Democracy,majority, India and the world
January 23, 2009 § 16 Comments
Its no more Barack H Obama,it is president Barack H Obama. So there we have it,like everyone else around the world,I too was glued to the T.V. ,as arguably the world’s most powerful office was taken over by a man who promises much.And as a prelude to what we might expect, he stopped a trail in Guantanmo Bay and is all set to close it.
Solilo rasied a few interesting points about our democracy and this was my comment:-
I like this post,my view about our country is simple
-our constitution is the third epic we have given to the world,after mahabaratha and ramayana.
-democracy is the biggest hypocrisy.Not that I am communist either,in fact democracy seems better of the two devils.The fact is only we “educated” people bother about all this,for the farmer,if he gets free T.V,he doesn’t realize he has to pay more bribes,or maybe they are used to it,like we are paying to cops etc..
-having a single person seems more dangerous,see what Bush did..
-whats the solution now? proper democracy? ya right and how are we ever going to bring out fair play? maybe give a fair play award,like FIFA does in every world cup..simple the cup would be sold..I know I sound rather cynical and pessimistic,but then seriously we need people who are dedicated.The talk about how we were united during freedom struggle is all fine,we knew the face of the “enemy” but now we don’t.Not just as a state,but as the “global village”.
So continuing from where i left,I have never really thought of democracy as what Mr.Lincoln said -of the people,by the people,for the people.
Basically “people ” here would mean the majority. Now how do we know that the majority is right? If majority is always right,then how did we end up with a Bush? And it was funny seeing Americans themselves almost booing Bush. So is majority always right?
There is a saying in Tamil “Makal theeirpa makesan theeirpa” or “the people’s judgement,is God’s judgement”.I am sure there is a saying to that effect in every language. But past the romanticism of such sayings,throughout history we have seen people’s judgement as a society, not being “sane” shall we say.
The fact remains that society is a summation of individuals.Now most individuals are gullible(not enough integrity,I would say,Et tu Brute?),so if one person can harangue their belief to the masses,something like Antony did,then we are left with a judgement of one person .Without trying to digress into the merits of Brutus’ actions(after all under the statue it was,right?) ,what we do know,is that the crowd is always willing to jump on to boat with more gold.Nothing is more emphatic than bribing people for votes.
There are so many things,which we have to accept as a part of society,de reguiuer more than anything else. Yet we teach kids(I am still a kid) to be truthful,be honest etc, the most blasphemous thing about it is blackmail( it is blackmail ) -“God will poke your eye.” As a kid,growing up,I thought for a long time,adults as those who have values,kids are the ones who are frivolous as they don’t get the seriousness of life(blah blah blah{my am I falling in love with BODMAS?}) and when I did realize that adults are the ones who really a rope around the foot,it was some sort of revelation.
Majority isn’t always right. It seems a very mean conclusion to arrive at,particularly seeing the things majority dream about. For all the talk of majority wins, it actually took a single individual to get us (allegedly) independence.Yes,there were a lot of others,but they all were (to eulogize)a force,yet not too big enough. While Munna Bhai might be standing elections and making a few promiscuous statement about family names, we are still voting for the better devil.
And devils being devils ,have a set formula. Say you get this and that.Unity or communalism ,democracy or the thumb rule. The manifesto the “leaders” deliver,seems to be a mirror,they reflect what the people want to hear,yet they are painted behind.We are a nation which dreams about unity,about a social equity,yet it is easier for a criminal to hold a seat,in the highest house,while for others to hold on to their houses seems difficult.
The majority of us,don’t want wars or torture.Now try telling that to Taliban or Israel ? Are we trying to sell something here,which no one will buy? Or should we coat it with oil or stud with diamonds which they anyway have?
Questioning the human standard of “goodness” is what all we “good” people do.Yet beyond the first question,we have never travelled,now I do wonder,if we “good” were to choose a leader who would it be?
