A New World Order

A month ago, a few thousand spent casings fell in the space of 72 hours of nightmare. They took with them almost a couple of hundred lives. Media companies made a killing during the 'live broadcast' and security companies thereafter. The Sensex made its traditional bull rally for a short while after the attack, and then became rational by plunging into the red. Politicians bickered, brought about daring new impractical proposals, flashed teeth to the media and some even made conspiracy theories. The more common Indians did what we do best; take out a rally, burn candles, write bellicose columns and curse the politicians.

We make a very big deal out of security lapses, and inaction by politicians. Some of us are naive enough to suggest a complete nuclear annahilation saying we lose only a few cities but the whole of Pakistan may be wiped out. There is only one thing more dangerous than a politician.... a person who debates it from the confines of his home. Politics is dirty, at any level. If a democracy is perfect on all accounts, no work would ever get done. A dictatorship the other extreme... sounds perfect, but the imperfection arises in the fact that it is a human, who governs other humans.

Most people who were killed are those who could afford a dinner or a room that costs a few thousands per unit... the Indian elite. Would there have been the same hue and cry if the terrorist had killed 179 or even 500 in Dharawi or some remote village in Tripura? The same kind of TRP ratings would not have been achieved even during the Kargil conflict. The last time India tried to act aggressive was when the terrorists attacked the Indian MPs but could gun down only a few (useless???) cops.

It spurs the question, is the life of a rich human being far more important than that of a poor one. You are kidding if you believe in the contrary. It is in line with the laws of capitalism, which is in turn, modelled on human aspirations. A rich man should ideally be a specimen with superior intellect or physical prowess.. one who gets to enjoy the rewards of wealth due to his inherent value to the species on the whole. We do not live too far from this picture. Wealth now is in the hands of politicians, sportsmen, movie starts and businessmen. These individuals have in their own way enriched the race on the whole. The imperfection arises when wealth is inherited. A rich man's son does not deserve to be rich as he may not have with him the capabilities to effectively utilise the capital. The solution cannot be the transfer of inheritance to the state as it is the most inefficient consumer of capital. The solution therefore is to have gentlemen like one Mr. Gates on whose browser I am typing this. Leave enough for your children for them to stay comfortable. The rest may be administered through a setup that has the capabilities to effectively utilise the power.

Are we looking at a 'New World Order' where the balance of power is slated to shift? My guess would be Yes. Oil is not going to stay at $40 for too long. The dollar is no longer as 'good as gold'. Israel may well be the source of the next holocaust, and men in beards with 72 virgins on their mind are being manufactured by the hundreds. A Bretton-Woods conference can only be ratified after a World War.. not before. The evidence points to a shift in power in the long term.

But as one gentleman put it.... "In the long term, we are all dead".