India is a SupErpowEr! Huh? u mEan rEd Indians?

Part 1 of a myth-busting.

There is a widespread illusion of super prowess in the Indian nation, primarily among the India middle class which can be attributed to the economic growth they have seen in the past decade or so. I believe this illusion began appearing somewhere during the reign of the Vajpayee lead BJP coalition at the center during the latter half of last decade of 20th century. The trigger should be considered as the Pokhran blasts and the associated nationalist rhetoric put up by the BJP (which apparently failed them in the next elections). Apart from this, the middle class saw their standard of living rise and the nation witnessed the IT boom and the rise of India as a software powerhouse (the illusion of Indian Software power will come later). This Pokhran lead nuclear "surge" and the associated economic burgeoning lead the news media to put out the superpower rhetoric; which the Indian middle class readily believed just as anyone would believe that there are a billion galaxies each with a billion stars in it. With the spread of computers and emails and social networking; mails spread around the web educating the children of the great Indian middle class that they are living in a Utopian super power society. We are taught to be proud of our scientific history, our nuclear capabilities, our great military and many other factors like number of Indians heading multinationals, Indians forming a considerable force at NASA, Microsoft filled with Indians and so forth. I believe there is a generation of Indians who think that its just our self restraint that keeps other countries from bowing down to us.

But are we really so? Who is a superpower in the current world context? I think there are three main categories according to which super powers can be called so - military, economic, political.

First and foremost military super power - the best example being the USA. They are the most powerful military in the whole world in terms of combat expert, effectiveness and technology. They take risks like no one else so as to attain whatever ends that their masters at the White house and the Pentagon want them to. In any conventional or non-conventional form of war fare (lets rule out nuclear weapons); there is no contention as to who will emerge the winner. After the second world war we have seen a lot of their military greatness in action all over the world - from covert ops in the Latin Americas to conventional warfare in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq to tactical warfare in the Balkans and the Russian union; apart from a few failures they were mostly success (as far as the myopic eye goes). That stature has not changed or even shows any sign of change as far as the immediate future is considered. So as far as the military might goes, USA is the sole superpower with no parallel. And where does India figure in all this? We are still the second largest army (fueled and filled in by the large population and poverty), who has seen no major victories apart from some costly endeavors against an ill equipped Pakistan. We were no match for the Chinese or the small terrorist outfit LTTE. An army that has hardly seen any combat duty after 1971 Bangladesh endeavor and the nuisance (it was made out into a war, because it sounds great) that was Kargil (that was costly for the army with almost 1 soldier killed for every 2 infiltrator; but not that costly considering the gargantuan size of the army and the money made by the politicos buying coffins for the bravest of Indians). We still marvel at the sight of refurbished aircraft carriers purchased from Russian scrap dealers (figure of speech). Our Navy has seen hardly any combat duty apart from foiling some piracy attempts and capturing Somali pirates/. Air force is no better with a large fleet of aging and rusting aircraft peeling off mid-air and the infamous flying coffins (Mig 21). During the Kargil conflict politicians strictly wanted no crossing of the LOC, not because of the moral superiority but because they were fully aware that if some insurgents can bring down a few Indian aircraft, the better equipped Pakistani military can bring down the whole of it, if it crosses the border. To suffice, India is hardly in any position to flex its military muscle to coerce any nation to follow its will and therefore it is hardly any superpower in this context. Let us be content with keeping peace in African and eastern European countries and after all that’s what we all want.

(to be continued...)

india, womEn & arrangEd marriagE

Love marriage or arranged marriage - the perpetual question in group discussions and the favourite of debaters and perhaps one of the most clichéd argument topics in India. I was dreading the day when I will take up my e-quill to spray my take on this subject all over the blog. And finally for me it all fell into a single piece and here u can have my arguments on this. But I’m sure I have no where read about a similar argument and as far as I know I’m pretty authentic with this one...

So ask for the greatest advantage of an arranged marriage and the elders will undoubtedly say “stability”. Perhaps Indian subcontinent might be the only place where arranged marriages are practiced in such abundance. In the west and the 'other' east, its “man vs. wild” in the fight for woman or vice-versa.

