Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Members of the now disbanded Team Anna, If you want to join politics to make a Change, Come up with Ideas not Platitudes


The only things that Anna and Baba movements have established are that multitudes of people have been suffering for long, and that they are very very angry. In such a situation there is a spontaneous realization that something must be done. However the more important questions are What are the things that need to be done? It is here that ideas are more important than mere good intentions. It is true that we need people of good character to join politics, however mere good character, like mere good intentions, is not sufficient. We need good ideas. Where are the ideas? What are those ideas? This is where there has been a vacuum.

While Congress and Left have been parroting platitudes like Secularism and Socialism for decades, despite their fairly obvious failures, their adversaries, namely the BJP, propose nothing significantly different in terms of ideas. The BJP prides itself with the epithet of true-Secularism, while it hopes to befuddle the Hindus by using the term "Hindutva", all the while remaining ambivalent about rampant state sponsored welfare-ism. 

Such cerebral lethargy will not do. We not only have to perceive urgently that the system is crumbling, in addition we must also identify the causes. For example, if the nation had not indulged in the hero-worship of Mohandas, Jawahar etc. and had not subscribed to the Jawaharian obsessions of Secularism and Socialism; we would not have faced the financial crisis in 1991 or the scourge of Madrasa indoctrinated home-grown Jihadi groups. Thus a corruption in ideas is a very dangerous thing. Therefore we must clearly understand that however "clean" these new politicians may turn out to be- if at all - if they employ bad or wrong ideas as solution to the Political, Social and Economic problems, the eventual outcomes will be disastrous. Similarly we must also stop, think and evaluate our experience with the law enforcement system we have had for the past 65 years. We must perceive how our justice system is so lethargic and so twisted towards protecting the rights of the offenders that the offended have hardly any hope of getting even a semblance of justice.

The likes of Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan have been vociferously making a case for revolution, however, their revolution, even if it ever happens, would be nothing more than fluff and gas. The real revolution must usually be initiated in the field of ideas. One can not bring about a revolution and then stop to think for ideas! We have seen the utter futility of such revolutions. Kejriwal and Bhushan do have some ideas - even if we disregard Kashmir stupidity of Bhushan - but they are the very same ideas which have failed all over the world. Like the BJP wanting to bring "true Secularism", team Anna will promise to bring "true welfare". Such attempts are doomed at the very outset.

For example, it was realized by the end of last century that Socialism was doomed and could only result in economic disaster. Likewise, since the beginning of the present century, the realization is slowly yet steadily dawning that Secularism and its bastard child multiculturalism and its illegitimate cousin minorityism is doomed and can only result in socio political disaster. And yet, team Anna members do not have even a hint of a dash of willingness to debate these matters.

In this sense, if we want to make any real difference, we must learn to forsake, at least for some while, our unquestioning respect for the existing institutions, be it the Constitution, be it the Supremacy of the Parliament, etc. For without a healthy amount of scepticism, we may never get to the bottom of the understanding, which is the least that we need in order to come up with solutions to the colossal problems that we are presently facing. However, what we observe in the political discourse is almost a fanatic devotion to phrases like "Supremacy of the Parliament", "We must uphold the Constitution" and so on. It is nothing much different from stupid prejudice if supposed intellectuals insist on preconceived notions like these.

Moreover, these empty suits among the Indian intellectuals who keep singing glories of "institutions" must realize that institutions provide sustenance to ideas. Therefore institutions by themselves can not be good or bad. Institutions founded for sustaining good ideas will be good and vice versa. For example a Madrasa is an Educational Institution, however since it is an instrument for indoctrinating young and impressionable minds with virulently poisonous and utterly violent teachings, they are bad institutions.

Unfortunately Team Anna members have betrayed themselves as a bunch of empty suits, perhaps well meaning, but empty suits nevertheless. All through their chest-beating din against Corruption, moron-like platitudes like Secularism, Welfare for the Poor, are yelled repeatedly. We do not claim that Baba Ramdev is much different or that the existing political parties are any better. However the fact of the matter is, you can not get right results out of wrong ideas. Those wanting to make any real difference have to initiate a battle in the domain of ideas and not waste resources in parroting platitudes. Team Anna members parrot the same wrong ideas which have failed us in the past 65 years. They also repeat the same ideas that have failed the world over in the past century.

3 comments:

  1. The biggest mistake of Team Anna was trying to target only the politicians. Today they look like a bunch of jokers when they are themselves opting for a political space.

    The actual looters/betrayers of our nation are the IAS/IFS/IRS etc.

    Look at the problem logically. Once an IAS always an IAS officer. Parties may come and go, politicians may come and go. Other than facing transfers, they are always in the system and continue influencing the system even after retirement.

    These are the people designing the system and will always ensure that they never get trapped.

    Off late we have seen so many politicians getting tried for various scams. How many IAS officers have been tried though they would have done the entire paperwork behind the scam!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Corruption prevails because of Politician-Criminals-Bureaucrat nexus. Many reforms are needed. On a more basic level, different IDEAS are needed.

      (1) IAS etc. do not "design" the system. The system design is Constitution which must be seen as failed.

      (2) The constitution was designed using wrong ideas, viz., Secularism, Socialism, Affirmative Action etc.

      That design has failed.

      Team Anna is not proposing any solution to that. As a matter of fact, no parties are proposing. Most are repeating old slogans.

      Delete
  2. (1) They indeed appear foolish because of their capitulation. However, let us assume, for the time being, that it is late realization, and let us condone the delay for they are "new" in "politics".

    (2) And yet, they (i.e. ex-Team Annaa) betray similar imbecility in their approach towards the "solution".

    (3) We should accept that given a chance a significant number of people, if not all, will attempt to make quick money through corruption. The issue is, how to put checks and balances so that irrespective of who attempts to make a quick buck, corruption is systemically difficult to accomplish and if accomplished is caught and punished very soon. Unfortunately, no one is applying his or her mind to this problem.

    (4) These, viz, IAS etc., are not who "design" the system, they the ones who "run" or execute the system. The system is faulty and needs to be changed. As mentioned by anonymous in his/her comment, it is the Constitution which has failed, based as it is on Jawaharian Secularism, Socialism, Affirmative Action etc.

    (5) If IAS officers are not being tried, it also betrays the lacunae in our Law Enforcement. However, recall the design of this Law-Enforcement as well is as per the Constitution.

    (6) In our opinion, we need a major overhaul of the whole system. We have outlined our proposal here, however it is only a sketch. The matters must be comprehensively debated for a higher quality solution to be achieved. However, none of this can happen unless we realize, first and foremost, that the present system has comprehensively failed.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are not moderated. Please read the About Us page. If you have outright disagreement, then you may not have much use commenting. You are free to record your disagreements in a civil manner. Repeated abuse, and irrelevant postings will be removed. Please avoid advertisements.

This blog does not honor political correctness. If your comment is posted, this does not mean that this blog endorses your views.

While I allow anonymous comments, please quote your twitter account if you want to have a referenced discussion.

There is a Suggestions Page, please post your suggestions regarding this blog as comments on that page.