The power of renunciation
Successful leaders in India have lived in poverty (Gandhi) or are bachelors (Modi). Others have been wealthy and given it up. Millions of people have followed these leaders in spiritual life or even in political life. No one can be well off and still be a great spiritual leader. This is in contrast to the…
Exercise is a lonely endeavor
Those of you who are young adults perhaps don’t relate to this. After all, for many who do fitness activities or sports, that is self-reported as their main social group (sports club, crossfit class etc). However, as one gets older, is more advanced in their careers, is not single, has children, exercise gets increasingly hard.…
In a democracy, it’s the wishes of the people that get carried out
That would seem like an obvious and uncontroversial statement, but all too often, when I say something like that, people act like I am a naïve child. I am told it is the agenda of the rich, the white people, the jews, the blacks, the military-industrial complex, the tech billionaires or some other behind-the-scenes “they”…
Equality – outcome or access
It is a prevalent view in some quarters that equality is good. In particular, equality of outcome. And a lot of energy is expended on reducing inequality. And the measures are generally some statistic out of a CDF of income over the population. Such as the Gini coefficient or “the top 1% of the population…
Three things learned at work
Having been in some kind of workplace for decades, I have learned that one needs to be excellent towards the people who works with one, to paraphrase Bill and Ted. Here are three: The first one is well known, and here I am merely confirming that I have found it true experientially: If you are…
Why majorities go with the right and minorities with the left..
As a general statement, of course, not individuals. Before writing, let me cite some examples. In some societies, some demographic divisions are also political fault lines. For example, in the US, race is a factor. In India, religion is (and a note for casual Western pundits – no, it’s not caste). And one finds the…
Science is…art?
I remember wanting to be a scientist since the time I was in kindergarten. The people who advanced human knowledge. They all seemed people highly deserving of admiration and respect. The ones who remained in human memory for hundreds or even thousands of years even as kings and emperors of the moment simply vanished from…
How to know who’s living off government largesse
All you have to do is look around and see who’s claiming to be virtuous (and therefore, worthy of financial support). Look to see who’s constantly attacking ‘“the corporations” and greedy private sector people. Look for who’s got disdain for the 9-to-5 slave. So, who are these? Well, Educational institutions, health institutions, NGOs of many…
Why are Democrats the more scientific party?
You must surely have noticed over the decades that the Democratic positions on various topics are supported by Science. Or that panels of scientists endorse various liberal positions. There is always “panel of 16 economists” who endorse the Democratic presidential candidate. When I was younger, I might have sought to understand it in terms like…
Why people lie
No, I’m not speaking of the motivation for lying – it is always, of course, the greed for the short-term benefits from not speaking the truth. As most of us know, the long term harm from lying far outweighs any short term benefit. Most importantly, it causes a loss of trust and how can you…
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