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65th Year -- No. 3597 Tuesday, July 28, 2020 www.mauritiustimes.com facebook.com/mauritius.times 18 Pages - ePaper MAURITIUS TIMES “To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism.” -- G. Edward Griffin Echiquier politique Interview: Couldip Basanta Lala, Former Founder & Director, Sanne (Mauritius) L'alternative Ptr-MMM-PMSD Mauritius risks European Commission's blacklist se précise “We have to be Par Aditya Narayan + Voir Page 4 Winter of Daily Struggles prepared for the worst” + See Pages 7-8-9 Diaspora “If the well-off feel like giving a special lunch or dinner 'Things will get A Message for to relatives and friends, why not let others do so for you? Loads of women have been learning culinary worse before they All Times skills inspired by local tradition and foreign trendy We must relentlessly continue to 'fight for a world of reason, food habits. A good idea to ask private cooks to put get better' a world where science and progress will lead to all men's up a nice menu on Saturdays and Sundays, which happiness'. Tough call, but there is no alternative… foreign expat guests also may appreciate…” Really! How much more worse? By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee + See Page 3 By Nita Chicooree-Mercier + See Page 18 By Preeamvada Dookhun + See Page 10 Mauritius Times Tuesday, July 28, 2020 www.mauritiustimes.com Edit Page facebook.com/mauritius.times 2 The Opposition Comes together The Conversation umours were doing the rounds in potential risks. These might arise from the Could we live in a world without rules? political circles earlier this year various challenges from the opposition e all feel the oppressive presence of Rabout a proposal to bring together parties as regards the conduct of the last rules, both written and unwritten – it’s the LP, the PMSD and the MMM into a general elections as well as the unfavou- Wpractically a rule of life. Public political alliance after their debacle at the rable international economic climate which spaces, organisations, dinner parties, even last elections. What gave some substance is made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. relationships and casual conversations are rife with regulations and red tape that seemingly to that rumour was the proposal then made As we have argued many a time in this are there to dictate our every move. We rail by the leader of the Labour Party, who had paper, a vibrant democracy requires a canvassed the idea of a common boycott against rules being an affront to our freedom, credible opposition. This has been lacking and argue that they’re “there to be broken”. of the Presidential Address by the opposi- since the coming to power of the current But as a behavioural scientist I believe that Instruments of tyranny tion parties in Parliament, namely the government. The opportunity exists, and it is not really rules, norms and customs in MMM, the PMSD and the Labour Party. the circumstances demand that this lacuna But we must be careful – for this way general that are the problem – but the unjusti- And, with a view to remaining “consistent” be filled promptly. It is too early in the day tyranny also lies. Humans have a powerful with the LP-PMSD-MMM opposition’s fied ones. The tricky and important bit, per- sense of wanting to enforce, sometimes to speak in terms of an alliance of the haps, is establishing the difference between challenge of the November 2019 general Labour Party-MMM-PMSD proper, with oppressive, patterns of behaviour – correct the two. spelling, no stranded prepositions, no split elections, he had also suggested that the the next elections four long years away. infinitives, hats off in church, standing for the Opposition should refrain from participa- Jean-Claude de L’Estrac in his interview to Of course, there has long been an appetite among some people for a less formalised so- national anthem – irrespective of their justifi- ting in the parliamentary debates on the this paper last week poses as a determi- ciety, a society without government, a world cation. And while the shift from “This is what Government Programme. ning issue the question of who will lead this where individual freedom takes precedence: we all do” to “This is what we all ought to do” A common stand could not be reached ‘alliance’ at the next election, and thinks it an anarchy. is a well-known ethical fallacy, it is deeply due to the divergent views of the MMM is not too early to answer it. embedded in human psychology. and the PMSD. The PMSD leader had The trouble with anarchy, though, is that it However, we take a slight different ruled out the LP leader’s suggestion for is inherently unstable – humans continually, One danger is that rules can develop their view, though we also concur that this issue non-participation in the parliamentary and spontaneously, generate new rules go- own momentum: people can become so fer- must be resolved at the earliest possible, vent about arbitrary rules of