Business to the Buddha

Tag: individually smart collectively dumb

  • Gaming the system

    A couple of weeks back I wrote about problems with Socialism and probably how it can be improved with lesser gaming of the system. It is not that capitalism does not allow gaming the system, in fact there is immense lobbying that happens which is no less than corrupting the system. A few examples are – unsubstantiated loans to corporate houses (ICICI bank gave to Videocon group), Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways playing their own lobbying tactics to either get better slots / airports or getting competition out of the system.

    The point is, in capitalism too many wrongful act are done at higher level too besides on personal level. Which is basically a case in Socialism too. The advantage in capitalism is everyone is trying to be rich whereas in socialism mostly the government control most of it. In many of these high level and individual level we tend to look at our own’s benefit over the collective good of the society. Effectively, we are individually smart and collectively dumb.

    The technology enhancements are helping people game system can be done at various levels. A couple of days back I came across this small video on Twitter. In China, insurance companies offer discounts in the premiums of health insurance if a person is physically active. So, people have devised “a solution” to look fit. The point here is not to stay fit, but to let the insurance company believe you are fit. This step counter does the trick.

    The above system is not only for fooling insurance companies but also to fool oneself. It defeats the purpose of having step counter, healthy life style and own’s health at large. Besides loss to the companies it is a bigger loss to individual – you only get on life to live.

    Net net I would emphasis – you only get on life to live – live truthfully, why game the system? If you look at recent Indian businessmen’s examples be it Naresh Goyal of Jet airways, Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher airlines or Mehul Chowksi and Nirav Modi of Gitanjali group; by the way there are many more in the list; what is the result? Whole banking system and many consumers are at the receiving end. Why game the system – live life truthfully, isn’t it?

  • landslide







    When Alan Greenspan said in 2008 – “I really didn’t get it until very late.” It was as if someone was digging under his feet and Mr AG did not know. May be Mr AG really did not know, because he was keeping his eyes and ears closed. May be he was so inebriated in the wheel of growth that not just Mr AG but any banker was not willing to feel the “overheating economy”, hear or see that someone was digging deeper – under their feet.

    These words overheating and digging remind me of environment and when I received the above video* from someone on Whatsapp I could relate this video to one and only thing – economy.

    When I was watching this video, I was having strange feelings in my mind that the economy is going to do in down turn once again in 2015-16. “Everything just works as perfectly as it can…until it stops working!” That seems to be the case yet again for the economy.

    There are other reasons to believe that we are going to have a tough time. Though I do not want to be a doomsayer or conspiracy theorist, but here are few things – Developed world wages freeze analysis (The Economist), ISIS is likely to help economy sustain (wars have helped bring economy back on track), Upcoming elections in the USA, France unhappy and rise of EU opponent leader there. Though when it comes to EU, I wish it remains an integrated unit, that is a start for unifying the world in the lines of – interdependent co-arising.

    Watch that video once again – remember Economy goes down like this. Have we ever questioned the actual reasons for these things? Dig deeper! This digging deeper to make some extra pound creates the problem. Economy crumbles like this when we do not nurture it the way we – as a collective group – fail to maintain the hill which just crumbled in the video. As capitalists too – we are individually smart collectively dumb.

    *The origin of this video is unknown to the author – video shared by Dr Mala Kapadia.