Friday, July 30, 2010

Be Roused!

The chains of the courageous
Shackles of time and habit, resentful
A recluse lost between
Choices that play frivolously with thoughts
An ignorant being
How such pointless bounding seems
In security spent with oneness
Of nature born this timeless miracle
Mocks his own presence

Where does the intention figure?
In the limbo of the imprisoned
The straggler struggling to find the self
True in nature; ONE
Yet lost in the journey of projections
Of himself and
The voiceless beneath

Ethically correct, morally impartial
To each except himself
His own journey caught in flights
And fights
Of the consciousness of the other
As a reflection
For truth lost in ignorance’s security

Caution! Tread slowly soldier
The war is within
So surrender the badge, ageless
Not lost but found
By your own self
For the first time
Embrace!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Nihil ad rem

Understanding of phenomena
That reaps insignificant tales
Reminiscing,
Shuttling between moments
Eternally significant as such
A play of memory

Lost in translation of emotions
Of an origin unknown
The drudgery of such significance
Of insignificant tales
Lets me know once again

Existing and the existence of
Phenomena calculating
Origins from conclusions
Deriving once again
A belief

The inhabitant of thy self
Must it necessarily flee?
From its own natural fate
Into the unknown frontiers of
The acquired,
Knowledge, experience, relations

Within comparisons
I am a translation of
Memorials- Insignificant

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Gestapo

Sublime forms of the ludicrous
An apology surrenders them to thou
Questions of the bewildering notions
Of a tragedy once bygone
Crucial scenario, isn’t it dear ones

The art of war that resides within
Manifested in sounds and blares
Of thus physical
Balancing the chaotic and the calm
Leaders here once bygone

Born into the cemetery of ghosts
Kept in shadows of,
Some in memories of
And some in the pyre
Emoting within, the resentful war
As an expression

The needy and the abandoned
In the unclaimed corner
The manifestation of perceptions
What resides within,
Expressed in its artistic form

An apology! I must bestow
Now surrender my pallet
Colorful illusions
Expressions and art forms
Not as the creator
But as a creation once born

Friday, July 23, 2010

An early diary entry worth sharing..

Now that this pen is flowing and I'm done cleaning ink stains, I can begin writing about the 'cause' of this radical change in routine.

I had been thinking for some time now that I would start taking notes. You see, I suffer from an extremely blessed state; a kind of forgetfulness- a state akin to a sort of "preference amnesia" (usually induced chemically)- wherein thoughts intriguing are procreated. However, it is the nature of this condition that demands that I take notes, if not to know myself a bit better, then rather to have a chuckle or two.

Amidst the daily 'surfing' activities, a thoughtful delight came to me. An observation that had escaped me previously; an observation pertaining to eugenics. It seems that eugenics or the act of selective breeding and the exaltation of certain "superior" beings, which is looked down upon in colloquial understandings in this progressive age, is still quite the norm. Whether politics instigates it or not, eugenics is practiced quite explicitly in multi-cultural societies. I say multi-cultural because these societies are projected to be more tolerant than the others.

When a child is rared at school, a special value is always attributed to the alpha-student. The ones that excel at sports or academia for instance. Authorities are willing to excuse the talented gene pool. Whether we like it or not, a rational system leads to class divisions. But is it irrational to distribute favors without such eugenicist discrimination?

Perhaps this thought is a mere seed; that needs the suns rays of enlightenment to sprout.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I think..

The narrative of a person always seems to be in search of a conclusion. It is much like a being the author of a story that changes its outlook and perception with each experience. Thus the split of oneness - the author, the story and the change; here it is the fallacy of what in Hinduism is called the MAYA. The illusion of perception as the defining line for the self where questions such as “who am I” bewilder the human essence.

So what is the outcome of the story? Am I the story or am I the author? Moreover, am I the perception of me as the story or the author or am I the perception of me at the hands of the all pervasive “change”? To thread each of the above questions I must find in me equilibrium much like the perfection of nature. Be the painter, paint and the canvas away form the illusion.

Retrospectively speaking our narrative becomes a juxtaposition of finales that must rise to the occasion as created by us. Yet do they equate to us as our own or does that find itself caught up in deciphering the coded language of desires and wants. Such notions bring us to the tipping point where the self from its basic nature of oneness moves towards the split – as pieces of the puzzle incomplete without the other parts and without the whole. This is the search of such narrative, isn’t it- the whole being?

