Insane norms of modern societies

21-4-13

 The norms of modern societies are insane...how else can we justify the mindless corruption, high energy lifestyles, wide scale dehumanisation, sheer hyper competition, living beyond ones means at individual and govt levels, violence in families and outside both physical and psychological...resulting economic collapses, climate change, extreme weather, robotic lives, denuding natural resources, ethnic wars, widening income and wealth disparities.... The root causes are complex ... These incidents are mere symptoms of deeper societal malaises... Which cannot be cured by quick fix solutions...need for integrated holistic     green yogic root cause solutions ... Which may not be palatable acceptable to a desensitised society hungry for more of so called technological progress..instant ecstasy....

Air Conditioned Economies

March 27, 2009

Gradually I can see signs of the global financial crisis downward spiral being arrested, bottoming out and maybe some mild signals of recovery in some sectors. India is perhaps best poised to ride out the storm. US, too, with the large banks cleaning up their acts, Govt buying up toxic assets, China assuring that it will continue buying US treasury bills, of which it already owns about $ 1 tr, and China asking US to keep the dollar stable so that its investments in US treasuries do not depreciate, is perhaps seeing signs of deceleration in its economic freefall. This is certainly good news for the world. Last month retail spending and housing starts in US have seen some mild upward movement.

We are living in the age of air conditioned economies with all detailed online macro economic and other information flows. This has facilitated fine-tuning of a plethora of economic parameters. With the help of all governments, regulators, central banks, fiscal measures, taxes, currency and forex management, interest rates, economies are being surgically operated upon. What is happening that entire economies are being put on heart lung machines and ventilators in ICUs.

Entire nations, continents are administered prosaic.  

Pressures of Modern Civilisation

29^th June, 2002

The WorldCom debacle has pulverized an already stunned world which was gasping for oxygen after Enron. There is an air of disbelief and skepticism everywhere as people do not know whom to trust. As it is the world economy had been under tremendous pressure since the advent of the new millennium with tumbling indices.

The last years of second millennium were heady ones with the markets booming everywhere and it seemed as if humankind was on the verge of the promised land of milk and honey. The United States was the powerhouse which fueled the world growth. Capitalism was at its peak. Communism and socialism breathed their last in the 80s with the fall of Soviet Union. The Chinese brand of communism reeks of capitalism.

The Dow Jones, one of the holy cows of capitalism, rose by over 200% during the 90s. Wall Street was the center of the universe. The US economy experienced an unprecedented run of 110 months of continuous growth. Unemployment had declined to historic lows. Consumer spending was on the upswing based on the feel good factor of ever increasing wealth due to the stock markets, property prices and retail loans.

The IT revolution which re-engineered all processes and the entire supply chain in most critical industries lead to quantum productivity increases which seemingly explained the meteoric rise of the Dow Jones. The internet spawned thousands of dotcoms given birth to by eager venture capitalists.

No one ever questioned as to how the stock market indices could rise at rates which were far out of sync with that of the GDP and real and nominal interest rates. Everyone sung paeans to the magic realism ushered in by IT – the universal panacea for a world struggling with several harsh existential realities.

The euphoria mounted with the coming of the new millennium accompanied by the Y2K fears which proved to be unfounded mainly to the astronomical amounts invested. The upside of it was that the IT systems all over were stress tested to overcome all eventualities.       

The good times came to an end with the dotcom balloon getting pricked. But the Dow Jones recovered which was rationalized by the intrinsic strength and resilience of the US economy. According to an analysis published in the Economist, the correct level of the Dow Jones should be around 6500. But there is too much at stake all round – individuals, HNIs, institutions and corporates – all of them have invested heavily in the stock markets either directly or through the mutual fund, pension or insurance routes. Hence it is in the interest of all concerned that the markets must be propped up at any and all costs.

The feel good wealth factor has been driving the consumer markets and the effective demand in the US. This has been responsible to a great extent for the keeping the wheels of industry and commerce running in the US. One of the major reasons why effective demand has not flagged off in the US is that the average age in the US is lower than in Europe or Japan. The aging societies in Europe and Japan are primarily responsible for the waning effective demand there. These two economic conglomerations together constitute about 40% of the world’s output. Hence the world’s output has been depressed.

