A collective effort to return humankind to the dark ages

[Japan’s Second Defeat after the Second World War by RY Deshpande on Sat 29 Mar 2008 09:06 PM PDT Permanent Link America, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, invaded Japan in another way. It looks as though the evil found another soil to grow and flourish in a vigorous manner...Today no doubt Japan operates in a masterly way the American gears of financial prosperity; but her national Shakti has suffered a setback. She is inflicted with the culture of information technology supported by the mighty steelwork of industry and driven by the power of petrochemical machinery. She knows not for what purpose... But today the bullet trains speed cravingly for the nothing and the soul of Japan has no leisure and all material prosperity has brought impoverishment to its insolvent spirit. Japan has lost the protection that comes as a gift of nature to her from her Sakura, the cherry blossoms.
[The present article forms a chapter of my yet unpublished book Big Science and its Impact on Society.] Science, Culture and Integral Yoga]

RY Deshpande perhaps has thought it fit to post this essay coinciding with the Earth Hour 2008, but the whole inspiration to paint such a dismal picture of Japan appears to be on the side of the diabolical. Don Boudreaux has dashed off a befitting reply to such anti-development mentality:

You and members of your organization worry that industrialization and economic growth are harming the earth's environment. I worry that the intensifying hysteria about the state of the environment - and that the resulting hostility to economic growth - might harm humankind's prospects for comfortable, healthy, enjoyable, and long lives. So I commend you on your "Earth Hour" effort. Persuading people across the globe to turn off lights for one hour will supply the perfect symbol for modern environmentalism: a collective effort to return humankind to the dark ages.

It will be nice, therefore, if RYD decides to drop this chapter infested with indiscriminate cherry picking from his unpublished book. [TNM] 10:27 AM

Privileging of the multiplicity is just another totalizing construct as hegemonistic as its opposite

[One can only be wholly disappointed that the opportunity has been missed by so called integral /theories/methods Re: At the ends of Man: Sri Aurobindo and Michel Foucault by Rich on Sat 29 Mar 2008 09:21 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link] 11:05 AM

Rich is suspicious of “totalizing ideological structures” and hence welcomes “other authentic traditions” as “Much can be gained from the(m).” But this privileging of the multiplicity is just another totalizing construct as hegemonistic as its opposite. [TNM]

The Life Divine commenced on July 18, 1912.

Between 1902 and 1914, Sri Aurobindo wrote several commentaries on the Isha Upanishad which, though incomplete and unrevised, have been compiled under 10 different captions in the Volume 17 of the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. 3 of these pieces were explicitly titled as “The Life Divine” and Sri Aurobindo has left a noting in The Record of Yoga that “the Life Divine commenced” on July 18, 1912.

While this constitutes the Stage I, the publication of 54 essays in the Arya from August 1914 to January 1919 can be called the Stage II. The final Stage emerges 20 years later when during 1939-40 the book is published for the first time in 3 separate volumes incorporating extensive additions and alterations. The transition of The Life Divine to this final shape and the transformation that it undergoes in the hands of Sri Aurobindo is a fascinating story replete with far-reaching significances. [TNM]

Mauss vs. Mises

[Well, first he should read Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, paying special attention to the chapter "Why the Worst Get on Top" - in a socialist system based on coercion, corruption and patronage. If this convinces him that socialism is evil, he should quit - to save his soul. Two or three generations of Indians have sent their best and brightest to the Indian civil services. If the State is to be at the 'commanding heights', obviously it will need the best and the brightest, it was thought - especially by the parents of these idealistic youngsters. They were all sacrificed at the altar of the State - a metaphysical concept that really has nothing to do with 'civil government' - which is what a 'civil service' is paid to provide...There is also Ludwig von Mises' Bureaucracy, republished in India by Liberty Institute. The crux of Mises' argument is this: Society benefits if almost everything is left for 'management by profit'. Very little can actually be accomplished by 'bureaucratic management' - like the police or the tax bureaus. Societies which keep this distinction in mind succeed, while those who extend bureaucratic management to vast reaches of economic activity lose heavily... Looking Up the Ladder... and Jumping Off from ANTIDOTE by Sauvik]

There is no example in history where successful societies have run in line with Friedrich Hayek’s or Ludwig von Mises' proposals. So, these suggestions are no more than mere conjectures where only the rosy side is highlighted by camouflaging the dismal. The State, as stated, is not a metaphysical concept but a functional structure constituted of human beings. Blaming the State or the Bureaucracy amounts to blaming a set of human beings, who simply behave naturally as the system demands of them.

