Dear Ranjan,

Just a short response to your concluding paragraphs. I don't know much about
this but there are theories of public good - public trust doctrine, concept
of global public good - which intersect with economics, philosophy,
jurisprudence and ethics. Closer to home, Gandhi's philosophy had 'public
good' at its core. As did Eames' India Report in its articulation of the
purpose of design education.

To the PHD-DESIGN list: Hello! I have been reading posts on this list for
quite a while though I have written for the first time today. I have been
Prof. Ranjan's student at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (the
city where Gandhi developed and implemented many of his ideas)

Best wishes,
Suchitra

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 10:58 AM, Prof M P Ranjan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Jan and Ken
> Thank you for your thoughts and references, rather alarming indeed.
>
> It is not just the US Senators and the tobacco industry that is in denial
> but so are so many other industry and business sectors which wish to ignore
> the writing on the wall and bash on as if nothing has happened, in spite of
> the current deep financial crisis. Designers have a role to play and I am
> not sure that we are equipped to play this role going by what is taught in
> schools and how the profession itself is organised and the manner in which
> these concerns are being expressed and the influence that we wield on the
> politics of climate change and other such pressing issues that confront us
> on a daily basis.
>
> Look at the automobile industry, and its advertising blitz, as if nothing
> else mattered. The WHO report on traffic safety tells us that 1.3 million
> lives are lost from road accidents and more than 50 million serious
> injuries
> are caused and this is a direct result of design action in my opinion, both
> industrial design as well as effective communication design and i am sure
> you can add design research to this list if you so wish. (0 percent of
> these
> deaths are in developing countries!!
> <http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/en/>
>
> The same can apply to the mining industry with open cast mines and the
> business telling us that there is no option to the ecological destruction
> of
> pristine forests in India and the hydro-electric business that tells us the
> displacement of people are for the larger good and in the name of
> development and all this in the face of great political opposition by a
> variety of activists.
>
> I find this politics of opposition and obstruction is the only voice that
> is
> heard today and the politics of imagination (deep design as I now call it)
> that is the design way, however is a very feeble voice indeed. As a
> community we are not placing the options in front of our politicians in
> visible ways and for this we would need to be both visionary as well as
> politically saavy, but our schools and institutions go on as if this is not
> their turf at all.
>
> We do not have a theory of public good while the good old Adam Smith
> dictate
> of private good as a base for our capitalist and market economy dictates
> the
> directions of our politics all over the world. Some are talking of
> transformation while others talk of innovation as the ultimate mantra, can
> old fashioned design play a role here? Any thoughts from the list?
>
> With warm regards
>
> M P Ranjan
> from my office at NID
> 1 July 2009 at 10.55 am IST
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Prof M P Ranjan
> Faculty of Design
> Head, Centre for Bamboo Initiatives at NID (CFBI-NID)
> Chairman, GeoVisualisation Task Group (DST, Govt. of India) (2006-2008)
> National Institute of Design
> Paldi
> Ahmedabad 380 007 India
>
> Tel: (off) 91 79 26623692 ext 1090
> Tel: (res) 91 79 26610054
> Fax: 91 79 26605242
>
> email: [log in to unmask]
> web site: http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp
> web domain: http://www.ranjanmp.in
> blog: <http://www.design-for-india.blogspot.com>
> education blog: <http://www.design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com>
> education blog: http://www.visible-information-india.blogspot.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 10:10 AM, Jan Coker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Dear Ken,
> >
> > I think this kind of distraction is debilitating. It keeps the cycle of
> > doing nothing going. As designers there is a task clearly set in front of
> > us, regardless of the political to-ing and fro-ing which is only
> reflective
> > of short sighted self interest.
> >
> > We have the resposibility to use our education and skill to further the
> > ecological and social sustainability of our planet. We have personal
> choices
> > of where we draw the line on what we will collaborate in and what we
> won't.
> > No amount of rationalization can justify abrogating our own
> responsibility.
> > We have in the end to live with our own conscience; and maybe in the end
> it
> > comes down to deciding what we will personally sacrifice. What jobs we
> will
> > not do.
> >
> > As for the discussion of global changes, are they-aren't they, that
> > discussion was over long ago. Design is a creative activity which is an
> > adventure in the future. If we do it well it can add to the beauty of
> lives,
> > functionally, socially, physically. Sure its possible to make mistakes
> but
> > designer are in the position were they might employ an ethic of not only
> > knowingly doing no harm but also doing nothing unless it is clear that it
> > can better global life.
> >
> > Remember that the tobacco industry argued for the harmlessness of smoking
> > long after any doubt of its harmful consequences was dismissed; even to
> the
> > point of lying, threatening, and bullying. And the industry continues to
> > find ways to promote death by funding advertising by buying
> Hollywood/media
> > support, by buying political collusion with industry profit, completely
> > ignoring the fact that they are killing people. Not only the company does
> > this, not only people's bad choices do this but those who work in the
> > industry and aid in the secondary industries, the John and Julias are
> > personally colluding to commit murder.
> >
> > Warmest,
> >
> > Jan
> >
> > Jan Coker, PhD
> > Upfront3
> > 1 /174 East Tce.
> > Adelaide, SA 5000
> > Australia
> > 0403855539
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > 'The source of crafts, sciences and arts is the power of reflection. Make
> > ye every effort that out of this ideal mine there may gleam forth such
> > pearls of wisdom and utterance as will promote the well-being and harmony
> of
> > all the kindreds of the earth' Baha'u'llah mid-1880s
> >
> >
> > On 29/06/2009, at 6:42 PM, Ken Friedman wrote:
> >
> >  Dear Colleagues,
> >>
> >> Paul Krugman's column in today's edition of the New York Times is
> >> terrible and sobering reading. I urge you to share this with your
> >> friends --
> >>
> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/opinion/29krugman.html
> >>
> >> Krugman, a Nobel Laureate in economics, is a consistent and powerful
> >> voice for sustainability as the foundation for long-term prosperity. Of
> >> course, without a livable planet, there will be no one left to prosper
> >> and nowhere left to do it.
> >
> >
> SNIP SNIP
>