Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Discipline the poor, protect the rich: same old Tories, same old class war

Aditya Chakrabortty What kind of government is this? You can almost see the puzzlement on pundits’ faces as they try to work it out. Is it the technocratic dictatorship of Jeremy Hunt, or the banal nastiness of pound-shop mafioso Gavin Williamson? Is it Rishi Sunak bro-hugging Emmanuel Macron, or Suella Braverman banging up “invaders”? Is… Read More Discipline the poor, protect the rich: same old Tories, same old class war

Dilip

Rahul Gandhi’s Uniting India March: Ignored by media but welcomed by social groups

The Bharat Jodo Yatra, or the United India March, launched by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, is getting a tremendous response. It is as if the people were waiting for such an event to reaffirm their trust and faith in the composite Indian nationalism. Indian nationalism has been undermined during… Read More Rahul Gandhi’s Uniting India March: Ignored by media but welcomed by social groups

Dilip

Rapper who protested over death of Mahsa Amini faces execution in Iran

NB: Apes of Satan speak as representatives of God. The Ayatollahs’ regime is brutal and shameless. Global protests are needed to save the life of this young man and thousands like him. DS According to the UN, an estimated 14,000 people, including children, have been detained by the regime since the protests began more than… Read More Rapper who protested over death of Mahsa Amini faces execution in Iran

Dilip

The Captive Mind revisited

First posted January 24, 2017 Jerzy Krzyżanowski The Captive Mind (1953) has been compared to the two most revealing and penetrating works on the same subject previously published – Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon (1940) and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Milosz was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1980. Read an interview with him in 2003, the year before he… Read More The Captive Mind revisited

Dilip

Corrupt are destroying country: SC alludes to Telangana incident while hearing Navlakha’s plea for house arrest

NB: This government misuses the law to keep people in detention indefinitely, delaying the trial so that the guilt or innocence of the accused can never be decided. This is what happened to Fr Stan Swamy, an 84 year old priest who suffered from deafness and Parkinson’s disease, and who died in custody in July… Read More Corrupt are destroying country: SC alludes to Telangana incident while hearing Navlakha’s plea for house arrest

Dilip

To those who sneer at activists blocking roads: what are you doing to save the planet?

Polly Toynbee NB: The planet needs no saving, Ms Polly, it’s not in danger. Its the environment that we need to save, from ourselves. DS Just Stop Oil protesters this week are climbing gantries on the M25, blocking the Dartford tunnel, causing long delays and getting arrested in droves. Meanwhile the public order bill that would crack down… Read More To those who sneer at activists blocking roads: what are you doing to save the planet?

Dilip

Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy

First posted January 18, 2017 Venu Madhav Govindu & Deepak Malghan In November 1933, following his fast against a separate electorate on caste lines and the subsequent political settlement known as the Poona Pact, (Mohandas Karamchand) Gandhi embarked on a year-long nationwide campaign against untouchability. Thanks to his extensive travels across the country, he got… Read More Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy

Dilip

Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist? Chris Hedges interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin

First posted August 04, 2015 Sheldon Wolin is one of the most highly respected political thinkers in Western academia. He is emeritus professor at Princeton, now aged 93. Wolin was a bomber pilot in the Pacific region with the USAF during the Second World War. He is known for coining the term inverted totalitarianism. His most… Read More Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist? Chris Hedges interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin

Dilip