Culture Inspires and Secures the mind of the Child for the Future

There is beauty and power in being who you are. There is respect in indigenous creativity and innovation. 

It is only when we teach our children about their cultures and the greatness of their ancestral past which they must draw inspiration from to rebuild their heritage before we can secure the future. The effect of the hatred of our cultural patterns and ideologies is what we are experiencing today. We have lost everything that defines us willfully ignorantly. The most disturbing is that, despite our knack for foreign beliefs and ideologies, we are still backward. If we believe our cultural values were barbaric, hence our passion for foreign cultures, why then are we still backward and stagnant?

We said our traditions were 'evil' and replaced them with 'pure' ones from Arabia and Europe, how come we are more brutal and destructive now with the 'pure' foreign beliefs and cultures? How come the world now study us to understand poverty and pestilence but continues to study our ancestors to understand greatness and mysterious organisation of ideas like the Nubian and Kemetic pyramids, the Great Benin Kingdom and its Queen Idia mask, the Amazon of Dahomey, Great wall of Nwanemutapa Kingdom, Ife bronze, Dogon of Mali and others? Those ancestral 'evil' days were surely better than the modern 'pure' era.

We were not backward in our ancestral days. That is a fact. We were only peacefully gullible. Our ancestors accepted foreigners with open minds and arms, partly due to their limited exposure and partly due to nature's over-convenience, so much so that their hospitality was used and turned against them. They dealt with a better prepared and well armed Arabian and European contemporaries. That a thief stole from you or a rapist was able to rape your daughter at gunpoint proves that the thief or rapist was better prepared and well armed for the heinous crime while you were innocently ignorant. That was the fate of our ancestors. 

After the robbery and rape, rather than sit, put our brains to task and map out plans to get out of our quagmire and secure our lands despite our modern education, we accepted and over-subscribed to the robber and rapist's definition of us. We accepted the robber and rapist's beliefs and ideologies wholeheartedly. While the robber went back to his land, modified his belief, never allowed dogmatism to reign in his mind, embraced science and technology, we continue to passionately defend his belief in our land and refuse to think out of the box. We continue to breed children in that line of mental incarceration so much so that we prefer to run and escape to the land of those who robbed and raped us, even if the sea will consume us, than build our own land.

African migrants trying to cross into Italy. They are youthful, vibrant and energetic but they prefer to risk their lives on the sea than use their youthful energy to make revolutionary changes in their countries. That is a sign of a conquered people.

By our mode of thinking and actions, we have accepted that we are a conquered people and we are helpless and maybe, hopeless to do anything. When solutions stare us in the face, we turn our eyes away. As long as it is not foreigners who are proffering the solution, we will block our ears. Whatever foreigners in Europe or Asia say is all we love to hear. What does it cost to think, map out sustainable plans and be resolute to build our land so that our descendants will not suffer like us again? Currently, we are already creating a future in which the innocent children of today will have to live in slavery tomorrow. What does it cost to embrace our heritage and creatively innovate our way out?

Conquering the African Minds: The Arrows of the Arabs and the Europeans

'When the White men came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. Then, they told us to close our eyes for prayer, when we opened our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible.' ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
This quote has also been ascribed to the first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. 

Going back to history is of no use here, it will simply be too trite and and banal because the world is not blind to the twin facts of slavery and colonialism. Africans continue to live in what can be termed the slavery-colonial world of self-destruction. The continent has taken on this banner copiously with ignorance and 'natural gullibility'. Whilst the Arabs upon making contacts with Africa realised the blessings nature has bequeathed to Africa and made all necessary attempts to tap from them, Africans were indoctrinated into a belief that would come to hunt, haunt and hurt them later.

Arabs bought goods and in a bid to maintain an upper hand, they enforced what would later be used to continuously control the minds of Africans. While the Dogon people of Mali had mastered the art of astronomy a very long time, they were mentally relaxed with the blessings of nature and it was not projected beyond their frontiers. This was true of most African ingenious knowledge and accomplishments. This was due to the relatively peaceful and tranquil environmental conditions where nutritional needs were rightly met on a daily basis. Though that was somehow the nature of the world ab initio, that of Africa was exceptional because of the extreme fertility its land had and still has.

