Hasan Abdul Tawab

What is free speech? We conveniently blur the lines between *criticism* (fairness/validity tbd by debate/discussion), *insults* (generally unfair, though occasionally understandable), and *harassment* (not cool, cancel that crap). 1/2

Yet some things remain just as they were 5 weeks ago: in the week before the war, India's Modi looked like the dumbest world leader in existence. Today he looks exactly the same

There’s an old Soviet joke: A cowboy is riding for his life, Indians right behind him. He thinks, This is the end. Then a voice in his head says, Not yet. Shoot their chief. He fires from the saddle and drops him. Silence. Then the voice says: Now it’s the end.

List of Jobs AI Can’t Replace: Skilled workers (Very Safe) 1. Electricians 2. Plumbers 3. Car Mechanics 4. Construction Workers 5. HVAC Technicians 6. Welders Healthcare & Caregiving 7. Doctors & Surgeons 8. Nurses 9. Psychologists & Therapists 10. Physical Therapists 11. Caregivers for elderly/disabled 12. Paramedics Roles that require empathy, physical interaction, and responsibility. High-Level Decision Makers 13. CEOs & Founders 14. Business Strategists 15. Product Leaders 16. Judges 17 Senior Consultants Creative Directors (Not Basic Creators) 18. Creative Directors 19. Film Directors 20. Brand Strategists 21. Art Directors 22. Showrunners Jobs Requiring Trust & Authority 23. Lawyers (complex litigation) 24. Policymakers 25. Diplomats 26. Investigative Journalists 26. Compliance Officers Accountability cannot be outsourced to AI. Human-Centered Roles 27. Teachers (especially early education) 28. Coaches 29. Social Workers 30. Community Leaders Advanced Technical Builders 31. AI Engineers 32. Robotics Engineers 33. Cybersecurity Experts 34. Systems Architects 35. Data Infrastructure Engineers The people building and managing AI. I hope you found this informative, For more you can follow me @ZabihullahAtal

I could never really be friends with or spend any personal time with someone who doesn't immediately know the answer to this question. Sorry, but there it is. Not negotiable.

Food delivery, shopping delivery doesn't happen in 10 mins in developed countries. Guess what comes in 10 mins and does their job well... emergency services.

@Teslaconomics The insufferable, special needs chimp currently running Ryan Air is an accountant. Has no idea how airplanes even fly.

holy fucking shit

2 million gallons of water was evaporated for literally nothing

@SudsG5 Low-trust system does not prevent you from trusting your neighbors or taking things on credit, where you have choice and agency. But if you can leave your phone/wallet is a crowded bazaar and be reasonably certain it will not be stolen, that is an example of a high trust system.

India is not a low trust society ffs. Things at random 1) ever noticed parents travelling with kids in crowded coaches? Some kindly person will say leave them with me and the parents will sight unseen do just that and then pick their kids up when their stop comes. This extends across trains / buses, kids being handed over for temporary care is something very unique to our society. 2) almost all of us give our spare keys to our neighbours, why? Because of implicit trust. Does this happen in "high trust " societies? 3) you can test this even today, go to some random shop, pick up stuff for 300-400 bucks, say sorry sir phone is down can I pay you later, 8/10 times they will say "no problem". Try this anywhere else and you will be locked up for shop lifting. 4) heck the very lack of formal paperwork across society is proof of this. Kirana stores will give credit to their buyers without questions being asked. They will get credit from their stockists without a single signed document. Supplier credit even in MSME sectors is done on face value alone and on and on and it goes. 5) the entire agricultural ecosystem running into lakhs of crores is driven by"word" and verbal commitments. That's it. 6) even our lack of systematic surveillance for instance trains carry millions and millions of passengers daily, with minimal checking by TC's and yet fare evasion is a very miniscule factor. 7) even our crime stats are so low precisely because we are a high trust society. Even in low income areas (in fact mostly in low income areas) most people don't even lock doors, try this in a ghetto in the US and your house will be robbed in hours. 8) when was the last time a period of calamity was used for mass looting? Ever? Even during riots looting of stores (so common in"high trust" places like the US and UK) doesn't happen. Heck during the Mumbai / Chennai floods so many strangers opened up their homes to other strangers, fed them, clothed them...show me one "high trust society" that does this. Anecdotally I have so many examples. During the 2023 floods in Chennai, networks went down, cash was short and UPI was not working, a kirana store near my house basically said he will supply goods without immediate payment, just wrote down the number / amount on a book and expected everyone to pay up later. I was curious and visited him a week later and asked if everyone did pay up and he said except maybe 2-3 bad apples everyone paid up and some even added small amounts as appreciation for his generosity. Another time I was in Delhi, showed up with only 15 mins to spare and saw that I was in T1 when it was T2 (or something like that). Luckily the cabbie was still there and I asked him if he will take me. Sadly I forgot I didn't have cash and didn't have time to stop at an ATM (pre UPI) told him I will add his account and wire him the money once I reached the gate. He just said koi nahi sir tension mat lo. Dropped me, and I paid him and he just sent me a smiley on WhatsApp. We are a beautiful culture, we trust implicitly. Our issue is with our state and its bureaucracy which no one trusts. This doesn't make us low trust.

