A thought, not so latent.

Self-consciousness and self-awareness lead to self-knowledge that instills self-trust and self-reliance which in turn generate self-confidence leading to self-worth/self-integrity/self-esteem blending with self-respect and culminating in self-realization which, essentially, is the psychological growth and maturation that represent the awakening and manifestation of the latent potentialities of a human being: viz. ethical, aesthetic, and religious activities and experiences. So join the bandwagon.

In reply to

Sara Bhuyan, a friend asking the following question:

How do you perceive Anna Hazare's campaign from a lawyer's point of view ? No doubt, corruption is rampant. From the perspective of an ordinary person like me, it looks like a small child kicking and screaming and spitting in a shipping mall when he does not get what he wants. May be I am trivialising the scene, but cannot help it ....

Here you go: the qn is difficult to answer in the limited time-frame as the issue is multi-faceted and an honest answer is time-consuming.

Still, I'd venture to say:

1. at the social level everybody except the immediate beneficiaries will fall in line with Anna's bold step of challenging corruption.

2. at the political level, its a time-bomb and no political parties will endorse it as they all are immersed in corruption... all parties need money to exist/ function- to fight the elections, they need money and there's no magic wand that will generate money other than corruption in the given circumstances. So this may be called 'functional' level as well.

3. at the constitutional level, it brings forth a few delicate issues- are laws to be made in the streets by social leaders or in the parliament by elected representitives of the people called law-makers.. how can democracy survive if Anna's demands are acceded to and what good legislatures are then???

(then the counter qn- Gandhiji and Jaya Prakashji led the people against governments to attain positive results for the people: Aren't all established bodies, including religious, corrupt? Dont they have to be corrected?)

The forth-going is the rule in my eyes as a lawyer too.

Remember- "No pain, No gain"

4. at the ethical level, hallelujah, we need more Annas.. He's doing it for a better tomorrow.. to get the country out of the filth she's in... "the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish" but shall perish if its not so... somebody has to bell the cat... he's doing my job when I'm sleeping in the safety of my home, may God guard him.

And what's ethically right is morally right too.

A child needs to be attended to when he/ she screams, period.

thanks..

Is Democracy, as we know it, on its way out?

Is western democracy coming apart at the seams?
Let me re-phrase,
Is Democracy, as we know it, on its way out?
A decade ago, only paranoid alarmists would have posed that question.


Today, it is an expression of cold, brutal realism, and no more cynicism.

On both sides of the Atlantic -- from the fires that raged in large stretches of London, to the political chicanery that brought the U.S. economy to its knees in early August -- the institutional framework that came to define modern democracy in the 19th century is in deep trouble. 


The principal organs of financial oversight and management are in tatters. Ferociously xenophobic political movements now play important roles in nearly every European nation, as well as the United States. 



Faith in elected leaders and legislatures, the central and defining institutions of democracy, has never been lower.



According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of the U.S. public expressing trust in the federal government has fallen from just under 80 per cent in the late 1960s to barely 20 per cent today. 


A European Union poll last September found that only 29 per cent of the voters in its 27 member-states trust their own national government. Less than 20 per cent believe that their elected representatives are capable of successful action "against the effects of the financial and economic crisis." 



A meagre seven per cent trust the United States, the West's political and economic giant, to address the crisis -- a resounding vote of no confidence a year before the disastrous U.S. Congressional budget struggle. 


These numbers, put bluntly, are staggering. 



Angry, violent civil disturbances, first in Paris and now in London, have revealed enormous tinderboxes of alienation. With the gap between rich and poor -- between philosophical democracy's matchless promise and contemporary democracies' transparent inequities -- expanding at a dizzying pace, more explosions are likely and perhaps inevitable. 



Again, in the Middle East and Central Asia, and at home in its urban streets, the Western Alliance is increasingly unable to maintain its values or defend them. 



Think about it..

Love,

Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil

Who rules the world?

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” – Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

How Much Wealth Do The Economic Elite Have?

While 68.3 million Americans struggle to get enough food to eat and wages are declining for 90 percent of the population, US millionaire household wealth has reached an unprecedented level. According to an extensive study by auditing and financial advisory firm Deloitte, US millionaire households now have $38.6 trillion in wealth. On top of the $38.6 trillion this study reveals, they have an estimated $6.3 trillion hidden in offshore accounts.

In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth, the majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one percent of the population.

If all this isn’t obscene enough, to further demonstrate how the global economy has now been completely rigged, Deloitte’s analysis predicated, based on current trends, that US millionaire households will see a 225 percent increase in wealth to $87.1 trillion by 2020. Accounting for wealth hidden in offshore accounts, they are projected to have over $100 trillion in total within the next decade.

Most people cannot even comprehend how much $1 trillion is, let alone $46 trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, or $1,000,000,000,000. To put it in perspective, last year the entire cost of feeding all 40 million Americans on food stamps was $65 billion.

Now consider, according to the latest IRS data, only 0.076 percent of the population, less than one-tenth of one percent, earned over $1 million in 2009.
The highest bracket for annual income is $50 million or more. Only 74 Americans are in this elite group. The average income within this category was $91.2 million in 2008. As astonishing as that is, in 2009 they averaged $518.8 million each, or about $10 million per week. This means, in the depths of the recession, the richest 74 Americans increased their income by more than five times within this one year. These 74 people made more money than 19 million workers combined.

In context, overall, the richest 400 people in the US have as much wealth as 154 million Americans combined, that’s 50 percent of the entire country. The top economic 1 percent of the US population now has a record 40 pecent of all wealth, and have more wealth than 90 percent of the population combined.

Who Rules America? Its the The Economic Top 0.1 Percent -

Here is an analysis from an investment manager with mega-wealthy clients breaking down the economic top 0.5 percent of the population, recently published by William Domhoff, sociology professor and author of Who Rules America?:

"Unlike those in the lower half of the top 1%, those in the top half and, particularly, top 0.1%, can often borrow for almost nothing, keep profits and production overseas, hold personal assets in tax havens, ride out down markets and economies, and influence legislation in the US. They have access to the very best in accounting firms, tax and other attorneys, numerous consultants, private wealth managers, a network of other wealthy and powerful friends, lucrative business opportunities, and many other benefits..."

Just take a minute to think about this.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your week,
Love,

Alex Abraham Odikandathil

Me kidding..

Vodka and ice will ruin your kidneys.
Rum and ice will ruin your liver.
Whisky and ice will ruin your heart.
Gin and ice will ruin your brain.
Coke and ice will ruin your teeth.

Hey guys, warn all your friends:

That bloody ice is lethal..

Lay off ice..
But you know that I'm kidding,

stay away from all alcoholic beverages, please.....

You will it!

The more time you spend feeling sorry for yourself, the more things you'll have to be sorry about.
If you insist on seeing yourself as a victim, you'll end up experiencing your life as a victim.
It doesn't have to be that way because you can choose right now, and every day, to see yourself
in a positive, delightful and empowering light. The way you see yourself is up to you. It doesn't have

anything to do with the circumstances you happen to be facing.

See yourself as the unique, beautiful, creative and effective person you know you are.

See yourself as a bundle of positive, inspiring and meaningful possibilities that are well

on their way to be fulfilled.

See that you are able to successfully handle whatever it is that life sends your way.

See that you are able to thrive and grow and make positive meaning out of the world

in which you live.
See yourself as constantly moving forward through it all, with love and joy and purpose.
And what you see, you will be.

They say you are what you eat.

I say you are what you honestly believe yourself to be.