by the meltingpot: Letters-3

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Indeed, what is at work in the recent return of realism is the revenge of geography in the most old-fashioned sense. In the 18th and 19th centuries, before the arrival of political science as an academic specialty, geography was an honored, if not always formalized, discipline in which politics, culture, and economics were often conceived of in reference to the relief map. Thus, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, mountains and the men who grow out of them were the first order of reality; ideas, however uplifting, were only the second.
And yet, to embrace geography is not to accept it as an implacable force against which humankind is powerless. Rather, it serves to qualify human freedom and choice with a modest acceptance of fate. This is all the more important today, because rather than eliminating the relevance of geography, globalization is reinforcing it. Mass communications and economic integration are weakening many states, exposing a Hobbesian world of small, fractious regions. Within them, local, ethnic, and religious sources of identity are reasserting themselves, and because they are anchored to specific terrains, they are best explained by reference to geography. Like the faults that determine earthquakes, the political future will be defined by conflict and instability with a similar geographic logic. The upheaval spawned by the ongoing economic crisis is increasing the relevance of geography even further, by weakening social orders and other creations of humankind, leaving the natural frontiers of the globe as the only restraint.
So we, too, need to return to the map, and particularly to what I call the “shatter zones” of Eurasia. We need to reclaim those thinkers who knew the landscape best. And we need to update their theories for the revenge of geography in our time.
Here is the link for the whole write up.

Now at 2nd place

My view is that relations between countries in the coming decades are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, their cultural ties and antagonism with other countries rather than other factors. Quite obviously, power will continue to play a central role in global politics, as it always does. But usually there is something else behind conflicts. In the 18th century in Europe, the issues to a large extent involved questions of monarchy versus the emerging republican movements, first in America and then in France. In the 19th century, it involved states identifying themselves through nationalism. In the 20th century, ideology came to the fore, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of the Russian Revolution. We had fascism, communism and liberal democracy competing with each other. Well, that’s pretty much over. Liberal democracy has come to be accepted, in theory at least, around the world, if not always in practice. So the question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades? My argument remains that cultural identities, antagonisms and affiliations will not only play a role, but play a major role in relations between states. The full interview is here.

This is the 3rd

Every citizen in the City of Richardson will be able to access 756 Kbps of internet connectivity for free, from anywhere in the city. They will be able to access the internet from their homes, schools, restaurants and parks using standard wi-fi connections which are now installed on almost every notebook computer. That is almost as fast as many so-called high speed broadband connections that one pays dearly for today, and several times faster than the various hotspots at your local coffee shops. And I should note that the tax-payers of the City of Richardson are not paying one penny for this, and in fact are going to see additional revenues as a benefit. ... At the beginning of this letter, I suggested that this would be one of the fastest worldwide rollouts of a technology ever seen. It was just 20 years ago that the first cellular systems were being built. The rollout for mesh wireless systems is going to make that look slow. There are several reasons I make this assertion. But they all center on the facts that installing mesh systems will be cheaper and easier than any previous system and the economics in both the developed and especially the developing world will be so radically compelling. Throw in the fact the any astute politician will want to be at the front of this parade (They will all want to say, "I was the man who helped bring free internet to everyone!") and the groundwork is laid for rapid deployment. In Richardson and elsewhere, MeshLinx is offering the basic infrastructure for free. This avoids all the time consuming, political budget battles in the cities. When a service is offered for free, much of the mandated competitive process is eliminated. Next is the low cost of installation of the system. As noted above, Richardson is a city of roughly 100,000 people living in 27.4 square miles. It will "only" cost about $2,000,000 today to lay the wireless blanket I mentioned above. It will cost a great deal less in the future, as MeshLinx is building the pods at a pace of 100 a month today. The maximum output of the US pilot assembly line is 500 a month. When the demand exceeds this (and it will in a very short time) discussions have been held to move volume production to China. Of course, the world will need tens of millions of pods. The cost for a pod will be a fraction of today's cost, with that installation number for a city like Richardson soon being half (or less) the cost of today. What does that $1 or 2 million get you? The infrastructure to be an internet connection, telephone, security, entertainment provider and a whole lot more company. As noted, it will get cheaper as the number of pods being made each month rises, thus lowering their costs dramatically. This technology does have scale. The cost of physically putting up a pod is not a large part of the equation, as you simply need to run a power line, attach a few bolts to a mount on the side of a building or light pole and then off to the next point. Think about the 40,000 homes and businesses in Richardson. If and (hopefully) over time when 10% decide to pay $50 a month for 10-20 Mbps high speed internet access you could see a revenue of $2.5 million a year just from internet access. Now add in all the other income possibilities (phone, entertainment, security and don't forget advertising revenue on the free service!). Think about your town or country. What would service like this be worth? If you are a small city that does not have high speed connections available, how many businesses that could bring jobs do not come your way because they need reliable communications for their work and their employees? If you are in a developing country, where internet access is difficult and expensive, it will open whole new vistas. Couple that with the various programs which want to give cheap laptops to kids in poor countries, and you could see significant social progress in a generation. Here is the link.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Letters-3

This is, so far, the last of the series of letters published in the “letters to the editor” of Sangai Express. This was carried on the 28th June edition of the paper.
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Rejoinder to UNLF’s version on Moreh incident.

