Thinking About Social Protests
The world in now passing through a phase, whose symptom is widespread protests. We are witnessing these protest almost in all countries.
Why is it so?
I think this is so, because the general population of any country does not like to exert its mind. It is contented with the kind of rulers it gets, and like to sleep over the injustices done on them, because people who are in fact affected by them are rather few, and isolated. People enjoy the stupor of slumber, as long as they start getting the feeling that something is grossly wrong with the system, infected with corruption, inshort they start feeling outraged as Benjamin Desaeli once said:
For nearly five years the present Ministers have harassed every trade, worried every profession, and assailed or menaced every class, institution in the country. Occasionally they have varied this state of civil warfareby perpetrating some job which outraged public opinion, or by stumbling into mistakes which have been always discreditable, and sometimes ruinous. All this they call a policy, and seem quite proud of it; but the country has, I think, made up its mind to close this career of plundering and blundering.
Why do ordinary people, when they acquire some position of power start behaving that way? I startedt hinking and I think I have some answers to. To indulge in corruption, is a compulsion of power in a democratic state. No one, can indeed stay in power for long, unless they accumulate resources (instruments of power) while in power. They can do so, because they have lots of discretionary powers. Powers to collect wealth and use it or distribute it among their followers, their colleagues.
Let me give a recent example. India hosted Common Wealth Games in 2010. Money was squandered by the government under the excuse of national pride, which no one could rightfully question. In that guise, the close associates of the ruling dispensation were given contracts freely, at exorbitant rates. Which the present state government tries to justify in the name of infrastructure it constructed. That is in fact a tip of the iceberg, of the want on acts of the governments in past several decades. All democratically elected, ofmany different parties. But the loot never stopped, the dreams of the poor and underprivileged were never looked after. Only the dreams of the rich have been important in the name of increasing GDP. Now, it is struggling to limit inflation that is in fact a direct consequence of money pumped in for such expenses.They perhaps thought that they will bring prosperity of the poor, by so called 'trickle down effect'. And they include some renowned learned economics professors.
Now when people have realized and started protesting. The powerful people have all the power to discredit persons who are leading the protests. They are subjected to baton charges at mid night, arrested en-masse, all in the name of law and order.
Why is that possible? Because all political parties, in countries like India, have wanted a large fraction of population remain uneducated and ignorant, so that they can buy their support with the wealth they accumulate while in power.
I find it very very interesting, a rather sad state. But perhaps a necessary stage in the evolution of societies. Every one has to learn lessons. Not only ordinary people, but also those who get power.
Rakesh Mohan Hallen