In Spring, New Leaves Form
wow, where to even to begin with this post.
well as you might have noticed there has been a sincere lack of output on this page.
One of the main reasons is that i have been scared to. Or rather, unsure to post. Because you see my mind has taken a different turning since i started at Soas in september, unlike bentley i find myself a lot more emotionally and psychologically involved in what i am studying, passionate about what I am learning.
Of course like anything there are somethings that are dull and somethings that pull me in. Specifically the theoretical and scientific aspects i find way too synthetic, Policies devised in laboratories that shatter once taken outside of that airtight chamber. The other thing that just gets ridiculous after a while is the political battle within ACADEMIA. People with conservative, western mindset say one thing while people on the radical, liberal, ground level say something opposite. And its not just different perspectives, i can deal with that, but its the spending so much time and effort tearing the other side's arguements down that they forget to keep focus on the real issues at hand. In typical human style a battle of ego ensues above initial purpose or objectivity. Instead of figuring out how to extinguish poverty (a goal that neither disputes) they'd rather prove who one is more right than the other, and always has been.
i guess parents do the same thing when they are figuring out how to raise a kid, well damn it stop arguing and pay attention to him and his needs first.
Besides this though, the realistic, historically applicable stuff is what really gets me invigorated. When we spend time looking at india, it's history since independence (and often looking a bit at colonization) we can begin to understand why it is the way it is now. Which is amazing because until recently I always looked at india with this queasiness in my stomach and a head full of WHY?? and also just plain confusion because nothing seems to work there. Well while learning about it hasn't completely unraveled all the mysteries or presented any solutions, it has made somethings a bit clear.
One of our teachers is amazing and luckily I have him for 3 different classes. He really makes an effort to combine political power distribution with economic policy, so appropriately tieing that knot between them to understand why people would do such seemingly weird things? Sadly, too often In the end it always breaks down to people's immediate incomes, where will they get assured money from, and who will protect their income streams - thats who they will vote for. Nothing to do with moral values or "where they stand" on issues. All of that is usually just a tool to get those extra followers, but most people end up supporting those who will look out for their interests. That even includes the politicians themselves who make deals with businessmen, and/or who make deals with other politicians so that the businessman can get what they want. The professor has helped me see that bribery and corruption is not just this "dirty bad thing" but more a necessary means to survival. Which makes me very sad. People have to do whatever it takes to ensure that they can raise a good family. of course this usually gets out of hand, they want to raise a good family, drink liquor, drive sweet cars and date multiple women (talk about expensive!) (oh...or multiple men for you girl-power people)
So we look at what has gone on at various stages in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We look at what is going on now in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and things are pulled a part and put back together like an impossible puzzle. But it seems that everyone has a different approach to doing the puzzle. Maybe im brainwashed but it seems that my professor has some pretty awesome and creative (read: alternative) ideas on how things really work below the surface. Once you can figure it out, that doesn't mean you know where to go from here, you know possible ideas of where to go from here but then getting it implimented and most importantly, convincing people who are capable of Doing it, to actually try it is just unthinkable. Yet my professor powers on.
Me on the other hand, while I am enjoying this bubble bath of knowledge, soaking up as much as I can, will probably try and get down to something more real. I hope to at least. However what real "is", is totally uncertain. Ask those ancient greek dudes. But, this is something I will have to figure out soon.
Anyway going back to the begining, writing something here has intimidated me for a while. My mind has evolved and moved into more detailed, yet new and less confident, pastures. I wasn't sure how to take this along with me. Here it seems I normally write about people and situations (usually drunken party observations) so how could i suddenly flip the switch and go hardcore political, serious and uncertain of myself.
but then i realize in the end, this thing is my mind. And so it should evolve as my thoughts evolve, it's never meant to be confident or publish-ready, its mind ramblings put down on a pad. And Stupid people like you waste your time reading it. So fuck it. I'm going to keep trying to write what comes to mind. It might get more serious, it might get more detailed (less accessible) but i figure since im getting smarter, no reason people who might have read my late night broken hearted bentley monologues, won't want to read it. so yea...
In other news I feel the world is really becoming more and more plugged in. This twitter craze is getting out of hand, facebook was lost long ago, blogs, blip, music (you guys checked out this Spotify thing yet?)
the anthropology of youtube tries to put all things in perspective. But even among friends more people are throwing out blogs. More people are sending interesting links around, organizing and coming together on issues. Social Network literally is a community. I feel closer to some of the people I share my online life with than with some people I live around. its freaky.
Some New Ventures:
Britt, Adam and Rohan music blog
Underground Airline
Prashanth and Rohan movie blog
Transatlantic Telegraph
i'm sure more will come out.
i thought of starting a proper serious blog somewhere else but like i mentioned before I think ill keep things here until i maybe formulate some solid world changing ideas.
peace and love.
well as you might have noticed there has been a sincere lack of output on this page.