It is such perception that leads to notions and beliefs that an inconsistency to this general narrative finds us encapsulated in thoughts. Where I am as I thought I was, yet the real seems to address me in a different fashion. The act of playing GOD becomes the very essence of such narratives that pervade the global life. So what is this perception that drives me away from the basic nature of my being?

It is not to address such intricacies in a definitive manner – one cannot explain – yet can derive from the process. It may not be the end that our being struggles for it may be the process. With each experience we find ourselves imprisoned and attached to it, for the purpose of the very narrative. Can I just be; and not search for the definite, the exact – literally the finite? Does it set us free?

I am – am I not?

Dreamy eyes

The wonders of then
Coercing the memories
Reliving the moment as it lasts
Of what does this misery stem its way?
Into the coliseum
Now in ruins of its glory

Does the now exist?
Or does it find itself engulfed in
The breathing memory of wonders
Wandering into untamed times
Finding reason caught up in
The limitless distance of knowing

For such conception continues to baffle
Arguing the real from the reality
Of which I exist, the now seems
Vague in possibilities
In this stolen corner I find myself
Reminiscing

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Flower Child

Intentions and their persona reflecting
in the dream like state
Breathed as the essence of creation
itself to evolve continually
Sounds of the mysterious skies
fallen beneath the fury of
Intention and its dream state

play a song as the she daces along
Her strength and love; hate and anger,
engulfed in the balance of
the slow tandem of blissful guidance
gently caressing

curious of her,
I follow the wilderness into its wild birth
formlessness of its structure –
bound in perception of, me
the omnipresent essence of the breathed one,
she is – as is

beyond assimilation of my finite capacity
Yet construed by the limitation of
my own curious knowledge
Misguided by perceptive upheaval of
the equilibrium of her generosity

Soulfully mimicking the soulless copulation –
creating
Anxious monstrosity of a thoughtful being
Converse to its own universe

Thoughtless, I
As her own child –
Avant- garde

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

'I Think, Therefore I Am': A Philosophical Maxim.

The other day I came across a blog entitled "cogito, ergo sum" (Latin for: I think, therefore I am). It had the caption "girls think, therefore I am" printed underneath it. It was not the first time I had seen this phrase of Rene Descartes' (1596 - 1650) misunderstood and misused in this manner. This brief tract is an attempt at explaining this canonical philosophical principle.

Rene Descartes was a French mathematician, philosopher and scientist- who set out to discover the "Archimedean point" of knowledge. The concept of the Archimedean point comes from Archimedes' own proclamation: “Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.” So in this way, Descartes was searching for the epicenter of knowledge- making Descartes an epistemologist: a philosopher concerned with essential theories of knowledge.

Descartes begins his journey as an epistemologist with "methodic doubt": rejecting as false, all sorts of knowledge by which he was once deceived. The first thing to go was knowledge based on authority, because even experts are sometimes wrong. Second to go was knowledge based on sensory experiences, because people can perceive one thing as another, like in the case of mirages. Third to go is knowledge based on reason, because this too can be wrong, as in the case of calculation. But the fourth and final aspect driving Descartes' skeptic doubt is what he described as the "evil demon" that is capable of creating an illusory world for people which does not exist- making them believe and see that, which is not. "Cartesian (Descartes') doubt" is an odd skepticism in this sense. It is a rational approach towards validating one's own existence, as well as the existence of a God.

After doubting even the existence of the nose on his face or basically anything at all, Descartes found himself facing one of the greatest of quagmires: how can I know that I exist? This "doubt" of his that engulfed him was to reveal to him the answer to this problem. Since his search for something that can no longer be doubted, required him to doubt everything- then the very act of doubting was the evidence of "thinking" that was indubitable- and since he was the person who was thinking, he too must exist. Thus, Descartes says: I think, therefore I am.

This powerful maxim has since ignited the argument for mind-body duality in psychology. In other words, Descartes' statement has given weight to the belief that "mind" and "body" are separate.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

The Inveterate

The creatures a forlorn land
Described in the path of the aging self
Of the images broken and a remade
Experience finds its frenzied depiction

Into the land of the delighting past
A devotee is born
within the castle’s walls
Over coming, finally
Itself
Beyond stillness of the aging self

Cautiously treading yet craving the covers
Of the saintly,
a pretense of encouraging
A snake sheds its skin as seasons change
Rapidly engulfing, controlling, ones
Of the forlorn land

As the present passes to be the later and last
Past and its future
Of the mother seeds the likely plant
With a plan
Cautiously treading its own boundaries