Sir,

Kudos to the inevitable boomerang that came my way in response to my letter captioned “UNLF triggered Moreh fissure” which was published on 21-06-07 in the The Sangai Express.

At the outset, Tah-Chapa salute(the highest honorary salutation of the Kukis) to Ksh. Yoheiba, Senior Publicity Officer of UNLF, for reiterating his side of the story which is totally contradictory to the other side of the story aired by KNO/KNA. Need anything more be said. In a dilemma I whispered truth? Where art thou!

However, it was indeed a pleasure to hear his willingness and appreciation for open-disclosure with the masses on people-centric issues unlike Kuki and Naga nationalists.

At the same time, while acknowledging and praising for my “true-inner feelings” I wish that the Front uphold and cherish the heroic actions and contributions made by my Kuki forefathers and the Haokips(Chassads) in particular, during the Kamhao(Sukte) Lan, Ava Lan, the Kohima Expedition, the Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919 et al, besides the guarding of Konung in protest against the signing away of “our freedom” by the Maharaja of Manipur. Because linkage to the past constitutes one of the most potent motivations for stepping into the future as a shaper of tomorrow’s history.

Here, it is believed in good faith that the views expressed are not mistaken as rebuttal with malicious contempt towards the Front.

That, as far as my letters are concerned, the Editor has the sole authority in supplying the appropriate title/heading on his own volition, which was and is beyond the reach of my pen.

Regarding the chronology of events leading to “Moreh Spark”, charges and counter-charges from the warring parties may flood the limited news-column, but to me it is an “unheroic landmarks in the struggle for freedom”.

Again, it rather sounds true and convincing regarding the identity of Mr Roshan Meetei, whom claimed innocent by the UNLF and Meira Paibees. On the other hand civil’student bodies like HTC, KSO, KWO and even the NSCN(IM) in their press statements clarified his true identity as a hardcore UNLF cadre, thereby resulted in retaliatory killings of Kukis.

In the context of Moreh Town, one has to note that, for any civil-related cases the task of compromise, reconcialition, understanding has been altruistically delivered by civil organizations like Hill Tribal Council and Meetei Council, Tamil Sangam etc. Unfortunately, it is very much doubtful why the traditional role assigned to civil bodies had been overtaken all of a sudden by UNLF in the case of “the innocent Roshan”. I humbly appeal to one and all to respect and preserve the sanctity of the role played by civil organizations.

Coming back to the death of AMSU President, I am urged by my conscience to state that, as per the news reports availed top the masses by the mass media, the President was annihilated by KNF(MC) for his alleged fraud gun running and not by KNA as alleged by UNLF.

On the question of the role of Security Forces, the British legacy of “Divide and Rule” remains the gaining strategy for any Nation, State, party or even in family affairs. Be it as it may, the history of Assam Rifles amply proved the heroic contributions of the Kukis in the form of Kuki-Levy.

In the present conflict situation, the “Friends of the Hill People” has been friendly disposed towards the Kuki Hill-men but not much to the valley-Meetei people. The reason—the Olive Branch offer by New Delhi.

All said and done,our hearts go out to our people in Kabaw Valley, who are denied their basic human rights—the right to survive as an ethnic community by the Burmese Military junta despite their tears and sweats for retoration of democracy. As such, any party or front found supporting, abetting, harbouring or in collaboration with the Burmese regime, is deserved to be called “enemy of the Kukis”.

As a citizen of Manipur, we also ought to share our grief and pain for those internally displaced people who were compelled to flee to Mizoram in the wake of alleged mass-rape and those innocent victims of the killer land-mine besides the untold miseries suffered by Tribal students on the streets of New Delhi.

Thus, I would like to conclude by asking myself—Is there any Government for redressing the plight of the Kuki people? Who cares? Nobody cares. The Kukis have been left uncared, neglected, subjugated for decades. External forces and situation has compelled them to fight and stand up for the rights. But I feel bravery without unity is futile.

So come, let us sit down together and there I assure you, we shall find that our differences are far more imaginary than real.

Yours faithfully,
Lenneo Haokip,
Former Editor,
Manmasi.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd