Nationalism -- Pride or Prejudice?

Is it necessary to be patriotic when the country is not at war?  Or do we hang on to the sentiment in hopes of it becoming a habit so we are prepared for war?  Why should we feel patriotic at all?  Patriotism or nationalism has its roots in ethnic identity.  Or maybe even in the more fundamental unit, the family.  Men have supported huge families and are taught since their embryonic stage that blood is thicker than water.  It's a clever ruse devised by mothers who don't want to let go.  And of course, there is always this lame duck in the family that requires extra attention.  It was necessary to support an uncle out of a job and a girl that never got married.  When the family no longer demanded full attention and there was enough money to spare, people helped their neighbors.  We choose to bond with neighbors of similar backgrounds, religion, language and culture. It is not easy for us to coexist with those that are not "our kind".  However, we are also tied to each other by a shared "pride" in our land.

Once we've moved past the bias of "kind" and identified ourselves with a heterogeneous community, we are at loggerheads with the establishment--the same establishment that we now praise to other countries, we resent in private.  "Belonging" at this point becomes ambiguous. It seems our social interaction expands in concentric circles and the nation is at the edge of this galactic dimension.  I'll tell you why the nation is the least favorite uncle.  Nationalism calls on its citizens to make sacrifices.  No one likes to make sacrifices.  No one wants to buy substandard products to boost a nation's economy.  No one wants to go back to the villages they've left, or to give anything back to communities they've worked hard to escape from...The idea looks noble and grand on paper but is not really practical or enforceable. Insular economics doesn't help a nation any.  The solution  is in opening doors to people with new ideas, imitating concepts that have been proven to work, inviting other countries to share.  We need to grow beyond religion, culture and boundaries of land. Cannot look back to roots. Otherwise, we promote fascism where race dominates the individual and the military suppresses any opposition.  Do we really need to learn the lessons of World War II all over again?

Nationalism is absurd.  

Lunar Embassy, the Ambassador to Lunacy: An Update On the Moon

When I first wrote about men colonising the moon, I did not realize that someone had already thought of it.  It seems that back in 1980, Dennis Hope found a loophole in the 1967 U.N. Outer Space Treaty which allowed him to claim ownership to parts of the moon and other celestial bodies.  He established his company called Lunar Embassy and is now selling plots of lunar real estate.



(Would you believe HIM?)

According to CNN.com:

In addition to their lunar plot, buyers receive a deed, a site map, a copy of the lunar constitution bill of rights and a copy of Hope's declaration of ownership filed with the U.S. government. There's also a 30-day money back guarantee.

Nonetheless, other speculators have laid claim to the moon as well. One in Texas that peddles moon plots suggests buyers book a ride into orbit aboard the space shuttle and hitchhike the remainder of the way to the moon.

Mr. Hope assures his buyers that they will not get a fake Rolex at twice the price.  This is hilarious.

Ishqiya--No John Galt

Saw Ishqiya last night. Didn't understand the movie till I was half way through, and then I realized that's what the director intended. But it was all very vexing. The actors were barely clear in their speech, the dialect was obscure. I cannot imagine any South Indian understanding any of it. Seems to me Hindi has evolved since I left Delhi in 1976, but on second thoughts, I think it WAS the speech delivery that was at fault. I am not referring to the Gorakhpuri--Nasiruddin Shah wasn't speaking that, was he?
To me, any gun is a bandook. Never heard of a tamancha before. Sign of the times--language has to include instruments of daily use.
The character of the leading lady as a seductress (Vidya Balan) was wholly unusual for a Hindi movie. I see one Hindi movie a year and I feel totally bewildered with all the changes. Its like progressing from 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds.
Men wore more make up than women (woman).
The movie was disappointing-- it had so much potential for violence.  The jeeja is an ass; he should have killed when he had the chance and gone after Verma himself, unravelled a huge arms smuggling scheme and blamed his own bossy wife for it.  But the makers wanted everybody to look good (with infidelity being the only major flaw). Which reminds me...Hindi movies do harp on infidelity. Nowadays it seems accepted; sign of machismo. Hmmm. The movie came complete with kinky sex games.

I was hoping Verma would turn out to be a John Galt.

Like A Phoenix

I had to change the name of my blog--from priyamsmusings to priyamsez. I found the previous name did not express the true nature of my blog. I was not really musing--maybe amusing--but what I was actually doing was saying stuff. Thats not the whole reason either. I was shocked to find "musings" was a word often used by bloggers. What is everybody musing about? We need a little more action and a little less musing. I'll do the thinking for the rest of the world. Remove poverty (shift it a little bit to the right over there), eliminate hunger, educate girls, do this, do that and watch "Ishqiya". There...I did my part. The rest is upto the other bloggers.

We need more Bill Clintons. He is a doer.

Priyam Sez, "I'll update soon!"

Hello, everyone!

I've changed my URL to priyamsez.blogspot.com. I apologize to what this must do to your poor RSS feeders!

Look forward to more posts from me, soon.

PARKING 'PLAINTS? WHO CARES?

 


According to Prof. Simon Blackburn this is a foolproof formula for making your car fit in the tightest parking spots. So, my dear readers, add your measuring tape and the calculator to the survival kit you pack in the trunk of your car. Yeah, right! I can imagine what a help this might be when I am attempting to park in the narrow streets of New York City with all those cars honking behind me and the juicy epithets spilling out of their open windows.  Not for anything will I venture out measuring stuff.

TELL ME AGAIN WHY THERE IS NO CURE FOR CANCER

I was watching an episode of NOVA on television today titled “What Darwin Never Knew”. Actually, it turns out that there is very little that Darwin did not know. However, scientists can today provide evidence for the theories that Darwin propounded. They now have proof that all life is a process of evolution and natural selection. They even believe that all land animals have evolved from the fish. D-uh, isn't that what we Hindus always knew? They have compared the DNA of various species and traced the path of evolution.

Scientists can now study the genetic code of animals and tell which gene is responsible for a particular trait in that animal. The study of the DNA is fascinating. All genetic code consists of an infinite number of patterns formed by the arrangement of four kinds of bases—Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C). The particular arrangement gives us our unique traits. Cracking the genetic code has helped to isolate genes and their characteristics.

Researchers went back to the Galapagos Islands to do what Darwin did—study the different kinds of finches. They too found that the same species of birds may have different kinds of beaks depending on their habitat. What kind of beak they have is dictated by the DNA. The DNA has the ability to switch off certain genes and turn others on. The gene switches are not genes but can activate the genes that are responsible for the trait. Phew!! I hope I got it right. Nobody knows yet what makes the genes turn on and off. The most amazing part of this research was that all embryos—of all animals look alike initially—they compared the embryos of reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. It was really hard to tell them apart. The human embryo had vestiges of gills, and reptiles of limbs. The gills developed into the three inner bones of the human ear and the limbs of reptiles just vanished. The gene switches get active after a certain stage and turn things on and off in the embryo.

Given all this, why hasn’t anyone discovered what causes cancer? Scientists can cut DNA, inject glow into a fruit fly from a jelly fish and create new species of fruit flies—but they cannot isolate the trigger that produces cancer? I find that very hard to believe. They have isolated 23,000 different genes in the human body. They know which protein is responsible for muscle building, which is responsible for hair. What’s left to investigate?

Furthermore, it is scary that new species of animals can be created in a laboratory. How long will it be before we produce real life Frankensteins?  Can science fulfil its responsibilities towards the human race and its role on the planet or will it become an uncontrollable instrument of mutilation/mutation?