statement can be used to make the point that certain civilizations succeeded in certain ages not because they were better or optimally adapted, but because of chance factors or historical accidents, which enabled their vanguard to be the first in reaching a certain place.

Western philosophers and strategists have created the myth that humans originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years, and that men are superior to every other creature on earth. But history tells us that civilization and culture are largely a game of chance, driven by random events. Human intelligence, reason and planning have had a negligible role play in history. In fact, in most civilizational conflicts (which raged for decades, and in some cases for centuries), the side that was more barbaric, dictatorial, poor and driven by superstition and ignorance always prevailed over the side that was scientific, philosophical and prosperous. 

Human beings are not adapted to technology, we are not adapted to democracy, we are not adapted to political stability, and we are not adapted to philosophy or to religion, which is a form of philosophy. That is why democratic societies which are politically stable and have access to modern technologies and philosophies face declining populations, while the primitive tribal societies see massive population boom.  

Bostrom argues in his book that the ultimate questions of philosophy remain unanswered despite thousands of years of relentless philosophizing by various civilizations because the human brain is unsuitable for philosophical work. He writes: “One can speculate that the tardiness and wobbliness of humanity's progress on many of the "eternal problems" of philosophy are due to the unsuitability of the human cortex for philosophical work. On this view, our most celebrated philosophers are like dogs walking on their hind legs - just barely attaining the threshold level of performance required for engaging in the activity at all.”

He notes that an ultraintelligent AI will probably be the last machine that humans will ever invent. This is because if the machine is ultraintelligent then it can invent other machines that are even more intelligent. This will lead to an intelligence explosion and human beings will be left far behind in the race for intelligence. 

“Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man, however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an “intelligence explosion,” and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man needs ever made, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control.”

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

Trump survived the assassination attempt. The assassin was killed. This makes me think of the book by Frederick Forsyth that I read decades ago: The Day of the Jackal. In this book the target General de Gaulle survives, while the assassin, known by his code-name “Jackal”, was killed. 

Published in 1971, the book has a passage where Forsyth suggests that the precautions exercised by the American Secret Service are not good enough. Here’s the passage:

“The Jackal was perfectly aware that in 1963 General de Gaulle was not only the President of France; he was also the most closely and skilfully guarded figure in the Western world. To assassinate him, as was later proved, was considerably more difficult than to kill President John F. Kennedy of the United States. Although the English killer did not know it, French security experts who had through American courtesy been given an opportunity to study the precautions taken to guard the life of President Kennedy had returned somewhat disdainful of those precautions as exercised by the American Secret Service. The French experts rejection of the American methods was later justified when in November 1963 John Kennedy was killed in Dallas by a half-crazed and security-slack amateur while Charles de Gaulle lived on, to retire in peace and eventually to die in his own home.”

The Political & Philosophical Reason for Taxes

The purpose of taxation is not merely economic or collecting revenues for the government. Taxation is also a tool for achieving certain political and philosophical objectives.

When individuals and businesses file their taxes, they reveal the details of their assets and income to the government. This information about the distribution of incomes and assets in the society is a major source of the government’s political power. By examining the tax documents filed by various taxpayers, the government can identify the sectors and groups that need to be rewarded for political purposes and those that need to be penalized. Information is power—and the system of taxation is the biggest source of information for the government. In essence, gathering economic intelligence on every individual and every business is the political reason for levying taxes.

The philosophical justification of taxes hinges on the idea that equality is a social value. By taxing the rich and redistributing the wealth among the poor, the government can claim that they are trying to create an equal society. There is no evidence that redistribution of wealth leads to economic growth and social harmony—an equal society might as well be an unachievable utopia. But most intellectuals and politicians in our time take it as a proven fact that equality is by itself a great social value. They insist that building and sustaining an equal society ought to be the government’s primary moral purpose.

'Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War' by Patrick Buchanan

Winston Churchill’s political career extended from 1900, when he entered politics at the age of 26, to 1955, when his second term as Prime Minister of Britain came to an end. 

