Author: akshay
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How To Live With Opposition
There are enough number of people in the world who will tell you that the world is becoming “increasingly polarized”, that respectful political debate is “a thing of the past”, that people talk past each other “all the time”. You will also be forced to pick a side. “You’re either with us or against us.”…
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On Leadership
One can be a leader only when one desires something to happen in the world. This something can be called “change”. Leaders want to change the world (or a part of it) in some way. The change that a leader wants to see in the world – the impact they want to make – that…
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Power is Useful
In my post about giving up ideological purism, I talked about how it felt like activism was weak resistance, and not something powerful. I still hadn’t discovered an answer as to how to engage with and change the system powerfully. I have an answer now. Power. To make powerful change, one has to have power.…
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With Great Power Comes Great Accountability
Where should the line between ‘doctors should be held accountable for medical malpractice’ and ‘doctors are humans and they can make mistakes’ be? [Source] There is a world where this dichotomy/binary is not entirely false – medical negligence/malpractice jurisdiction. And the courts in such cases have a very nuanced approach to this question. For example,…
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Merit is Entitlement, not Privilege
In debates around reservation and merit, there is a recurring pattern. First, someone will say “There is no level playing field. Someone starts from privilege, someone starts from lack of it. Therefore, merit is just privilege.” Then, the opponent will say “What makes you think I’m privileged? My parents struggled to make their ends meet.…
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Why Would Conservatives Change when Liberals Don’t?
In the debates around “merit”, the conservatives have a very straightforward view – “hierarchy is natural, one should only care about oneself and getting ahead in one’s life”. The liberals, on the other hand, are the confused bunch. They have a hatred for hierarchy, but they live and breathe hierarchy too. They hate that people…
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The Academic Publication Industry is Modern Day Feudalism
Even if the cost of journals were low and affordable, open access to scientific knowledge is the ethically correct and practically useful position for humankind. Internet has made publishing costs near zero. Why do journals still continue to exist? And why are they so expensive to society? A common defense of journals is that “peer…
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The Difference Between a Politician and an Academic in Politics
If academics and politics seem like separate fields to you, that’s because your definition of academics has been corrupted by the academicians you have seen and their self-centredness. Academicians can be of two types. The ones who “care only about science (or “truth”)”. The ones who care about society in addition to science. Those who…
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Anger is a Valid Emotion; Conflicts Bring Real Peace
I have seen “triggered” being used as an insult at social justice activists when they become angry. People hold anger itself as an invalid or incorrect emotional state to be in. That is not very smart. Anger is a perfectly valid emotion. Anger is a reaction to a provocation, hurt, or threat. Anger is a…
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x + y by Eugenia Cheng – a Roadmap to Collaboration Between Social Justice Movements
Spoiler alert: I discuss the central theme of the book x + y by Eugenia Cheng in this post. In the book, this theme isn’t revealed till the middle. In the first chapters, the author explains the context from which the book is written so as to eliminate bias from those who believe in social…