One Direction Goes in Two Directions

The top trending phrase on twitter, worldwide, on Thursday afternoon was this: #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik.

Also trending were other hash-tag words  #ByeZayn and #TwoDirections, with millions of posts on Twitter and Facebook; all about that shocking news that hit the world of tweens.

Twenty-two year old Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction, the boy band that rocked the first half of 2010s, caused enormous, almost seismic, upheavals in the social media world yesterday.

If asked about 1D’s band members, the only member’s name I would remember – and, I am sure, any average adult would remember - is the name of Zayn Malik.

And when this central piece on the board goes away, how can the game go on? That is the question many devastated young girls, tweens and teens, around the world are asking.

His statement to media on Wednesday, however, was this: “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight”.

Three or four years years ago, I still remember how excitedly my daughter, who had just turned eleven then,  said to me that she and her friends are now ‘Directioners’.

I had corrected her and said it should be “Directors” because there is no such word as “Directioners”.
She had quickly retorted, “You don’t know anything! My friends and I love the band One Direction, and its fans are called ‘Directioners’”.

I was introduced thus, to this boy band, which in 2010, after finishing third on ‘The X Factor’, signed-up with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records.

The band’s four albums saw incredible international success, thanks to social media which accelerated their rise to stardom.

And it is the same social media, I suspect, that eventually broke them up.

Even before he tweeted, seven days ago, 'I'm 22 years old... I love a girl named Perrie Edwards”, rumours were rife about his relationship which had had many of his female fans angry.

On social media, where  fans have access to everything that their idol says, and vice versa - in real time - it could be dangerous.

When you can see instant reactions, and when your friends, family and colleagues tell you what to share and what not to share, you could become highly stressed.

Now, there’s hate stuff on that girl too. Perrie Edwards is being compared to Yoko Ono, the love-interest of late John Lennon, who is still blamed for the break-up of The Beatles.

Anyway, from Beach Boys and Beatles of the 1960s to Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, of the 1990s, we know that boy-bands, like many other bands do break up. But some individuals go on to become even more successful.

Even girl-bands like Spice Girls broke up, and members went on to make hugely successful solo careers.

But what is clear is this. In this age of social media where instant two-way communication between idols and their fans is possible, the pressures can be too much for young celebrities.

It can even push them over the edge evoking eccentric behaviour, like what we see from Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber.

Zayn Malik has an incredible voice and a vast fandom to reign on. And he’s probably done the right thing by calling it quits when the pressure became too much.

One Direction now has gone in two directions.

But, I believe, Zayn Malik’s solo career – if he handles social media effectively - can go in just one direction. Upwards.

Need for New Capitalism

Currently, just 80 richest people in the world have wealth equal to that of 50% of the global population.

By next year, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.

These startling statistics are from a research by Oxfam, published in January 2015.

1,826 Global Billionaires are worth $7.05 trillion (Forbes, 3 Feb 2015), which is just a little less than the combined 2013 GDP of Japan ($4.9 trillion) and Germany ($3.7 trillion)!

So, we can just gape at the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, and start debating about the world’s free market economies, and if they are really working towards reducing income inequalities.

On Monday, I stumbled on a funny news item. Apparently, in London, in the heart of St. James, a group of hippies occupied a building to protest against the evils of capitalism.

You will ask, what is funny about it? Well, it was the wrong building. The office they went to, to hoist their banners, had shifted to a new location many months ago.

And anyway, ‘hippies’? In these days?

They seem to be living in a wrong age, too! But I think they are right - at least partly - in protesting against capitalism.

We have come to accept that if the means of production is largely, or entirely, privately-owned and operated for profit, then it is a boon.

But it turns out to be a bane. We see that private property, capital accumulation, and competitive markets are making the rich richer, leaving the poor behind.

Is that a problem?

Well, look at this. An article I read (The Economist, 3 Jan 2015) starts this way: “In the next 40 years, humans will need to produce more food than they did in the previous 10,000 put together.

