Would You Sign This Petition
As I was walking down the street this afternoon I came upon a group of protesters shouting slogans. Given my command over the native languages it took me a second to figure out what they were saying. While attempting to understand the slogans being chanted, some fairly well educated upwardly mobile women walked up to me. “Would you sign this petition against M.F. Hussain’s representation of the nude mother India” I was asked.
Politely refusing the offer I walked away with a number of thoughts running through my head. I asked how different are these people from those that were against Salman Rushdi for “Satanic Verses” or for that matter the fundamentalists that chose to target the Danish Cartoonist for his strip on Mohammad
What has become of the freedom of speech? In the words of Michael More “Was that all a dream”
I think this debate should be seen in the larger context of tolerance and upholding the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. Today everyone seems to have a gripe about “Those People”. This fundamental intolerance cuts across all sections of society. And if not checked this will kill the spirit of democracy as we know it.
The other day I got a mail asking me to attend a rally against certain movies that have cast aspersions on the catholic faith. In my reply to the mail I asked if people’s belief systems were so shallow as to be shattered by just one other person’s opinion.
My humble submission is that if you spend the time that you would protesting, in doing some work towards a social cause, the world would be a better place.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
News Arbitrage
The News business serves the function of realignment of the information asymmetry that exists in society due to naturally occurring factors such as geographic locations, and time differentials. One of the earliest forms of news was the hand written accounts of political diktats from Caesar in 59BC.
The newspaper had come a long way from there and at its peak formed the backbone of the information dissemination mechanism till as late as the 1980s. They not only reported fact but were also used to influence opinion through editorials and special interest stories.
Fast forward to today and so much has changed. Given that TV, Radio and the Web cover news as it happens, people look towards newspapers for thought leadership and opinion setting.
Yet every morning when you go through the news paper it is significantly difficult to find legitimate news let alone thought leadership. The newspaper today consists largely of sensationalism, regional supplements, and special topic supplements. Where is all the news gone I ask. I often find myself going through the process of hunting for something interesting or stimulating to read.
I venture that the only use for newspapers given the trash that they publish is for its arbitrage value. The raddi wala (scrap paper buyer) gives you 5-7 rupees for every kilo of newspaper that you sell him. Given that the cost of the newspaper every morning is around 2 rupees I am increasingly inclined to just sell the paper and make profit on it. It is definitely a better use than reading it. Imagine another business that would give you over a 100% profit
The News business serves the function of realignment of the information asymmetry that exists in society due to naturally occurring factors such as geographic locations, and time differentials. One of the earliest forms of news was the hand written accounts of political diktats from Caesar in 59BC.
The newspaper had come a long way from there and at its peak formed the backbone of the information dissemination mechanism till as late as the 1980s. They not only reported fact but were also used to influence opinion through editorials and special interest stories.
Fast forward to today and so much has changed. Given that TV, Radio and the Web cover news as it happens, people look towards newspapers for thought leadership and opinion setting.
Yet every morning when you go through the news paper it is significantly difficult to find legitimate news let alone thought leadership. The newspaper today consists largely of sensationalism, regional supplements, and special topic supplements. Where is all the news gone I ask. I often find myself going through the process of hunting for something interesting or stimulating to read.
I venture that the only use for newspapers given the trash that they publish is for its arbitrage value. The raddi wala (scrap paper buyer) gives you 5-7 rupees for every kilo of newspaper that you sell him. Given that the cost of the newspaper every morning is around 2 rupees I am increasingly inclined to just sell the paper and make profit on it. It is definitely a better use than reading it. Imagine another business that would give you over a 100% profit
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