POLITICAL WANDERINGS!

Have been swirling through the experiences of moving over from one phase of life into an unknown world of another phase, hastened by circumstances that left no option, for over couple of months. It would have been fascinating to actually pen down these experiences along the way , if not for others but for my own introspection, but one does not easily fathom ones feelings, well enough ,to articulate them meaningfully. So I have let that pass, hoping to do that another day.

I have avoided commenting on anything political, generally, but am an incorrigible, though passive , activist at heart. So occasionally I transgress.  You may skip this if this is not your cup of green tea.

I came across a commentary by Fareed Zakaria , the CNN host and Washington Post columnist quoting Ronald Reagan that  most of all our ills is due to Government.  While challenges of the seventies, when Reagan must have made this observation, are entirely different and possibly less daunting from what the world faces today, the diagnosis still remains the same.

From failed economic policies practiced the world over, resulting in the disparity between haves and have not’s becoming the highest ever, messed up handling of social conflicts, intolerance to contrary opinion, clueless responses to a serious threat to environment, increasing animosity and jingoism in dealing with other nations, swinging from controls to dismantling of the same in managing capital markets and players, kneejerk reactions to extremist  driven by fanatical organizations backed by other governments to the attempt to turn political leaders into cult figures  , the failure of governments across the world becomes uncomfortably apparent .

The focus is then to sidestep issues and manage and manipulate self-image and public opinion. Aided and abetted by subtle and sometimes not so subtle management of the fourth estate.

The invasion, it was nothing less, of Iraq on the back of a fabricated report of the existence of some weapons of mass destruction, which actually unleashed weapons of mass destruction and destroyed a nation , unleashed a serious of responses by those the invader labeled as terrorists. This very act of a set of governments, permanently, or so it seems, plunged the masses of the world to live in constant fear of fanatic elements.

Back home a regime change ,for right or wrong reasons, ends up in another, whose ability to manage events and images is matched only by the obsession it carries against a set of religious beliefs.

Yet another nation, which once was labeled as a nation where the sun never sets, had governments managing opinion so deftly that the people were led into and then led out of a concept called European Union.

All this begs the question, what is the alternative?  Totalitarian or right of middle or even left of the middle regimes have all been tested and proved to be superior in their inability to manage the inhabitants of the beautiful planet. In case of regimes labeled ideologically as middle of the road ones , like that of the  great Doctor sahib who led India in the recent past , never lived up to the challenges of modern governance.

Does it means we stick to the idea called Democracy? Aristotle called it as mob rule. Democracy is the worst form of government, except that others are even worse, opined Churchill.

Should we need more government or less? 

Lets remember that the Darwinian evolutionary theory of the survival of the fittest continues to be the prime driver of civilizations. Greed overrides other human responses. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! This means there is little likelihood of men and women leading governments having the good of the masses in their mind, respecting human values, encouraging liberal thoughts and not amassing wealth for the few.  On the other hand, if individuals or groups of them are allowed to operate in an unregulated environment the result will be the same.

Can parliamentary democracy, with a responsible house of representatives, vigilant and visionary, providing checks and balances to a group of competent individuals who are asked to rule,  an option but a utopian dream or nevertheless a concept worth striving for?

I dare not provide the answer. Nor do I know. However,   I firmly believe that each one of us, citizens of this lovely endangered planet, cannot remain mute spectators. If nothing else, write, talk , chat , message.  Instigate and stimulate thoughts and ideas. We all live in hope.