This picture of economic gloom has not been very conducive for the markets. Hence there has been immense pressure on all listed companies to keep performing continuously quarter after quarter in order to keep their shareholders happy. The tyrannical markets have been flogging the horse endlessly. The poor animal has no option to perform till it drops dead. The desperate animal is pushed to fudging its accounts in order to paint lipstick and mascara over its pallid features. The Big accounting firms are only too obliging to help them achieve this end.

There is a sense of disbelief now all over. Nobody would like to upset the apple cart. There is simply too much at stake. No body knows how deep the rot has permeated. Gamely all the players are going through the motions. Nobody wants the referee to blow the whistle. Endgame is at hand. 

 Parameters-wip

Bubbles – stock, property
Human nature – greed , lack of morals
ST expectations – stock prices
EVA, shareholder
Overcapacity
Fall in effective demand
Aging populations
Deflation, recession
Hyper competition
Consumerism
Quarterly increase in share prices
Management accounting
Big 5 – consultants
Dow Jones inflated
Banking sector

MILLENIUM MUSINGS - Pressures of Modern Times

Written around 2001/02

Recently President Bush addressed the US in the aftermath of startling disclosures from Merck that it has overstated its revenues by $ 14 bn. This comes in the wake of the WorldCom debacle which had stunned the world which had not recovered from the Enron fiasco. These continuing corporate disclosures are strengthening the fear that we could be possibly be witnessing a spiraling economic crises of which these disclosures are just the tip of an iceberg. There is an air of disbelief and skepticism everywhere as people do not know whom to trust. As it is the world economy has been already under tremendous pressure since the advent of the new millennium with recessionary forces spreading their tentacles all over the world, evidenced by deflationary and tumbling markets which are defying all hitherto accepted economic prescriptions. 

The present crises in the corporate world may be mainly attributed to the relentless shareholder pressure on corporates the world over to perform quarter after the quarter for ever higher returns. This intense competition should be viewed against the backdrop of overcapacity which has been building up over the past few decades aggravated by decline in effective demand

The last years of previous decade – the cusp between two millenniums were heady ones with the markets booming everywhere and it seemed as if humankind was on the verge of the promised land of milk and honey. The United States, with 31% of the global output, was the powerhouse, which fueled the world’s growth. Capitalism was at its peak. Communism and socialism breathed their last in the 80s with the fall of Soviet Union. The Chinese brand of communism was a mutant converging towards capitalism. Thatcher had set in motion the privatization process during the 80s where the state sector enterprises which had become a drain on public exchequer were handed over to private ownership. The rest of the Europe and the world followed her footsteps. No doubt, it was the most rational strategy for Governments everywhere. All this seemed to vindicate the triumph of capitalism.

The Dow Jones, one of the holy cows of capitalism, rose by over 200% during the 90s. Wall Street was the center of the universe. The financial markets led by the giant investment banks with their rocket scientists were spinning out innovative instruments based on financial engineering and technology advances. The US economy experienced an unprecedented run of over 110 months of continuous growth under Clinton. Unemployment had declined to historic lows. Consumer spending was on the upswing based on the feel good factor of ever increasing wealth due to the “irrational exuberance” of the stock markets, property price bubbles and compounding retail loans. The virtues of free markets were being bandied about.

The IT revolution which helped in re-engineering all processes and supply chains in most critical industries lead to quantum productivity increases which seemingly explained the meteoric rise of the Dow Jones. The rise of the Internet had spawned thousands of dotcoms given birth to by eager venture capitalists.

No one ever questioned as to how the stock market indices could rise at incredible rates which were far out of sync with that of the GDP and real and nominal interest rates. Everyone, except the venerable Economist, sung paeans to the “magic realism” of soaring markets ushered in by the allocative efficiency of capital in free markets epitomized by the US. The euphoria mounted with the coming of the new millennium.