From the stone age to the present era, food has always been the most important in the lives of man but man shall not live by bread alone, hence man needs to think of how to develop and advance. The African writing system was localised; serving only Africans but with the contact of the Arabs and the apparent 'brutal' conversion to Islam, Africans began to lose some of its indigenous contents. The Arabs were trading as well as forcing religion down the throats of Africans. They also took slaves down to the Mediterranean, castrated the men and they died with almost no traces as documented by the Tarikhs. While they were growing with the trade, Africans were studying the religion of Islam.

Then came the Europeans who dared nature and moved beyond their frontiers. They defiled all hurdles and mounted great audacity to conquer challenges and whatever barriers nature imposed on them. They learnt and stole. They ventured into Africa and other parts of the globe beginning from Amerigo Vespucci down to Columbus and the Conquistadors. What followed was the enslavement of Africans. While Africans were being enslaved which had the blessing of the Pope and other notable adherents of Christianity, Europeans also forced religion down their throats.

Africans were made to accept a new master. The apparent peace they witnessed using Africans as slaves and stealing from the ingenuity and discoveries of the slaves gave birth to the industrial revolution. One who has less worry of what to eat and work not will be equipped with the utmost mental capacity to think and project; hence they were growing while Africa was plundered. Now, they have given us alternatives to development which are the religions. The religions ensure we die today; killing one another in religious competition. The religions ensure we blame some supernatural forces like the days of our forebears who offered sacrifices to gods but they were better than us because they never depended on foreigners for solutions and they created civilisations that the world continues to bow for.

Africa was not made to evolve; its development and advancement was brutally, inhumanly and inhumanely truncated. Its worldview was replaced by another superstructure hinged on respecting the masters who gave Africans religions and took away vital and viable elements of growth and advancement. African parents teach children to read the Bible and the Quran in order to conquer heaven while it does not matter to them how miserable their existence is on planet earth. On the other hand the 'masters' teach their children to study the sciences, conquer self first, then their environment and the Universe far into space. In the end one remains a slave forever and the other the master eternally. Ironically, the same African parents are ready to spend huge sums to train their children in the masters' lands.

Even when the 'slave' is a bit polished to make him or her look near a master, being a master can never really be possible because the brain has been underdeveloped from childhood. There is lack of concept for and of the environment but that of heaven. The wealth is to be stored in heaven while begging is the only means to survive on planet earth. Today, some religious fundamentalists can wake to bomb people in Somalia, Central African Republic, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya and host of other places using the umbrella of a concept that was sold to Africa around the 9th century by the Arabs while the other, while trying to curb the activities of the so-called terrorists, would rush to the 'masters', the Europeans who imposed the second religious concept beginning from the 15th century.

Teresa Brennan captured this well in her treatise Globalization and its Terrors; Daily Life in the West. She said the brains of the South (Africans majorly) have been decimated and desecrated because they are malnourished; not eating properly and combated my extreme poverty while the bodies of the North are useless; obesity and weakness because of much affluence and extreme good life conditions. The good life of the North depends on the hunger and poverty of the South.

Thus, the brains of the North will always enslave the bodies of the South. Not that the people of the South have no brains but they are functioning below capacity. Not that the people of the North have no bodies too but they are rendered really useless because goodies of life. This brings to mind the rush to be in foreign lands by Africans which equals modern slavery. Brain drain. Africans believe in trying to walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear of evil while their mates in other climes are walking in Space; moon and Mars. Today, Africans export clergies while they import technology.

It is not a crime for us to learn from the world but we must understand that no one can build our homes for us. Doing everything to be like others; Arabs and Europeans while losing our cultures and values is to our detriment. It is the reason why we are confused in the world today. We are the only ones that foreigners dictate how to live for.  We are the only ones in the world who want to be like others even when we are racially discriminated against. We are the only ones who steal our wealth and give it to those who will still insult us as being thieves and backward. If we refuse to correct our enslaved mindset and colonial mentality, then we have no right to complain or lament. We should accept our fate as a conquered people.