Throughout these 55 years, he was deeply involved in wars, civil wars and coups. He had little interest in issues like economic growth, healthcare, education and social development. He saw peace as a sign of national weakness and was obsessed with waging wars. 

In his book, Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, Patrick J. Buchanan argues that Churchill was the biggest warmonger of the world in the first half of the 20th century. He holds that Churchill was as much to blame for the Second World War and the holocaust as Hitler and Mussolini. 

He also blames Churchill for the rise of Stalinist Soviet Union in the post Second World War period. Buchanan quotes historian A N Wilson: “The tragedy of the twentieth century is that in order to defeat Hitler, Churchill believed it was not merely necessary but desirable to ally himself to Stalin.”

At the height of the Second World War, Churchill said in his speech in the Commons: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat’." He was being truthful—because throughout his political career, from 1900 to 1955, he had nothing to offer except unending and fruitless wars. He loved to fight wars—he despised all initiatives for peace. 

There is not a single year in Churchill’s 55 year long political career when he was not directly involved in fighting wars or in plotting coups in some part of the world. 

In the book's final chapter, Buchanan draws a comparison between Churchill and George W. Bush. He argues that just as Churchill destroyed Britain by dragging his country into one war after the other, Bush has led the USA to ruin by following the Churchillian example of involving his country into unnecessary and fruitless wars. Buchanan notes that Bush’s neoconservative worldview was inspired by Churchill’s role as a Western warmonger.

Iain McGilchrist's The Master and His Emissary

None of us actually lives as though there were no truth. Our problem is more with the notion of a single, unchanging truth. The word 'true' suggest a relationship between things: being true to someone or something, truth as loyalty, or something that fits, as two surfaces may be said to be 'true.' 

It is related to 'trust,' and is fundamentally a matter of what one believes to be the case. 

The Latin word verum (true) is cognate with a Sanskrit word meaning to choose or believe: the option one chooses, the situation in which one places one's trust. Such a situation is not an absolute - it tells us not only about the chosen thing, but also about the chooser. It cannot be certain: it involves an act of faith and it involves being faithful to one's intentions." 

~ Iain McGilchrist in The Master and His Emissary

Daniel Kahneman’s book—Thinking, Fast and Slow

“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance” : Daniel Kahneman in Thinking, Fast and Slow.

I am now reading Kahneman's book Thinking, Fast and Slow. One important point that comes out of his book is that human reason is not infallible, as the Western atheists—communists, liberals, libertarians and fiction writers like Ayn Rand—claim and preach. 

Humans are fundamentally irrational—even our belief in the supremacy of reason can be taken as a sign of our fundamental irrationality. We don’t build our cultures and civilizations on the basis of mathematics and science—we build them on the basis of our mythologies and fictional stories. 

Most humans, especially the experts in advanced countries, tend to be overconfident that they possess a perfect understanding of how the world works and that they are in a position of predicting the future—the examination of human overconfidence is one of the theme’s of the book . 

“We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness,” Kahneman warns.

Kahneman’s primary thesis in Thinking, Fast and Slow is that the human mind operates by two systems of thought: System 1 is instinctive, stereotypical, emotional and unconscious; System 2 is slower, deliberative, logical and conscious.

I don’t agree or disagree with Kahneman’s views. The issues he raises in his book are complicated and we don’t know much about the working of the human mind—so agreement or disagreement are not possible. We know much less than what we think we know. 

But the book is thought provoking—it can make some readers introspect and examine the fundamentals of their beliefs about who they are and what kind of world they live in.

The mirage & myth of Aristotelian non-contradiction

Aristotle’s law of non-contradiction is a mirage and a myth. It is a mirage because it creates a vision of a utopia that is governed by the deterministic principles of physics and mathematics. It is a myth because such a utopia cannot exist. 

Human beings do not live in a world governed by physics and mathematics. We don’t live in a utopia. We live in a chaotic world of mind and culture. The contradictions are an inseparable part of every human mind and every human culture. The contradictions are the drivers of our imagination. They are the fountainhead of culture and civilization. 