Thus, retrieving the situation would entail resorting to normative prescriptions as foreseen by Adam Smith or Marcel Mauss than mechanically relying upon pure economic logics. [TNM] 5:55 PM 6:01 PM 7:43 AM

Sri Aurobindo is indeed a very interesting thinker

from Craig Calhoun Calhoun@ssrc.org to tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com cc Jonathan VanAntwerpen vanantwerpen@ssrc.org date 29 Mar 2008 07:55 subject Re: A Secular Age, featuring Charles Taylor and Michael Warner

Dear Mr Mohapatra

Thanks for your message. You are right that the Immanent Frame is more focused on Western Christianity. This reflects partly how it started in relation to Charles Taylor's book. But I hope - and I am sure Jonathan VanAntwepen agrees - that it will grow with more contributions from other orientations.

And of course Sri Aurobindo is indeed a very interesting thinker to consider in that regard. I am copying Jonathan so he has your message.

With all best wishes,
Craig Calhoun [3:55 AM]

Sri Aurobindo has a distinct style of writing, just like Spinoza has his own, or Jaspers, for that matter

[Re: The Intermediate Zone? by innerhike on Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:26 pm
Sarasvati, Greetings! I have only briefly looked at your original posting at the beginning of this thread and then I glanced very quickly through Aurobindo's words that you shared with us. First off, I deeply respect Aurobindo. But years ago in the brief interactions I have had with people who read/discuss Aurobindo, I realized that they have a lot to say about nothing at all. So this put me off Aurobindo a bit. Aurobindo was schooled in England many decades ago, perhaps even a century ago, and so his manner of writing/communicating reflects a very old-school, fomal approach. Regardless of my take on him, in India and abroad spiritual seekers hold him in very deep respect. I see him as one of the teachers who has been accorded the status of a "great one" by many seekers of great depth and integrity to where he is now deeply established in the pop culture of spirituality in India and abroad.]

Sri Aurobindo has a distinct style of writing, just like Spinoza has his own, or Jaspers, for that matter. Thus, it is absurd to question the writing-style of a thinker, and instead one should train himself to have access to the thought. Avoiding the New Age books, and reading the works of philosophers will help in this endeavor. Philosophy is for everyman. [TNM]

The Life Divine possesses a central position in this momentous adventure

[I cannot end this chapter without noting how the whole Ashram was vitally interested in India's fight for freedom, though we are supposed erroneously to be absorbed only in our own spiritual liberation. When the news of the final victory came, we celebrated it as much as the people outside, particularly because it coincided with Sri Aurobindo's birthday. He was requested to give a message on this great occasion. I am reproducing at the end of this chapter the whole message called "Five Dreams".
"It was on this occasion that for the first time the Mother hoisted her flag over the terrace of Sri Aurobindo's room. The Mother called it the spiritual flag of India.
In the afternoon she appeared on her terrace when the members of the Ashram greeted her by singing Bande Mataram after which she called out, 'Jai Hind!' with such a look and gesture that we still remember the moment. The evening programme included the electric illumination of the courtyard inside the Ashram compound."¹...

When one reads Sri Aurobindo's message one will not fail to note how much importance he has given to the role India alone can play in bringing about the unity of the whole of mankind. I do not know of any other great leader of India and worker for her future destiny who spoke in such glowing terms as we find in these "Dreams".
The Mother has emphasised the fact that this message should be distributed all over India, read and re-read by the people, for it contains the solution of all the problems the world is facing today. Page – 164 Location: Home > E-Library > Works Of Disciples > Nirodbaran > Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo > War And Politics]

India's role in bringing about the unity of the whole of mankind assumes pressing urgency at the moment. The Life Divine possesses a central position in this momentous adventure. Universities and academicians must recognize this imperative and take side accordingly. Sisir Kumar Maitra has put it so prophetically:

