To Linear Responses Issues form Circles

Bubbles don't have seams. Seamless Social media time line is a bubble or they represent one? A Time line exists irrespective of and beyond social media time lines. Time lines interact, intersect, overlap and occasionally assert their independence with each other.

Print and electronic medium were expected to represent time lines, offer some answers to the question : what is happening now. Within the four walls of the immediate, interest, relevance and power; the time lines were presented and represented in media for information, consumption and for action.

Pandemic and State of Economy

The media managers and opinion makers have been presenting strikes in terms of cost to exchequer; as the standard to tabulate productivity and its loss and pandemic induced lockdown arrived. The acknowledgement of labour and its relation to productivity in the mainstream does not go beyond it. The hinges that under-grid common sense had parted ways long back. Lockdowns were presented without factoring costs and economic signals and trends were ignored.

Editorial oversight, incoherence, cognitive failure, political postures, an allegation and truth telling 'freed' from their grids began to mix with each other -- to float, levitate. The reaches of unprecedented occasions extend till your guts and beyond. Pandemic and its surrounding events was such an occasion. What's the gut feeling y'all have?

Human development can take precedence over production and sales figures. This precedence and priority, however cannot rest on an assertion, a statement. Howsoever strong a will is, a will or individual choice would not sustain it. We ignored costs to focus on lives? Were the corona cases in control? The infected/spreaders were told to confine themselves and abandoned to worry about livelihood, future. What happened when pandemic interacted with existing state of economy. I hear voices.

Once economic growth began, poor were presented as a drag, their very existence saps growth! The operating division of labour has a place for labour that is forever migrant. Migrant labourers are for chores and fixing items that aren't usually a buy again. Even a pandemic didn't shift the attention of the proverbial middle class from rich and celebs. The professional, salaried and service class did anything inflict/affect you? You know what : which is the fate of the poor and migrant labour and from which the rich had immunity.

Tertiary sector contributes most to Indian economy. Lets take an example to imagine what might have happened. Tourism, aviation and hospitality industry is connected, how many hotel seats with flight tickets were booked for the last season and the next? How many in related tertiary sectors are going to keep their 'serving' jobs? The economic bubble burst?

Operational costs rising and no revenues in sight, firms and ventures would cut down on ads and jobs in that order. Or they would wind up and shut down. Related job cuts do make an occasional appearance, now and then. Most ventures and business models from personal to small and medium are built for or on advertisement. An 'unkind' cut would have a cascading effect. Instagram and YouTube entertainers, recipe writers, how-to-do video makers, home decorators and pranksters’ (do not read media houses) won’t be handsomely rewarded by market. It is all known, isn't. Or I am just hearing voices, again? Am I...

Could have gone on and on, but the pay cut revised plans, interrupted the routine and adjusted life. Is abrupt the new normal?

Sample a slice of social media time line, 'within this week India will overtake Brazil for second place in total corona infections. Time line meets social media time line?

During the first wave extrapolating from US and Brazil’s 17k per million as a tipping point for infections to decline wasn’t a misplaced idea. Comparing with two countries that reported more corona infections for a million population India’s 2510  was smaller to US’s 17557 and Brazil’s 17695. The first wave data suggested that the infections in India would increase 7.04 times before it starts to fall. If not hindered by testing the number stood at 5,28,735 daily cases. And India did reach there and how!

Mexico, Peru, Columbia and Argentina corona-infections were rising steadily and Europe and South America were busy out witting each other, as they do in a football match. And Russian federation, Iran, Turkey and Africa showed up in the world map of contamination and infections as well. One can crunch few more numbers and name more countries, but it won’t change the fact that the numbers were numbing. Humans believed that a 'outbreak and spread of a disease' will be contained and data suggested otherwise. A crushing defeat hanged over all of us for so long. Would it recede from our consciousness?

Environment is not sustaining but in a crisis. Access to pilgrimage sites are high on agenda not environment. Religious significance of a place leads to cutting and drilling for roads, felling of trees, more foot fall leads to littering of plastic and changes the fragile ecological balance.

When the effects of a dominant, pervasive and specific configuration occur not 'after' the event or later but accompany the event, two things stood out. Authorities to whom we have left these problems are signalling that they are aware of the problem. Second, they have their own priorities and implementation of measures by government authorities brought into sharp relief the implications of those priorities.

Privatisation through Government's Sale

Government in India in order to convey that it means business is preparing for sale. All sells aren’t sell outs and disinvestment is not equivalent to outright sale. Sale is an integral part of market and economic exchange. However, if the seller is a State then it must address few questions beforehand.

What to sell and what not to sell and whom to sell and sell to meet which objective?