There is the concept of “mixing it” in football.Where in you just don’t play pretty passing game,you put in a few hard tackles and may be even break a couple of foot.But aren’t we supposed to be breaking the foot of the common enemy? Now the common enemy team,lets say are these :-
Terrorism:-Well my views are very clear about terrorism
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Corruption:-
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Politicians and their divide and rule policy:-
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Poverty:-
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Illiteracy:-
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I am tempted to add religion but abstained(immaculate) from it.Mainly because,it is the root.I don’t consider it as a social problem,it is something far wider,it is in the mind,a psychological problem,no one would ever in the name of God or in the name of not believing(we are a nation of Hindus,Muslims,Christians,Sikhs,Parsis, Buddhists and non-believers )in it commit atrocities which violate every sense of pride an animal has.
So these evils we need to throw a few hard tackles at.Yet what is the problem? It is their method for one thing(fire for fire maybe?) and we are too humane to consider hurting them.And end of the day,we are happy to live our lives(nothing wrong in that,only thing we might get affected someday ).
The only reason why Israel bombs Gaza is because Gaza has no nuclear weapons,same thing with Iraq and Afghanistan,now why then Afghanistan’s neighbor not bombed? Simple,even though they brew the Taliban mix,they have nuclear bombs, Blackmail. So where is freedom and democracy ?
I am not far from the truth,when I say,equity is still a dream and will always be a dream for the society.The more globalised we become,the more we would tend to discriminate:-
A good example are the reservation policies, it is not about each one according to your worth,oh! no it is all about which caste you belong to! And oh! whats the preamble again?
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Hypocrisy ? Good enough,isn’t it.Well it is an epic as I said. We find the government doing work against all this.But what I should appreciate is that if I were in a communist country I would not even be allowed to write this. So much for my two paise of freedom. I live in a large Metro and one of the country’s safest,I have no clue of communal violence except what I read and see on T.V. I will proudly say,my city is one in which communal violence will not boil out.
So back to the whole issue of majority.When the parties try to sell positions in the country,how far are we from the old situation?What are the virtues and what are the vices? The ban against Smoking,hasn;t gone anywhere. Nor has U.N. done anything great about human rights situation(OMG! UN? WHATS THAT?) in many countries.
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The leaders and whom so ever it is gain power,thanks to support.So as a society we need to do something( not watch NDTV and send SMSes and comments). Whatever system arises,there will be some problems which arise,as the aces dealt are equal(wow! something is fair!) to all.The fiends ,will grow along,but we need to grow faster than them.We need to evolve into something they can’t catch.And at doing all this,we need to do it in a way,which our “inner voice” will agree. When we choose someone,we need to know what they do.Maybe instead of the budget,the government should publish the cash flow for each project it undertakes.Maybe,we educated need to stand up and take control. In times when we are moving into the age of intelligence, a person who is still stuck with medieval ideas can do no good. And without pointing fingers,what we will have to do is,take up the onus and try to initiate a change.
And to change, it is the children(nurture) whom we can start it with.The terrorists have learned it well.We should make sure,that the poor kids learn values which do the world good. We need to stop war,as all it does is cause more anger,when an action is so sever ,what about the reaction? We need people with the same standards.
President Obama seems to be the person, but I am not that sure others are going to cooperate.
Lets hope for the best.
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Are Israel’s air stikes right?
December 29, 2008 § 15 Comments
We all condemned the Mumbai terror attacks,but funnily enough,no one in the known blogosphere,has had anything to say about Israel’s air strikes on the Gaza strip.
Just because a few militants launch bombs,is it right to bomb a whole city? Here is some info on the whole issue(it does not include the recent air strikes).
The conditions of people living there,is bad and the people responsible for the attacks are those who do not have the support of the people.And the best part is,none only few,very few of the people responsible for the rockets were killed.Till now about 307 people have been killed,including children.
As the world celebrated Christmas,those living in Gaza received a terrible gift.
Of course,it was wrong to launch rockets by the militants,but why hurt children and civilians ?Who is the bigger terrorist here? And what does the world do except condemn the attacks? Already the place has no food or proper medical facilities and how are they to handle so many injured and dead?
This isn’t a war,this is just a brutish crime.This is legal terrorism.But what can we do about it? A few unscrupulous minds act to some baseless virtue and their decisions endanger the people.The UN again seems to be no where.
I do wonder what a child who lost his/her parents in this bombing will do,when he/she grows up? Who can stop the tyrants of war? Is there any democracy in the global village? Does it matter which street you live on?
This article,sums up what is really happening.