Twisted Logic #3 - Egypt - 1, India - 0

Twisted Logic: Voting for the Taj Mahal was probably one of the most unpatriotic things you have done this week.

Major Props to Egypt. They not only had the brains, but also the guts to stand up to the 'New 7 Wonders' and call it for what it is - bullshit. While their government stood up for their cultural heritage, and refused to participate or support this rubbish, our people and news agencies opened up their hearts and wallets (but shut their minds) to the corporation behind this farce.

Ironically, people voted for Taj Mahal out of a perceived sense of patriotism. The truth, however, as exposed in this article in The Pioneer is that the very people who spent their money on this bogus campaign are the furthest thing from being patriotic. We as a country have given a number of greedy individuals and companies our money in the name of cultural heritage and some really skewed idea that this will somehow increase tourism. The said money, which the article estimates to be around Rs. 150 crore (yes, you read that right!!) if had been donated to actual upkeep, preservation and promotion of the Taj Mahal, would actually have been the real patriotic thing to do and would have done miracles for the monument. Shame on us.


The Shitlist so far:

• Indians who voted for this campaign
• Bernard Weber
• New Open World Corporation
• DNA Networks
  
• BSNL
• CNN-IBN
• NDTV

(This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you know of any other individuals, organizations or companies that perpetuated this abomination, please leave a comment, and I shall add them to the list).

The Heroes:

• People who actively chose not to vote
• Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni
• UNESCO
• The Pioneer (15 June '07, 8 July '07)
  
• The Indian Express (Link)
  

The travesty of this is that the greedy assholes are not done yet. Now they are proposing another 'campaign' called the "New 7 Wonders of Nature."

Note: In case the link for the Pioneer article doesn't work, go to The Pioneer's homepage | Scroll down to "Archives" | Select 15 June, 2007 (or 8 July, 2007) and click "Go!" | Scroll down to the Article and click on the Headline.

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Twisted Logic #2 - Reservations

Vote bank politics, Youth for Equality, AIIMS doctors on strikes - but are reservations really bad for the non-backward general public?

My proposition: Reservations will be great for the country, but not really by uplifting 'backward' classes.

Explanation: Reservations/Quotas is a very controversial and divisive topic of discussion today. On one side are the 'backward' people who claim a right to quotas vis-a-vis reparations for apparent years (or do they say centuries?) of oppression. On the other side, is the general 'forward' public that claims that quotas will destroy the value for merit, and that too in furtherance of caste-based, vote-bank politics and not any genuine philanthropic sentiment.

But everyone involved in this debate seems to forget one thing - For the most part colleges (and really the whole educational system) here is really bad. From Day 1, the value imbibed by students is that one has to go through school, college, a master's degree etc. to get a good job. Note that the purpose of education is not to make you a better person. It's to get you a better job. And even working with that assumption, there is only a minute segment of the whole 1 billion+ population that gets to go to genuinely excellent institutions like the IIMs and IITs.

My theory is that once 50% reservations become the status quo, good students will be forced to look at options abroad (U.S., U.K. etc.) where they will actually get a good education!!! (gasp!) And in the U.S. at least, the concept of financial aid ensures that no student would be left behind merely on account of the inability to pay huge fees. And as long as the current trend of reverse brain drain continues, this would translate into a growing segment of our population getting a better education than they could have hoped for in India in the first place. And this country desperately need people who have a broader world view, and some international experience.

Hence proved.

Disclaimer: By no means, do I disrespect, discredit, or deny the existence of genuinely excellent educators and educational institutions in our country. They are there, but unfortunately as the exception rather than the norm.

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Twisted Logic #1 - Tolerance

This is the first in what will probably be a long series of great innovative thinking on my part that other people think is "twisted logic." #1 regards tolerance.
My proposition: Tolerance is just another form of intolerance. It's a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde thing.
Explanation: Plain and simple - people who claim to be 'tolerant' are empirically some of the most intolerant people I have met. In other words, tolerance has come to mean the non-tolerance of intolerant people. Next time someone says to you:

"I consider myself very tolerant. I love homosexual people. Some of them are my best friends."

simply repeat the following verbatim:

"That's gay."

I can guarantee you that in 9 out of 10 cases you will be subject to a long lecture / argument followed by a little physical violence or lynching for dessert.

What would the true tolerant person say?

"So, are you."

Disclaimer: I'm not homophobic.

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