On This Republic Day...
Hitchens once said, "we don't need better politicians, what we need is better electorate and some better journalists". All the faults we see in our country are not always with the system or the few who are in power. It is not Us and Them. I know this is common knowledge, but I am sure, at least I have observed, that people don't realize it.
Corruption is not always driven by greed. It is also driven by feelings of convenience, temporary suspension of morals, and relative evaluation of everything- from money to philanthropy to happiness to suffering. How many of you don't think that it is necessary to twist somethings, to get a 'jugaad' to get your work done? How many of you will not cheat in exams, seeing that others do? Obviously, with the relative marking, if you don't cheat you will fail. So what else could you have done? Well, for one thing, you could have informed the faculty or staff, or warned your fellow students, but let us not go there. Let us not talk about idealism. And talking about small 'jugaads', how many of you would not cut lines? It is such a petty harmless thing, isn't it?
By the way, this time I want to reach a larger audience and I suspect some of them are not too bright or too interested to get the connection, so let me spell it out for them. The cheating thing is the answer to the argument of 'why does the system not change' (and apparently the lack of intention of doing the same) - it is a thorough thought-out decision, choosing survival over stupidity or idealism.
The cutting lines, is the reason for the corruption of the type - 'getting work done, but taking slight favors on the side'. That is, a washing machine as a bribe from the contractor is not something substantial, for giving a contract of making roads, because the work is actually being done, and society is actually being helped. There is no harm in those kinds of corruption, is there? Deep down, you believe that, don't you?
The shitty movies that are in theaters are there because it makes profit, stop complaining about them, there is sensationalism in the news because it does get TRP, the bureaucrats and public servants are apathetic and amoral, and we too are in our own professions, the shitty MPs were elected to be there, and the shitty legislation exists because there is no voice against it, the shitty streets because we shit on it, the vote bank politics is not the fault of political system, but our society, you and me. I know this is too obvious, and you already knew it, but I am just checking. The government is not only of the people, by the people, for the people, it is also, is the people.
And yes, I may be a hypocrite in this case, but I am not sure if this kind of hypocrisy is really a vice. It is an acceptance of a kind.
So on this republic day, instead of flooding the Facebook with patriotic videos, I would rather hope we close our doors and reflect on our behavior. I don't say change, but at least accept it, our faults, that we are the system, live in the guilt at least. Hide the smirks, lower the chins and deflate the chests when you apply a 'jugaad', don't boast about it please. Acceptance is the first step, let posterity take the burden of change. Baby steps.
Disclaimer: I realized, that this is from a very single point of view. And it can be refuted strongly and aptly, I intentionally skipped it. I am here presenting a non-technical solution. (Sometimes problems do not have a technical solutions; a fundamental extension in morality is required. In The Tragedy of Commons, Garrett suggests that population problem lies in the class of problem of 'no technical solution', but I would rather say that most of the problems are in the intersection between 'technical solution' and 'fundamental extension in morality'.)
Corruption is not always driven by greed. It is also driven by feelings of convenience, temporary suspension of morals, and relative evaluation of everything- from money to philanthropy to happiness to suffering. How many of you don't think that it is necessary to twist somethings, to get a 'jugaad' to get your work done? How many of you will not cheat in exams, seeing that others do? Obviously, with the relative marking, if you don't cheat you will fail. So what else could you have done? Well, for one thing, you could have informed the faculty or staff, or warned your fellow students, but let us not go there. Let us not talk about idealism. And talking about small 'jugaads', how many of you would not cut lines? It is such a petty harmless thing, isn't it?
By the way, this time I want to reach a larger audience and I suspect some of them are not too bright or too interested to get the connection, so let me spell it out for them. The cheating thing is the answer to the argument of 'why does the system not change' (and apparently the lack of intention of doing the same) - it is a thorough thought-out decision, choosing survival over stupidity or idealism.
The cutting lines, is the reason for the corruption of the type - 'getting work done, but taking slight favors on the side'. That is, a washing machine as a bribe from the contractor is not something substantial, for giving a contract of making roads, because the work is actually being done, and society is actually being helped. There is no harm in those kinds of corruption, is there? Deep down, you believe that, don't you?
The shitty movies that are in theaters are there because it makes profit, stop complaining about them, there is sensationalism in the news because it does get TRP, the bureaucrats and public servants are apathetic and amoral, and we too are in our own professions, the shitty MPs were elected to be there, and the shitty legislation exists because there is no voice against it, the shitty streets because we shit on it, the vote bank politics is not the fault of political system, but our society, you and me. I know this is too obvious, and you already knew it, but I am just checking. The government is not only of the people, by the people, for the people, it is also, is the people.
And yes, I may be a hypocrite in this case, but I am not sure if this kind of hypocrisy is really a vice. It is an acceptance of a kind.
So on this republic day, instead of flooding the Facebook with patriotic videos, I would rather hope we close our doors and reflect on our behavior. I don't say change, but at least accept it, our faults, that we are the system, live in the guilt at least. Hide the smirks, lower the chins and deflate the chests when you apply a 'jugaad', don't boast about it please. Acceptance is the first step, let posterity take the burden of change. Baby steps.
Disclaimer: I realized, that this is from a very single point of view. And it can be refuted strongly and aptly, I intentionally skipped it. I am here presenting a non-technical solution. (Sometimes problems do not have a technical solutions; a fundamental extension in morality is required. In The Tragedy of Commons, Garrett suggests that population problem lies in the class of problem of 'no technical solution', but I would rather say that most of the problems are in the intersection between 'technical solution' and 'fundamental extension in morality'.)
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