“The message of the book is exactly what the world needs today. It is the most thought-provoking and thought-shaking book that has appeared in this century. As it is studied more and more, more people will come under the influence of its vitalizing thought, and it will cause a slow and silent revolution in thought which will be extremely radical and far-reaching in its effects.” JSTOR: East and West in Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy

Considered the most difficult among the writings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine encounters enormous resistance. The political stance of many academicians poses huge hurdles in the path of its reception. Surmounting such obstacles is not a small challenge and necessitates a multi-pronged offensive. Savitri Erans must gird up their loins. [TNM]

Re-inventing the elephant

[Democracy's finest hour from Faith and Theology by Ben Myers
Here in my home state of Queensland, a mayor has been elected by having his name drawn out of a hat. I think this is a major step forwards for democratic procedure, and I hope the Democrats in the US will have the good sense to adopt the same method (tossing a coin is also acceptable).]

People in India, in olden days, used to rely on the wisdom of an elephant to elect the future king by pouring water from a pitcher it carried, upon whomsoever it intuited suitable. Now, Queensland has attested that there is hardly any difference between the ballot box and a raffle. [TNM]

The India of the future will be a voluntary association of States

[Political Inquiry from Indistinct Union by cjsmith
In a recent comment back and forth Matthew and I had, Matthew wrote:
The very impulse to have a federal-gov’t-level response to social issues such as education, health care, and more bespeaks his fundamental liberal/progressive disposition. Contrast this with the fundamental conservative/libertarian disposition, which would have those issues settled by civil society and the states…]

[What can India do to promote solutions to the intractable problems on its borders? Home > Edits & Columns > COLUMN Soften these borders C Raja Mohan
Posted online: Thursday, March 27, 2008 Peoples of South Asia’s frontier regions should interact with their cultural kin across boundaries

For one, it must stand firm in its principled opposition to the break-up of the existing states. It is the fear of disintegration that has driven the Chinese communists and Burmese generals to cracking down so hard ons the recent political protests.
Two, while ruling out the creation of new states, India must encourage its neighbours — Myanmar, China, Nepal and Pakistan — to move steadily towards granting genuine autonomy to ethnic minorities. India’s relative success in managing diversity and mitigating the many insurgencies it had to confront is rooted in its federalism. The Tibetan revolt has underlined the reality that no amount of economic growth can overcome the minorities’ quest for cultural autonomy and political dignity.
Three, India must also encourage its neighbours to think about softening the existing borders. The peoples of the Subcontinent’s frontier regions have suffered greatly from the rigid territorial conceptions of the nationalists. They badly need the freedom to interact with their ethnic and cultural kin across the national boundaries.
Together, these principles — legitimisation of existing borders, significant autonomy, soft borders and cross-border institutions — are at the core of India’s strategy to settle its own extended dispute with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir.
The same principles should help guide our neighbours in addressing the political aspirations of the minorities in Myanmar, the Tibetans, the Uighurs of Xinjiang, the Pashtuns across the Durand Line, the Baloch, and the Madhesis in Nepal. The writer is a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singaporeiscrmohan@ntu.edu.sg]

C Raja Mohan hastens to bite off more than he can chew by proposing a mélange of measures exposing his double standards. He prohibits creation of new states in India but wants her neighbours to grant autonomy to ethnic minorities.

Rather, time is ripe for the fruition of Hiranmay Kerlekar’s prediction, “Let Hundred States bloom.” The India of the future will be a voluntary association of such States encompassing territories that are lying far away from the present national borders. M&As amongst these States must happen organically upon common agreement. [TNM] The logical extension perhaps is to free the 'national' borders

The logical extension perhaps is to free the 'national' borders

[8.5 percent growth: 100 percent bullshit from ANTIDOTE by Sauvik... To a classical liberal, it is only when each individual economic agent, responsible for his own okonomos, is completely liberated under law, freed from all government imposed restraints, that each little okonomos will grow - and take the nation upwards along with it. So if unilateral free trade was instituted, the customs department abolished, if taxes were cut and the bureaucracy greatly downsized, and all economic restrictions removed, the 'national economy' would grow at such stupendous rates that no statistician would even be able to measure it...