New born take their stride
Out of their crippled cradles,
Form the first breath admitted
Into training
Of rigid conversations with in walls

A crime is committed
The blind sense its vicious aura
Of the forlorn land, I speak
If it were for memories
that lingered behind the dark screen
In shadows danced their choreographed selves
– fragmented
Such is the brilliance of emoting
– whether or not to ?
Encompass such belonging appended into time
Time of which parameters build their glory
- time by which
I am to long for who I was and meant to be

Logical crossovers between the relations of togetherness
Time bound and quantified
in boundless speechless emotions
At such a junction of power and over oneself
and the self in creation
the memories dance themselves fragmenting the now
– in time

Of this vast sense of jumbling senses
- belonging follows perception
Creating and destroying
Who I am – was – and will be
Yet the drive common to all as me
Finds its path back in to the childhood dreams

Of such parameters
timelessness finds itself shelter
In the completeness of a moment
– unrelated – unaffected
In tune with the course of change
Impartial to the constant of habit
I become me – that disappears silently
The melancholy of the inspired
Chased between the dramatic seeds
Planted within the ever eternal
A belief, of my temporary intellect
of what does knowledge comprise itself ?
Comparisons, competition, achievement
Of all that I learn only saddens me
As I laugh at such consequence
The I in me finds a center, to aid my escape
The magnanimous images of the self
Trained to mirror nothing but itself
Categorizing in forms and shapes
The formless infinite space
Ah! the game such ego plays,
A child like tantrum it so cant replace
In appeals of the little boy who resides
Within, as the apostle of himself
The I is saddened as well as me

So as the inspired we sit awaiting the fall
For yet another momentous speech
Yet another comparison
Another competition,
Where by I am the image
Of my own creation
I am a painting of my own illusion
Inspired yet again

Technocrat

Those who find the lingering storm, beneath
The soulless moment of creation, within
To the eye residing between the past and the future
A timeless phenomenon calculated, falsely
Compared to the slightest of them all,
a discourse of consequences

to the solemn ones who observe with keen interest
off consciousness a body finds itself
defiant of yet itself, as a miracle
obscure inventions occupy the very essence
cultivating forms, shapes, sizes – Comparisons
finitely defining the infinite

such calculation oppressively react to appease
the arrogance of ignorance,
merely of such conspicuous events of
thoughtful perception,
lacking clarity as the eyes lack sight
the techtonics play a simple tune
of the monstrous calamity
such as the inventions of the thoughtful

as much as I fortify my innocence, knowledge
crystallizes its lucid proud creation
of thoughtfulness -
Ahh! that in knowledge my friend
Innocent curiosity now fortified leads curiously
Towards a purpose to destruct
Such as the physical does in pleasure,
“I” Does in –
my pride, habit, liking, disliking, keeping,
wanting, eating, replacing, relating, forming
Juxtapositions of my knowledge

A mechanically operated system of illusions
I am approved, accepted, protected from myself
As I listen and watch; follow and abide
Techtonically survive

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Conversations with myself


Thoughts and their consideration

Of the opinionated magician

Who sits within my lonely head

Calculating his only prayer

Not once! The calm he never finds

Off sympathy and quandary

He must survive

Careful considerations, within

To create another staggering night

Thoughts, thoughts and more

Occupy the empty space;

The lonely magician searching

Feeling, emoting, hoping, moping;

Calm that he never finds

“I am,

As is the theme

The creator of the mysterious

Of tricky variations,

The skillful orator

Smooth operator

I am” –

Of such images must he

Empower himself

With knowledge, distract himself

From justifications adapt

And thoughts react

In pride he searches

The calm he never finds

Attached to his soulless creation

Of the busy thoughtful mind

He finds himself lonely

Calculating his plight

Such is the melancholic victim

I his only friend

A prisoner by choice

Habitués is his nature;

A worrisome bloke

For nothing might he advice

But to keep in sight

The countless times

Nudged,

Into his stifled prison

Forced,

Were he and his fright

To such knowledge justifies

The lonesome magician

His own in creation

Were ever his plight

As collections and creations

Reveals my self

As the enchanting wand

And the magicians archetype

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

For the Crestfallen.

They say: "home is where the heart is", but what is home? Home is your abode- not just physically but also mentally and emotionally- it is your sanctuary. When one initiates a relationship with another, they begin constructing this home. They build walls of trust, lay tiles of faith, hang chandeliers of dreams and name the completed edifice love.

