On... Political Responsibility

I sit here and wonder what I am doing. More importantly, am I doing it right?  Because at least some of what I am about to write has been plagiarized from someone I knew. And I really do not like to plagiarize.  Ok, let me dive straight in.

Well, till I was around seventeen, I had no idea about anything in politics. I was a typical capitalistic snob who thought that if you give a human face to capitalism, all would be well and good. There would be no need even for such a ‘superannuated’ ideology as communism or socialism. People change, I did. What my ideologies are now is not the matter at hand. Suffice to say I have moved way beyond capitalism ‘with a human face’.

All I had left with me is an intense urge to serve the nation. I say nation and not country, quite purposefully. Nation implies people, not the geographical area that is India. Why? Because I believe this society has been too fair to the likes of me and extremely unfair to the rest. I get to choose and make my own decisions because of where, when and to whom I was born. Isn’t that a right that should be within everyone’s reach? What I have understood till now is that there are others, millions who have this intense urge, just the same as me. It is not fully true what they say about this generation per say. Yes, a large or huge proportion is oblivious of what happens around them and equates the politico economy with last year’s fashion trend or fallen mangoes. It never occurs to them to pick the mangoes before they fall instead of treating them with disdain.

But now, a new breed is emerging. The ones who are much more enlightened than the older generations. They have seen the weaknesses of the system and want to rectify it. Now, in this category, we can have usually two types. The ones who join the mainstream parties in the hope that they will get to the top one day and the ones who think radically differently than the mainstream and form their own organizations or prefer to work alternatively, independent of the limelight and the unfortunate celebrity status the ‘united corporate of media’  is burdening the politicos with. Apart from these, there is another whole spectrum of activism.

But the problem that I have found with the aspiring politicians of today is that at least some think the mainstream ought to be cleansed inside out and that too within a day. They believe in a caste less society (hurray!), but they are not willing to grapple with the intricacies of caste. Some believe that women empowerment is different from class struggle or that feudalism has ceased to exist. I agree I may not be the best person to say this, but in most of them I have seen a typical ‘white man’s burden’ attitude. A feeling that the less privileged should be protected and ‘given’ the rights instead of making the opportunities and empowering them to take those chances.  There is another creed that disclaims the whole political system. Intelligent enough to discern the system is not working right, but feeling that every component in the system is wrong and below their kind attention.

Perhaps the most important ones are the self important ones. The persons who believe that ideology doesn’t matter. Or that  collective ideologies often lead to fascistic states. They attribute all the failures that might have happened on the theoretical theses rather than the practical modality. In a world where the greatest capitalistic economies are reverting to market control, we have a section which advocates further disinvestment of PSUs. In a dynamic system where textbook leftism has failed because of the complexities of power and human mind, we have another sect which adores armed revolution and a totalitarian state. It confuses me. I come across people who believe that the oligarchy which is leading our nation into ruins is role model.  What I don’t understand is when will they stop focusing on what they believe on a macro level, go into the depth and the manifold layers of the society and try to understand who an average Indian is?

There was a recent debate I came across where a person stressed the need to de-backgroundise politics. Fine. Hey, let us not stand on the shoulders of the giants. The question is, by diving head long into a system and using a disclaimer towards it, what will be achieved? Why does alternative politics languish in comparison with mainstream? I am sure there are better parties than CPM, which use the left ideals better. But I don’t hear of them on an important platform. Isn’t it the failure of alternative politics (which is usually the most people centric) that its mass reach is low? In 63 years of independent India, isn’t it time for alternative politics to change the strategy to fit the times? I don’t know, I am just asking.  If we can’t appreciate the fact that mainstream politics has kept this nation going for such a long time, aren’t we kind of being blind? Yes, there are flaws. As with everything else. 

And let us, arguendo, consider the other side. Isn’t it high time that mainstream politics shed its celeb attire and became more humane and people centric? This feudo-imperialistic and neo- liberal approach will only drive people closer and closer to the edge.  Never the less, the mass is largely ignorant of the way they are manipulated.  As long as they are given symbols of something they could look up to and believe in, they will continue to be victimized rather than empowered. That is precisely why we have half baked Rahul Gandhi aspirants and people who worship film star turned politicians. Am I ranting too much? Maybe it is time to stop.

I have only one thing to ask of everyone who wants to serve the people of this nation.  De omnibus dubitandum - doubt everything.