Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2020

Meaning of Developed, Developing and Underdeveloped.

We often hear the terms 'developed countries', 'developing countries' and 'underdeveloped countries'. It has nothing to do with progress or backwardness. It simply means industrially developed or under developed. Why is this significant? Futurist Alvin Toffler in his seminal book  ' The Third Wave '  proposes how humankind developed and evolved in waves from early nomadic people, till today.  Ever wondered why some societies were rich and powerful and now not so?  In the earliest period nomadic leaders and tribes were those who had more livestock and members, to forage, hunt and fight. In the first wave humans moved from being hunter/forager to farming. During this wave the wealthiest and most powerful were those societies that owned and controlled the maximum amount of fertile land. Today societies that are predominantly first wave are amongst the poorest countries because they are seen as the industrially undeveloped economies.

Preparing the young for life

R to L: We brothers. Varinder, Gurvinder, Parvinder and late Paramjeet with visitors from Bendix Corp. (1984) It is a fallacy, to believe that merely sending our children to school and college, will prepare them for life.  There is no perfect way to prepare the young, but parents and family can play a powerful role, in successfully preparing the young for life.   An approach that facilitates both success and  happiness is to enrich the lives of the young.  To not stifle them in our bosom, but  expose  them to life as early as is safe and possible.  This enables the young to learn at the more impactful formative phase of life.  It usually instils in them a sense of independence born out of learning to take responsibility for their thoughts, actions and results. The young should be acclimatised to the real world at an early age and this is the responsibility of the elders. If we fail to do this,  ' The young grow arrogant before they awaken. They  becom

Joining the Family Business

Generally speaking, until they are about 10 years of age, children are sure their parents are superheroes, clever, and the most loving people in the whole world. They are the best.  When youngsters join college, at about age 16 they think, parents to be the biggest idiots in the world. Old fashioned, in thoughts and everything else. When they leave college at about 20, they do not think, they know their parents are outdated if not actually stupid. If they join the family business at about age  22 they are certain that such people cannot be their true parents. When they have worked for about 5 years, they suddenly realise how smart and wise their parents are.  ______________ It is a fascinating and exciting time, when the young join the family business. It is also frustrating and can even be hazardous for everyone concerned, if not handled properly. There is no perfect way, but there are some good principles. here is one way I recommend those who seek my counsel. 

Empires, always appear their strongest just before their collapse

The main role of the Central Intelligence Agency with its US$ 38 billion annual budget at that time was to keep an eye on the USSR.  Along with all the innumerable 'experts' in ' Think Tanks ', media, US State Department , The White House , The Pentagon they were all caught by surprise, when on 26 Dec 1991, the empire called Soviet Union dissolved into 15 Republics. This at a time when experts saw USSR as extremely powerful, none of them even had an inkling as to the likely collapse of the USSR .  I mention the Soviet Union collapse, so readers can get a perspective on the reliability of so called ' experts ' on China. Nothing about China is as it seems. The opacity of the Communist Party of China 's rule of China and its adroitness in concealing information to mislead the world and its own people coupled is legendary. With the narrative brought to us by 'experts' confined to their narrow disciplines and specialities makes understan