Subject: rt41 Sent: 12/20/2004 1:49 PM Dear friends, Winter is finally here. But thanks to exercise and a more engaged and active life I have managed to stay healthy and productive. Hope you are doing well, too. The reverberations from the election are still in the mind, surprisingly. So this edition of random thoughts also has a lot of political thoughts. I'd love to know what you think. Please write when you can. Best wishes for the holidays! Sankar Random thoughts (41) 12/20/04 1. In a recent issue of the Scientific American, there is an interesting article about viruses that asks whether they are alive or not. It has a discussion about what it means for something to be alive. Sometimes it seems as if everything in the world is alive. If a life is defined by the experiences one goes through and the marks left by those experiences, then certainly every object goes through a life. Every object that is part of my life carries with it the memories of all the events that it was a part of. From articles of clothing to the old car and bike they have been witnesses and occasional victims in many a misadventure. I bought a djembe drum recently. It brings with it its own history and now it will be part of my life, and I wonder what sort of changes it will cause in my life. If, as many a scientist is wont to think, all of creation is a result of fortuitous circumstances and evolution, then certainly all that defines a life are the experiences, and every object in the uiniverse is alive indeed. On saturday night I was browsing at Kramerbooks and came across a book debating Darwin's theory of evolution, considering the new light cast by biochemists' understanding of the complexities of life at the molecular level. I wonder if any of you have read this book or have thought about these issues. 2. Last weekend some things happened that reminded me of the dark side of life. Coming face to face with the weaknesses and depravities of human beings, one wonders, what is it that we call hope and idealism? Are they just ways to make life better for ourselves? Or is it really possible to love everyone and is it true that everyone is basically good, whatever "good" means? I believe so. Suppose we can all agree that what is good about life is that we can connect with other beings and that we all come from the same source at some level, and that it becomes possible to act on these beliefs when we are in a calm, contented state of mind. I am quite convinced that all the weaknesses and depravities that we see are simply aberrations caused when we are not in such a frame of mind and forget our true nature and origins. On a deeper level, good and evil are simply two phases of life as inextricably part of the universe as positive and negatively charged particles. 3. I wonder what will be the climax (and the worst-case scenario) of the current trend towards concentration of wealth and power among a few corporations would be. Would America become like India and Brazil, with a small percentage of the population living isolated from the rest? Would the corporate moghuls achieve complete mind control over the rest of the population through media and technology? In the name of spreading democracy and fighting terrorism, would they bring all the governments of the world under their hegemony? Would industry and agriculture become so mechanized that human labour would become unnecessary, and making it possible for them to rule the world with the aid of machines? 4. It is curious that some conservative Republicans should consider themselves better followers of Jesus. Jesus fought against an empire and the merchants and priests who sided with it, in order to help the poor. Conservative Republicans are working to help the empire and the merchants and priests who collaborate with it, and their policies often harm the poor and the working class. It is true that they also support the faith based charities, but it is a little hypocritical to support the charities while at the same time cutting necessary government programs that have a good track record. Even there, contributions to charities have been going down over the past few years. 5. The elections at least provided an opportunity for people on different sides of issues to talk to each other. It forced partisans to atleast hear the arguments from the other side and balance them against their own. 6. People's reactions to the politicians were coloured by their own particular experiences. Different things hit the nerve with different people, depending on what their backgrounds are. I was attracted by Kerry's studious and ambitious life during his high school and college years. On the other hand, one woman whom I called as a phone volunteer was very upset that he had married rich women, while claiming to fight for the common man. 7. I wonder if there is a new ruling class emerging in America. It seems to me that the old sterotypical wasp elite of Episcopalians and Presbyterians is being replaced by Southern Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, evangelicals, etc., Perhaps that also underlies some of the religious issues involved in the election. 8. Here are a few perhaps controversial and more unusual reasons that I could think of, as to why some people support the Iraq war. Having developed all these war machines, some men simply could not just let them sit idle. They were tired of video games and sports events and needed something more real and intense to stoke their manhood. So they feel a vicarious sense of power and excitement, watching their President talk tough and their soldiers engage in gunbattles. Others felt more secure now that the military is "cleaning up" Iraq, much the same way that people feel more secure when police round up a lot of suspects after a series of robberies or put a lot of people behind bars. 9. A common thread among successful Presidents has been that they have been able to inspire, and project a sense of optimism, confidence, cheerfulness and perhaps even some chutzpah. Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton all had it, whether you agreed with them or not. Bush also seems to have those qualities according to his supporters. 10. I was walking on Euclid street past a new condo building called the "Villagio" just across from some old housing projects near 14th street. The contrast was quite striking. One was modern, stylish, and upscale. The other was ordinary and decaying. I wonder if the young middle class professionals ( I hate to use the pejorative "yuppies" ) think of the people whom they are displacing. I know some of them are, and that the gentrification process going on in DC now is a little more gentle on the poor, because of the activism of groups like Acorn and Wish. Nevertheless, I wonder how much can they really accomplish. On my own street many newly renovated units are going on sale, and the demographics are slowly changing. 11. To close on a humorous note, here is another colourful quote from the inimitable Shaquille O'Neal: "I am the NFL's best NBA player. I try to be big and strong. I am all muscle. That's why they call me Diesel."