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12 May 2004

The Mock Race

Posted by Oblivion in General | 8:17pm


The mock race - that's what I refer democracy as. At least, as it exists in this f****ed-up-beyond-repair country. The process, as I understand, is this:

1.It's the avarice for power and not the desire to serve people that pulls so many idiots (no contradiction here, their looks also reflect this!) to ruthlessly compete for those seats

2.A good number of people know this, yet they are helples as to what to do about it, or how to stop this from happening. So, sincerely, they stay away from exercising their franchise. (ok, I appreciate all those too who want to vote but do not end up voting)

3.A majority of the multitude that vote (vicariously experiencing the illusion of power for that one moment) do not know the implications of their deed.

4.Then, we have this counting drama and a chap wins.

5.The chap takes the populace for a ride and the common man - the most voiceless creature in this world - suffers in silence. 

6....and the race continues.

Come on, hasn't it happened for a long enough time for us to realise that the entire process has so many flaws? Why do we select the civil servants through such a rigorous procedure but care nought when we choose our leaders from a bunch of insane, selfish, ruthless, even uneducated (not that it is important by itself) brats with a bent for crime?

Media hypes politicians so much. Success and power are worshipped in this world. Where is the country going? Wouldn't it be better if the leaders are chosen from the civil servants? Isn't the probability, in this case, of having more number of better leaders more than it is now?

Why doesn't anyone with sanity and power (eg., civil servants, editors, etc) make this a big issue and try to arrive at a better solution?

I know all this is a helpless banter... Yet...

...into whatever heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake (apologies to Tagore, for paraphrasing). Because, any other heaven would be better than this existing hell!



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5 Comments | "The Mock Race" »

  1. By JLU

    12 May 2004, 11:34pm [ Reply ]

    VJ, I have started a thread on FH Discussions referring to this post of yours. You can start posting your arguments :)

  2. By Vj

    12 May 2004, 10:12pm [ Reply ]

    Hi JLU
    Thanks for giving me some nice food for thought :)

    Btw, FH DB means the discussion boards? Quite true, that should be always better for debates than this place. See you there :)

  3. By JLU

    12 May 2004, 10:09pm [ Reply ]

    Vj,

    Every job carries societal responsibility and so does the job of a politician as well. While there is no disagreement on that, I think the common expectation of selflessness from a politician is slightly misplaced. Let he/she put efforts (ideally) and get rewarded. And, let them be more accountable.... such a model might be more practical.

    Reg. IAS officers, they are mostly from the well-off classes except for rare cases. They may know about the issues / problems / opportunity barriers faced by the disadvantaged - but may not have experienced it first hand. Given this, their priorities may lie in improving the quality of life of fellow well-off classes (industry, infrastructure, dams, linking of river basins, 8% annual growth, blah, blah, blah), and not really that of the ones who need upliftment.

    This medium does not lend well to debates like these.. maybe we should shift our venue to FH DB :) What say?

  4. By Vj

    12 May 2004, 9:39pm [ Reply ]

    Hi JLU
    Great point. Nonetheless, politics cannot be viewed as just another career, for it carries more societal responsibility than other careers. The very connotation of politics is governing people, so it is neither recommended not necessary to view politics devoid of public service. By its very nature, it demands 'philosopher king's to be on its roll. Not insane brats.

    As regards the second point, I cannot support it with any data. And I cannot entirely disagree with you that it may not be any better a solution. There is a point I don't agree with, however - that these people would not know the problems of the common man first-hand. Education/profession cannot be a deterrent in getting to know people's needs intimately, for all it needs is passion. As any selfish person is liable to overlook this, his educational background cannot be a determing factor.

    Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, etc were all highly educated and were driven by a mission, which although not entirely altruistic was at least not based on exploitation.

    Seshan or Gill may not make perfect PMs, but a Laloo or a Mulayam would certainly not be as good.

    Love to know what you would say.

    Take care, and have a great day!

  5. By JLU

    12 May 2004, 9:17pm [ Reply ]

    1.It's the avarice for power and not the desire to serve people that.........

    Probably we are making a mistake here. Why don't we view politics as just a career (with its own accountabilities in place) and not as a channel for delivering social service?

    Wouldn't it be better if the leaders are chosen from the civil servants? Isn't the probability, in this case, of having more number of better leaders more than it is now?

    I think this solution is worse than the problem. The power would then be handed over to a class of people who wouldnt know first hand the issues faced by the majority of the populace (the poor and the downtrodden), and hence their rule could get detrimental to the aspirations of the masses. CBN is guilty of the same fault, and has been rightly downed by the people power, just like Karunanidhi and Diggy Singh were, in their respective states a couple of years ago.

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