A culture without contradictions would be a dull and static culture. The more contradictions a culture can hold, the more dynamic and strong it will be—this is also what history tells us. The best way to strengthen culture is to fuel all the past contradictions.

Short note on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century

I am reading Thomas Piketty’s 2014 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. I am not a socialist but I am not a capitalist either. Both systems are equally irrational. They lead to concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a tiny minority while causing large-scale deprivation and misery for the masses. 

I am convinced by Piketty’s argument that the rate of return on capital is over the long term greater than the rate of economic growth and it leads to concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny minority (the inheritor class). To address this problem, he proposes a global system of progressive wealth taxes on inherited capital. I don’t believe his solution is right. Higher taxes mean more power to the politicians and the bureaucrats who create even bigger problems for society. 

I don’t know what the solution to the problem of concentration of wealth is, but I am certain that the solution that Piketty is proposing will lead to vast increase in the powers of the government and weaken democracy. 

In fact, Piketty’s economic argument can be taken into the sphere of politics. It can be argued that the return on political power of charismatic politicians is over the long term greater than the rate of growth of democratic institutions and freedoms and this leads to the concentration of power in the hands of a tiny minority (the dynastic political families). Concentration of political power in the hands of a few dynastic families is as destructive as the problem of concentration of wealth. 

In his book, Piketty tries to deal with the problem of concentration of wealth but he has nothing to say about the problem of concentration of political power.

Stakeholder Capitalism by Klaus Schwab: Saving humanity is 'multinational corporation's burden'

In his book Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet, Klaus Schwab makes the case that the large private corporations should focus on taking care of the needs of all their stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, investors, community, society and humanity as a whole. 

There is nothing new in this thesis, which smacks of old fashioned egalitarianism. It is also an attempt to whitewash the sins of the big American and European capitalist corporations which fund Schwab’s global-scale junkets and other political and social activities. 

“Taking care of humanity” is a euphemism for exercising total power. What Schwab wants is a world ruled by his capitalist cronies, the ones who fund and attend the big junkets that his group World Economic Forum organizes in Davos. 

In the 20th century, Rudyard Kipling proposed the theory that saving humanity was the “white man’s burden.” This theory was quickly discredited as a tool for perpetuating imperialism. In the 21st century, Klaus Schwab and his cronies are proposing that saving humanity is the “multinational corporation’s burden.” 

The multinational corporations, mostly owned by the oligarchs of America and Western Europe, are supposed to save humanity, lead us all to the promised land where there is peace, prosperity and political power for all—this is Schwab’s utopian vision. 

In his Davos manifesto of 2020, Schwab said that there were only three alternatives in the world: shareholder capitalism, state capitalism and stakeholder capitalism. He said that since shareholder capitalism and state capitalism had failed, stakeholder capitalism was the only option. 

Why should anyone believe Schwab? The arguments that he presents in his book are flimsy, banal and biased in favor of big Western oligarchs. He is not convincing at all. 

Stakeholder capitalism might be the only option for American and West European oligarchs who would like to maintain their geopolitical hegemony. Why should people in Asia accept a global economic model which gives all power to Western corporations?

In his book, Schwab adopts the tone of a medieval mullah who is proclaiming the message of God to his flock. He shows no sign of wisdom and knowledge of history. He is not a deep thinker. I think that his strength lies in his networking skills and ability to organize junkets attended by the world’s top oligarchs, lobbyists, investors and politicians.

David Graeber’s theory of ‘Bullshit Jobs’ in capitalist economy

A bullshit job is usually one that does not create any value for society. Mostly it is socialist governments that are accused of employing millions of useless employees. In his book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, David Graeber argues that capitalism is a major generator of bullshit jobs which entangle masses into an endless routine of toil that produces no value. 

Graeber notes that in capitalism those employed in bullshit jobs often have more importance, power and privilege than those who have the responsibility for jobs that are absolutely critical. “Those who work bullshit jobs are often surrounded by honor and prestige; they are respected as professionals, well paid, and treated as high achievers,” Graeber writes. 