But when some sort of force majeure destroys this edifice the occupants have to start anew; because force majeure can't be compensated. Some crumble like bread crumbs and fade away in dark urban street corners- a slightly stronger person may become a backpacker because their geographical location and past failure has driven them to live like nomads- but the strongest of all are the patient ones who try to gather pieces of shattered tiles and chandeliers and sleep in the ruin of loves rubble- hoping to rebuild a home with new hands. These individuals are the essence of human divinity- that spirit that perhaps breathed life in to existence.

O patient one, I salute thee! and pray that you get the opportunity to build a double-bricked home next time, with tiles impervious to the elements.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Survival of the fittest: a political ‘Ideal’.



In 1857, an English sociologist by the name of Herbert Spencer, coined the term, “survival of the fittest“: the belief that evolutionary laws of natural selection, explained, social processes and behaviors- this theory is now referred to as “social Darwinism”.  Like Spencer, Karl Marx also believed in social evolution. However, unlike Spencer, who argued that: the poor and the sick should be left to fend for themselves; Marx believed that the state must prioritize the supply, production and distribution of comestible, clothing and domicile goods to society. This idea of Marx’s is known as “historical materialism” and it has been the subject of much scrutiny by those that can appropriately be called, the enthusiasts of Walter Lippmann’ progressive liberalism. The following tract will attempt to vividly explain what Marx meant when he stated: “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness”. This will be done to elaborate on David Held’s evaluation of Marx’s belief in Held’s book, “models of democracy” that: “it is not the state that underlies social order but social order that underlies the state“. Furthermore, the ideas of Marx will be examined against those of pluralists, such as Max Webber and Joseph Schumpeter. Finally, there will be some critical analysis of both ideas to determine my own stance on the relevance of  these ideologies in hitherto and henceforth human society.

 Although Marx was a German, in 1843, he left Germany for Paris; from where he was expelled in 1849 and eventually ended up in London- where he spent the remainder of his life. Based on his experiences in nineteenth-century industrial England, Marx was concerned about class inequalities created by industrial capitalism.

 To understand Marx’s indifference towards the liberalist battle for political equality, it is absolutely crucial to get a grasp of what Marx understood as “capitalism”, “alienation” and “class inequality“. In capitalism, according to Marx, are present two classes: the laborers and the capitalists or the proletariats and the bourgeois, respectively. The relationship between these two classes involves a division of labor. The capitalists supply the capital, such as raw materials and machinery necessary to organize production and control the labour process. The workers supply their labour, which turns those raw materials in to commodities- goods and services that can be bought and sold. One of the most important aspects of this relationship according to Marx, was that of domination. The workers sell their labour to capitalists for a wage, the capitalist in turn control the conditions under which the workers do their jobs and the hours they work. Marx argued that this relationship was one of unequal power. In large-scale enterprises, many workers are employed by a small number of capitalists who have the power to control their workers. In turn, specialised workers or managers are hired to manage the workers and ensure that the work is done according to the wishes of the employers- the mass of workers are thus left at the bottom.

 Alienation refers to the relationship between peoples labour and the fact that under capitalism, workers are separated from the things they produce, which thus have no meaning for them. Instead of the products of a person’s labour being something creative and of value, the worker is impoverished because their work is appropriated and commodified by capitalists. As more products are produced by machines, the greater the alienation experienced by the workers.

 Marx believed that this inequality and alienation was not only unfair, but would result in class conflict; which, according to Marx, would result in the overthrow of capitalism in favour of socialism: a society in which private ownership and wealth accumulation is replaced by state ownership; and ultimately, communism: a utopian vision of society based on communal ownership of resources, cooperation and altruism to the extent that the state no longer exists. The state is thus, always vulnerable to social cooperation that was constantly emergent. Ergo, “it is not the state that underlies social order but social order that underlies the state”(Held 2006, pg.103 - 108).

 

Pluralism:

In general English the word “pluralism” means the condition of being multiple(Pluralism - dictionary.com); in philosophy, it is used to describe, “a theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle”(Pluralism - dictionary.com); and in politics, it is a word used to describe “the affirmation of diversity in the interests of the citizenry”, making it a vital aspect of modern democracies (Pluralism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia). According to this view, no single, monolithic elite controls government and society. Instead, a group of specialized elites compete with one another for control.

  In contrast, Joseph Schumpeter’ political theory portrays the ordinary citizen to be a vulnerable and helpless person in a world dominated by the elite and their inter-elite feuds, much like Marx‘s communist theory. However, unlike Marx, Schumpeter’ theory seldom mentions power in the hands of intermediary groups such as community associations, religious associations, religious bodies, trade unions, business organizations and most importantly- society as a whole.