John Cowptherwaite, the colonial civil servant sent to run Hong Kong in the 40s, achieved a huge economic turnaround for this little island without any statistical bureau advising him. He believed that such statistics were mischievous, and would be misused by socialists someday. So he deliberately axed all plans to set up a government statistical bureau in Hong Kong. When he arrived, Hong Kong was covered with the shanties and slums of poor migrants. When he left in the 70s, Hong Kong had been transformed into an island of gleaming towers, with a per capita ownership of Rolls-Royce cars higher than that of its colonial master, Great Britain.For more on this great civil servant, read my tribute to Sir John here.]

The logical extension perhaps is to free the 'national' borders so that any one can come in (to trade, and possibly, vote) and any one can go out. All currencies will be welcome, from the chaos of which would emerge a world currency and a world language, depending upon users’ preference! [TNM]

Keep in mind the alternate “history” that would have taken place during these five years

[Guernica and/or Iraq by Rich on Tue 25 Mar 2008 04:54 PM PDT Permanent Link
On the fifth anniversary week of the Iraq war what can one say? Hundreds of thousands dead, millions of refugees, a nation in civil war, and no real end in sight. A war that even former head of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan concedes was fought over oil. One can only turn to images and here is Picasso whose depiction of the slaughter at Guernica Spain as a result of German bombing, is considered one of his most important paintings. I will post a link to U tube video by the same title which unfortunately subjects Guernica to the eternal return of the same. Here is a bit of History The German bombers appeared in the skies over Guernica in the late afternoon of April 26, 1937 and immediately transformed the sleepy Spanish market town into an everlasting symbol of the atrocity of war. Unbeknownst to the residents of Guernica, they had been slated by their attackers to become guinea pigs in an experiment designed to determine just what it would take to bomb a city into oblivion.
Hitler's support of Franco consisted of the Condor Legion, an adjunct of the Luftwaffe. The Condor Legion provided the Luftwaffe the opportunity to develop and perfect tactics of aerial warfare that would fuel Germany's blitzkrieg through Europe during 1939 and 1940. As German air chief Hermann Goering testified at his trial after World War II: "The Spanish Civil War gave me an opportunity to put my young air force to the test, and a means for my men to gain experience." Some of these experimental tactics were tested on that bright Spring day with devastating results - the town of Guernica was entirely destroyed with a loss of life estimated at 1,650. The world was shocked and the tragedy immortalized by Pablo Picasso in his painting Guernica.]

Hitler is a sensitive name for the Savitri Erans, but the way Rich has attempted to liminally link it to the Iraq war in this intriguing post at SCIY warrants resistance. Living even in an Ashram, Sri Aurobindo was able to maintain his discreet preference for differing from any doctrine of blanket non-violence of the Gandhian kind. The detractors of President Bush must keep in mind the alternate “history” that would have taken place during these five years had he not intervened. A fair appraisal can emerge from that comparison. [TNM]

Sri Aurobindian ontology is unputdownable

[Jean-Luc Nancy has undertaken to do a kind of post-Heideggerian ontology over the past couple decades, though I’m not sure he’s really “taking off” among Americans; there may also be someone in the analytic camp pursuing something along these lines, though I’ve not heard of it.
The shame here, though, is that during the prewar period, there was a real flowering of ontologies of the exact kind that I advocate — perhaps the biggest names there are Henri Bergson, Alfred North Whitehead, and William James. In each case, there is a recognition that the mechanical determinism (largely unconsciously) assumed by scientists is not adequately accounting to experience, and so the attempt is made to develop a more inclusive and realistic ontology.
Then in the postwar period, the whole thing apparently just shuts down in America, in both the analytic and continental traditions — the latter of which also spread to many other disciplines in the humanities where ontological reflection may have found a place. Certain contemporary developments — the rediscovery of Deleuze as a “real philospher,” the surprising prominence of Badiou in certain American circles, the aforementioned work of Nancy, Zizek’s more recent work — point toward the potential for a renewed interest in a truly contemporary ontology. The shame, however, is that in so many ways we in America at least have to reinvent the wheel because the prewar developments wound up getting prematurely cut off in our context. -- Futher Thoughts on Ontology from An und für sich by Adam]

Adam is aware of The Life Divine, but has chosen to exclude Sri Aurobindo from his list of the biggest names in real ontology: Bergson, Whitehead, and William James. This is unfair, illogical, and against the best interests of academics. [TNM]