'Free Sex' and Religion: An Analysis of Africa's Underdevelopment

Sex is a fact of life like death. The mind naturally craves for Food, Water, Sex and Sleep. This is the natural order of things. After eating, one must drink water and after sex, you will sleep. It is an established order. To be horny is not a crime and sometimes to masturbate has been described as a good therapy but all must be done for the right purposes.

Africans are always horny and at best, some masturbate. The most alarmingly disturbing is that all are done, for all intent and purposes, for the wrong reasons. Africans are only horny for religions. They masturbate profusely because of religions. When you see an average African looking pale and sex-starved, it is all because of religion. An average African wants to have religious sex almost every minute.

While reasonable people in the advanced world are horny too, they are horny for developmental reasons. Japanese, Chinese, Americans, Koreans, Indians among others are horny today for science and technology. They masturbate vehemently so as to be satisfied by going into space and even conquering earth. Apart from achieving a lot, most of them also make sure Africans are sexually satisfied through them so that they will be mentally incapable of thinking and finding solutions to their problems that is why Chinese goods flood the African markets. Consumerism always. No production!

Africans do not think of having sex with development and advancement. NO!!! Africans think of raping (embezzling) foreign aid and grants. Africans love free sex that continuously give them incurable diseases (underdevelopment and destruction). Today, some Africans are trying to undo a lot of things but they lack the necessary political proficiency and economic capabilities to turn things around, hence Facebook and Twitter are homes to their outbursts.

Those who lead the continent have permanently subscribe to the pornography produced only in California and abroad. No ingenuity. No introspection. No intuitive innovation. Foreign dictations always remain the best to them; hence they refused to look at the beautiful beauties ubiquitous within. The mental enslavement has made the dazzling African princesses to bleach just to fit the California (Western) standard because their African Kings (leaders) love FREE FOREIGN SEX which is really KILLING.

Reduce the level of being horny for religions in Africa and half of the problems are solved. This is so because they will no longer sit at home and blame invisible beings for their woes, rather they will begin to put their brains to task, THINK, invest in knowledge and not entertainment that teaches nothing, study the environment and conquer it for the general good and the future of the descendants.

Their leaders will no longer be horny and beg California Porn stars (aid, grants and massive financial borrowing and dependence) for satisfaction, rather they will act like real men, work dexterously and adroitly to win the winsome African damsels to be the real women of their lives for the best satisfaction. The satisfaction that generations yet unborn will live to benefit from.

Ironically, Africa oils this free sex industry. It is not at all FREE because it is the sweat of Africans that makes it stand. The constituents (raw materials and natural resources) are taken away from Africa and repackaged (finished goods and technology) BUT Africans believe it is FREE. Today, as always, FREE SEX is killing Africans. China is taking over now. Then, one should ask: 'Will Africa ever stop begging in the midst of over-abundance'?

As long as we have refused to embrace who we are, look within ingeniously and begin to creatively find our way out instead of plundering our wealth and resources while being dependent on foreign crumbs, then we will remain backward and the world will NEVER take us seriously. 

Culture and Science: A Wake-up Call for Africans

Each time I am in a position to explain the idea of culture to the children and young ones with impressionable minds, I usually think of the most simplest method that can be easily understood by them. It is in the quest of thinking of such a method that the idea of blood and physical appearance struck me. I am a strong believer in culture and I take special interest in science and technology. These are three formidable pillars of societal development and advancement. Culture builds the mind, science advances the mind. Culture is the foundation of a house, technology aids the design and aesthetics.

Culture is our physical appearance while science and technology represent the blood cells. In other words, science and technology are universal like the blood cells in humans while culture represents our physical appearances and differences. Every human being on earth possesses the blood cells; no one has a pink or yellow blood, it is the same RED BLOOD. However, we all have different physiognomy. This is instructive in itself. Science and technology, beginning from the existence of the first humans till the modern era, can be tapped and developed by any serious-minded society. They have been advanced by different people of different ages; from the first great Nubia-Kemetic civilisation in Africa to the Greco-Roman and Persian civilisations, down to Asian civilisations. Science and technology like the blood cells, belong to all humans but culture like the human physical appearance is unique.