I remember learning in history classes that in India during the Vedic period women were much freer than they ever were in the 19th or 20th centuries. But something terrible happened after the Vedic period and there was the Dark Age the passage of which meant more of darkness for the Indian women. Finally it all boiled down to a state where women were no longer considered part of the homo-sapiens. They were just a tool to produce off-springs so that the male child can help the father in his business and girl child can be burdened off to some poor male soul so that he too can have offspring.

It’s in this so called patriarchal or male centric society that women were considered subservient and their dignity and stature as humans eroded in the long run without education, social contact or any other forms of action with a scope for emancipation. The woman too adjusted to this and they surrendered their dignity to the male society and started coping with the way they were treated – a rather sad kind of Stockholm syndrome. It is in this context that I believe arranged marriages became common method for stable marriages with the choice lying solely with the groom. It is this setup where the women who were down the chasm of social recognition and lacking total support not even from fellow women, that arranged marriages soon translated to mean stable marriages.

As the country progressed socially with the arrival of British raj and later after the independence, economically with a more inclusive social growth, the women were granted rights to education, social status, recognition and dignity. With this her level of awareness grew and after the wake of the millennium she stands almost in par with the men (at least in certain highly educated societies and cities). She no longer feels the compulsion to stick with an un-adjusting or moronic husband just because she is a woman. I would be lying if I don’t mention the fact that Indian woman are more conditioned to adapt, suffer and tolerate compared to their western counterparts owing to the mental and psychological conditioning she has received through centuries of consistent ill treatment and brain washing (and it may still be present in their DNA for decades to come). The society as a whole has become more liberal and as a result divorcees from arranged marriages have also increased.

So in all, the so called stability of the arranged marriage is a farce act by the so called protectors of the society’s moral fabric. When, in this society women attain the same status as that of men in all places, all conditions and in all strata of the society, the facade and the whole structure of this dumb charade will crumble. Then it will be a victory not for those who argued against arranged marriages in debates but it will be a victory for the better half of the world.

arE wE nEgativEly chargEd

First of all this is not a musing of mine on physics. But it rather is the output of another deep endeavor into human psychology and sociology, or whatever people call this stuff.

I have seen a lot of American/Western television and movies than Indian. I don’t know why I’m so inclined to western movies and TV shows; maybe it’s the lack of creativity in Indian cinema/TV art community. What matters in this discussion is that I see much more negative portrayal of life in Indian TV than in its western counterpart.

I’ve been thinking for long, why is this so? Is it because we Indians have a negative attitude towards life? In most of the fictional series and movies in India, I see pain, suffering and generally a lack of harmony and happiness. Those who come up with this lackluster real-life dramatization have a point to make; that is they are accurately depicting the so called real-world or real-life. But what’s the point? Even after 60 or more years of combined depiction of real-India, where have we reached so far? The causes for the dismal portrayal of life still linger and looms shadow over the lives of a large section of the populace. If the so called depiction have not commanded a change after 6 decades, isn't it high time we change it for good?

Or is it this negative portrayal (or the portrayal of life which itself is largely negative) that continues to push us to the brink of a humanitarian crisis of social ill-being? The large number of suicides in the country reflects in many soap-operas in Indian TV. Whenever the hero or heroine or his/her wife/husband/mother/father comes to a standstill in life; their reaction is so obvious, suicide. Media takes up the stories of suicides with great zeal and the encouragement from fictional TV serials is no lesser. What is the cause what?

Although life must be hard, people should be shown and taught to fight it and not to succumb to it. But at the same time, we must not ignore the people who face the hardships. If we have more pleasantries in life from the TV, then I believe our general outlook itself will become positive.
TV and cinema are becoming more and more crucial to shaping of the nation. It is the duty of the perpetrators of fiction to bring in more happiness and reasons for cheer into the lives of avid audience in order to have a future generation with a pleasant outlook.

In a situation where people are increasingly tuning in to the media advice, the onus is on the media industry...

thE grEat indian Election trick

The rise in power of the Indian middle class is no less explained by the great Indian unifier called the elections. this time to make matters more interesting to those who can read, is the latest IT oriented manifesto bought out by none other than bha ja pa or BJP.

delving deep in this episode, is into the atrocious chasms that our politicians get down to secure their powers. let me go down one such abyss to take a look at the offers that might woo the real silicon valley to India. it starts with the general rhetoric of every politician;

- 12 million job offers in the rural sector
Well not so bad. Already a million of the unorganized sector jobs have been lost to recession. remember so far recession has only started to grow its tentacles around India. just imagine what will be the scenario when it really grips India? never mind elect BJP to power and all this and more will come back.