Large universities and even multinational companies like Apple, Microsoft and others have huge bureaucracies. Many of their jobs could be related to bullshit tasks like filling compliance forms and surveys, creating content that no one will read and going to meetings which lead to no outcomes. 

The most interesting argument that Graeber makes in the book is that bullshit jobs exist because modern civilization is based on the idea of hard work being an end in itself. Everyone must do hard labor for a number of hours every day—this is the fundamental principle of modern civilization. If real jobs don’t exist, then society will create bullshit jobs to make everyone labor. 

“Hell is a collection of individuals who are spending the bulk of their time working on a task they don’t like and are not especially good at,” Graeber writes. He says that like medieval feudalism, capitalism creates an endless hierarchy of lords, vassals and retainers.

The alchemy of hope

The most important drivers of nations are not the economic and political realities but the collective hopes of the masses that in the future dreams will come true and life will get better. Hope is not founded on facts—it is founded on mythologies, lies, dreams, stories, random experiences, religious feelings, emotions and unprovable philosophies.

Humans learned to hope before they learned to speak and read, create mythologies and stories, build civilizations and fight wars, philosophize and make scientific discoveries. For tens of thousands of years men have been hoping that the Gods, who can be appeased through prayers, exist. They have been hoping that when they die, they will escape from the suffering that they have endured on earth and live happily in heaven in the company of their Gods. 

Most modern men might not believe in Gods or in heaven and hell, but they have discovered ideologies and technologies which fill them with hope. Some have hope that communism will create a heaven on earth, a utopia. There are those who hope that the utopia will be created by capitalism. The conservatives profess hope in their own version of religion, nationalism and tradition. The technologically inclined profess hope in digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence. 

Hope is mankind’s primeval attribute—it is an essential character of the human mind and psychology. Hope enables us to believe in mythologies, lies, stories, dreams, religious ideas, philosophies and ideologies, and become inspired to struggle relentlessly and make great sacrifices for creating and sustaining civilizations. Our ability to hope is the key attribute differentiating us from other creatures on earth.

Must read for India’s politicians & bureaucrats: Tim Schwab’s The Bill Gates Problem

My negative opinion of Bill Gates has been confirmed by my reading of Tim Schwab’s book The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire. Schwab accuses Gates of flooding money into the academic institutions, think tanks, media houses and advocacy groups to control their research and reporting, and their political and social activities.

“Gates donates money from his private wealth to his private foundation. He then assembles a small group of consultants and experts at the foundation’s half-billion-dollar corporate headquarters to decide what problems are worth his time, attention, and money—and what solutions should be pursued. Then the Gates Foundation floods money into universities, think tanks, newsrooms, and advocacy groups, giving them both a check and checklist of things to do. Suddenly, Gates has created an echo chamber of advocates pushing the political discourse toward his ideas. And the results have been stunning.”

He also accuses Gates of using his wealth to buy influence in the mainstream media.

“Bill Gates is not plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into journalism because he believes in the democratic ideals of the free press or because he is a personal fan of watchdog reporting. His private foundation funds the media for the exact opposite reason—to defang his watchdogs and bring them to heel, to promote his agenda and embellish his brand, to create propaganda that builds his political power, and to control the narrative that guides public understanding of his work.”

The book turns the spotlight on the myriad misdeeds that Bill Gates and his so-called charity have committed in several nations. According to Schwab, instead of improving healthcare in Africa, Gates’s charity has led to a decline in the quality of healthcare services in several instances. 

Bill Gates has been trying to push his vision of education and healthcare reforms in India. If India accepts the Gates plan for education and healthcare, then the country is doomed. I hope the politicians, bureaucrats, academics and journalists in India will read Tim Schwab’s book, and they will stop listening to Bill Gates.

I don’t trust Bill Gates. I have always seen him as a tech-villain who peddles philanthropic activities for buying false prestige and political influence. I find his TV interviews annoying because he talks like a medieval mullah delivering fatwas and sermons to his flock. 

Gates seems convinced that he has the answer to mankind’s every problem, but the solutions he offers are always politically correct, draconian and statist.