Book Review: Fundamental Rights

'ARGUING FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS' Edited by AGUSTÍN JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ This book is an exploration of one of the outstanding works in contemporary
legal and constitutional theory, Robert Alexy’s A Theory of Constitutional
Rights, (hereinafter A Theory). The book begins with an overview of the concept of fundamental rights, describing the many aspects of the concept: formal, substantial, and procedural. It then examines the theories of rights, like,
that human rights has evolved naturally, since it is indispensable to the maximization of individual utility, that it signifies cultural development of human race, that it is simply making explicit what is necessarily implicit in human practice, that human beings since are created by God in his own image, there is good reason for considering a value for them, etc.
This is followed by a detailed discussion, about the implementation of such rights, and many procedural issues that might come up, like balancing opposing principles or with
principles supporting opposing rules. Which is succeeded by another one about the ways, these concepts are practiced in UK and the European Union.
I never knew such complex facets existed for the relatively straight forward rights, we citizen have in every country. Facets, which would come to fore whenever a contentious issue crops up, and would be dealt by legal lights.

Where we err

Where we err, especially, the male among us.
In the physical world, operating range of an entity is a term that is widely understood as a significant influence, for any decision involving that entity. It is everybody's desire that nothing goes beyond this range. Since this, which also is known as linear range, specifies the single most important parameter that can enable or prevent a physical system to meet its ends. That is, whatever entity one is interested in, it can be guaranteed to perform in the desired or specified manner only within this range. So, our effort always is to control all relevant parameters such that deviations from the average are avoided, or kept to the minimum.
In short, we always celebrate the average.
We are more or less in line with the above, when we come to our domestic animals too. Whether for carrying loads, or distances to run, or for whatever else, we see that the animals are neither stressed beyond a limit, nor left without a load.
But when it comes to we, ourselves, such precautions are observed only in its absence. We consider a fellow human worthy of adulation, or reproach, if and only if one's performance reaches the extremes. Not only that, we shower with awards and extol for long, those who go further. (This is where, we err)
As a result, each one of us is always striving to perform beyond one's linear range, which effectively puts one in the realm of the unstable. Naturally, we respond to various triggers in an unpredictable manner. And we are perpetually busy, rewarding or awarding the few responses, that is, those that happen to be beneficial to us, and punishing the rest. (It needs to be noted, such abnormal conduct always will lead to a mix of benefit and harm.)
Is there any wonder, unlike all other forms of life, man tends to lead a life of discomfort (and altruistically inventing reasons, why it should be so!). Also, he chooses to grapple with the unfamiliar at every opportunity, and keep looking for a fresh challenge, even when it is known to be a dangerous one.
In short, human is irrational by default.

Book Review: The Economy of Abundance

Book Review: "The Economy of Abundance or The End of Poverty" By Víctor Saltero is a call to recognize all the opportunities presented by the new economic environment. The old one was based on a notion of insufficiency, which caused the problems the mankind faced, like the great depression, lingering unemployment, etc.  And how, the new economy would finally be born, around 1970, as the product of the definitive elimination of gold as the monetary standard in each country. Where, the standard used would be the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and a series of other variables such as working
capital needs, inflation, etc.
But we have not yet realized the possibilities and dimensions of the new model, the author says. Hence economic crises frequently afflict us, including the one of 2008. We need to derive the benefits of living in this exciting age, the age of the economy of abundance.
"If we are able to predict and correct the risks it poses, we may find ourselves in the first era of human history in which poverty is no longer an insoluble problem, as it can be solved with the possibilities that this economic model offers for the creation of hundreds of millions of jobs around the world, once all nations learn how to apply it and abandon the practices and mentalities, still prevailing in many places, of the economy of scarcity."
This is a book, which is challenging many ideas, I entertain. I therefore went through it with interest. It would have been better, if the book could offer some practical suggestions or examples for each of the lacuna that is brought out or the corrections that are are implemented.