- laptops at 10 grands for 10 million students
The wonderful performance of our students is because of the absence of laptops. had there been laptops they could have watched lots of porno, movies, songs with which they will become the best performers for any political party which is the party cadre. after all unemployed uneducated youth are the best cadre for any party.

- bank account for everyone
This one will definitely be a super hit in rural India and among the urban poor. (Only if banks will accept poverty and hunger as deposits).

- for people below the poverty line a smart mobile phone
Oh, why are these people below poverty line; its easy they don't have smart phone. its the only thing lacking in their life. with a smart phone they can google, consult with their American counterparts, place online order from shops & hotels and this will save them money which was earlier spend on food and clothing and occasionally on shelter. I thought BPL stood for below poverty line. Now i understand that it means below phone (smart) line.

- broadband connectivity in all villages
That is easy; we can make the poor in the villages to dig pits in which to lay the fiber optic cable which is going to bring in connectivity to their villages. once they have connectivity they need not travel (which was already difficult because of the absence of roads) and they can sell their goods in international market without middle men at international prices.

- internet in every school and countless other schemes.
Yes! phones with cameras are bad and they should be abolished in schools as they are spreading cheap porno among students. with broadband they can subscribe to high quality international porno which will enrich their international exposure)

- national digital highway
Already the national information highways are so congested that it takes days for essential supplies like smart phones and laptops to reach villages.

- Abolish sale of software that could not be used in regional languages
Someone please invent darwasas and kidkis for Indian computers.

Every election right from the first one saw politicians barging into the peaceful life on Indians with false and will-never-keep promises. but this undoubtedly is the best one which should be written in golden letters in the annals of all democratic constitutions.

After all who knows if BJP comes into power we may not even see people outside the streets (not because every one or the other will be killed in some communal riot but they will be busy enriching their lives in their digital fortresses.

an auction in action

India is a nation of great principles, morals and values. as a matter of fact we treat these items as prized and priced possessions and keep them in beautifully made up show cases and galleries, so that everyone can see them and no one can use them. yes that's the truth, nothing but the truth. all the goodness of a culture of millenniums are kept good and clean in the display cases of pure uselessness.

who or what was Gandhi? it was not his specs or his long walking stick or his bowls that made him the man the world knows. it was his principles of ahimsa and love. so instead of worshiping these principles as the main idols we are worshiping his glasses, watches and personal artifacts. it could not be explained better by the big hoopla created over the auction of some his personal items. it was as if the whole idea of Gandhi was contained in those 5 pieces of historical artifacts. only a few days ago was it discovered that wooden desks someone found from the governments store houses and cleaned and exported to some foreign nation were priceless pieces of history. not a big thing for we Indians, huh? we through away these items as junk and when some foreigner understands its value then suddenly we want it back. if it was not for the tourism dollars that our "crap" bought from these foreigners would we ever had maintained these things as we see today?

there was a lot of pep talk and requests and even diplomatic relations used to cancel the auction of Gandhi memorabilia. but the collector and the auction house went ahead and there was no return. whole political leadership and the middle class was in tantrums. gandhi was up for sale. how unthinkable. why dont we see the paradox. we had already ditched him in the ugliest and filthiest of sewers and his own land had set the precedence when thousands were massacred in the Gujarat riots. oh dont think that i'm a Gandhian. i am way below his perceptions of a free Indian. but what prompts mee to write this is the hypocrisy that surounds India and which has engulfed its people.

to get back to the story, finally salvation came to India when Vijay Mallya the liquor baron bought them for $1.8 million. the same kind of people who Gandhi despised. an Indian made rich by selling the very item Gandhi always wanted to ban. the man who lives in extreme luxury amidst the millions of poor, who brings out special swim suit issues of his calender, who owns yachts and even a cricket team (no problems for me, but again I dont think Gandhi will appprove) and the whole of India was praise for Mr Mallya. even the Navjivan trust who Gandhi himself established declared "Mallya made India proud". the whole of Gujarat was announced celebrating; celebrating the great Indian hypocrisy. the politicians were not left behind. cultural minister was speaking as if she instructed Mallya to bid for Gandhi even when Mallya was refusing this claim by saying he acted on his own.

