Documenting 21st Century - India and the World

Mass Psychosis is not an officially recognized mental disease. The term is loosely used by certain analysts and commentators to describe a highly irrational behavior of masses / group of people. A social group (followers of a politician, followers of cult leaders etc) may demonstrate this type of irrational behavior. The behavior can be described as social group detaches itself from objective reality and starts acting in a way that is socially as well as personally destructive to the group itself and its members. A social group can become so paranoid that it can do riots, kill people on large scale, commit crimes against humanity or even commit mass suicide. Followers of Donald Trump (MAGA movement) fit the bill of mass psychosis which culminated into 6th January riots in US. The followers of Donald Trump came to believe that 2020 elections were "stolen" and they shall retake the country by an insurrection.  But before we talk about Trumpism and MAGA movement, let's look ...

Russia finally got in touch with bitter reality on Ukraine. Since last many years and months, Russia made assertions like Ukraine isn't a real country. Russia carved out Crimea in (almost) bloodless military ops in 2014 followed by a referendum to assimilate it into Russia. The Guerilla warfare dragged on for 8 years in the East Ukraine. This year, Russia decided to make a much bolder move - to take over entire Ukraine. What happened next in last 3 months is well known to us. The massive casualties of Russian military, including the Generals who promised a quick victory in Ukraine. A lot of Russian military hardware (Ships, tanks, trucks, armored vehicles etc) got destroyed in battles. And immense damage to Russian economy with collapsing industry, demographics mayhem, isolation from global markets.    Destroyed Russian Tanks outside Kiev     What went wrong for Russia and Why? Convergence of various factors behind Russia's decision to start Ukraine war Russia'...

I am taking a short break from writing. Here are some interesting works of cinema you can enjoy. These are films i have watched through the years (many names have now slipped from my memory). I would recommend getting these films in their original language and using the English subtitles. Some of these old films are now available on Bluray in best quality. I'll be getting back to writing on politics soon.   Network (1976)   You know the performance of madman Howard Beale character. I see some news anchors in right wing media & radio talk shows very similar to this character. But this film was not just about Beale character, its a complex mixture of politics, media culture and society. A film ahead of its time. After nearly 46 years, this film still gives a lot of insight about society that we have today. A must watch.   Advice and Consent (1962) Good old days of Black and white cinema. You can pick up almost anything with Henry Fonda in it and its a gem. You gotta ...

    This is a free ebook - Feedback and suggestions by readers are most welcome - Download link   Indian political system has broken down and simply cannot produce leadership to run this country with competence, security and stability. My interest is studying structural problems of our political system and finding alternatives to reform it.  When I say that political system has broken down, this assertion deserve explanation and I have discussed at length in previous articles on how our political system is spiraling into chaos, criminality and Pathocracy ( 1 , 2 , 3 ). Our political system is incapable to produce policy, ideas, administration and direction on anything – economy, foreign affairs, human development, national defense, social mobility, public health, social harmony etc. All these things are in regression.      When I say that our political system cannot create sound leadership, this also deserves to be explained. What is sound leaders...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has created a climate of geopolitical instability and uncertainty not just in Europe but globally.  The motives of Russia are not clear. Surely, Russia has given a long list of grievances about west's hypocrisy and not keeping up with past promises. Russia says NATO has expanded beyond its promises, the color revolution in Ukraine, Americans have been imperialists and provocateurs, and Russia has a right to self defense. Surely, there are valid grievances but they do not amount to any immediate threat to Russia. What motivates Russian aggression? I don't know. There are several theories on it but that's another discussion. Some experts say that Putin's external aggression is motivated by his regime's domestic failures. My focus is on specific point. Russia claims that Ukraine is not a real country . This is dangerous doctrine. I know there's a past history of Ukraine, its special place in old Soviet Union, the history of Crimea,...

There is debate among economists, politicians, commentators and various experts about rising inflation in America and other countries of the world (we in India also have inflation problem). In America, there are various theories out there on inflation among various groups. A group, lets call them inflationists, says US spent too much in too little time which caused inflation (read 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). This group says that to stop wage-spiral crisis (coming in near future), we have to use blunt tools like Fed rate hikes, sucking liquidity out of economy. The inflationists also want scaling down fiscal spending as they think that economy is overheating due to expansionary policies which they say spell a disaster down the road - wage price spiral and period of stagflation. The idea of inflationists is to bring down demand in economy (at cost of jobs, economic recovery & growth) to prevent bad future. The inflationists have been somewhat successful in stalling govt spending plans and conv...