27th January 2011
The standard lame excuses of the Indian middle class #1
The live chat yesterday was very fertile. It quickly brought out almost all the key issues that I've been hearing and writing about for well over a decade now. Looks like everyone will keep saying the same things till the cows come home. Always some excuse or other to avoid entering politics or engaging with the governace of one's nation.
Let me extract from my conversation with Sandeep Badjatia, a young man of great potential – his quick and clear expression bears testimony to that – but who is beset with the standard confusions of the educated Indian middle class. First read the extract below, then my comments later.
I'll separately (time permitting) discuss other lame excuses of the educated middle class, such as (a) politics is dangerous, (b) you can't do politics part time, etc.
(NOTE: For those who wish, I'm happy – even keen – to continue the discussion here – including with Sandeep).
EXTRACT
ISSUE 1: WE NEED TO CHANGE 500 MILLION PEOPLE FIRST
[Comment From Sandeep Badjatia] hello guys… to my mind, if a change has to be brought about, the basic need is to change the people who elect the present day corrupt politicians. one needs to address the basic aam aadmi & tell him where he is going wrong
[Comment From Sandeep Badjatia] a massive awareness wave has to begin
[Comment From Sandeep Badjatia] unless you did that, the aam aadmi will continue to elect the politicians like we have today… & we will still be left discussing
Sandeep Badjatia: the country needs a sea change in her mindset
Sandeep Badjatia: the people have to change… they must know where they going wrong
Sandeep Badjatia: well keep talking… you cant force anything down peoples' throat… you gotta change them like you gotta make a child understand how vegies are good & you will see the child eating them
Sandeep Badjatia: may i remind my friends here, independence came about also coz gandhi brought an awareness in people's mind about the need to be independent.. there were other factors also tho
Sandeep Badjatia: today we need such kind of awareness model
Sandeep Badjatia: lets understand this- the leader is as good as the people…
Sandeep Badjatia: unless people change, leaders' quality will remain as bad
ISSUE 2: THE VOTER SELLS HIS VOTE
[Comment From Sandeep Badjatia] wow, the voter sells his vote… thats a reality
Sanjeev Sabhlok: Sandeep B. " the voter sells his vote… thats a reality" I told you the voter is shrewd! He takes money from ALL sides and in the secrecy of the polling booth votes for his preferred candidate
Sandeep Badjatia: no he doesnt… he sells to the one who pays most
Sandeep Badjatia: sale of half a billion votes happens every 5 years
Sanjeev Sabhlok: Sandeep B. "no he doesnt… he sells to the one who pays most". Ask political parties that have paid out and see what results they got. If money was the only thing, ONLY Congress would win. Always.
Sandeep Badjatia: & the literate & educated have no say
Sanjeev Sabhlok: Sandeep B. "& the literate & educated have no say". That is because THEY DO NOT SAY! Have they entered politics in a systematic way?
[Comment From Sandeep Badjatia] any change can be brought about only if you are in power.. the corrupt will not give in so easily
Sandeep Badjatia: even SMS never won an election
Sandeep Badjatia: try making narayan murthy contest… he will lose big time
Sandeep Badjatia: the literate cant have a say untill the masses acknowledge that should not sell their votes
Sanjeev Sabhlok: Sandeep B. You continue to harp on a few poor quality leaders. Please note what I'm saying: India has NOT offered good leaders to the people for 60 years!
ISSUE 4: LECTURING FTI, REFUSING TO DIRECTLY ENGAGE
Sandeep Badjatia: if you guys are planning leadership development, please do consider building leaders amongst the people & leaders not pushed down their throats…
Sanjeev Sabhlok: Sandeep B. This is not about "you guys". This is about you.
Comment
So what is Sandeep trying to say?
a) That NOTHING can be done because we need to change the ATTITUDE (mindset) of the people. How many people? Half a billion = 500 million = 50 crore = 5000 lakh. Try changing ONE person. Now start thinking about changing 5000,00,000 people!! Can anyone find a better excuse for inaction than this? How do you propose to change 500 million people, Sandeep? Unless you advocate disenfranchising Indians and would prefer to be the sole dictator yourself.
b) That voters not only have an attitude problem but are CRIMINALS, apparently selling their votes to the highest bidder. If things were some simple, then as I wrote above, ONLY the Congress would win. Without doubt the Congress has amassed tens of billions of dollars in black money: thousands of crores of rupees. And yet it has repeatedly lost hundreds of elections. It is rump of what it was in Nehru's/ Indira's/ Rajiv Gandhi's time. The BJP hasn't fared much better. A BJP man told me (in my house, first hand) that he distributed Rs.35 lakhs personally in the slums of Mumbai in an election not so long ago (that was only a small part of the total distribution). And BJP lost. The reality is that voters are just too smart. They will take all benefits from all sides and vote only for the one they want to. After all, voting is by SECRET ballot in India! Simple. Don't underestimate the voter. He is not a criminal, just taking advantage of a bad situation where primarily goons come to him for support.