Before state eventually withdraws from a sector, it must -- ensure competition, efficiency, affordability of utilities and goods, secure consumer rights, protect ecology. State has to maintain strategic presence in certain sectors and where it recedes it must build strong, credible and effective regulatory bodies and institutions that works for the public. The BARC and TRP scam has shown the ills of independent but private regulation, haven't they?

Sales were announced without proper debate or dialogue, clarification of objectives and priorities, consensus building with the stakeholders and the public! Harness "Desh Nahin Bikne Doonga" for votes and sell when in power!

Consider a scenario where NASA is sold to space X, IIT’s to private engineering colleges, JNU to Jio, DD to Republic, agriculture market to ____. In this scenario one can easily see what could be wrong with outright sell, who would be highest bidder and interested in outright sale. Sell in market is governed by highest bidder and State may have to choose not to SELL to highest bidder. Why? Outright sale can lead to monopolies. Monopolies are creation of markets, however once they exist they gobble up all values that make market attractive.

Large scale privatisation can herald change in modes of governance. To flag one such issue mode of governance can move towards consumer first and citizens later. Consumers do have some rights but rights do not depend on consuming goods and rights goes far, far beyond.

Sale is out in open.

Pandemic measures and Environmental Crisis

Outdoor is safe, large congregation isn't. Simply because from large congregation people would go back to crowded shelters. WAVES rides on large congregation, that’s first lesson but who learnt? Migrant labour, lower middle class and poor cannot avoid crowded spaces, while the middle class and rich had holed themselves in air-tight, air conditioned offices and homes. Second lesson, ventilate at home, add de-congest and ventilate to other procedures. Remember airborne, aerosol transmission.

Considering the duration of virus to stay airborne with aerosols, it is likely that severity of infection is also related to air tight homes. When one is 'inside' they don't follow the usual measures of being safe outside. With poor health facilities, 'health' of Indians and other developing and under developing countries is not good, with co-morbidities and other illness; their mortality rate would be high. It cannot be fixed overnight, but what would be achieved by ignoring these signposts?

Aerosols and airborne coronavirus vectors aren’t the only hanging danger over our existence. 'Environment' has hanged and this system does not know, how to restart without a shut down. No one can imagine a shut down of this system. Can we identify the processes and tasks that triggered it to hang? Which access, what cost and how to fix this issue? Ignore costs and envision a roadmap that leads to an environmental fix?

Environment is a series of time lines.

Isolation and distancing is function of who can afford it. Those  who can afford it, must confront its limitations and these limitations are morally and ethically troubling. If one can isolate and maintain distance, one cannot be sure that they did their best to protect themselves, or those 'you' chose to care about. Second, you cannot be of help to anyone or tend to other peoples need. It is also limited, as you cannot grow potato or produce milk at your home or become a medical professional. People need people, institutions and goods and many, many things are essential. Essential is not thinning ones need.

And there is no distancing and isolation from the environmental crisis.

If you thought mortality rate is low (1.5%) take covid lightly. You cannot have mortality rate, when dead are not counted? Kitne Mare Hain, Pahle Ye To Batao!  When a virus infects the lungs, no one would choose a polluted city to live. Most severely polluted cities of the world are in India. Air pollution and pollution took quite a few lives last year and before. We heard about black fungus not about pollution and environment.

Pollution is a small part of the environmental crisis.

When third wave struck meals were offered in planes which would not fly. Not the oxygen in planes. A type of reserves, stocks, expertise exists and it isn't for people who cannot buy a ticket, afford a ride. Bodies floated in Ganges; bodies sought oxygen and died without it. Oxygen is acceptable talk, corona wasn't. 

Which element or a set of elements would dwindle with environmental crisis or there would be abundance? Cloud burst, floods, melting of ice in one part, drought in another, fluctuation of temperature within and across seasons do not lead in one direction.

Rainfall June to August 2025, Blue excess rains, green normal rainfall, red deficient rains. Data and visualisation IMD.

Supply chains are important for market to distribute what it produces. Most robust supply chains might be of goods we don’t need in the present crisis or in the next crisis. Covid vaccines could not find a supply chain as yet and supply chains required for global movement of goods do have environmental and ecological consequences.

Priorities.

Nationalism and Time Line

Central Vista Project’s time line is sacrosanct. Raj path, full of debris mirrored the plight of India, better than those who rule over it.

Remember India shining? Finally, India is shining!

Nationalism is on the time line. In India, it refuses to address issues internal to it and scoffs at things 'external'! Jingoism, xenophobia and megalomania ceaselessly oscillates within a breed of nationalism. NATIONALISM in the third world promised, signaled and accompanied change in society, polity, economy, culture and so on and so forth; it is an incomplete project. The form in which it is invoked, again and again; intends to stall change, fossilize society, atrophy polity, distort economy, and twist culture.

