by the meltingpot: New Delhi's pattern-smashing move

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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.

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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.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

New Delhi's pattern-smashing move

My recent posts has a lot to do with history,particularly of Manipur's history.The surprising element is,of course,the Pongs.

This reminds me of another surprise.How do we figure out the 42 days long single object exhibition of Paubi Lai in New Delhi recently?Even if we don't try to answer this question,a simple reading together of the exhibition and the recent developments that prompt the focussing of our attention to the Pongs makes it quite clear that New Delhi is currently doing a lot of dissection of Manipuri society.I think that many scholars of Manipuri society are imvolved in the said dissection of the Manipuri society.

What attracted my attention at that time was the explanatory note accompanying the announcement of the exhibition.More precisely,the last part of the note,which says that the Paubi Lai was killed by none other than Kabui Salang Maiba,who,of course,belong to a small ethnic minority in the hills of Manipur.

The narrative--small ethnic minorities of the hills versus the major ethnic grouping in the valley.

That brings us to the pattern-smashing visit of special secretary(internal security),New Delhi to Churachandpur district in Manipur.The special secretary,like a seasoned politician, went straight to a meeting public.It was quite a spectacle seeing the senior beaurocrat from Nelhi addressing a public meeting in Churachandpur district of Manipur.

Of course,the special secretary made it a point visiting the place on the same day the Chinese president started his maidenn state to the US.During the address to the public meeting he emphasized that the Churachandpur turmoil is much more than an internal matter of the state of Manipur.The word 'internal' on the day of Chinese president's US visit,that too,from a person located firmly inside the power corridors of New Delhi attains a disproportionate singnificance.

But,is that the purpose of the special secretary's visit?

The short answer--NO.

The special secretary,which represents New Delhi,is aiming for a fundamental shift in how the Manipuri society finds its equilibrium.

Let's start out from the present mood of the Manipuri society.The overwhelming perception is that what is happening right now in the hills,particularly,in Churachandpur,is the direct results of the machinations of New Delhi.In such a scenario,New Delhi should hide the behind the screen and continues to pull strings from there.

But New Delhi suddenly jumps out from behind the screen and shows to all concerned that the show is actually run by it.

Why?

We are facing with a profound question.

To say that they are trying to provoke the valley community is too apparent.It also brings back the game to New Delhi vs Manipuri society scheme of things.New Delhi has been trying to avoid this scheme of thing,showing to all concerned the that the assent to the three is not forthcoming because the hills peoples are against the bills.This is the pattern which should be thrown up by this scheme of things.

What happens if we break the pattern?By being 'too apparent',are they trying to elicit a more sinister provocation from the valley society?

Let's go back to the Pong paradigm.Several centuries back,the Pongs might behave just like hillmen of today.It's because the Pongs appear to tbe the least assimilated of the numerous streams of people coming here in the cauldron called the Manipuri society.Let's call them the new Pong.As we are witnessing at the moment,the new Pongs have no qualm of publicly courting New Delhi for achieving its political goal.

But the older Pongs within the Manipuri society does not have this luxury.They might have courted New Delhi but they have this compulsion to do it covertly.Publicly,their posture should be anti-New Delhi and they are working for the indigenoous people of Manipuri.

At this point of time,New Delhi is in possesion of some data set which in a simulated scenario points to the increasing vulnerability of the older Pongs within the Manipuri society as New Delhi steps up its 'too apparent' postures.As New delhi continues stepping up this posture,the vulnerability of the older Pongs intensified until it reaches a breaking point.

It would be suicidal for the older Pongs if this breaking point ever comes about.In such a situation,the older Pongs have the lone option of attacking the New Pongs to prevent New Delhi from stepping up the 'too apparent' postures,as they have no the wherewithal to attack New Delhi.

This is the only scenario which I can think of why New Delhi suddenly jumps out from behind the screen.

Is it a plausible scenario?I wonder.

by the meltingpot

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