Games, Politics and Geopolitical Games

Bharat’s civilisational wisdom is replete with the idea of the complex, the multiple, the Vishwaroopa. Our itihasas are replete with concepts like lenses/perspectives before psychologists made them “cool”; high-stakes dynamics and dharmsankat before Hollywood found their superheroes. At the core of the Bharatiya archetype was “structured complexity”. The idea that many versions of right could exist in parallel. It all depended on time, space, and context.

Sadly, we have gone from a culture of celebrating complexity, to Gandhian simplicity; from the Indic way of thriving in nuance, to western false-binaries (good vs. evil, rich vs. poor, etc).

Take the examples of emerging technologies like gaming, generative AI, robotics, and quantum computing. Most debates are put to rest with simplistic, unidimensional, pessimism.

While simple-minded morality is tempting, it is usually wishful-thinking in a multi-polar world, with nations fixated on dominance. It is foolhardy to expect the thousand-talents-programme will be shut down, just because some of us want a satvik society; or for the military-industrial complex to shut down, because some of us prefer Gandhian righteousness. As I have argued in an earlier Op Ed, Bharat is accepting only now, albeit very slowly, that we live an in inescapable era of “Sovereignty over Internationalism”. ^[1]

How does Bharat need to respond – when it comes to future technologies, prioritise the strategic interest lens over a faux-morality lens. Let us look at some examples. As generative AI, robotics, and quantum computing are in their teething stages, let us take the example of the online-gaming industry specifically, and how nations have used it as a lever for maximising self-interest.

The Game of Non-kinetic Warfare

Take the two recent reports by ‘Rashtriya Raksha University^[2]’ and ‘Centre for Knowledge Sovereignty’. ^[3] Both lay out in great detail, how Bharat is feeding not just wealth, but personal-data, demographic information, geolocations, and financial details of citizens. All this to unregulatable offshore operators, that could be strategically owned by rogue actors.

These reports lay out the extent of the security-risk of hawala, terror-financing, data-breaches, and more; that Bharat is actively allowing. Gullible citizens, not knowing which games are legitimate and which are not, voluntarily export their (a) money, (a) personal information, and (c) financial-data to these dangerous platforms.

These reports further clarify that the only way to prevent Bharat from this threat, is to encourage legitimate domestic gaming companies whose funding, data-location, financial-processes, etc are regulatable. However, we as a nation have ignored these warnings, and do not even have a list identifying which companies are domestic/legitimate, and which are not.

The Game of Strategic-advantage

In an era where data is the new oil, the gaming industry is the new oilfield. The substrata of gaming provide terabytes of data on user-behaviour, preferences, trends, financial-capability, communities, causes, triggers, and motivations.

Bharat may not find use for this rich resource, but other nations do. Which is why USA, UK, EU, and China have strong regulatory frameworks to (a) encourage the domestic gaming industry, and (b) build capabilities to import this big-data.

When Telangana banned domestic gaming companies, Chinese operators^[4] swept in to capture the market, and presumably the data that came with it. All this because the moral-police went after the easy-to-catch legitimate/domestic operators.

The Game of War-chests

Bill Nye ‘s “Soft power is nothing without hard power” now forms basis for most nations’ geopolitical strategy. Achieving Vishwaguru status through culture, films, and knowledge is a pipe dream unless backed by military and economic might.

Bharat has the second largest user-base of gamers (consumers) in the world, but a mere 1.1% of gaming revenues globally. Had this been a traditional industry like automotives, pharmaceuticals, or agriculture, we would have multiple task-forces constituted to stem this drain.

We missed the hardware bus in the 1980’s, the software bus in the 1990’s, then enterprise solutions in 2000’s, and then social media in the 2010’s (only for chest-thumping “nationalists” to whine later that Bharat should have got its own swadeshi version… paradoxically wailing on these very social-media platforms they were against). We are committing the same crime today with industries like gaming and future-tech. We are not just missing the bus; we are gladly waving goodbye to it.

The Revenue Secretary said that the government is expected to collect up to Rs 14,000 crore ($1.7 billion) in GST from gaming companies each year. This war chest could be deployed both for development programmes domestically, and to strengthen Bharat’s position militarily and geopolitically.

The online gaming industry in Bharat holds immense potential for economic growth and strategic significance. A balanced approach that addresses social issues, strengthens national security, protects consumers, and promotes domestic growth is essential. By fostering a nuanced perspective that considers multiple dimensions, Bharat can harness the benefits of this dynamic sector while safeguarding its interests. Embracing this balanced approach will ensure that the gaming industry contributes positively to Bharat's growth and development in the years to come.

However, noises from bleeding-heart NGOs and flagbearers of morality have shrunk the conversation to dismissive positions. Progressive pragmatism has given way to angi-pariksha type posturing.

The Game of Overton Windows (Itihasa > Tehzeeb)

We need to reclaim our complex moral outlook as postulated in the itihasas, rather than simplistic, black-and-white diktats (that interestingly originated in middle-eastern cultures, and were imported here only in the 16th century).

“Binary oppositional thought processes” has its roots in monotheistic religions^[5] from the West. Concepts like good and evil, heaven and hell, right and wrong, are not just accepted but deeply ingrained in western cultural psyche. Eastern cultures on the other hand, celebrate complex-realities. We in Bharat see it in our sampradayas and mutts, each of whom may follow multiple value-systems and practices, often conflicting with each other.

Bharat has always been about understanding complexities and nuances, about finding balance between multiple truths and realities. Now that we have shifted away from our colonised past, we should shift our Overton Window away from “binary oppositional thought processes”.

On one hand, “people are getting spoilt” is a legitimate concern; but throwing away our data sovereignty is a concern too.

On one hand, Vishwaguru dreams are great; but unattainable till we keep shooing away Lakshmi (wealth) and Saraswati (talent) that create future technologies.

On one hand, dictating morality for the masses is tempting, but then we become those that enforced heaven-and-hell thinking on us.

On one hand, people need to appreciate simplicity and frugality. On the other hand, a nation needs a war chest.

As Bharat gears up to claim its place in the world we must be especially nurturing of fruit-bearing trees, rather than chop them for our own funeral-pyre.

References

^[1] Sovereignty over Internationalism, The Sunday Guardian
^[2] Curbing Betting and Gambling in India: A National Security Imperative, SASTRA
^[3] Gambling Away India’s Sovereignty, CKS
^[4] Hyderabad Police arrest Chinese national for heading major online gaming scam worth crores
^[5] American binary thinking: Psychological foundations, religious framing, and media reinforcement, Georgetown University

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