Reading sample

Light | Philosophy

First Edition, 2015

Ankur Mutreja

(ankurmutreja.com)

Copyright © 2015 Ankur Mutreja

Introduction

What is Philosophy? Is it the exclusive domain of those who dream in abstract? Or is it the manifestation of the struggle of those who practice in material? Does it originate in the minds of professors like a Ganges flowing out from the hair-locks of “Lord” Shiva? Or is it rustic and puerile, evolving into maturity through the experiences of common men. I started writing philosophy without actually knowing that I was writing one. To start with, it was an outlet to project my frustration in the form of writings. Pretty often, it carried abuses hurled at none in particular, but at the system through its agents. But I don’t know when those ramblings started getting matured into Philosophy and all puerility and abuses purified themselves on the way – a Ganges doesn’t become pure by its origin but by the treatment people give to it on its way. In my book “Writings @ Ankur Mutreja”, I included a section on my personal philosophy and thought nobody would be interested in reading it. But, fortunately, I have found some kind-hearted people, who have given me their valuable feedback. I am reproducing my philosophy below by selecting those topics which have received positive feedback, albeit without prejudice to the philosophy presented by me in “Writings @ Ankur Mutreja”.

The book is divided into three chapters. First chapter, which I have christened as Philosophy | General, starts with my principles on Privacy. There is no comprehensive law on privacy in India; therefore, there are no established privacy principles either. I formulated certain principles for self-help, which seem to have found resonance with many; therefore, they are reproduced in the book. The other topics included in the chapter are New Age Journalism, Terrorism, Internet, Jurisprudence, and Globalization.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my philosophical ideas on politics have found audience. I am a completely non-political person in the sense I am not attached to any political party; however, I do have a liberal perspective on politics. In the second chapter, i.e. Philosophy | Politics, I have discussed varied topics like Lokpal, Elections, Violence, Capitalism, Anarchism, Cash Transfers, Maoists, and Gandhism, with a liberal perspective.

Finally, in a chapter entitled Philosophy | Relationships, I have plunged into a controversial arena of man-woman relationship. Though I claim to be discussing philosophy of man-woman relationship, but I think I am at best representing men unless I get substantial endorsement from women – which unfortunately I haven’t got till now. Topics covered: Marriage, Love, Girlfriend, etc.

This is a non-professional endeavor; therefore, you may be able to download it either free or for a small price, and the royalties, if any, accumulating where from will go in charity.

Enjoy Reading! Ankur Mutreja

Chapter 1: Philosophy | General

Chapter 1.1: Nine Point Privacy Principles

1. All information is private unless made public.

2. The natural owner of any information is the one to whom the information pertains; and, unless there is a procedure established by law, it can’t be created/recorded by a third party, including in human memory, without the consent of the person concerned.

3. If the information pertains to more than one person, then all to whom it pertains are the joint owners of the information concerned, and there is a presumption of confidentiality between the owners; and, unless there is a procedure established by law, the information can’t be created/recorded by a third party, including in human memory, without the individual consents of the persons concerned.

4. A joint owner, in his capacity of a joint owner, can disclose private information pertaining to another joint owner in a court of law in a dispute with the other joint owner in which the private information is a “relevant fact”; and the court shall admit such evidence as confidential information not to be disclosed to the public.

5. The information owned by the government is always public unless made private specifically by a procedure established by law. The acts of public servants while performing public duties is the information owned by the government. Public servants include private persons performing public duties.

6. The information owned by an owner/joint owners can be made public by the owner/the joint owners at his/their discretion subject to the law of the land. The presence of any activity/information of the owner/the joint owners which is clearly, easily and directly visible/audible/perceptible from a public place, which includes private place frequented by public, is deemed to be an application of the discretion to make the private information public by the owner/the joint owners, and the same can be recorded in any form by third parties. The discretion may include making the information public to a specified group only, in which case the members of the specified group become the joint owners of the information, and the information becomes the private information pertaining to the specified group.