This breed of nationalism is anchored on exorcising ghosts of past; it refuses to relate to the present or imagine a future together. Visions of Bharatvarsha has a blind spot, they don't see it? One cannot reject and mind Muslims and their presence and also hold on to a vision of an Akhandbharat; geographically, historically, logically, morally and ethically, but they do. Contemporary exponents of this variety are stuck at partition and intend to drag India back to it. The casteist and patriarchal pervade and permeate this vision in equal measure, if not more. It is no longer easy to live with other realities and visions in India.

Masses would enter the 'big picture' through denials or as recipients of welfare goods, consumer of goods or agents of change? Or they have a limited role in the calculus, critical for spread but otherwise are an incidental location for vectors of change. Hands would click on share and forward, nod in agreement and circulate the existing consensus? Or they would work in the fields, yards, factories, shops, offices and elsewhere and demand work, delivery of goods and services, lead change? Would the hands rise and rage or they continue to fold for the traditional greeting to honour distance, express respect.

Populism, Popularity and People

Many spoke about what farmers and other protestors should not be doing and maintained silence about govt.'s collusion and complicity with the pandemic. Why should governments get away with negligence, oversight and failures and others have to take all caution and care? Elected government is an accountable govt; it cannot impose a law whose benefits, beneficiaries are unable to see. Paternalism is dangerous and more so, when it is to hide govt.'s failure and collusion with big business. While government chose deliberate silence to tactically ignore, sidetrack and hide its obvious failure its defenders and proponents overworked themselves.

Nothing should come in the way of giving credit when it is due. Is the government on right path doing a good job?

Democracy is not a blame game and government is the default target to take blame. Recently there has been an attempt to change this entrenched and established location of responsibility. It would require a concerted effort and misdirection; some have taken this call seriously. Independence, truth telling and objectivity are the touchstones for the fourth pillar. The repeated and persistent message delivered through the mainstream media is: Government is RIGHT. A full stop, not a question mark. All their deflections finally lead to a full stop.

Many traditional lines were blurred. A dominant group emerged that treated the state, government and ruling party as one. The votaries of the government would criticize every party, all voices, anyone except the ruling party and offer propaganda as perspective. Personal barbs and deflection is their forte. They do not hesitate to lie and manipulate to build image of a leader. BJP - floaters are riding the third wave. Ruling party and governments are always image conscious. Today India's 'image' is dented largely due to negligence, oversight and complicity of the same image obsessed government, its leaders and supporters.

Is the popular and popularity being stoked, sustained and kept in circulation to fill the void of what Habermas identified as legitimation crisis? One comes across a constant conflation and equation of popular with popularity of a leader. When popular is recasted as an attribute of a leader; it severs and divests the vital roots of popular with people and public.

All aren’t busy telling others what not to do and who not to blame, some are selling solutions. Quack-e-preneurs. Quackepreneurs selling cures and solutions have thrived earlier as well and systemic issues has remain unaddressed, unresolved. Pandemic in short run among other things has enabled quackepreneurs and quick fixes.

Capability of State is shifting toward thwarting and blocking, not in facilitating and advancing the interest of citizens and the way protests are being dealt makes it clear and visible. This tilt in capability of state and how citizens are dealt exhibits a democratic crisis, a trust deficit.

Indian Media wore Afghanistan on their sleeves not Gaza or Lebanon.

Media got 'embedded' in war, reporters in conflict zone have been kept as hostage, hanged, killed, and their presence potentially makes them collateral in conflict. But this selective acquisition of a building for airstrike in conflict zone was a first. This is not an exception, but the 'rule' in Gaza. Jews and Israel have a right to territory, not a right to ceaselessly expand that territory. NO, even holocaust and antisemitism cannot justify historic and continuous dehumanisation and dispossession of Palestine. How long Palestine would be left defenceless and denied its right as a people, as a state?

Jerusalem once had/held the solution; it has space for three rival and distinct religious groups. Now the present occludes that possibility; the present form of the conflict is an obstacle towards its past or a future.

NSO Products, Surveillance and National Security

Nationalism and defence are thickly connected and Israel’s relation to these is explicit and overt. One can easily see how and why India and Israel are or can connect. However, there is a secretive link that binds Israel and India. The manner, method and modus operandi of how, why and when Israel entered the Indian dominion and all likelihood few other countries through a secret time line is the NSO time line.

To cut a Long story short, Email accounts, financial transactions, cab travel and chats depended for privacy, safety and security on verification through phones and phones were not safe. NSO and whatever products and solutions it makes is not available even to the most limited sense of people one can have. Their entire 'security business' is clandestine, secretive and predatory. NSO wouldn't make OS, phones, computers or apps and exclusively focus on exploits and flaws. NSO’s spyware redirecting the data that a phone collects and hiding that redirection? What kind of data would help prevent terrorist attack and why a phone would have them? It is sold as a product, a buyer can balance the cost of NSO’s licensed spyware by selling data acquired through their spyware in dark net.