Physically, it is not usually difficult to know a Chinese, an Arab or an African. What does this tell us? It shows that they possess certain things that are naturally special to them. This is what culture stands for. The Europeans and Asians understand this fact and they have continued to maintain their civilisations but how about the Africans? The Africans are the only set of people on earth today who exist in a state of confusion. They fight desperately to destroy their physical appearance literally and culturally. Some bleach their skins to beat the snow of Europe to the game while some simply tell you their cultures are 'archaic'. Then you ask, what happens to innovation? Everything in life has its phases. Innovation is the only concept that makes all things to be relevant.

Africans, rather than be ingeniously culturally Innovative, would prefer to be culturally enslaved by others. That is why they try to be more Royal than the Queen, holier than the Pope, more Jewish than the Rabbi and more Islamic than the Grand Mufti of Arabia. Can you ever hate your skin and love yourself? The result of hating your skin is bleaching. If you love the skin, you will do everything possible to improve it and that will build your beauty and uniqueness. It is the same with your culture. If you love your culture, you will separate the stones from the grains. You will be creative and innovative in building it than condemning it. 

Can you ever compare a bleached skin to the natural pink skin of any European? Meanwhile, the African blood is also contaminated. The average African does not understand or has refused to understand the power of science and technology in the globalised world. He remains attuned to miracles than surgical procedures. Whilst others build their health system to be medically fit by being scientifically and technologically creative, the African is religiously innovative; building the largest religious edifices and procuring private jets for heavenly spiritual evangelism.

If Africans are really serious about the daily lamentation of being underdeveloped, then we must begin to bring our minds back home. Europeans or Arabs will not build our homelands for us. They are also fighting for their survival and progress and they do not care who is enslaved or trampled upon for them to keep rising. Culture is a formidable foundation. It tells us who we are and how we must remain relevant. In its history, we learn where we began from and understand how we will be able to formulate implementable policies that will get us out of our quagmire. 

Culture is not static, it must grow in line with human creativity without losing its essence. This is the reason why cultural innovation is vital. Rather than lampoon what we have, we should put our brains to task and improve it. Pointedly, science and technology must not be joked with. If we do not dust ourselves off and begin to invest massively in the scientific and technological revolutions sweeping the world, we will remain a conquered people.

Federal Government Approves the Manufacturing of Cars in Nigeria

Nigeria has been described as a bastion of knowledge, intelligence and sagacious men. The country is also blessed with numerous natural resources which if properly annexed and well managed, the country would be soaring in the modern era will great nations. The Asian Tigers cum China by all standards are not as blessed as Nigeria but the leadership quagmire which encourages corruption and siphoning of the collective wealth of the people is destroying the country.

Nigeria has nothing stopping it from being among the renowned in the world in industrialisation and exportation of finished goods as well as technology just like China and Brazil today. During the Civil War (1967-1970), the Biafrans invented different weapons not excluding tanks (Ogbunigwes). Apart from that, late Professor Ayodele Awojobi of the University of Lagos developed the Autonov (a vehicle that can be driven both ways; front and back). All these died naturally because of the myopic form of leadership which is the bane of Nigeria.

NAN reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday in Abuja approved the Automotive Industry Development Plan for the development of the nation’s automotive industry. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, told State House correspondents after the weekly FEC meeting, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, that the plan was expected to attract investment to the sector.

According to him, a transformed automotive industry will realise its potential as a major driver of economic growth and diversification, job creation, local value addition, and technology acquisition. "The most important discussion which took most of our time was the presentation to Council of a broad policy plan to develop the Nigerian automotive industry.

"This Plan, which is part of the Ministry’s industrial revolution plan that had earlier been approved, is aimed at ensuring increased flow of investment for the development of the automotive industry in Nigeria," he said. He said FEC also approved that henceforth, government would purchase vehicles from the assembly plants in the country "unless it is of specialised nature and National Automotive Council (NAC) has certified that it is not produced in Nigeria."

