Capturing the Queen

Living in New Rome as I do, I have many occasions to question the very enterprise of truth or veracity. In my sometimes discombobulated state, I have found comfort in Prof. Harry Frankfurt's concise, philosophical essay -- "On Bullshit". His essay is particularly illuminating about why a bullshitter is a worse enemy of the truth than a lier. As Prof. Frankfurt notes, the difference between the two (i.e., a lier and a bullshitter) is a bullshitter's complete disregard for whether what she's saying corresponds to facts in the physical world: she "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. [S]He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are."

Prof. Frankfurt also points to one source of bullshit's unprecedented expansion in recent years, the post-modern skepticism of objective truth in favor of sincerity, or as he defines it, staying true to subjective experience. But what makes us think that anything in our nature is more stable or inherent than what lies outside it? Thus, Prof. Frankfurt concludes, with an observation as tiny and perfect as the rest of this exquisite essay, "sincerity itself is bullshit." Ergo, Bush and Co. in New Rome are more precisely defined as bull-shitters and not liers as Jon Stewart recently implied by discussing this essay with Prof. Frankfurt on the Daily Show.

What does all this philosophical rumination have to do with the latest shocker from Bangladesh -- the indictment and arrest of Begum Sheikh Hasina on charges of extortion? All will be revealed, patient reader, in due time...

With all customary respect due to our esteemed and erstwhile politicians and to the military-backed, caretaker government, this current state of events has provided yet another martyr-complex-laden photo opportunity (replete with morning prayers and white chador; mysterious ailments to come) to one of the two queens (let's call her the Queen of Hearts and the other one the Red Queen) whose collective, 16-year reign has played into the Devil Kissinger's notorious appellations for Bangladesh --"bottomless basket case". Whew! If our goal is to expose these two women and their respective parties for what they truly represent -- the plutocratic interests of the rich and the few -- wouldn't we have been better served by patiently building a case against each of them, rather than whisking them off to court and then to jail and/or house arrest in luxury SUVs? How about a gag order so that no rabble-rousing speeches may be rendered by either of them while they are under investigation? What, there is no law on the books to sanction such an order? Make one up for hell's sake! BTW, given that the queens (not to mention, their friends and family members who mooch off of them) live WAY beyond their means, how hard can it be to implicate them with financial corruption? Or, from the kindness of our hearts, do we just want to provide for some long-overdue exile/vacation for them in Saudi Arabia (a la Nawaz Sharif) or even better, in Dubai (like Ms. Bhutto)? They HAVE been working so hard after all.

I also understand that the National Revenue Board (NBR) is busy compiling lists of tax dodgers, but what about the innumerable citizens who've funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to foreign banks instead of investing them in Bangladesh's financial sector? How do we change the corrupt mentality of the current generation of the affluent and their irresponsible, ney, criminal, parents? You know who you are:o) More importantly, into which ocean can we drown the new crop of 20- and 30-year old millionaires who gave Dhaka the glittering socialite scene it had sorely lacked in my humble youth. We better build some new jails! Or, here's an idea: let's ship the young lafangas off to some party central, e.g., Ibiza, so that Bengalis can finally break free of our nerdy, thaila-carrying, Tagore-quoting image. Put them to good use for "queens and country" I say!

Can a house that has been left unattended for so long (despite the best efforts of the honest few) be refurbished in a matter of days? Therein lies the hubris of the military. Administering a country is not like executing a commando mission, or even a full-scale war. Thus, getting rid of strategic targets will not necessarily ensure long-term success. And now, the denoument (drum rolls):

For all you standardized test-analogy-junkies, the queens and their cronies are to Bangladesh's civic society (or potential thereof) as "bullshit" is to "truth". The rest of us who've either remained indifferent or gone along with "business as usual", despite our non-bloody hands, are to our country as "lies" is to "truth". We should have known better and acted differently instead of squandering away the last couple of decades. It's time for our ritual ablutions, if you will. But, my cynical self is afraid that "all the perfumes in Arabia cannot sweeten this little hand."

Dynasty: Remember the Soap Anyone?

As promised, some "bemoanings" about Bangladesh.

I have long harbored an almost maniacal and pathological dislike for Bangladesh's erstwhile leaders -- Begums Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. I'll be the first to acknowledge that such visceral dislike of our esteemed leaders is petty and unbecoming of me. I'm not the only one, it seems. I just ran across this piece in The Daily Star by Brig. Gen. (retd.) Shamsuddin Ahmed. I hate to find myself agreeing with anyone connected to the military and not knowing his politics or his individual circumstances, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with his opinion of these two so-called leaders. Excerpts and a link to the full article appear below.

"Some people say of [Begums Khaldeda Zia and Sheik Hasina] that one is better than the other. To me, they are just two sides of the same coin if you have followed the pattern of their rule. They most zealously kept in place all those things which Ershad did in his nine years of ignominious rule to undo democracy and foster corruption and crime in this country.

They sat majestically where Ershad used to sit as a dictator, and ruled the country like he did, with utter disdain for democracy and all moral and ethical values. Just to perpetuate their power, they literally vied with one another in politicizing in varying degrees all the national institutions -- the Election Commission (EC), the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the bureaucracy, the police, and even the judiciary.

They have done the greatest disservice to this nation by politicizing the bureaucracy, the police and the judiciary. It will take years to repair the damage done, and to restore dignity and trust in these institutions. They have demonstrated an unquenchable thirst for power, and an insatiable greed for wealth and property.

As the heads of elected governments, the first thing they did was to allocate important portfolios to those cronies who were the closest and most crooked so that they could foul up things better than others. Then they would increase their own, and those of all other ministers and lawmakers, pay and allowances and perks and privileges, as if they all virtually lived on this subsistence. And this they would do more than once, in one term.

They would have the most luxurious fleet of cars to ride, the largest retinues and, of course, many armed guards in front of their offices and residences -- a sine qua non of power and privilege in an impoverished country. Then would begin the real game -- the grabbing spree."

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/06/12/d706121501131.htm