To access strategy and plans of opposition and rivals confers through spyware  undue advantage. For example an expert’s is paid a million/billion for their skill, why not use the NSO’s spyware to steal the experts work. NSO's defence of what it does feeds the suspicious with suspicious and they tapped into qanon conspiracies!

How much you pay for a phone is related to how much privacy one would get? More with apple, less with android and other operating systems? That’s what a fix for spyware that is available to one brand does attaches a price tag.

Pakistan cannot have access to NSO products. So this threat to national security cannot have its origin, and support from the proverbial enemy. The spyware use in India gave government no evidence of support from Pakistan; imagine if they had an iota of evidence! Is India ready to go beyond the bogey of Pakistani link to everything that is wrong in India? If not Pakistan, then who is the source of this threat that requires government to acquire and use spyware?

A government agency spied their own personnel and left them demoralised and insecure. Search and survey of persons, IT and ED raids so that they tow the government's line? We also have incarceration without incriminating evidence, and over-reliance on intimidation to sort out differences. Tracking, intimidation and threats to individual dissenters, motley of assorted groups has been stretched to an alarming and unprecedented level. Intolerance and hostility to standard and traditional criticism of government exhibits a democratic deficit. Where has spyware and threat to national security has led India to? India’s NSA Ajit Doval presented civil society as new frontiers of war, and identified it as a threat when it can be manipulated to hurt nation’s interests. Manipulation turns a full circle. The surreptitious rise of Spyware and its deep reach reflects the deeper moral fall within the system as it intends to illegitimately access what is inaccessible.

The Indian propensity to convey what is valued most is to put it beyond scrutiny, edify it. This tendency has led to equivocation about national security. The executive is not beyond scrutiny or accountability, parliamentary supremacy and judicial independence ensures this.

There has been an upsurge in public talk about surveillance in India accompanied with not so secret rise in installation of cameras. Delhi has maximum number of cameras installed in public places globally. This figure probably does not count cameras installed in private spaces and the 'mobile' cameras in phones. Other cities in India aren't too behind in terms of installing cameras at public places. Has it made cities safer? Women's safety is touted goal for installation of cameras. Riots occurred last year in Delhi and violence remains unabated. Ingrained biases and attitudes that sustain violence and structures that orient a 'system' towards violence and civic strife cannot be fixed by installing cameras.

Priorities.

Arrangements, Systems and Environment

USA does not pretend that it invaded Afghanistan to protect women's right. Here in India removal of article 370 was linked to gender justice and ensuring SC and ST representation! Women's issue should be connected to conflicts and how skewed its effects are on them. How various religions and groups has placed them and benefited from a particular arrangement that ensures women’s subordination.

Take chip shortage as a example of how another dominant arrangement capitalism and thoughtless overproduction leads to it. They added chips to many mechanical  devices to make them 'smart' and overproduced electrical and electronic devices that they ran out of it! Without a thought about how and whether they can be re-used and E-waste kept on piling. Capitalism tends to ignore the natural, biological and ecological limits to production. Some may plausibly argue that ignoring these limits  is really not a tendency, but integral to capitalism. Chip comes from quartz rock, I would not be surprised, if quartz rocks are out of stocks. How would Tesla make its cars, Apple its phones? Or they have already cornered all chip supplies and we are hearing about chip shortage?  When half truths would stop choking the news feed?

There is no time line without festivals. Festivals now evoke melancholia and nostalgia. What happened to the sense of participation and spirit of togetherness they were for. A sense of past and a future that is not feasible anymore crowds the present and amplifies melancholia, attenuates nostalgia. What do these measures and messages convey : use organic colours this Holi, a ban on use of firecrackers for Diwali and immersion of idols in rivers. Mechanical and Industrial production has penetrated age old festivals and occasions. The time to  preserve only the sacred occasions from the processes that decide how human societies produce and overproduce themselves is over.  Environment and with it humans are in real crisis.

The thoughtful and important message that circulates with Dusshera and Diwali over last few years is to recognize the Ravan 'within'. The evil is not external, outside and other anymore and Ram is just for the temple?  Have we turned what was nourishing, sustaining and worth revering the ecology and environmental into a threat, a danger? Environmental and ecological crisis impels us to think about external, outside, other and internal, inside, within and beyond anew, afresh.

Few years back a vacuum or a hole had emerged right in the center. This hole or the vacuum has the power to swirl and swallow any life that intends to make sense of it. There are no rewards and yet it is incumbent on that individual to navigate all its contradictions, ambiguities, glitches, edges and absurdities. We are its random picks.