Maku added that the council approved that the recommendations on the local purchase of vehicles be backed by appropriate legislation to reassure investors that there would be no abrupt change in policy. Commenting on the Automotive Development Policy, the Minister of Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, said it was unfortunate that not less than N550 billion was spent by Nigerians on the importation of vehicles in 2012.

He said that Nigeria spent $4.2 billion (about N664bn) on importation of cars in 2010, and that "car import takes the biggest share of the country's foreign reserves followed by other machinery". He expressed optimism that the success of the policy would mean a gradual end to the importation of fairly used cars to the country.

Also, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Muhammed, said that the council approved the rehabilitation and expansion of the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) from Villa roundabout to the OSEX/Ring Road 1(RR1) junction, including five interchanges at N39.8 billion. This is not the first time such a programme will be in place in Nigeria but all died due to the ineptitude of government.

Volkswagen was manufacturing cars in Nigeria earlier before it crumbled due to the high cost. Power is still relatively unstable which is almost the most crucial though the government is making frantic efforts at salvaging the situation. It recently transferred the power to private investors and rose to settle the severance package with the aggrieved PHCN workers.

Iran announces new Security-oriented 'space tracking centre'

The Iranian defence minister revealed that a new Iranian space monitoring centre will track orbiting objects. It is the latest of Iran's space programme claims, which include sending a monkey into orbit.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad praised the new centre as a benchmark in the country's space programme.

“This is a highly great achievement and we are among the few countries with such a centre and if we send a satellite into the space, we can receive its information in our country,” Ahmadinejad said in an address inaugurating the centre in Markazi province on Sunday.  He added that the "inauguration of this centre has brought us one step closer to the complete use of space."

Defence Minister General Ahmad Vahidi told reporters that the centre would mostly be used to monitor satellites passing overhead using radar, electro-optic and radio systems.

Iran already maintains a number of command and control stations around the country, and one inside the territory of its regional ally Syria.

The US has voiced fears that developments in space technology could bring Tehran closer to making long-range missiles. This is the main reason while it is targeting her and her oil industry with crippling sanctions to crumble her muscle to develop nuclear missiles.

Tehran has denied these claims, maintaining that the space programme is purely civilian-orientated. Of particular concern to Washington is Iran’s ambition to put more satellites into orbit, which Tehran says are aimed at monitoring earthquakes, improving security and increasing military surveillance.

Iran regularly boasts about its many technological advances. In March, the Aerospace Industries Organization claimed it sent a monkey into space aboard a Pioneer explorer rocket. The monkey allegedly returned to Earth alive after being sent into orbit at an altitude of 120 kilometers.

Iran has claimed it sent a number of smaller animals into space, including a rat, turtles and worms aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010. The Director of the Iran Space Agency (ISA), Hamid Fazeli, hailed the mission as a huge success and said it was a prelude to sending a human into space.

China discovered to be involved in a string of Cyber Espionage Activities -Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab has discovered a years-long cyber-espionage operation that victimized hundreds of high-profile targets in 40 countries. The malware, known as NetTraveler, was used for covert computer surveillance and appears to have originated in China.

The Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Lab best known for exposing Flame and Stuxnet - sophisticated spywares launched by the US government - has uncovered a global cyber-espionage network targeting the world's diplomatic, government and military agencies.

In a report published on June 4 the malware that especially targeted Asian countries was identified as an “advanced persistent threat” similar to the Red October unveiled in January.

“Based on the collected intelligence, we estimate the [controlling] group side to about 50 individuals, most of which speak Chinese natively and have working knowledge of the English language,” the report said.

However, nowhere in the Kaspersky report is the Chinese government accused of any wrongdoing and only speculation links China to the infection software.

According to the report, NetTraveler was designed to "steal sensitive data as well as log keystrokes, and retrieve file system listings and various Office or PDF documents.”

The amount of stolen data discovered on the malware’s command-and-control servers exceeded 22 gigabytes, with that being a small fraction of the total data stolen since the rest of it was previously downloaded by the attackers and deleted from the servers.


The countries most frequently targeted by NetTraveler – Russia, India, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan – all border China. The first evidence of NetTraveler appeared in 2004, but the report said the most attacks came between 2010 and 2013.