The good times came to an end with the dotcom balloon getting pricked. But the Dow Jones recovered which was rationalized by the intrinsic strength and resilience of the US economy. According to an analysis published in the Economist, the rational level of the Dow Jones should be around 6500. But there was too much at stake all round – workers, high networth individuals, institutions and corporates – all of them had invested heavily in the stock markets either directly or through the mutual fund, pension or insurance routes. Hence it was in the interest of all concerned that the markets must be propped up at any and all costs.

The feel good wealth factor has been driving the consumer markets and effective demand in the US and elsewhere. This has been responsible to a great extent for keeping the wheels of industry and commerce running in the US. One of the major reasons why effective demand has not flagged off in the US is that the average age in the US is lower than in Europe or Japan due to immigration. The aging societies in Europe and Japan are primarily responsible for the waning effective demand there. These two economic conglomerates together constitute about 40% of the world’s output. South American economies are in the dumps. Though Southeast Asia has apparently recovered to some extent from its crises – it is still fragile. Hence the world’s overall demand / supply equation has been under pressure.

This mixed picture of economic gloom and boom has not been very conducive for the markets. Hence there has been immense pressure on all listed companies to keep performing continuously quarter after quarter in order to keep their shareholders happy. The tyrannical markets have been flogging the horse endlessly with great expectations. The poor animal has no option to perform till it drops dead. The desperate animal is pushed to painting lipstick and mascara to mask its pallid features and hence fudged its accounts. The pursuit for better numbers was rationalized by EVA and balanced scorecard and what have you. The Big accounting firms have been only too obliging in helping them achieve this end.

There is a sense of catatonic disbelief now all over. Nobody would like to upset the apple cart. There is simply too much at stake. No body knows how deep the rot has permeated. The SEC in US wants the top 100 corporates to certify their accounts. Gamely the players are all going through the motions. President Bush is putting up a brave charade. He is still talking of setting the market in motion. Which way? Where do we go from here? Nobody wants the referee to blow the whistle. Is there some way out of here?

There must be some way out of here

Said the Joker to the Thief

There is too much confusion

I can’t get no relief…

Bob Dylan

New Grammar of Life - WIP

New Grammar of Life

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The hurtle into 2001 and beyond intensifies...

Today the newspapers carried a piece that there will be no more fish in the oceans after 40 years...TAKES ME BACK TO THE 70s....when I used to write about it and Led Zeppelin sung about there being no more fish in the rivers in one of their best album Led Zeppelin III...

Indeed the world is hurtling slowly but surely into the abyss of no return...close the edge...echoing my anthems since the early 70s...now as one is in ones late fifties...one is helplessly watching the events unfolding relentlessly...and mankind...in its manic suicidal death wish....getting deeper into the morass...the point of no return...its now or never...

Must before one leaves...document the ultimate model of the last frontier...

The top problems mankind is facing are:

1. Global climatic changes
2. International economic and financial crises
3. Dehumanisation and conditioning of the mind
4. Violence and terror
5. Mounting health concerns
6. Widdening economic disparities and poverty
7. Breakdown of the family and social fabric

These are some of the top malaises...

I shall gradually get into the root cause analyses on these crises and then outline solutions for overcoming these seemingly insurmountable problems along with the benefits and possible implementation courses...

Saturday, June 5, 2010

The ultimate grammar of life and survival toolkit for the new millennium....will be published on these pages soon...forged in the smithy of my universal soulmind.....

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Grammar of Life - 1

Today the contradictions of society and the human civilization are tearing asunder the entire fabric of humanity and our dear planet earth. The social, economic, financial, natural, health, psychological structures are under tremendous stress and are breaking down. Instead of accepting the truth and reality that there is something radically wrong at a fundamental level, human beings and governments are busy trying to fix the cracks and broken structures with the same fundamentally flawed logic which in the first place had was responsible for and led to their collapse. Unless we are able to resolve these deep irreconcilable inner contradictions and evolve radical solutions diametrically opposite to all that we have known and so far thought to be the only way things should be run, human civilization and mother earth shall inexorably morph into mutations and strange forms which will be far removed from the all that we have known till today.

Mankind by nature has been always been inventive and creative. This has been very bane and hubris of human civilization.