A Probable Letter from A Neighbor, to all Earthlings

Hello

I am your neighbor. I dwell in a star that is closer to you than any other body in space. We have coiled the space around us, to entertain ourselves with the childish experiments that goes on around your globe, and act, if things go out of hand. As a result, you are yet to sight my abode.

I keep visiting you often, of course a few times in a millennium, going by your measures. My first visit was a little long ago, when I was a child. Your lands were very fertile, endowed with fruits, flowers, seeds, and other things needed for enjoying merrily, one’s life. And you all had a lot of free time, which you used to spent for everything other than this.

It was amusing to see you all engaged perpetually in a few repetitive activities like choosing kings or rulers, who would then continue to keep you entertained, with day to day affairs, wars, things of magnificence like the pyramids, and so on. I found, a few among you continue to come up with imaginative ideas of the past, present, and future, of both the real, and the abstract. As a result of all this, and as generations went by, the esoteric stories that kept you entertained, took position as entities beyond understanding, and encompassing all affairs of life and living.

Let me come to the visits, I have been making, approximately once in a few centuries. On every visit, I could observe many a change. However, your obsession with imaginative ideas and an incessant thirst for novelty was seen as a permanent feature. As. on each visit, what used to attract my attention most, is the penchant you all have for fetching and immersing in the uncommon or the esoteric.

At any time, both the past and the future can be seen, equally acceptable as feeders for such ideas. Some, who are more imaginative, resourceful, and patient since ideas may take some time to fructify, opt for the future. And others, who generally are not endowed much, remain happy with the past, and align even more happily with all those fantastic ideas you attribute to the ancients. You see, an idea that can keep one enamored can come from the past, only when one include the irrational, that is, by throwing to winds, the need for a semblance of logic. (Religion comes to the rescue here. One can identify many such ideas through the theistic doctrines of the day and some more with the reigning philosophical and literary thought) These ideas hence turn out to be a force to be reckoned with, as their content, though may be devoid of substance, take a position of prominence.

For many visits, I could see a war going on between the two. One group taking religious identity as the prime sign, and another, whose identity being always on the move. At any instant, if the former was made to feel overwhelmed by a new proposition by the other group, and the threat from whose unbridled celebrations lasting for a while, they were quick to re-arrange their narrative to accommodate seamlessly, any such proposition. (This ability, however is on the decrease, the experience of my past visits tell me. As I am eagerly looking for changed parameters, I can see all around the globe, highly spirited attempts to align with the past, which is currently on the increase.)

Digital Goverment

We can turn democracy into a very efficient and trouble free form of governance, if we can remove the bumps that are always associated with the governmental machinery, primarily of the decision making process. And for this, when we utilize the incomparable capability of modern computers, one can expect fantastic results.
There are many options. One, where each and every voter can be given the choice of suggesting any name, except one's own. The one getting the maximum mentions can then become the representative. Two, voters can choose directly the government, doing away with the necessity of representatives, or of a house itself. Three, all can be given the opportunity to approve, modify, or discard each and every decree or other relevant activities of the government, which can do away with the need of an elected part of government, altogether.

Universal income

Guaranteed income, like the recent announcement by RG, or of Govt, is not at all a usual gimmick. If looked at in this way.
A society comprising of people who can take care of themselves, can continue to flourish, if nothing occurs to prevent it. The aim of every welfare state should be to become one such society.
Because of extreme disparity, some people are not in a position to look after their needs, and, to help them there, welfare measures are introduced by the state. Hence, the state's attention needs to be on removal of such disparities. This is what all welfare states do.
The issue here is, only an insignificant part of the money spent reaches the needy, the expenses of running a huge governmental machinery taking the rest, and the disparities continuing to exist. How much ever be the outlay, only part, a small amount, will reach the needy. In case of guaranteed income, these expenses can be minimized, since there can be direct payment. The money, then shall get circulated through the hands of many small and big players. Which means, almost all of it gets transacted, each and every member of the society standing to gain. Since all of this points to a greater value for velocity of money, a small outlay should be leading to a big benefit.