Thursday, April 30, 2009
Compensatory narcissism and Ratan Tata
Many well known and even prominent people have been said to suffer from this malady.
Particular examples are Benito Mussolini, Jimmy Carter and Nicholas Sarkozy. A detailed study on the latter subject is referred to here. "The amalgam of Ambitious and Dominant patterns in combination with distinctive Contentious features in Sarkozy’s profile suggests the presence of an adaptive, nonpathological variant of Millon’s compensatory narcissist syndrome. According to Millon, people with this personality composite seek to counteract feelings of inferiority by creating illusions of superiority."
Does this also apply to Ratan Tata ? I have not gone into any detail so far. One looks at the background : The Taj Mahal Hotel, for example had been built by an earlier Tata who had, with great reason, appeared to have resented views of the British Raj and apparently adopted a policy effectively of "no dogs and no British" (although in fact dogs may have from time to time been permitted entry to the hotel). This is probably just what the Brits deserved then, and perhaps so do the Americans (and their British followers) today. We could write about such psychological profiles as that of Saul Bellow now, and also discuss the effect of such matters on Ratan Tata.
But on a practical level we have to consider the practical achievement factors of this strange situation. And we have the Tata Nano car. Well. even Tehelka seem to approve of this small vehicle but it strikes me that it will cause a lot of pollution and motoring congestion and the costs have been met primarily by the poor already, and from land appropriation. An ultimate electric version might improve matters but then again, coalfired powerplants in India are an immense cause of pollution.
IMO: An electric Nano need not be such a great polluter, if we ever get it. For the moment our best chances seem to be with a proper post-post-industrial society to which an (electric) Nano style car could conceivably to some extent contribute. But what seems more important is education, including many more English language schools, computers, for which the recent 250,000 purchase is an important achievement, and advanced scientific progress including the opening of many new Universities. Also the dignity of the Indian must not be sacrificed, and in the educational process a deep understanding of his or her own personal worth is essential. For example in Maharashtra the great achievements of Shivaji must be borne in mind. Also the great Hindu traditions such as abstinence from alcoholic beverages - the pubs should not be there - and the great benefits of vegetarianism to animals, to the Hindu religion and to the world economy should be considered. Blue-sky scientific and sociological research etc. are of course most important.
Particular examples are Benito Mussolini, Jimmy Carter and Nicholas Sarkozy. A detailed study on the latter subject is referred to here. "The amalgam of Ambitious and Dominant patterns in combination with distinctive Contentious features in Sarkozy’s profile suggests the presence of an adaptive, nonpathological variant of Millon’s compensatory narcissist syndrome. According to Millon, people with this personality composite seek to counteract feelings of inferiority by creating illusions of superiority."
Does this also apply to Ratan Tata ? I have not gone into any detail so far. One looks at the background : The Taj Mahal Hotel, for example had been built by an earlier Tata who had, with great reason, appeared to have resented views of the British Raj and apparently adopted a policy effectively of "no dogs and no British" (although in fact dogs may have from time to time been permitted entry to the hotel). This is probably just what the Brits deserved then, and perhaps so do the Americans (and their British followers) today. We could write about such psychological profiles as that of Saul Bellow now, and also discuss the effect of such matters on Ratan Tata.
But on a practical level we have to consider the practical achievement factors of this strange situation. And we have the Tata Nano car. Well. even Tehelka seem to approve of this small vehicle but it strikes me that it will cause a lot of pollution and motoring congestion and the costs have been met primarily by the poor already, and from land appropriation. An ultimate electric version might improve matters but then again, coalfired powerplants in India are an immense cause of pollution.
IMO: An electric Nano need not be such a great polluter, if we ever get it. For the moment our best chances seem to be with a proper post-post-industrial society to which an (electric) Nano style car could conceivably to some extent contribute. But what seems more important is education, including many more English language schools, computers, for which the recent 250,000 purchase is an important achievement, and advanced scientific progress including the opening of many new Universities. Also the dignity of the Indian must not be sacrificed, and in the educational process a deep understanding of his or her own personal worth is essential. For example in Maharashtra the great achievements of Shivaji must be borne in mind. Also the great Hindu traditions such as abstinence from alcoholic beverages - the pubs should not be there - and the great benefits of vegetarianism to animals, to the Hindu religion and to the world economy should be considered. Blue-sky scientific and sociological research etc. are of course most important.
# posted by uv : 6:09 AM
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