 According to pluralists and empirical democratic theorists, Schumpeter’s theory can be classified as incomplete or partial on the basis of its lack of attention towards intermediary groups. The pluralist model challenges Schumpeter’s theory by claiming that modern democratic politics is more competitive, and policy outcomes are far more satisfactory to all parties than Schumpeter suggested. Albeit, Schumpeter’s objection that capitalist or elitist oligarchies inspire government policy, echoes Marx’s argument against the liberal democratic goal of obtaining equality being hindered by capitalist interests. By this equation, the pluralist critique of Schumpeter is applicable to Marx as well. Pluralists refuted this claim that: the concentration of power in the hands of the competing political elite was inevitable; by extracting Max Weber’s idea that claimed, as mentioned above, the existence of many determinants of distribution of power and hence, many power centres (Held 2006, pg.158).

 Classical pluralists such as Robert A. Dahl and Charles E. Lindblom suggested that power is non-hierarchically and competitively arranged, as it is inextricably processed by bargaining between “interest groups”: a term used to describe business organizations, trade unions, political parties, ethnic groups, student unions, feminist groups, religious groups etc. Interest groups were structured in particular economic and cultural streams, namely:

a) Social Class

b) Ethnicity

c) Religion

There is no central decision making group in the classic pluralist model. Power is essentially distributed throughout society and interest groups may act as veto groups gradually to destroy legislation that they do not agree with. The government is there to mediate and adjudicate between different demands of different interest groups. Citizens must be given the right to vote once per election year between at least two competing political parties. Citizens have freedom of expression and freedom of organization to form interest groups to be vocal of these expressions. There is a system of checks and balances between the legislative, executive and judiciary arms of government which, diminishes the instance of corruption. All in all, it suggests that even though the major decision making process is vested in the government, small or large “interest groups” formed by ordinary citizens are influencing the government gradually: thus forming the pluralist view of democracy (Held 2006. Pg 161 - 165).

Marxists have dismissed classical pluralism as a narrowly ideological celebration of western democracies. They claim it to be optimistic and naïve. The ‘Elite Theory’ in particular, attacks classical pluralisms claim that modern democracy is the ‘ideal utopia’. The elite theory argues that a small minority of economic elites and policy planning groups, are sovereign in their control of power no matter what the outcome of an electoral term in a country. Via extensive networking among the business corporations, corporate boards, policy making networks and financial support of foundations, members of the elite faction can have considerable influence on policy making decisions within a country. This theory negates pluralism by suggesting that interest groups need high levels of resources and political connections or support to be able to contend for influence. This observation forms the basis for the theory of elite pluralism. Elite theorist Elmer Eric Schattschneider once said that “The flaw with the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent” (The Haworth Press Online Catalogue: Article Abstract).

 


Personal reflection:

“A house may be large or small; as long as the surrounding houses are equally small it satisfies all social demands for a dwelling. But let a palace arise beside the little house and it shrinks from a little house to a hut…however high it may shoot up in the course of civilisation, if the neighbouring palace grows to an equal or even greater extent the occupant of the relatively small house will feel more and more uncomfortable, dissatisfied and cramped with its four walls.” - Karl Marx (Tracing the link between poverty and relativity) (Singer 2002, pg 190).


Since the 19th century, social scientists have shed light upon the relative nature of morality in human societies. That is to say, that a child is raised to exalt values coveted or preserved by their society. The early Finnish sociologist Edward Westermarck was somewhat of a beacon that shined upon the landscape of social relativism. Westermarck mentions that in New South Wales, the first born of every lubra (aborigine woman) used to be eaten by the tribe as part of a religious ceremony. A practice that can be deemed criminal according to the norms of the readers of this tract, yet, relatively sacrosanct for the Aboriginal tribe that Westermarck speaks of (Russell 1977. pg 52).

  In the same manner, I believe that capitalism has made the modern human negligent to modern slavery. It has done this by introducing monetarism that has enslaved people to sell their labour to compete for social stratification. This monetary system has left human society paranoid. We distrust one another everyday for fear of someone fooling us in to paying too much or too less for a product or service, offered by them or us, respectively. The price tag on commodities, as Marx pointed out, has led to “commodity fetishism”, where we constantly judge ourselves or others by the value of the cars we drive, or the wrist watches we wear: we are determined by avarice. In the case of States, the might of a state is judged by its military arsenal rather than the quality of life it offers to its citizens.

