Money, Morality and Sai-worshipper Dr. Venkataraman

Dr. G.  Venkataraman writes a lot about scientific discoveries in his series on the heart-to-heart website which he runs in connection with Radio Sai, but he writes from the standpoint of a religious believer and preacher of morality. There is therefore not much head-to-head communication in it, and – though he reproduces information of a popular scientific kind well enough, the bias is quite a-scientific in spirit. Take for example, his article “4 M’s – MAN, MONEY, MYTH AND MORALITY By Prof. G. Venkataraman“.
He firstly dwells on how science has affected technology – simple, well-known high school level stuff.  Economists who were his audience must have been bored stiff with a patronising lecture on such elementary events in the rise of industrial technology known well enough to any educated person.However, he summed up the whole thrust of his lecture as follows: “My central point was that when man goes avidly in quest of wealth, he quickly loses discrimination and begins to swallow all kinds of myths. This results in man abandoning scruples, if not wholly, at least in substantial measure, and in turn that leads to disaster. In other words, my pitch was that nobody, economists included, can afford to ignore Morality in the larger scheme of things.”
What’s the point, one wonders… it is unclear whether he means that they should not invest in exploitative companies, or rather abandon economic realities and the profit motive and wealth creation generally? It’s anyone’s guess.

The pot calling the kettle black! 

Venkataraman has lost all his scruples about sexual abuse allegations and murder cover-up by Sai Baba, he is comfortable with all of it! (See here!) So morality is certainly ignored in his scheme of things, at any rate. He also tells what everyone knows anyhow, how scientists made the atomic bomb and states, “Overnight, scientists lost their innocence and became putty in the hands of those who had money to throw.” Well, G. Venkataraman is one of those very persons, for – like his more accomplished former colleague Dr. Bhagavantam – he worked for the Indian government on developing atomics which backed up India’s nuclear capacity! Now he is preaching against this… and he is one of the guilty!

His agenda is definitely unscientific, for it is religious moralising, as is clear from his words here: “Swami puts it all neatly and crisply. He says we must first have Love for God followed by a fear of sin. If these two are present, then Morality in Society would automatically follow.”

This has been preached for centuries in the Christian world (love and love of God have been a Judeo-Christian concept altogether until very recent centuries) but now we are told by Sai Baba that the world is ever more imbued with evil in this Age of Kali! This is really simplistic empty talk which provides no practical solution to the vast world problems with which science and economy are struggling to cope. Add to this that Venkataraman has swallowed quite other types of myth than consumerism; those connected with Sathya Sai Baba – which are of a megalomaniacal sort! More on the issue of Venkataraman’s  compromised position coming soon