Good thing the Mahatma was cremated otherwise he would have been twisting and turning in his grave.

mera bharat mahaan!!!

what bafflEd mE in the US or an idiots guidE to US of A

I should have written about it much earlier, but going by my instincts of procrastination I thought this is the right time to do this.
Well US of A is an amalgam of cultures, which unlike India, means you have one pulp of all the culture of the world. And that also means finding Americans wherever you go in America. This comes as quite a surprise for Indians when they find Bengalis, Tamilians, Mallus, Gujarati, Punjabis etc when travelling in India.

Rather than banging on the wall with my irrelevant visions into the minds of a diabolic, let me come back to the point.

These are the things I found intriguing, amazing, mind boggling, baffling or in short quite different from India.

1. They drive on the right side of the road.
I thought this is a piece of cake to adapt to but the harsh reality is after more than a quarter of a century of living in India I got used to the idea of driving on the left and walking on the right so much so that I was almost hit by a speeding car when I forgot to remember this fact. This was a lesson I learnt the hard way.

2. Water should not be drunk.
We in India use water for almost say 70% of our bodily activities. But the Americans use either coke or some other soft drinks for filling up the 70% water occupies in a human body in India. I seldom see people (Americans) drink water. Even when they drink water (the intake of which may be counted on your fingers) they take it with a lot of ice even in freezing winter.

3. Their switches go up to turn on the light
Another silly but easy to miss adaptation point. They push the switched up to turn them on and down to turn them off. A logic which quite well goes with the common notion of up being positive and down being negative. I remember in my ancestral home some of the old switches still go up to turn on whereas the latest version of switched come down to turn on. I believe we reversed our rationales and packed them together with the British when the left for the isles. Believe me not this was the hardest thing for me to master (not to say that I finally mastered this thing).

4. What is a mug and bucket?
A mug and a bucket are the sure shot ingredients of an Indian toilet (if there is one). We use the bucket to collect water and mugs to slam that water through the ass holes to cleanse the body after the wastes are passed out. But since the Americans have an aversion to water when it comes to body it should be quite obvious that they do our task better with paper. This was one of the first oddities I adapted to. But when I look back now I wonder how the hell I was able to do that?

5. Early to bed and early to rise, I thought it to be purely Indian.
Early Indian texts supposedly speak about rising early and after the bath saying prayers in the Brahma muhoortha which is said to be best time for the learners. Well not anymore westernization took that away; by away I mean they now own that concept. When all the Indian it companies it is an unwritten policy to come late and leave late. But not so in the America where people come early and leave early. I was truly awed when I heard that some guys come at 6 in the morning. I hardly wake up at 8am.

6. Policemen are too polite coz...
Almost all the Indians who had ever met the Indian police will agree on this fact. American policemen are very polite; they address you using 'sir', 'madam' and talk very softly and calmly and all that stuff. Well I too feel the same although I never had a chance to hear them speak to me. But to go by the idea that the films normally depict the culture in the country in which it is made it too agree with this point. But as in one film Robert de Nero remarks, most people respect the badge but everybody respects the gun, have you noticed that the nice speaking police man always has one of his hands on the trigger ready to shoot you if you make the slightest mistake. By shooting I mean shoot to kill not to hurt you or to maim, but to kill. So this politeness can be treated as the politeness extended to an animal of meat before it is culled. I prefer the harsh talking police men of India who hardly shoots anyone than the awkwardly polite western police.

7. Elections, silence as if in a funeral house.
This was the eve of an American presidential election which was turning all tables of precedence to elect a black man to the most prestigious office in the world. Compare the elections there in the US and in India. Here it is like a festival. We have a habit of turning everything to a festival and democracy is the most widely celebrated festival in India. All the people and netas on the road, posters, banners, flex boards, announcements, public meetings and stuff make it noticeable all around the place. But the American election is too calm and quiet to even notice it. Meetings and announcements are conducted in a concealed manner. May be they are fed up of democracy or I wonder if it is a democracy at all.

8. Courtesy and patience.
I believe this is one thing all Indians can emulate. At least patience, here everyone is such a hurry that they hardly think about themselves. May be its struggle for survival that makes Indians go crazy, hazy. Although we are never courteous a good deed done will always be rewarded and not just considered over with thanks.