Savitri Era Religion can save from self-delusion

[As I never tire of saying, politics is not about public service, but about power; most politicians enter politics not to change the world but to rule over as big a part of it as they can; they will do whatever it takes to get power, for otherwise they wouldn’t have entered politics; and as we are a species hardwired by evolution for self-delusion, it is natural, after a point, for us to start believing in the lies we are living. -- A Machine For The Production Of Politics from The India Uncut Blog by Amit Varma]

As recent entrants, we may add (and confess) that politics is meant basically to publicize our religion, i.e., Savitri Era Religion. In this sense, it would rank as public service; for Religion is part of the genealogy of public reason itself which can save us from self-delusion. [TNM]

Competition, co-operation, and cartels

[Khattar's multibrand auto service venture to begin in 2009 Economic Times, India - 22 Mar 2008
NEW DELHI: Former Managing Director of the country's biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), who plans to set up multibrand automobile service stations across the country, will kick start operations by next year... He said the idea behind his pet project was to provide ultimate servicing experience to consumers and convenience to those who own a set of 2-3 cars, all from different companies.]

When The Times of India and Hindustan Times launched their joint venture tabloid, Metro Now, it marked the end of a long battle of wits, and dawning of the realization that besides competition, co-operation also augurs well for commerce. Harnessing of ATMs for multiple banks, or Khattar's multibrand auto service are analogous trends the future of which is hard to anticipate, but undesirable cartels emerging out of such cohabitation is a big fear. Networking amongst MNCs affecting geo-politics is also a potential danger. [TNM]

It has been like running a three-legged race, these sixty years

[But the RJD, the DMK and the NCP are evidently so obsessed with their provincial spheres of interest that they do not seem to care, and perhaps not even fully understand, if India will suffer as a result. Arguably, they may not be overtly anti-national... But the limited vision of the regional parties seems to have made them unaware of the national and international implications of the deal, which enables India to join the nuclear haves in spite of having not only stayed out of the NPT, but even defied it by conducting nuclear tests... Yet, this achievement is apparently not something that the RJD or the DMK or the NCP can appreciate because they are unable to see beyond the borders of the states where they have some kind of a base. It is indeed for this reason that parties such as these cannot be trusted with major portfolios like external affairs or finance. It is easy to imagine the confusion which the DMK — or the AIADMK — will cause because of its empathy (or antipathy) for the LTTE if it had to deal with foreign issues. Similarly, imagine the chaos which the Left will let loose if it was put in charge of finance. Not surprisingly, the leaders of coalitions like the Congress and the BJP have preferred to keep these sensitive ministries in their own hands. The others have also quietly accepted this denial, which in effect, is a snub of sorts since it indicates that they are not mature enough to handle such adult matters. But it is the nuclear deal that has refocused attention on their immaturity, which, in turn, underlines their unsuitability to be in power at the national level. -- LEADER ARTICLE: Some Things Don't Change TOI 25 Mar 2008, AMULYA GANGULI]

The problem stems from the fact that instead of adopting a truly federal structure as in USA, we opted for an ambivalent system for such a large and diverse sub-continent like India, mirroring UK, a tiny island. Consequently, the Centre and the States have always been at loggerheads, and it has been like running a three-legged race, these sixty years. The model that we should ape at present, therefore, is that of the EU, in line with Sri Aurobindo's proposition of a free association of free nationalities. [TNM]

The 5th Pay Commission inaugurated the consumerist revolution in India

[Monkeys Deserve Peanuts from ANTIDOTE by Sauvik
The recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission are making the news now... Of course, my arguments were correct. The 5th Pay Commission bankrupted the State and public services did not improve at all. This scenario will be repeated again.]

