Thought. Evolution. Idealogy.

There can be no restrictions on thought, which is a constantly evolving process. There should be room for fresh thoughts and ideas.

It is difficult to pinpoint the final principle of any ideology. It is therefore not right to adopt an attitude that what we have accepted as the final principle of our ideology is the ultimate truth. It is essential that our ideology stands the test of being beneficial for humankind as a whole. The thought process will not come to a halt at any time.

Paraphrased version of a statement by Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India.

I suppose the only relevant question at this point is - Is anyone even listening? Because what this is, is one man's wisdom that actually rings true for the billions in the mob. The mob of fundamentalists everywhere that have taken up a cause, and believe beyond themselves that their chosen cause is the one true cause. The mob that believes that anyone that refuses to believe what it believes, deserve to die.

The subversion of the mob mentality, the group ego, the immovable object becoming the irresistible force, will all of these be intervened by a saner mind? By a saner thought? History says yes, and no. And that sad and conflicted answer is why India's Hindus are still fighting the caste-related issues, while simultaneously displaying remarkable progress in redressing the issues. It is why even after so many years and so many conflicts and so many so-called crusades, the holy land of Jerusalem has yet to see peace amongst its Moslem, Christian and Jewish people. It is the primary reason why the idealogues on the right-wing conservative Republican party bash the idealogues on the left-wing liberal Democratic party in the United States. And it is precisely why foul-mouthed idiots like Ann Coulter, with her immense intelligence, yet manages to spew rhetoric and half-truths.

The voice of reason. The song of thought. The verses of sensibility. The music of this trinity. Sadly they are getting trampled beneath our own weight of stupidity and utter lack of sense. People, for reason or lack thereof, simply want to listen to the jarring notes of stupidity, and forego any claim to thought after hearing it. Simply said, we are all zombies.

Warning: A Closed Mind is a Dead Mind - T.J.S. George

Disclaimer: The content below is a total reproduction in its entirety of a column by T.J.S. George that ran in the New Indian Express on Sunday, October 23, 2005. The only reason for this total reproduction is that I am not sure of access to this excellent op-ed piece without a login ID.

In case you would rather read it off of the horse's mouth, go --->here<---.

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It's a month since A.B. Vajpayee made the most visionary statement of post-Nehru India. He told his partymen in Delhi: "There can be no restrictions on thought, which is a constantly evolving process. There should be room for fresh thoughts and ideas."

Simple words, but they encapsulate the best of philosophy, political theory, social history and wisdom. Unfortunately the theme has not been taken up for any kind of debate. In the Indian-BJP context, the words immediately got mixed up with the Advani-RSS controversy. But the idea expressed by Vajpayee has a wider universal dimension and all our parties can profit from quietly digesting the meaning of his words.

Not running away from controversy, Vajpayee explained: "It is difficult to pinpoint the final principle of any ideology. It is therefore not right to adopt an attitude that what we have accepted as the final principle of our ideology is the ultimate truth. It is essential that our ideology stands the test of being beneficial for humankind as a whole. The thought process will not come to a halt at any time."

Vajpayee was merely putting in words what history has repeatedly taught us. The ideology of capitalism survived only because it yielded to evolving thought and ceased being a system of cruel Robber Baron exploitation. The ideology of Soviet Communism failed precisely because it refused to give up its rigidities. By contrast the ideology of Chinese communism has withstood the pressures of globalisation by bending with the wind.

In moderistic terms, the British Labour Party changed its ideology from "trade unionism right or wrong" to "trade unionism for growth." Countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, while adhering to their Islamic ideology, have not allowed it to stand in the way of progress. In such an entrenched political system as Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi recently won re-election with one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern history with a plank of radical reform.

All these are the results of paying heed to the constantly evolving process of thought, of recognising that ideologies do not have full stops. Putting a full stop means closing the mind. Fundamentalist ideologies, whether religious or political, close the minds of their followers so that unapproved thoughts won't enter them. They destroy questioning minds lest questioning minds destroy them.

Political-philosophical schools that have found acceptance in history are based on the twin principles of individual liberty and the equality of people _ precisely the principles that are anathema to fundamentalists, be they fascists or Stalinists, Taliban or Bajrang Dal.

There was mass suppression of writers in Stalin's Soviet Union; according to KGB archives 1500 writers perished, many hundreds were exiled into Siberia. Fascist regimes in Europe regularly burned whole libraries of books. Taliban shot the Bamiyan Buddha into dust. Pol Pot's first order in Cambodia was to kill every citizen who had had an education. Why, during emergency time, Kerala's Youth Congress, aided by the police, burned several public libraries in North Malabar because they had been established by the Communists.

The slogan popularised by Mussolini's Italy said it all: "To believe. To obey. To Combat." Rather different from the theme of the French Revolution: "Liberty, equality, fraternity." Today Italian fascism is gone. Pol Pot, Stalinism and the Emergency are gone. The spirit of the French Revolution remains as a permanent ispiration to people. Vajpayee didn't say it in so many words. But the meaning of what he said was: "My friends, change with the times. Or you'll be gone too."
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Coffee. Healthy. No Kidding.

Far from being unhealthy, coffee offers perks.
(Forbes.com, via MSNBC online)

Whodathunk it?

Un-flippin-believable.

Coffee in moderation is good. Yay!

Now, I don't have to feel too guilty about swigging a cup o' South Indian-ishtyle filter kaapi or a Starbucks latte or a Circle K or AMPM java every work-day morning!

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