c) Even 'smart' people like MMS can't get elected. Of course not. MMS lost the election in 1999. But note that the entire Congress was wiped out securing only 114 seats. Not just MMS but HUNDREDS OF other Congress candidates lost. It was a wave against Congress – its lowest seat count perhaps, ever. The point is that the voter votes for stability – for a stable government. Once he decides that Congress should not form government, then its individual candidates matter far less than before. Also NO voter knew anything about MMS personally. He is also a very insipid leader and doesn't deserve to get elected (apart from his extremely shoddy moral character displayed by his associating with a political party that is India's largest mafia – a totally criminal organisation, looting the country at every step).
The solution
Note what I've said, that ONLY thought systematic effort can good people get elected. You can't offer the voter one or two good candidates. You must offer a very strong team. Plus there must be a huge propaganda and communication machine. Only then will the voter care to spend his vote on you. The voter is not a fool. Please don't underestimate his wisdom.
In brief, we now need hundreds of people like Sandeep to join FTI if they want to reform India's governance in their lifetime. It is time they stop making lame excuses. The time for buck-passing (to 500 million people!!!!) is OVER. Get on with the job and take responsibility for yourself and your nation.
I could not participate in the discussion because of time constraints. I think most people are simply underestimating the power and ideas of an individual. Most people can't seem to accept that poor masses can make right decisions. As you mention exactly, that the common man is not a fool.
I could not participate in the discussion because of time constraints. I think most people are simply underestimating the power and ideas of an individual. Most people can't seem to accept that poor masses can make right decisions. As you mention exactly, that the common man is not a fool.
I agree with Sandeep Badjatia that first and foremost need is change the voters' mindset, even if as of now it looks daunting task. Believe me, there is no short-cut either. This change may be brought about compulsory education to each and every citizen irrespective of ones age. With education here I mean decent education, not the charitable literacy programs. Glorification of the "Collective common sense' of voters after every election, is just an exaggeration and often misleading. Illiterate and unaware voters may suit to political parties at times, but it's not in interest of society/nations as a whole.
I also agree that in parliamentary democracy, there is no future for independent candidates. Here the some complicated issues associated with the functioning of political parties need to addressed – Internal democracy, selection of candidates and timing of announcement, election-funding etc. It may need some sort of legislation; yet 1 or 2 things may be tried out:
(i) Declaring the candidature at least a year prior to election, which will give the time to reach to the voters and will neutrlise the impact of money-power.
(ii) Election-manifestos of the Political parties should be made challengeable before Court of Law. Alternatively, parties may be asked to present their mock- budgets.
I agree with Sandeep Badjatia that first and foremost need is change the voters' mindset, even if as of now it looks daunting task. Believe me, there is no short-cut either. This change may be brought about compulsory education to each and every citizen irrespective of ones age. With education here I mean decent education, not the charitable literacy programs. Glorification of the "Collective common sense' of voters after every election, is just an exaggeration and often misleading. Illiterate and unaware voters may suit to political parties at times, but it's not in interest of society/nations as a whole.
I also agree that in parliamentary democracy, there is no future for independent candidates. Here the some complicated issues associated with the functioning of political parties need to addressed – Internal democracy, selection of candidates and timing of announcement, election-funding etc. It may need some sort of legislation; yet 1 or 2 things may be tried out:
(i) Declaring the candidature at least a year prior to election, which will give the time to reach to the voters and will neutrlise the impact of money-power.
(ii) Election-manifestos of the Political parties should be made challengeable before Court of Law. Alternatively, parties may be asked to present their mock- budgets.
Dear Sampurnaand
Nice to know that you want to change 500 million people. You want to give them “compulsory education”. Can you show me ANY evidence that education makes a person more suitable to vote. 80% of our educated people refuse to vote. And I’ve never seen more fanatic people (on religious or other matters) than the educated. So what kind of a syllabus will your compulsory education include? Second, how will you find the money for it? I could ask you 1000 questions. Please respond to these and I’ll ask others.
Re: the other suggestion: WHO will do the things you ask for? Why will anyone listen to you? Are you the law maker? Wishful thinking. ONLY Parliamentarians make the laws to change things. So become a parliamentarian first. That’s what I’m saying.
(By the way, policy suggestions are a dime a dozen. You need to be able to work with a team of like minded people to firmly agree on policy changes and only then – when the party you belong to wins 300 seats in Parliament – can change BEGIN. All else is a waste of energy.)