7. Any third party can make the information pertaining to any other person public only by a procedure established by law.

8. Unless there is a procedure established by law, there is a rebuttable presumption of non-necessity of recording the private information or of making the private information public by a third party except in a court of law as an evidence of a “relevant fact”; and the court shall admit such evidence as confidential information not to be disclosed to the public. The onus of proof lies on the third party to prove the necessity. The necessity can lie only in public interest or in private defense.

9. If any information pertains to the sexual life of a person/group, unless there is a procedure established by law, there is a non-rebuttable presumption of the non-necessity of recording the private information or of making the private information public by a third party except in a court of law as a “relevant fact”; and the court shall admit such evidence as confidential information not to be disclosed to the public.

Chapter 1.2: New Age Journalism

The internet is going to cause a paradigm shift in journalism is now a banal statement; however, the statement is not out of fashion yet. In fact, I think, this proposition is worthy of a degree of credibility, but not as simple as it sounds. The internet has by far emerged as an excellent medium to share free information first and to build brands second. Whenever one thinks in terms of brands, it becomes difficult to separate the brand from its worth measured in the terms of financial goodwill it generates to the underlying business/activity. However, the fact remains that brands are all about trust and can’t really be quantified in the terms of money. So, I won’t enter into the exercise of profitability quotient of journalism on the internet while talking of brands. Rather, I am making a far-fetched presumption that one day journalism as a full-time career will cease to exist, and all journalism will be part-time vocations.

As a layman, I can easily recognize two significant divisions in the present day journalism: News and Opinions. News is generated on the ground, collected by the reporters, transferred to the central agency, processed therein and published or broadcasted in one form or the other. The well recognized news agencies in India are PTI, ANI, IANS, UNI, PIB, etc. Most of the times, a layman doesn’t consume news directly from these news agencies but through some better known intermediaries like NDTV, The Hindu, HT, IBN, India Today, Times, IE, etc.; and, of course, these intermediaries also have armies of reporters, who collect news directly, but, I think, the real news is reported through any of the afore-mentioned news agencies only, and the focus of these intermediaries seems more to be that of publishers and broadcasters. These intermediaries are definitely profit centers and have come to be recognized as corporate media. Another focus of these profit centers is to generate opinions, whether through their own ilk or through guests or, for that matter, through their audience and readers. Both individual and group brands have been established in this corporate media.

In reference to journalism, at present, the internet is restricted to promotion of offline brands on the internet especially through SEO promotion. I don’t recognize the present social media as any kind of journalism. The present form of news collection through social media is suspicious and even dangerous, and the opinion makers have not yet gained the desired credibility: they are either associated with offline brands or else they are, at the best, amateurs. I am damn sure that the internet can’t be used for B2C ecommerce in the case of journalism: nobody will ever pay for consuming news and opinions, though it is quite possible that opinion makers might pay for promoting their opinions, but that would be B2B ecommerce, and, given the ethical resistance to paid news, I don’t think B2B commerce/ecommerce can ever become a legitimate business activity in journalism. So, for me, journalism on the internet can prosper only if the individual brands associated with opinion making but without any significant permanent address even on the internet, emerge as credible alternatives to the offline brands promoting themselves online with permanent web addresses, whether individually or collectively. The news collection can’t and will never become an internet activity; the off line news agencies and the corporate media will exercise considerable control over news collection and reporting, and the online journalists/opinion makers will have to rely upon these sources, which will always keep the offline journalists at an advantage over the purely online journalists/opinion makers.

However, even after drawing such a sad picture of online journalism, I am sanguine that the new age journalism will be more ethical and professional. The counter from the purely online journalists/opinion makers would be extremely forceful as they will exist and survive only if they are able to build a very high degree of credibility, which will automatically expose the fraudulent character of the corporate media and thus make it a non-profitable proposition. Of course, the ramification could be extensive so far as to make full-time journalism

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Texte: Ankur Mutreja
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 30.01.2016

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