Some of the major contradictions are: 

1.     Blind pursuit for technological progress which is creating Frankensteins which are threatening to destroy their creators. Some of these frankensteins are:

o   Cars 

o   Air conditioners

o   High energy appliances and lifestyles 

o   Washing machines

o   Neon lights

2.     Unbridled accumulation of wealth

o   Collusion between corporations and governments for reducing taxes, rigging prices, creating monopolies, entry barriers.

o   Stock markets and misinformation for hiking share prices

o   Fudging balance sheets and window dressing.

o   Nexus between corporates, banks, credit raters, regulators

3.     Hyper competition

• Over capacity
• Price wars
• Too many similar products fighting for finite number of consumers.
• There is limit to number of gadgets, appliances which people can own
• Huge numbers who cannot afford

4.     Hyper comfort seeking live styles

• Man is creating all types of labour saving devices
• With higher living standards, greater desire for leisure

5.     Mindless innovation

• Continuous incremental innovation which basically does not add value
•  

6.     Materialistic acquisition

7.     Pleasure seeking, hedonism

 The undesired results of the above actions have been most harmful. These deleterious outcomes have become flashpoints driving humanity to the point of no return. Some of them are:

  

1.     Global climate change

o   Melting of the Arctic

o   Rising sea levels

o   Rising temperatures

o   Shortage of potable water

o   Food shortage

o   Increasing incidence and intensity of tornados, cyclones

o   Shrinking ozone layer

o   Flash floods

2.     Economic and financial crisis:

o   Financial meltdown

o   Corrupt practices of Wall Street and international banking

o   Corporate greed and avarice living from quarter to quarter with an eye on the stock prices

o   Hyper competition and over capacity

3.     Mental illness:

o   Depression

o   Loneliness

o   Alienation

o   Mindless murders 

o   Violence

4.     Health

o   Obesity

o   Cancer

o   Psychosomatic diseases

o   Malnutrition

o   Increasing diabetes, blood pressure, and other lifestyle diseases 

5.     Social 

o   Increasing terrorism

o   Sexual perversion

o   Crime 

 Where are we heading for? Are we hurtling into the abyss of no return? We need to urgently address these issues in a holistic fashion and evolve a New Grammar of Living. The basic tenets and building blocks of the New Grammar of Living are:

1.      Green living: 

o   Reducing use of and dependence on high energy

o   Adopting solar energy, CFCs, LEDs

o   Planting trees

o   Organic food

o   Minimum and only essential use of air conditioning

o   Conserving water

o   Ecological balance

o   Rain water harvesting

2.     Simpler and wholesome lifestyles

o   Reducing materialistic and consumer lifestyles 

o   Yoga as way of life: meditation and pranayam

o   Return to pastoral lifestyles

o   Spiritualism and mysticism 

o   Humanism

o   Back to nature 

o   Deconditioning

3.     De-industrialisation

o   Stop mindless production of cars, etc

o   Scaling down high polluting industries

4.     Evolving new economic structures

o   Creating massive employment in green activities such as agriculture, agro based industries, education…

o   Limiting growth of large cities

o   Creation of sustainable self sufficient economic communities 

o   Poverty aleviation

o   Limits on wealth accumulation

5.     Social

6.     Psychological

(work in progress - incomplete)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Grammar of Life 2

The events unfolding daily are a veritable theatre of the absurd...The insanity of modern society is a dance macabre. Society is hell bent upon chasing dreams which contain the very seeds of it destruction. Everyone is a mad pursuit of going up the social ladder which is based upon the parameters of:

1.     Wealth in terms of money

2.     Position

3.     larger houses

4.     cars

5.     technological gadgets

6.     possessions

7.     property

8.     exploiting the have nots

9.     limitless wants

10.  high energy lifestyles

11.  denuding mother earth of its resources

The list goes on ad infinitum. The result is increasing violence, sickness, corruption, irreversible climatic changes, unhappiness, shallowness, systemic collapse of economic and financial structures....

The obsession with so called progress and lucre is reaching frightening proportions. Is there no way out of this morass....

micro eco approach to all problems....general eqm solns....