It is surprising that many economists have denounced the 5th Pay Commission awards (although, they seem to be comfortable with NREGS). Whether or not it improved the functioning of the bureaucracy, it managed to put substantial disposable income in the hands of a large number of people constituting the middle class, thus inaugurating the consumerist revolution in India. It would be unwise to overlook this piece of milestone in the recent economic history of India. The 6th Pay Commission recommendations, therefore, should be supported on the same grounds as Kaushik Basu [Stray notes in the Budget symphony HT March 01, 2008 1:26 PM ] regards the loan waiver for farmers as a kind of negative income tax. [TNM]

The Mother meddles

[How Dare She (by Don Boudreaux) from Cafe Hayek ... That role was performed remarkably well and lovingly by the persons who had responsibility for it: my father and late mother. I, like any self-respecting adult, resent beyond words the impertinence of any stranger presuming to possess the moral authority to intrude into my affairs.
To my own dying day, I will live by the creed instilled in me by my parents: My life is my own, and just as I have no right (or wish) to meddle in the affairs of others, no one - regardless of how exalted her status or how large her electoral majority - has the right to meddle in mine.
Sincerely, Donald J. Boudreaux]

[If economists abandon large swathes of territory on what are regarded as distant and unrewarding frontiers of our discipline, we ought not to be surprised if they become peopled by migrants from other disciplines, who bring not just their energies but also their insights, and a willingness to incorporate into their own frontiers what economists neglect and leave fallow. -- Economists Require Help in Understanding the Evolution of Value
from Adam Smith's Lost Legacy by Gavin Kennedy]

We, Savitri Erans, so lovingly allow The Mother to intrude into our affairs and meddle in it. [TNM]

As we are a continuous civilization, the “gatherer” mentality prevails

[What went wrong with the economy? from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen
On Wednesday David Leonhardt posed the question, here is part of my answer: Starting in the 1920s, Ludwig von Mises, the leader of the so-called Austrian School of Economics, charged that socialism was unable to engage in rational economic calculation. Without market prices, he reasoned, no one knows how much economic resources are worth.
The subsequent poor performance of planned economies bore out his point...The irony is that the supercharged capital markets of the American economy are now — at least temporarily — in a somewhat comparable position. Starting in August, many asset markets lost their liquidity, as trading in many kinds of junk bonds, mortgage-backed securities and auction-rate securities has virtually vanished.
Market prices have been drained of their informational value and thus don’t much reflect the “wisdom of crowds,” as they would under normal circumstances. Investors are instead flocking to the safest of assets, like Treasury bills. The absence of trading is a big problem.]

Considering the size of the market in India the “wisdom of crowds” turns out to be the “wisdom of a coterie,” and consequently, the “market prices” are as skewed as in a socialist economy. Temperamental reasons forbid vast sections of the population from trading, and such socio-cultural factors apply substantial pressure on the commercial growth. As we are a continuous civilization, the “gatherer” mentality prevails instead of the “hunter's” attitude (to make a killing) obtaining in societies formed largely of migrant population. [TNM]

Savitri Era Party aims at The Life Divine

[Columns by Sauvik Chakraverti Antidote: A politics to end politics
Politics as a means to using government action should be resorted to in only exceptional cases. There should be a list of what the government must do, and also a list of what it must not do — with no discretion whatsoever for the politician. We in India need to embark upon ‘a politics to end politics’. ] 9:58 AM

[In a truly liberal order, it is unthinkable that every party must swear by the welfare state. But the situation in India is far worse, and there are good reasons to believe that the Chief Justice’s conception of a good society, if ever allowed to come into fruition, will spell disaster for the nation and its people...
If India is to regain her lost glory, socialism must be dumped and her people encouraged to help themselves. Indians are known to be hard working. The new definition of socialism offered by the CJI is patronising and impractical; and it will not lead to the ‘welfare’ of the poor. A liberal party opposed to socialism must be allowed to attract the mind of the smart Indian voter... by Sauvik Chakraverti: Antidote Do we need socialism? Newindpress on Sunday ]10:21 AM

We at the Savitri Era Party are sympathetic to the ideas of Sauvik Chakraverti. But his notion of a liberal party is sorely denuded of any connection with religion. To rid our Constitution of not only the "socialist" but also the “secular" tag, should be the target. The Life Divine arms us with the necessary wherewithal to aim at such a polity. [TNM]

Being sensitive to the fourfold Varna approach to the human nature

[I admire Sauvik immensely, and agree with his thoughts here…, for Sauvik is a much sharper thinker than I am…a fine mind, which can open so many doors for so many people…Writing About Classical Liberalism from The India Uncut Blog by Amit Varma]

Many of the solutions that Sauvik Chakraverti proposes from time to time seem so attractive. But like his plea that “The drug trade should be legalized” they will never be implemented, and, as such, their harmful consequences, if any, will never happen. Knowledge of this, it seems, permits him the luxury of prescribing new impossibilities, which, of course, earn him the reputation of a thinker.