dress, dietary debates, but decided that it would instead verning behaviour, communication and eco- despite the fact that the election is still a restrictions or the proper treatment of the go for a “symbolic boycott” of the Presiden- nomic exchange, and they do so as rapidly as few years away. We feel that while working sacred that they may exact the most extreme tial Address – thus giving rise to specula- old rules are dismantled. towards a formal alliance, if ever that were punishments to maintain them. tion that there would be more behind the The urge to overturn stifling, unjust or sim- to materialize, making their presence felt words of the PMSD leader. It would seem ply downright pointless rules is entirely justi- Political ideologues and religious fanatics as a solid common front in the meantime that the new dynamics operating at the fied. But without some rules – and some ten- often mete out such retribution – but so do should send a strong signal to the govern- level of the electorate, coupled with its own dency for us to stick to them – society would repressive states, bullying bosses and coer- ment that they mean business, especially cive partners: the rules must be obeyed, just electoral weight, might have prompted the slide rapidly into pandemonium. Indeed, many if their stands on the various matters of because they are the rules. Not only that, but PMSD to rethink its positioning on the poli- social scientists would see our tendency to national concern are coordinated with the criticising rules or failing to enforce them (not tical spectrum. create, stick to, and enforce rules as the very Parliamentary Opposition’s. foundation of social and economic life. to draw attention to a person wearing inappro- The new dynamics that have deve- priate dress, for example) becomes a trans- Our relationship with rules does seem to loped on the political stage are in large part This will definitely send another signal gression requiring punishment itself. be unique to humans. Of course, many ani- due to the doings, rather misdoings of the that there is a unity of concern and ap- proach towards the problems that the mals behave in highly ritualistic ways – for And then there’s “rule-creep”: rules just current government. A number of contro- keep being added and extended, so that our country is facing. However, we should add example, the bizarre and complex courtship versies around the appointment of highly individual liberty is increasingly curtailed. that besides criticizing government actions dances of different species of bird of paradise remunerated persons close to politicians in Planning restrictions, safety regulations and or policies as well as unraveling the irregu- – but these patterns are wired into their genes, power to positions in public bodies has not invented by past generations of birds. And, risk assessments can seem to accumulate larities that we are being bombarded with, become a major preoccupation for the while humans establish and maintain rules by endlessly and may extend their reach far they should also come up with concrete, country. The government has just done punishing rule violations, chimpanzees – our beyond any initial intention. exactly or even worse than what the public positive and actionable solutions to the closest relatives – do not. Chimps may retali- problems. Even if government should Restrictions on renovating ancient buil- had been reproaching previous govern- ate when their food is stolen but, crucially, they dings can be so stringent that no renovation is spurn these, the common front will thereby ments of doing: being over-generous to- don’t punish food stealing in general – even if feasible and the buildings collapse; environ- beef up its credibility, and these solutions wards cronies by drawing from the public the victim is a close relative. mental assessments for new woodlands can can be debated and further refined as they purse, i.e. taxpayer money. In humans, rules also take hold early. be so severe that tree planting becomes go along. In spite of knowing about the daunting Experiments show that children, by the age of almost impossible; regulations on drug disco- very can be so arduous that a potentially va- economic issues that were facing it and What happens next may not lie within three, can be taught entirely arbitrary rules for luable medicine is abandoned. The road to that demanded urgent solution, it began to the control of the opposition parties them- playing a game. Not only that, when a “puppet” (controlled by an experimenter) arrives on the hell is not merely paved with good intentions, shoot itself in the foot during the rather selves for a lot of water will certainly flow scene and begins to violate the rules, children but edged with rules enforcing those good short time in office with a long trail of scan- under the bridge, but it would not do any will criticise the puppet, protesting with com- intentions, whatever the consequences.

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