Regards
Sanjeev
Dear Sampurnaand
Nice to know that you want to change 500 million people. You want to give them “compulsory education”. Can you show me ANY evidence that education makes a person more suitable to vote. 80% of our educated people refuse to vote. And I’ve never seen more fanatic people (on religious or other matters) than the educated. So what kind of a syllabus will your compulsory education include? Second, how will you find the money for it? I could ask you 1000 questions. Please respond to these and I’ll ask others.
Re: the other suggestion: WHO will do the things you ask for? Why will anyone listen to you? Are you the law maker? Wishful thinking. ONLY Parliamentarians make the laws to change things. So become a parliamentarian first. That’s what I’m saying.
(By the way, policy suggestions are a dime a dozen. You need to be able to work with a team of like minded people to firmly agree on policy changes and only then – when the party you belong to wins 300 seats in Parliament – can change BEGIN. All else is a waste of energy.)
Regards
Sanjeev
Dear Sanjeev,
You have raised very pertinent questions but I am a bit disappointed with pessimistic attitude, as a whole. If we are comfortable with the existing scenario i.e. Political-parties run as family-business coupled with the illiterate & unaware VOTERS, the whole initiative, I fear, will merely end up with another Power-sharing exercise.
We just can't hope for the solution out of vacuum…
Regard,
Sampurnanand
Dear Sanjeev,
You have raised very pertinent questions but I am a bit disappointed with pessimistic attitude, as a whole. If we are comfortable with the existing scenario i.e. Political-parties run as family-business coupled with the illiterate & unaware VOTERS, the whole initiative, I fear, will merely end up with another Power-sharing exercise.
We just can't hope for the solution out of vacuum…
Regard,
Sampurnanand
Dear Sampurnanda
I am not a pessimist. You are – because you make lame excuses to shirt the task of citizenship.
You claim "we are comfortable with the existing scenario i.e. Political-parties run as family-business coupled with the illiterate & unaware VOTERS, the whole initiative, I fear, will merely end up with another Power-sharing exercise".
The problem is that you REFUSE to stand up and work towards an alternative. FTI is NOT about power sharing. Its members need at least 300 seats on their own right in order to initiate the necessary reforms. What people like you (and Sandeep) are saying is that you won't even TRY because, apparently we have to "first and foremost need is change the voters' mindset".
First of all, I don't agree with the idea that the voter's mindset has to be changed. Second, I think this is a lame excuse to avoid putting in the hard work required to lead India in a new direction.
If you are serious about doing something in your lifetime, join FTI. Else hold your peace and carry on making lame excuses.
Regards
Sanjeev
Dear Sampurnanda
I am not a pessimist. You are – because you make lame excuses to shirt the task of citizenship.
You claim "we are comfortable with the existing scenario i.e. Political-parties run as family-business coupled with the illiterate & unaware VOTERS, the whole initiative, I fear, will merely end up with another Power-sharing exercise".
The problem is that you REFUSE to stand up and work towards an alternative. FTI is NOT about power sharing. Its members need at least 300 seats on their own right in order to initiate the necessary reforms. What people like you (and Sandeep) are saying is that you won't even TRY because, apparently we have to "first and foremost need is change the voters' mindset".
First of all, I don't agree with the idea that the voter's mindset has to be changed. Second, I think this is a lame excuse to avoid putting in the hard work required to lead India in a new direction.
If you are serious about doing something in your lifetime, join FTI. Else hold your peace and carry on making lame excuses.
Regards
Sanjeev
The idea that education is necessary to make a good choice is purely wrong. Education does not guarantee good judgement. If that's the case then it would be quite safe to say all the experts and analysts with all their degrees are wrong almost every time. The common man knows what is good for him. Humans have that ability and the poor Indian probably will do a better job than people who say he won't.
Let's not blame a poor man's education as India's fundamental problem. Educating every Indian will not change a thing, it will probably make things worse from an economic standpoint and is not NECESSARY. We need leaders who will show the masses their way. So, STOP playing the blame game and washing your hands off. Nothing will change. India will continue to be plundered by socialists for which you and me are responsible for it.
The idea that education is necessary to make a good choice is purely wrong. Education does not guarantee good judgement. If that's the case then it would be quite safe to say all the experts and analysts with all their degrees are wrong almost every time. The common man knows what is good for him. Humans have that ability and the poor Indian probably will do a better job than people who say he won't.
Let's not blame a poor man's education as India's fundamental problem. Educating every Indian will not change a thing, it will probably make things worse from an economic standpoint and is not NECESSARY. We need leaders who will show the masses their way. So, STOP playing the blame game and washing your hands off. Nothing will change. India will continue to be plundered by socialists for which you and me are responsible for it.