“Therefore, our first direct political intervention must be aimed at free trade” is his new “battle-cry,” but without being sensitive to the fourfold Varna approach to the human nature, it would be a disaster. [TNM]

Anti-Oedipus vs. The Life Divine

[Fadi Abou-Rihan Says: 3 March 2008 at 9:08 pm ... I do think there is something quasi “religious” to the flow of the text. Take, for instance, the bifurcations either production or representation, either flow or stagnation, either schizoanalysis or psychoanalysis. There’s been a fair bit written and said about the unsettling ways in which D & G deploy these polarities; but, try as we might, the line in the sand is presumably drawn and with it we are confronted with an exclusionary choice: either with Anti-Oedipus or against it. That’s the logic that most readers have followed and that’s the (religious) trap I have been trying to avoid.]

A large number of people coming under the spell of influential thinkers is not unusual, but it is enormously more rewarding to be mad about The Life Divine than being sold to a religious trap contrived by Deleuze and Guattari. [TNM]

Integrating religion with politics within a cogent framework of ontology

[at a distance to the state: radical democracy and religion
from the church and postmodern culture: conversation by geoff holsclaw
(holsclaws@netzero.net) Download: at a distance to the state draft.doc
Abstract: Contemporary globalization puts both religion and the State on notice. Giving rise to a backlash of religious fundamentalism, cultural and economic globalization also puts the State into a reactionary stance. In light of this, questioning the political relationship between religion and the State must again offer an account of the State as well as religion. This paper will therefore investigate the relationship between the State, religion, and radical democracy. An interrogation of the State will proceed through a juxtaposition of the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes and 21st century French philosopher Alain Badiou. The former understands politics as principally concerned with forming the State, while the latter understands politics as operating ‘at a distance to the State.’ Within these conceptions of the State, we will then examine the recent account by Romand Coles and Stanley Hauerwas of radical democracy and radical ecclesiology in Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations Between a Radical Democrat and a Christian. In relation to Hobbes and Badiou, we will examine the feasibility of the church as an alternative ‘polis’ in relation to the project of radical democracy. With Badiou, it will be argued that the best understanding of politics is not as ‘against the State’ in a religious or political sectarianism, but ‘at a distance to the State’ and yet participating within it, both reducing either the polemical rhetoric between the two or a reduction of one to the other.]

Instead of exhuming Hobbes, who lived in entirely different times, we need to turn to Sri Aurobindo, who has contemplated over the human condition and destiny through the tumultuous years of the two World Wars. The outcome of his long years of rumination is The Life Divine. In this book we find an optimistic agenda of integrating religion with politics within a cogent framework of ontology. [TNM]

The Life Divine is the book supreme

[Beware, the ego is constantly at work Vithal C Nadkarni, ET, 19 Mar, 2008
WIth 500,000 copies sold over three years, Eckhart Tolle’s New Earth wasn’t scorching the best-seller charts the way his earlier Power of Now had. Then came Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement which created a publishing history of sorts: 3.5 million copies printed and shipped in just four weeks to feed the blistering demand for a book that exhorts readers to give up ‘ego-consciousness’ and live in the present. In his first new book in eight years, Tolle concedes that awakening to your life’s purpose may not be an easy endeavour at the best of times.]

But our newspapers never care to endorse a book like The Life Divine. [TNM]

An intensive study of what are the principles of human life

from "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 18 Mar 2008 15:14

You are at a precarious (st)age of your life now, where both impetuousness and maturity can play their part to the hilt, most often masquerading as the other. In a way, you are beginning your life as a man/woman now, and if you are not too pressed for a career, it would be better to devote 6 months or so in an intensive study of what are the principles of human life. The same can be done either by self-study concurrently with your present profession or by joining some short course like The University of Human Unity is an innovative alt... or A rich store of practical techniques to raise our ... etc. And then it will be easier for you to arrive at a rational decision as regards the future.