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Bringing About Change

This interview by Martin Wolf (from the Financial Times ) got me thinking. He was talking about how, though capitalism has its problems, we can’t seem to find alternatives. And the irritation with capitalism isn’t a recent phenomenon: “The wild enthusiasm for the idea, ‘if only we get rid of capitalism, everything will be fine’—which was a dominant idea of progressives in the 19th century—has, in my view, been tried and tested to destruction in the 20th. So we can’t go there.” (If you didn’t get it, he is referring to communism).   Of course, that doesn’t mean one just has to live with capitalism the way it is. One can (and should), he says, tweak and improve it. But make changes slowly, he warns. Why slowly? “We have had a lot of experience with truly revolutionary changes in the last couple of centuries, and they have all, without exception, ended in disaster.” Note that Wolf’s point is on the speed of the change in case of revolutions, not the violence. But is it necessary tha...
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Europe as a Union

Way Yuhl wrote a brief history in two parts of Europe as a union. From 1618 and 1648, Europe was engulfed in what came to be called the Thirty Years’ War. The bone of contention? Who should the respective kings “report” to, the ultimate authority, the Pope or the Holy Roman Emperor? “The Thirty Years’ War was the worst of Europe’s wars over who would rule the continent, and it settled nothing.”   The war concluded with what is called the Peace of Westphalia: “The Peace ended the war by ending the idea of a single authority. It replaced it with the idea of sovereign states, each ruled by its own leader, who did not answer to a higher power. Scholars mark this as the start of the modern state system, the world of separate, self-ruling countries that still exists today.” (Take that with a lot of salt: such self-rule was only for Europe, not Africa, Asia or South America).   Sounds good in theory. Independent kingdoms/countries in Europe. In practice, it led to end...
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Singapore #3: Post-Malaysia Transformation

Singapore’s famous PM, Lee Kuan Yew, built world class infrastructure, provided political stability and gave tax incentives to court foreign investment. He took measures to shift the reliance on the port to labour-intensive manufacturing.   Everyone can’t afford to live in Mumbai. But for a Singaporean, there is no other city or town to go! Lee therefore provided affordable housing for all. Like India’s Provident Fund system, he forced employees and employers to contribute to a retirement fund. He then allowed citizens to tap into that PF-equivalent to make payments for the housing.   Lee made the judicial system predictable and honest, a key attraction for investors. He also raised government salaries so corruption wasn’t a “necessity”. And then he came down with an iron fist on corruption.   He institutionalized racial harmony by recognizing four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil) and made English the working language to seamlessly conn...
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Believing in Yourself

This old conversation (from 2013) with former world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, was thought-provoking. I could see the point Carlsen was making while also seeing the risk (in fact, he admitted the same himself).   Before you read further, keep in mind that Carlsen was not yet the dominant force he would soon become. He was great then, but nothing close to invincible. Yet, even then, Carlsen felt that: “It’s always better to be overly confident than pessimistic. ” Why? “If you’re not optimistic, if you’re not looking for your chances, you’re going to miss. You’re going to miss opportunities.” Conversely, he said: “There are plenty of players in history who have been immensely talented, but they’re — they’re just too pessimistic. They see too many dangers that are not there and so on so they cannot perform at a very high level. ” Interesting point – they see too many dangers that are not there .   Being the best, Carlsen said, requires supreme self-belie...
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Singapore #2: Three Shocks

Due to its location, Britain considered Singapore a vital part of its empire. They fortified it with a naval base and were ready to fight Japan over it during World War II. But British plans and defenses were based on naval war, and they didn’t stand a chance when the Japanese came via land (Malaysia) instead! “That surrender was the largest in British history.” It was the first shock of Singapore, the realization that Britain couldn’t protect them (reminds me of the Gulf States in the Iran war). Singapore demanded and got self-government in 1959 from Britain. Its first Prime Minister was the now famous Lee Kuan Yew. “Lee's government knew the island was too small to survive on its own. This led Lee to secure Singapore's entry into the new Federation of Malaysia in September 1963.”   But the union with Malaysia had a major sticking point. Malaysia constitutionally favoured Malays in all areas; which left Singapore’s Chinese and Indian populace in the lurch. This f...
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Weird Spread of Puducherry

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Puducherry. It consists of the former French colonies in India - Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. I didn’t realize those parts are scattered across India!     That looks crazy, but it’s true. And therein a fascinating tale as told by Sagar. The French came to India and decided to form alliances with regional rulers. In 1673, one such area they got was Puducherry. A small village, which, over time, extended to include other nearby villages. It is important to understand the French were not colonizing the area. Rather: “These villages were granted to them one at a time by local rulers, so they were discontinuous pieces of land that supplied the main settlement.” It was so haphazard that: “Its (just the region within Tamil Nadu alone) map is a scattered chessboard of enclaves and unevenly distributed villages and communes.” Imagine that!   The other ‘parts’ of Puducherry as shown in the map above were even tinier. And no, under French rule, those other trading village...
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Singapore #1: Early History

Singapore is surprising, writes Way Yuhl: “Singapore pumps no oil, digs no ore, and farms almost no land, yet its economy produces over $90,000 US dollars per person a year, the highest in Asia, one of the highest in the world.”   In the Indian Ocean, the winds change direction with season. This was a big deal in the era of wind powered ships. “A trading ship could sail with one wind from China or India down to the strait, but it could not sail home until the wind turned. That forced wait kept foreign traders in the strait’s harbors, and their trading made whichever port controlled the strait’s trade rich.” Singapore was one such port.   When the imperialists came, not surprisingly, they fought for control of these critical ports (Spain, Portugal, Britain). Tax the trade, and often prevent your rivals from even using the port. The British tried a different model: control the port, but make it free for all. No wonder that traders moved away fr...
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