“But with sprawling cities gobbling up arable land, agricultural productivity gains decreasing, and demand for biofuels increasing, supply is not keeping up with demand. Clever farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs are bursting with ideas. But they need money to make this jump”.

Who has that kind of money to invest?

Of course, we know who has the money. But we also know that they may not see a good return on investment here. And if they do see, how much will they take, or make?

Is 'Wealth maximization' from the perspective of Capitalism really going on that well? 

Communism, which has fallen in most of Europe, with the end of the cold war and Soviet Union’s  disintegration, still thrives in countries like China and North Korea. But in a new capitalistic form.

Despite trumpeting itself as the bastion of capitalism, we have seen USA bailing out private enterprises like American Insurance Group and General Motors, in billions. State intervention in a free market economy!

Obamacare, and his new promises to fund college education, show us how that  sometimes market economies will be forced to play the role of welfare states in a socialistic form.

‘Neo-Capitalism’ which had risen in 1960s  as a social theory blending both capitalistic and socialistic ideologies, saw some growth with many governments choosing to privatize public institutions in a phased manner, but did not catch up.

But, frankly, with no good alternative economic system in sight, our answer could be in ‘Creative Capitalism’ for now.

Bill Gates who is once again the richest man on the planet in 2015 says in a Harvard Business School article: "Creative Capitalism” is an approach where governments, businesses, and non-profits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities. 

A Memorable Musical

When the musical that taught us “Do-Re-Mi…” turned 50 this week, there was much celebration in the world of entertainment.

We know that good music featured in most Hollywood productions of the 50s and 60s, but the success that ‘The Sound of Music’ saw, remains unmatched. Very few movies have made as lasting an impact as this one did.

Among the last two generations, I am sure, at some point of their lives, many parents would have beamed with pride – or recall their parents beaming with pride – as they watched their children shyly perform ‘Do-Re-Me’ to some living room audiences.

We don’t know if Salzburg’s hills are alive with the sound of music now, but in our minds, the movie will remain among a few of our favourite things.

We may not know how to solve a problem like Maria, but we know that this guitar-wielding, music-loving postulant at the Nonnberg Abbey had had that confidence in confidence alone.

The film - based on the true story of Maria Von Trapp – not only gave us a beautiful tour of the green vales and hills of Austria and Swiss Alps, but also showed us the struggles of a wannabe nun caught in a moral dilemma – whether to choose the love of this world, or the glory of the other.  

To choose between the widowed Captain - with seven children - and her long-time decision to become a nun, must have been very tough.

Interestingly, however, in her memoir called ‘The Story of the Trapp Family Singers’ the real Maria Von Trapp whose role Julie Andrews played, said this: "I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children. I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after."

Released on March 2, 1965 – and shot for a little over $8 million – the film is today third on the list of Hollywood blockbusters, with a staggering $1.2 billion in ticket sales, when adjusted for inflation. That is an estimate from Fortune Magazine.

I believe, however, that the real worth of this movie can never ever be effectively quantified.  

For example, the city of Salzburg in the last fifty years has grown into a major tourist destination in Austria, mainly due to ‘The Sound of Music’. Can we estimate the employment it must have generated in the tourism industry there?

Also, millions of long-playing records, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, CDs and DVDs of this movie and its music must have been sold in the last half-century. Can we estimate the collective worth?

Those spirit-uplifting melodies and those eye-soothing locales – not to mention the powerful historical backdrop of the Third Reich – have definitely contributed to increased knowledge and mental well-being of those who watched and listened? Can we ever estimate that special feel-good factor?

This fifty year old movie still delights and excites children and families in ways that current movies cannot.

No wonder, a restored version of ‘The Sound of Music’ is being planned for a re-release in more than 500 U.S. theatres in April.

So, the movie-makers should know. The movie’s time is not done yet.  And they cannot say: “So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!