9. Cars, more important than legs.
I think the number of cars outrun the number of people in this nation. The home to the biggest car market, there are on an average 2 cars per home. Cars are like your seconds pair of legs. And without a car, if you are not in New York you are pretty much an imbecile. This is a lesson I learnt the hard way as I was confined to my hotel and office and missing the most of the life in American. If I ever go there one more time, even if for a week, I will definitely get a car.

10. Ads means insurance, medicines and phone companies
When most of the ads in Indian television are soaps, foods, washing powders and targeting kids and youth the ads in American TV are all about insurance and medicines. As a cherry to pudding there are some mobile service provider's ads too. May be these shows the Americans dependence on medicines and insurance? They live the worst kind of nutritional diet and for all your diseases they run to the doctors and the pharmacy companies have carved such a niche for themselves with this medicine obsessed population who has a heavy dependence on health care which only insurance companies can provide.

After all I feel that if Indian is little more clean and disciplined I would love to stay in this country for ever more.

do amEricans cElEbratE Christmas?

Of course dummy they do. That will be the first reaction of any normal human being. After all they are one large conglomeration of Christians and of course they ought to celebrate it.
OK, now let me explain my stand on this. Americans do CELEBRATE during Christmas. Wait a minute, I said, celebrate DURING Christmas. Hmm I smell a rat. In fact what I meant is Americans don't spare the celebration during Christmas, but what they seem to celebrate is question worth asking. Well, the time from Black Friday to Christmas is the biggest shopping season in the US of A. So what? During these 30 days or so, in the name of Christmas they spent a hell of a sum shopping for gifts and other such items of colossal waste not to mention the parties and boozing during Christmas. All this to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who, despite being son of the God, opted to be born in a humble manger outside the rich & prosperous quarters of the city. In celebrating Christmas as a giant shopping season they are destroying the name of the Christ and the path that he asked us to follow, one of humility and service to others.

The way Christmas has been contorted is so evident that the main character during this season is Santa Claus. The picture of Santa that I had was one of a priest who led a pious life and helped the poor and needy of his society and who never took or wanted to take credit for any of his work. Claus has been turned into a gargantuan of consumerism and capitalist awkwardness.

It seems, Americans are taught from childhood onwards to be big spender and they reach the pinnacle of this during this season. How else can you explain the greed and selfishness that surrounded the black Friday trampling of a security guard in one of the wal-mart stores during this year’s black Friday? I heard that the Wal-Mart was temporarily closed because of this sad demise but they customers demanded that the store be opened. All this from a supposedly high cultured society that wears this mask of courtesy and pretence.

As Gandhiji once remarked, if the Christians acted like the Christ did, then all world would be Christian and peaceful. By jumping into this madness of consumerist bandwagon, pride, arrogance, selfishness and greed they have denounced the teachings of Christ and no longer credits themselves to be called Christians. But they quote God for all the wrong reasons like going to war and attacking helpless civilians and destroying nations.

The only silver lining seems to be the fact that the name of the Christ is associated only with the name "Christmas" and as years go by this time of the year will be called something like mega shopping season or festival of shopping.

tExas sizEd

There is a saying in Malayalam which I can roughly translate like this; when you are in the land of people who eat snakes, eat the centre piece itself. I would rather say this is the mallu ideology that has kept them going to all corners of the world and help them survive and thrive in entirely different cultures. to further nail down this point I will say that if you look into any overseas mallu community you will find that they are the ethnic group that have merged the most into the mainstream culture more than any other immigrant cultures. These mallus have embraced the alien culture as their own and by the time their second generation is mature, apart from the skin color, you don’t have anything to distinguish them from the mainstream populace. I have that mallu blood in me and that kept me going without any hassles in this land of Texas, us of a where I find many of my non-mallu Indian friends struggling with food, culture and anything conceivable American.

I should'nt have told all these for a silly matter as writing a blog about Texas. Well that’s the truth (about me and mallus), I always add extra to whatever I do.

Texas is the largest state in the American mainland (Alaska is the largest among all the states in US). By large I mean LARGE. Everything in Texas is huge. From the state, stores, population, roads, cars, trucks, people and even kids. There are vast stretches of open roads connecting big cities. People drive big trucks which consume big oil and eat foods which make them big fat. Texas is like a cruel joke played by the gods to make a state full of obese people. I will explain my conclusion. The state is too big for its already big population (unlike India). Stores are so huge so that you can measure their floor area in acres. And they live faraway from one another lest their big appetite may eat their neighbors. Residential areas are far away from all these commercial areas. So walking from one store to another and to home is impractical and unthinkable. So people move around in their cars. Besides according to American standards the food is cheaper and you get more food per penny. So naturally people eat a lot. No work and all eating make a Texan a fat boy. Thus Texas has one of the largest concentrations of obese people on the planet. No wonder...