Diplomats were targeted most often, followed by government workers, and high-level private officials then international military contractors. Tibetan/Uyghur activists and oil industry companies also ranked among the favourite targets.

The hackers did not use any advanced vulnerabilities and relied on phishing attacks, which often distribute infected links via email or social media.

“NetTraveler victims get infected through spear-phishing attacks using Office documents which exploit two publicly known vulnerabilities,” the report states with analysts surprised that such unsophisticated attacks can still be successful with high profile targets. “Although these vulnerabilities have been patched by Microsoft, they remain effective and are among the most exploited in targeted attacks.”

The researchers discovered that at least six NetTraveler targets – a Russian military contractor, a government organization in Tajikistan, and embassies in Belgium, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Belarus – were previously hacked by the Red October campaign that was likely launched from Eastern Europe. Kurt Baumgartner, a senior security researcher for the Americas on the Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky, told DarkReading.com the attempts from separate phishing schemes indicates those locations are highly valued.

“Threat actors infiltrate victims simultaneously and may or may not be concerned about victim overlap,” he said. “Most likely, with these two groups in particular, the operators have a specific set of tasks at the victim organizations. If they happen to see another piece of malware on the target network, and it doesn’t interrupt their operation, they just go back to completing their assignments.”

Courtesy: Russian Times

Fans Ready to Pay Fortune for Titanic's Replica Maiden Voyage

                              
A handout picture received from Southampton City Council on April 4, 2012 shows the Titanic leaving Southampton on her ill-fated maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. (AFP Photo)


Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, who plans to build a modern replica of the legendary Titanic cruise ship by 2016, has received an “overwhelming” response from people around the world willing to be the first paying passengers.

A half-dozen people have even offered $1 million or more to be on the maiden voyage, officials from Palmer's company Blue Star Line announced at a press conference.

Raymond Tam, Director of Asia Operations for Blue Star Line said "Many people when they think about Titanic II, they think about the romantic story of Rose and Jack, Romeo and Juliet, so I am sure many people can associate themselves one way or the other with Titanic. So I guess our target has no limit on boundaries.”

The global launch of the Titanic II project is scheduled for February 26, according to the Blue Star Line website. It will be held in New York on the retired aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, not far from the original Titanic’s would-be port of destination. Details concerning the project are expected to be released at the event.

Preliminary plans and drawings of the Titanic II were revealed in July 2012. The ship is being designed by the Finland-based Deltamarin engineering company, and will be constructed by China's CSC Jinling Shipyard company.

The upgraded version of the world’s most famous cruise liner will have the same dimensions as its ill-fated original: It will be 270 meters long (885 feet), 53 meters high, and will weigh 40,000 tons. The ship will have 840 rooms and nine decks, and retain the first, second and third-class divisions of the original.

However, the replica will also be equipped with cutting-edge technology and the newest navigation and safety systems. The ship will also be wider, its bridge will have greater visibility over the bow, and this time there will be lifeboats for everyone.

Once completed, the Titanic replica will first sail from China to Southampton, and then carry passengers to New York along the original ship’s 1912 route. The Titanic was the world’s largest and most luxurious ocean liner, but it sank 100 years ago during its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, killing around 1500 passengers.

Palmer is not the first to set the ambitious goal of recreating the Titanic. In 1998, the same project was announced by South African business mogul Sarel Gous. It was abandoned in 2006 over lack of public interest and investment.

                      
This handout diagram provided by The Blue Star Line on July 17, 2012 shows the preliminary plans and drawings for the Titanic II. (AFP Photo/The Blue Star Line)

Prevent Social Disorder Through Money-Making: The Economist

ALBERT HIRSCHMAN knew what he was talking about when he called one of his books “Essays in Trespassing”. He was an extraordinarily peripatetic practitioner of the dismal science. Born in Berlin in 1915, he fled the Nazis in 1933, studied in Paris, London and Trieste, joined the anti-Mussolini resistance, fought on the Republican side in the Spanish civil war, served in the French army until France’s collapse in 1940, helped to organise an “underground railway” for refugees, emigrated to America, joined the army and was a translator at Nuremberg. He applied the cosmopolitan spirit that he had acquired in these years to everything he wrote.