One of the main reasons is that i have been scared to. Or rather, unsure to post. Because you see my mind has taken a different turning since i started at Soas in september, unlike bentley i find myself a lot more emotionally and psychologically involved in what i am studying, passionate about what I am learning.
Of course like anything there are somethings that are dull and somethings that pull me in. Specifically the theoretical and scientific aspects i find way too synthetic, Policies devised in laboratories that shatter once taken outside of that airtight chamber. The other thing that just gets ridiculous after a while is the political battle within ACADEMIA. People with conservative, western mindset say one thing while people on the radical, liberal, ground level say something opposite. And its not just different perspectives, i can deal with that, but its the spending so much time and effort tearing the other side's arguements down that they forget to keep focus on the real issues at hand. In typical human style a battle of ego ensues above initial purpose or objectivity. Instead of figuring out how to extinguish poverty (a goal that neither disputes) they'd rather prove who one is more right than the other, and always has been.
i guess parents do the same thing when they are figuring out how to raise a kid, well damn it stop arguing and pay attention to him and his needs first.
Besides this though, the realistic, historically applicable stuff is what really gets me invigorated. When we spend time looking at india, it's history since independence (and often looking a bit at colonization) we can begin to understand why it is the way it is now. Which is amazing because until recently I always looked at india with this queasiness in my stomach and a head full of WHY?? and also just plain confusion because nothing seems to work there. Well while learning about it hasn't completely unraveled all the mysteries or presented any solutions, it has made somethings a bit clear.
One of our teachers is amazing and luckily I have him for 3 different classes. He really makes an effort to combine political power distribution with economic policy, so appropriately tieing that knot between them to understand why people would do such seemingly weird things? Sadly, too often In the end it always breaks down to people's immediate incomes, where will they get assured money from, and who will protect their income streams - thats who they will vote for. Nothing to do with moral values or "where they stand" on issues. All of that is usually just a tool to get those extra followers, but most people end up supporting those who will look out for their interests. That even includes the politicians themselves who make deals with businessmen, and/or who make deals with other politicians so that the businessman can get what they want. The professor has helped me see that bribery and corruption is not just this "dirty bad thing" but more a necessary means to survival. Which makes me very sad. People have to do whatever it takes to ensure that they can raise a good family. of course this usually gets out of hand, they want to raise a good family, drink liquor, drive sweet cars and date multiple women (talk about expensive!) (oh...or multiple men for you girl-power people)
So we look at what has gone on at various stages in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We look at what is going on now in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and things are pulled a part and put back together like an impossible puzzle. But it seems that everyone has a different approach to doing the puzzle. Maybe im brainwashed but it seems that my professor has some pretty awesome and creative (read: alternative) ideas on how things really work below the surface. Once you can figure it out, that doesn't mean you know where to go from here, you know possible ideas of where to go from here but then getting it implimented and most importantly, convincing people who are capable of Doing it, to actually try it is just unthinkable. Yet my professor powers on.
Me on the other hand, while I am enjoying this bubble bath of knowledge, soaking up as much as I can, will probably try and get down to something more real. I hope to at least. However what real "is", is totally uncertain. Ask those ancient greek dudes. But, this is something I will have to figure out soon.
Anyway going back to the begining, writing something here has intimidated me for a while. My mind has evolved and moved into more detailed, yet new and less confident, pastures. I wasn't sure how to take this along with me. Here it seems I normally write about people and situations (usually drunken party observations) so how could i suddenly flip the switch and go hardcore political, serious and uncertain of myself.
but then i realize in the end, this thing is my mind. And so it should evolve as my thoughts evolve, it's never meant to be confident or publish-ready, its mind ramblings put down on a pad. And Stupid people like you waste your time reading it. So fuck it. I'm going to keep trying to write what comes to mind. It might get more serious, it might get more detailed (less accessible) but i figure since im getting smarter, no reason people who might have read my late night broken hearted bentley monologues, won't want to read it. so yea...
In other news I feel the world is really becoming more and more plugged in. This twitter craze is getting out of hand, facebook was lost long ago, blogs, blip, music (you guys checked out this Spotify thing yet?)
the anthropology of youtube tries to put all things in perspective. But even among friends more people are throwing out blogs. More people are sending interesting links around, organizing and coming together on issues. Social Network literally is a community. I feel closer to some of the people I share my online life with than with some people I live around. its freaky.
Some New Ventures:
Britt, Adam and Rohan music blog
Underground Airline
Prashanth and Rohan movie blog
Transatlantic Telegraph
i'm sure more will come out.
i thought of starting a proper serious blog somewhere else but like i mentioned before I think ill keep things here until i maybe formulate some solid world changing ideas.
peace and love.