In the next episode of Black Mirror...

> be me, 28m wagie living in Delhi > wake up at 8 AM for my IT coolie job > look out window, can’t see anything except a Grey haze > neighbhourhood looks like the inside of a tandoor that hasn't been cleaned since 1947 > chest feeling heavy, congestion built up in lungs > must be the weather changing > check phone > open IQAir app (Western propaganda tool) > screen is deep purple > AQI 650: "Hazardous. Do not breathe. Just die." > panic.jpg > am I being gaslit by the atmosphere? > turn on nationalist TV news channel > see senior Minister > looks calm, composed, probably breathing filtered Himalayan air in the studio > “Global rankings are not official. WHO guidelines are just suggestions.” > “India sets its own standards based on geography.” > realization hits me > foreign AQI is a colonial construct > Westoid lungs are weak, cannot handle the texture of Desi air > they need ‘clean air’ because they lack civilizational immunity > delete IQAir immediately > install ‘Sarkari Vayu Sewa’ app > refresh location > AQI is 45: “Satisfactory” > it’s not PM2.5, it’s ‘Atmanirbhar Particles’ > it’s not smog, it’s ‘Viksit Vapor’ > go to balcony > take a deep breath of sovereign, non-aligned air > taste the sulphur > cough up a black glob > stare at it > it looks vaguely like a map of Akhand Bharat > tears stream down my face (mostly from the nitrogen dioxide, but also patriotism) > Global Index: Rejected > Lungs: Congested > Nation: Protected > mfw I successfully rejected Western imperialism by reducing my life expectancy by 10 years

you’re terrified of being ordinary. so terrified that you won’t start anything unless you can be exceptional at it immediately. won’t write unless it’s brilliant. won’t create unless it’s original. won’t try unless success is guaranteed. and this fear - this need to be special - is keeping you from being anything at all. being exceptional comes from being willing to be bad first. clumsy and uncertain and embarrassingly human first. but you can’t stomach that. can’t tolerate being a beginner. so you stay stuck in that space between nothing and something. never risking the ordinary that leads to extraordinary. never discovering what you might become if you’d just be willing to suck for a while. you’re not special yet because you won’t be ordinary long enough to learn.

Indians think that brick and mortar is development. The real development is safe environment, open green spaces, walkable cities, pure air and drinking water. Getting your jhantu milaawti doodh anda paneer in 10 minutes is not development.

Becoming less reactive is a huge part of growth and decreasing stress. If you let everything get you worked up, you’ll damage your mind, body, and spirit.

@cessonmute you live, you learn you love, you learn you cry, you learn you lose, you learn you bleed, you learn you scream, you learn

recently overheard this: "everything is a win when the goal is experience" and my brain chemistry is forever changed

In 1980 Singapore’s PM Lee Kuan Yew ended the pilots strike by giving union leaders an ultimatum to end the action or he’d ground the airline, fire them, and rebuild SIA without them. They backed down in about an hour. Where as Indigo blackmailed acted like goons and held country to ransom by their shady tactics forcing DGCA to relax rules !!

China has over a dozen domestic commercial airlines including three major state-owned airlines: Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines India has less than half a dozen and no state owned commercial airlines. Entire sector dominated by two firms.

IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt’s monopoly model. Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price - in delays, cancellations and helplessness. India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies.

Unsurprisingly, monopolization in the political space since 2014 has led to monopolization in critical industrial and service sectors of the economy. Regulatory oversight, accountability, audits, antitrust legislation are necessary checks in free markets and political systems.