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Author: Dr Navin C Naidu

Qui bono (who benefits)

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other man’s consent. — Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President This presidential soundbite becomes relevant only if he had extended the thought as to who actually benefits after willingly consenting to be governed. The ‘heard mentality’ justified by the herd

Pinocchio politics

 Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. – Daniel P. Moynihan, former US Senator If you come into government clean, honest and fair, you should leave that way too. If you come into government crooked and corrupt, you leave that way too. That’s the

Winners and whiners

Winners practise nuances of contentment with noticeable endurance. Whiners find contentment with their inalienable tendency to moan, groan, haw and hem over everything with unbridled petulance. Winners effortlessly convert every unfortunate event into an opportunity to find solutions and remedies. It has been said that the feeble soul merely whines

The national demolition brigade (NDB)

It is bad governments, not bad people, who cause revolutions. – Johann von Goethe, German statesman The Global Competitiveness Report 2002-3 defines governance as the exercise of authority through formal and informal traditions and institutions for the common good. Note the emphasis and focus on ‘common good.’ The NDB permeates

Of unsound mind

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.– Aesop, Greek fabulist The fabulist has boldly unveiled the soul and DNA of the embarrassing truth that is oft manipulated or manufactured by mad politicians feigning superiority and rare intellect. Every known societal malady, parody or tragedy

Contractarians and Contrarians

No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher The obvious punishment dispensed by government is symbolised by the mythological king Sisyphus who was condemned to a lifelong punishment of pushing a boulder uphill. He never succeeded because the boulder kept tumbling back downhill. Do

The baring of fangs

When the government smiles, the rattlesnakes run for cover.— Sitting Bull, Lakota Sioux Native American chief The baring of fangs is usually an expected event when the recipient of the naked truth, bereft of embellishments and improvisations, is unable to agree or accede to the demands for reform and resolution.

Neo-science, non-science and nonsense

All of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking. – Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist Everyday thinking, or ‘stinking thinking,’ neatly separates and distinguishes neo-science, non-science and nonsense, and catalogues them for mental blockades, silly arguments, useless debates and inevitable migraines. Even nonsense has a spot. You can

The dystopian dilemma

I think dystopian futures are also a reflection of current fears. – Lauren Oliver, American author The right is condemning the left, and vice-versa in North America; the anarchists are condemning the separatists, supremacists and extremists; the revolutionaries are condemning the do-nothings; the politicians are blaming each other while fattening

Land ahoy!

Discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes. – Marcel Proust, French novelist The 15th century code for empire-building was ‘land ahoy,’ shouted by the ship’s watch to inform the weary seafaring crew that land has been spotted. Whether or not the ship’s captain and