People are enslaved in a mindset that is set to exalt cupidity. Yet, politicians have done little or nothing to change this. Egalitarianism seems impossible when in fact it is true that, the Earth broke away from the Sun five billion years ago; we are all the same substance, and thus have little reason to fear each other.

 We live in an age when environmental issues should haunt us, yet we(the bewildered herd as Walter Lippmann called us) are astoundingly unaware of the means of propelling out of this umbra. Technology is what has been humanities greatest achievement. A quality that sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is the fact that we can consciously invent things to solve and alleviate our daily complexities.

 Recent political debates have been hovering around environmental issues, and power production has been one topic central to this. At present, we possess the ability to tackle these issues with minimal use of scarce natural resources such as coal, gas and oil. Yet the representatives of the Roman Empire of our time: the United States of America; has managed to muster up solutions that are tedious at best. Nuclear energy, they say, is the present solution, and ten years of research could give way to an alternative bio-fuel or viable solar energy excavation; when at present, there is an energy source present that could provide enough to suffice the requirement of all the nations on earth: geothermal energy (energy excavated from the replenishing heat generated by the earth’s core).  A report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007 concluded that the worlds geothermal reserves could be up to 13,000 ZJ(zettajoules) of energy, with about 2000 ZJ being easily utilized with slight investment in research and development. An alarming amount, considering the entire earth consumes only 0.5 ZJ a year (Source: Geothermal.inel.gov the_future_of_geothermal_energy.PDF).

  I have to admit that I was not aware of the availability of this technology and resource until I saw an otherwise trite documentary: Zeitgeist Addendum. It is always important to take such works with a pinch of salt so I tried to confirm the data offered in that film myself, and it turns out that the means to pursue this resource are certainly available. In fact, the IGA (international geothermal association) has been around since 1988. Why then has there not been enough investment towards promoting this sustainable and renewable source of energy? Why are countries still trying to pollute the atmosphere by tapping in to their coal deposits to produce energy?  Although there have been a number of geothermal plants setup around the world- including one in Islamabad for a private office building by Pakistan's own Shan Geothermal- the promotion of this fantastic new technology has been very menial. 


So, basically, where the prospective fiscal spending on defence in the U.S will touch 790 billion US dollars in 2011 (Source: whitehouse.gov, FYI 2011 Presidents budget), the world has not enough money to run a billion dollar promotion campaign for Geothermal technology during the 2010 football world cup?

 On her internet blog, Naveen Naqvi writes:

According to Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), about 80% of deaths and 90% of illnesses in this country result from diseases which are considered preventable. If that statistic wasn’t startling enough, here’s another. Every ten minutes, a child dies in Pakistan from a disease that is preventable.” (Source)

 In this age of economic progress, a hegemonic war machine can be ignited to devour nations after allegedly losing about 6000 of its civilians, but the daily global child mortality rate of 24,000 (9 million deaths annually, mostly from preventable and curable diseases) cannot be conquered? Alas, in the light of such realities, I am left with little faith in an aristocratic democracy- as it seems quite evident, that Marx, Engels and Schumpeter were right about them being on a capitalist leash. Slogans that exalt democratic values have left me to conclude that: “democracy is the opium of the masses”. My only hope remains in the emergent nature of social gatherings that ease the dependence on a monetary system to estimate value and embrace the true virtues of humanity: our power to innovate and our recognition of all being one. After all, we are the same substance that makes those distant stars glow.



References:

Held, D 2006, Models of Democracy, 3rd edition, MPG books limited, Bodwin.

Russell, B, 1977, Political ideals,Unwin Hyman Limited, London.

Singer, P, 2002, One World: the ethics of globalisation,  Swan house, Melbourne.

Pluralism - dictionary.com. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=pluralism

Pluralism(political philosophy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia .  Retrieved July 4, 2010, from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralism_%28political_philosophy%29

The Haworth Press Online Catalogue: Article Abstract, Retrieved July 4, 2010 from:

http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=DV6MNL6PSDE09KT5XHTMPJEM9081124E&ID=2581

the_future_of_geothermal_energy.PDF. Retrieved July 4, 2010, from:

http://geothermal.inel.gov/publications/future_of_geothermal_energy.pdf

For some data on Pakistani Geo Thermal reserves and capacity, go to: http://www.geothermal-energy.org/215,welcome_to_our_page_with_data_for_pakistan.html

For more on Pakistan Geo Thermal reserves and capacity go to: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a919555295~db=all?tab=references