It's that time of the year again: election season. When a politician's worst fear comes alive, and they outdo themselves to prevent it from happening using many methods, sane and insane. Some of these include foot-in-mouth, out of context, talk to the hand, the clarification and many other such methods. There are so many there's a dedicated dictionary that has documented the old and the new ones we know of. Check it out here.
But they aren't the only ones to blame. Everyone's also gets wagging, tongue or not, when they see the banners come out, roads decorated sans occasion and their politicians getting some sun. Now we all make hay when the sun shines, so let's talk about everyone else reveling the sun too. Let's keep the conversation balanced with truth.
To start with, the news. This is one of those times when it's blooming season for them. Then there's the extra party party: everyone who isn't important enough to be a part of their favourite party. They do their selfless duty towards making India a better place according to them. Then, the people. All of these people get talking about motives, possible inside reasons, somebody's uncouthness and somebody else's far more respectable campaign. But we see a clear trail which has some things we should avoid.
Party central politics
One widely engaged-in angle of discussion is a party's strategy and its benefit to itself in terms of winning most seats and coming to power. There is nothing wrong in the analysis but the focus is off why they're there: the people. Talking about their strategy with perspective of how it suits their coming to/remaining in power only normalises any selfish motives a party may have more. If we'd rather evaluate the benefits of the policies they promise to have that the country will benefit from, the conversation goes forward. By sticking with the incumbency circle talk, we only give the politicians' ego more power, along with a license for them to slyly bypass voter accountability. Saying, "Why would they if it doesn't suit their party interests?" is less empowering to the nation and its people (including you) than looking at what their idea of good governance and good policies are and calling out the gaps in their higher ideals.
Fans
There are lesser benefits to a politician having a fan club than you can imagine. The politician's fan club phemenona is a product of populism. Defined right, it is not a good thing. The presence of it marks an non-thinking electorate. A thinking voter knows that he doesn't vote for 50 And 100 day runs. He knows that he needs results that his taxes will be paying for. Thinking voters don't make political fans.
A non-thinking one is the political fan boy you see. He believes in saviors for himself, only other than himself. He deems himself worthy of his own political wisdom, only when his party or candidate is insulted. The rest of the times he's the loyal court jester. He doesn't count the costs. His is a very selfish inclination in the sense that it doesn't consider the larger picture. He sides with identity/personal identity politics that needs no reasons. He's high on the freedom to politik with respect received (and none given) but won't answer the critical questions that come. He doesn't make sense of his conviction but thinks he has a right to make any amount of noise about non-sense. When he tries, he follows pre-sold ideas and phrases and thrives on the arguments to support his favourite politician and party that are taught.
His counterpart, on the other hand, doesn't feel the need to pick a side. He will when he's convinced. He'll as easily break with that side with equal conviction. If he can't find a side that's good enough, he'll also stay on the fence but also stay sensible and reasonable.
Playing to win
It's only fair to expect someone to contest to intend to win. Assuming all intentions are good, representatives can't bring change and betterment if they don't win. So pulling all stops to make the dream real can't be wrong. What is out of place, though, is seeing winning as the goal, and not the by product of fighting for the right things. The difference is in your starting point and goal. When the goal is to win, the starting point is just about anywhere that takes them there: freebies, sops, concessions (as much as lockdowns and scrapping). The means justifies the end, and the poeple, issues and solutions have no place. There's no more respectable morality left to boast of, that makes it noteworthy. When it's the opposite, with the goal service and the starting point also service, you have a more sustainable combination. But then, who wants sustainability? We want power, strangely!
The oft asked question between candidates is who will win, and the obvious answer is themselves each. But why bother about it if we're worried about why anyone, or anyone else needs, ought to win. If we stay preoccupied about that, we can keep the winners conversation at minimum and reasonably conclude who should win. The more we bypass what makes one or the other winning worthy, the more we obsess about our own forward growth than who keeps the chair, keeping the main thing the main thing.
Comments
Post a Comment