A must read for every sane mind which identifies with any side of political spectrum at all, no words are enough to praise this essay by @yhazony which summarises what's happening in USA today and also how it can happen in India(or anywhere) tomorrow.
https://t.co/PERRgrtmSz
Old microbiologists named organisms like they were casting dark-academia actresses: Yersinia, Neisseria, Serratia, Borrelia, Candida, Babesia, Loa Loa, Giardia, Aspergillus, Leishmania. Modern microbiologists name organisms like they are creating new CAPTCHA passwords: Langya virus, Mimivirus, Pandoravirus, Alaskapox virus, HIV, SARS-CoV
Science lost aura after PCR.
One good thing I learned during my internship is to repeat seniors’ instructions back to them before acting. In a stressful hospital setting, it significantly reduces errors.
"UGC rules se mat dariye. Main Dharmendra Pradhan, aapko aashvaasan deta hoon ki kisi ke saath anyaay nahi hoga. Bharosa kijiye. Main hoon na."
"Sir, BR Ambedkar ka grandson is filing an FIR against the Maharashtra minister who didn’t name Ambedkar in his speech. It’s not even an offence, sir. Can you stand with him and stop this anyaay?"
"Eh… hehe… hain ji?"
"Sir, aur kuch nahi to bas yeh keh dijiye ki FIR karna is too much."
"Hehehe…"
"Sir, aap apne khud ke minister ke saath khade nahi ho sakte because the issue involves the SC–ST community, but you are saying you’ll stand with us, powerless aam GC, under similar issues?"
"Deep state agent hai kya tu?"
"You have no power in issues pertaining to SC–STs. Rakhiye apna aashvaasan apne paas. We won’t stop for anything less than the withdrawal of the regulations."
"Aaa… aa… kya bolu, kya bolu… Haan. Bolo.. hara hara mahadevvvvv."
When power becomes excessively centralized, survival and upward mobility depend less on competence and more on loyalty.
In such systems, independent thinking is seen as a threat rather than a strength, so capable individuals who question, advise, or offer alternatives are gradually sidelined. What gets rewarded instead is obedience, flattery, and unquestioning agreement. Over time, this creates an ecosystem where only sycophants and inefficient individuals thrive, because their weakness ensures they never challenge authority. However, these sycophants hold little to no real decision-making power; their role is limited to endorsement, not governance.
With time, decision-making deteriorates. Leadership gradually becomes insulated within an echo chamber, exposed only to praise and curated information. This insulation creates a growing disconnect from ground realities, where real public concerns, administrative failures, and social tensions either never reach the top or arrive distorted, leading to policies shaped by perception rather than reality.