He made his reputation as a development economist, focusing on Latin America, but he soon found himself trespassing obsessively—not only into other sub-disciplines such as the theory of the firm but also into other disciplines entirely such as political science and the history of thought. Mr Hirschman was never awarded the Nobel prize in economics he so richly deserved, perhaps because his writing was hard to classify. However, as if by way of recompense, Princeton University Press is about to publish a 768-page biography by Jeremy Adelman.

Mr Hirschman’s most famous book, “Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organisations and States”, remains as suggestive today as it was when it first appeared in 1970, for managers and policymakers as well as intellectuals. Mr Hirschman argued that people have two different ways of responding to disappointment. They can vote with their feet (exit) or stay put and complain (voice). Exit has always been the default position in the United States: Americans are known as being quick to up sticks and move. It is also the default position in the economics profession. Indeed, when his book appeared, Milton Friedman and his colleagues in the Chicago School were busy extending the empire of exit to new areas. If public schools or public housing were rotten, they argued, people should be encouraged to escape them.

Mr Hirschman raised some problems with the cult of exit. Sometimes, it entrenches the status quo. Dictators may rule longer if their bravest critics flee abroad (indeed, Cuba uses emigration as a safety valve). Monopolies may have an easier life if their stroppiest customers find an alternative. Mr Hirschman got the idea for his book during a ghastly train journey in Nigeria: he concluded that the country’s railways were getting worse because the most vocal customers were shifting to the roads.

Exit may also reinforce the cycle of decline. State schools may get worse if the pushiest parents take their custom elsewhere. Mr Hirschman worried that a moderate amount of exit might produce the worst of all worlds: “an oppression of the weak by the incompetent and an exploitation of the poor by the lazy which is the more durable and stifling as it is both unambitious and escapable.” (Mr Hirschman wrote better in his third language than most economists do in their first.) Exit may also entail costs. If you have invested heavily in a company that starts performing badly, then you may be better off agitating for a change in management rather than selling your shares at a loss.

Mr Hirschman overstated his case. Plenty of evidence suggests that choice can act as an energiser, not a soporific. The most comprehensive study of school choice, in Sweden in 1988-2009, by Anders Bohlmark and Mikael Lindahl, found that “free schools” (private schools that are paid for by the state) were not only good for their own pupils but also forced ordinary state schools to shape up. But Mr Hirschman’s overall point was not that exit is bad but that exit and “voice” work best together. Reformers are more likely to be able to fix an organisation if there is a danger that their clients will leave. The problem with Friedman et al was that they focused only on exit and not on how exit and voice could be used to reinforce each other.

Modern technology is adding to the power of both exit and voice. Consumers can abandon expensive middlemen for electronic commerce. They can also organise online armies to protest against poor service. But companies are also fighting back—making exit more difficult by persuading people to sign long-term contracts (particularly with teaser rates) and encouraging loyalty by offering rewards such as air miles. They are also adding their own voices to the hubbub via social media.

Squawk or go

Mr Hirschman wrote so much about so many different subjects that it is easy to see why his biography stretches to 768 pages. He challenged the conventional wisdom among his fellow development economists that poor countries need “balanced growth”; he argued instead that the “disequilibria” generated by unbalanced growth might do a better job of mobilising resources. He also challenged the conventional wisdom among sociologists and historians that the Protestant ethic prepared the way for capitalism. He suggested, rather, that the starring role should be given to a group of thinkers, such as Montesquieu, who argued that the best way to prevent social disorder was to channel people’s passions into moneymaking.

The Economist claims to engage in a “severe contest” with “an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”. Mr Hirschman was an eloquent ally. In “The Rhetoric of Reaction” he wrote that purveyors of “timid ignorance” rely on three types of argument: jeopardy (reforms will cost a lot and endanger previous gains); perversity (reforms will harm the people they are intended to help); and futility (problems are so huge that nothing can be done about them). That certainly describes the current debates about global warming, illegal drugs and countless other topics. With luck, Mr Hirschman’s exit will not silence his voice.