So I have been travelling. Some claim that it improves the mind, and I suppose it does. But it also makes me quite upset. Airports are never nice places to be but the experience gets worse in Indian airports. They are noisy and crowded and full of stupid people.

Why do they have to constantly make announcements at airports ? People should be considered responsible enough to keep themselves informed of the status of the flights they are checked-in on. If they cannot or will not, they should not fly. Fact is that it is bothersome to hear those announcements for hours on end. And the announcers are idiots. They are verbose idiots.

“ Ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention please. Jet Airways announces the departure of its flight nine dubloo four seven zero to Mumbai – I repeat Jet Airways announces the departure of its flight nine dubloo four seven zero to Mumbai – and is now ready for boarding. All passengers are requested to proceed immediately and broad at gate number five on the ground floor. Jet Airways wishes all its passengers a pleasant flight.”

Then the idiots repeat that lengthy piece of nonsense a few dozen times. The last dozen repetitions have the additional idiotic clearly false clause added to it: “This is the last and final call – I repeat – this is the last and final call . . .” and they keep saying it without the least bit of embarrassment. Like I said, these people making the announcements are morons.

There are alternatives. First, put the information on a board and keep the status absolutely current. Most people I assume know how to read and are not blind. For those who are incapable of keeping an eye on the board, the airline could send a text alert on a cell phone. Second, for the benefit of those who must hear an announcement, keep it brief.

“ {Short musical tone alerting people to listen} Jet Airways flight four seven zero boarding at gate five.”

That’s ten words, as opposed to over 70 words in the other bit.

Then there’s the idiotic stamping of the hand baggage tag. I have to conclude that the man (it is safe to assume that he’s a man) in charge of airports security is a certifiable moron. That has to be true. I am sure that the retard has not given it even a minute’s thought that a rubber stamp cannot prevent a person from doing immense damage if the whole apparatus is so porous that people smuggle in bags into the secure area.

Pardon my French but the truth is that the whole bunch – and there must be tens of thousands of them in the dozens of airports around India – are effing stupid.

Anyway, let’s move on. I was in Trivandrum, Bangalore and Chennai. The less said about Bangalore traffic, the better. In Bangalore I spoke at a number of events, mostly to college students.

My general impression is that Indian students are – how shall I put it – meek. There are exceptions of course but they are generally not very assertive or confident. My guess is that the education system has beaten them into submission and instead of fanning the spark of genius we are all endowed with, the system has extinguished it.

A socialist system does that to people. It converts free people into slaves. In too many instances, I have had to ask people, “ What exactly is it about being free that is so terrifying that one approves of the pervasive government controls ? ” Why do they not see the importance of not being dictated to ?

Because in the end, it is about freedom and without that no society can prosper. Prosperity arises from the freedom to engage in voluntary exchange, because it is mutually beneficial. Economic prosperity is not sufficient but absolutely necessary for human development.

But perhaps we have lost the habit of being free. This is somewhat similar to losing the habit of thinking. Thinking involves asking questions and seeking answers. “ What exactly are we trying to do ? How shall we do it ? Are we doing the right thing ? Can we do it better ? What should we do to improve this ? . . . ” Having lost that habit, we are content to go about like automatons, following orders from up on high. So also, under constant imprisonment, we lose the habit of freedom and accept that this is how it is and there is not other way of living.

We have to wake up to the reality before we can walk out of the prison.

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