In order to take on the vast stretches of roads and for outback riding trucks are the best here and in this land of plenty gasoline is the last concern and voila they have huge gas guzzling trucks and SUVs. After all these driving around and lazy life the only real work that they have is fornication and voila, u has the second largest state by population in US of A.

No wonder, they call something of enormous proportions, Texas sized...

changEling

Today I saw the movie changeling directed by Clint Eastwood. I am a big fan of Eastwood's movies (those he acted and directed). My immediate reaction was "wow", this is a wonderful bizarre and powerful movie. In fact the best movie I have seen so far after coming to the US. It is a depression era story about a mother whose son went missing and the police who wanted to shove another kid into her life as if that kid is her own son. The one-line plot summary may not look exceptional but the narrative sure does. I looked at it not like an abduction and violence themed drama but as a an opening into the struggles faced by the commoners at the hands of the establishment.

The establishment says we decide who your child is and who you are and you have to accept it. If not you are insane. There is a scene in the movie where the mother is in a mental asylum and she is given a choice; accept that you were wrong in accusing the authorities and you can go free, or else you will stay here for the rest of your life. It may sound as total nonsense to us in these times. But look at the bigger picture. They says look there are terrorists over there. OK, says we and they go after some hapless souls, destroys their family, livelihood and even a nation. People are guided into a false pretext of safety so that when they feel safe, sound a threatening alarm and then whatever you give them they will quite happily accept it. so that they can continue with their mediocre and carefree life inside the box. This element has gone so deep into the human psyche so that they hardly see or think outside the box and those who do so are framed insane.

For example look at the police encounters which happened in India. All these years we were told that they were terrorists. Thankfully a lot of them were. But what about the others? Political dissidents or personal enemies were portrayed as insane, crazy, wild enemies of the states and then the state machinery took care of them. What an ingenious way to get rid of one's enemies! As a matter of fact, labeling someone as insane is the best option to silence him. People no longer pay attention to them. How can you prove yourself sane once you are assigned the status of an insane? They say denying insanity itself is the best sign to identify an insane person. You will be doomed for eternity.

All these things again make me reiterate the prediction that governments get to gain more control over their people. Perhaps future will be inside Matrix, may not be the exact one we saw in the movie.

socialism in frEE markEt ?

if not then tell me whats happening in the US, with all the government bailout of big banks and probably the auto giants? i would like to see the staunch proponents of free market speaking out against this "ghastly" act of state intervention in the market. i once read about this guy who told that markets have the ability to correct itself and the big companies will always act in the direction favorable to consumers so that they wont lose the market. but what happened now will hopefully give Keynes the rest he deserved. After the financial institutions were bailed out of their misdemeanor its the turn of the big auto makers who are begging at Washington for financial assistance. Assistance for what? Flying back to Detroit on their private jets? or for a cocktail party at some posh golf course to celebrate the "victory"? Why should they be appreciated for mis-management and for the beleif and actions which was on the line that the American way of gas guzzling vehicles will go on for ever? and i don't see any difference between government owning industry or government intervening in industry whether it be a bailout or an emergency loan. What is this? A freaking subsidy to the big conglomerates from the same government which is pressurising the third world to cut down on subsidies that they give for their less-than-a-dollar-a-day farmers?

It seems that the anti-socialism running in the veins of those neo-cons is outright hypocrisy. Those who are unwilling to pay more tax so that his neigbour may have good health care is, shelling out his money for the big companies. This is all crap.

With the last fortress of "freedom" (the free market) also intervend upon by the government, what is left in the land of free? Already the various federal agencies are prying into citizens life. i wonder what kind of free speech it is in this nation, if someone expresses a different political view, he is spied upon. all these make me predict that governements all around the world , however freedom they may proclaim on paper, will cut down on freedom as humanity evolves and finally mankind will reduce itself to some vegitative state or Matrix itself may become a reality with machines and the governement machinery (if ever there will exist one) feeding and controlling the lives of hapless victims of civilization.

i'm hoping that these things wont happen even though the future looks bleak.