Comments for Chaturanga

Comment on Petrol and Other Stories by Personal Concerns

Personal Concerns — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:36:42 +0000

hmm…food for thought for sure!

Comment on Petrol and Other Stories by Jaideep A. Prabhu

Jaideep A. Prabhu — Sat, 26 May 2012 11:02:37 +0000

I am committed to the idea of throwing off the shackles of the oil-archy. Not the best fuel for the environment and makes the world too dependent on the whims of a few states. OPEC realises the potential backlash against them for high oil prices, and they would like to keep the prices low enough so as not to encourage the sort of thinking in this post. However, they are presently busy directing their windfall in oil earnings into social programmes to keep their citizens happy and such. Arab Spring weighs heavily on the minds of many OPEC members.

Comment on Petrol and Other Stories by Personal Concerns

Personal Concerns — Sat, 26 May 2012 02:16:31 +0000

thanks for this interesting information. yeah..it does sound like a wonderful proposal and it is high time the government gives it a serious thought!

Comment on The Stuff of Empires by Jaideep A. Prabhu

Jaideep A. Prabhu — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:13:13 +0000

I say at the outset that this is too vast a topic for a blog and that I was going to look at only a few overarching theories only! But as to your points,

1. Absolutely…the term is ‘gunboat diplomacy.’ I don’t use that term, but I do say that mercantile activity was forced upon locals.
2. Church did not push/initiate imperialism, though they certainly enjoyed the wealth and converts.
3. 20th century? Where? By mid-19th century, serfdom was abolished, and the Abolitionists had contributed their bit too.
4. The good Indian – dead Indian quote was by General Phillip Sheridan in 1869, an American. Not imperialist but expansionist. Racist and genocidal, but not imperialist.

Comment on The Stuff of Empires by Amit Gupta (@philAmit)

Amit Gupta (@philAmit) — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:48:15 +0000

Interested in cause of rise of Europe?
1. Why don’t you correlate the rise of European kingdoms with the ‘use of sea piracy as state policy’.
2. Expansion of European imperialism also concurred with Renaissance in Europe. This was the time when Church began losing absolute power in Europe and thus ordered the Kings under their influence to explore new avenues. The loot went to Kingdom, while the converts grabbed by Church.
3. Slave trade is an important factor which is rarely discussed but contributed a lot in strengthening European economy. In many European countries this was practiced even in 20th century.
4. Cruelty in warfare gave european an unsurpassed edge over any native population. Many examples available in India. Remember ‘A good [Red]Indian is a dead India’?