Guest post: Politics for sceptics

April 17, 2006 · by sudhishkamath

My buddy China a.k.a. Navin (an arivali doing his Ph. D.) came up with this post after reading a comment in the last post.

Politics for skeptics

When things occur for the first time they are always viewed by skepticism.

Infact, I am a skeptic myself, my approach is no different, can they win?

What difference will they make?

Will they be as committed as they are now?

Why are they contesting in Tamil nadu and mostly in Madras alone?

Why doesn’t their regional website have things for Tamil readers. Why are they not using a big publicity stunt?

Why does their name sound too Hindu-ish or too old fashioned or too Sanskrit-ish…Why does the symbol have to be two axes and fire torch? Is it not violent?

Will the common man understand what they are trying to achieve here?….Why are some non-tamil candidates standing in madras..how do they expect to win if they try this?

(Note to China from Suderman: The contestants are all from the city and almost all of them are Tamil)

To all these questions I found the answers myself.

This elite group of collective thinking people come from the premier institutes of India…if you don’t understand what I am talking about you can watch this video.

I am not an IITian nor do I belong to any top institute from India, but I sincerely support what these guys are upto. If they wanted they could be in top positions anywhere in the world and here I am questioning their ability to be a good politician. What have I done till now other than actually watch the drama that is politics and vote for X, Y or Z on a comparative scale on who I think is less corrupt. It’s like trying to find ‘first among equals’ in corruption. When actually some of the honest and educated people try to start a party, I stand back and question their ability or pass comments like ‘I don’t think they can win’ instead of actually encouraging them or spreading the word to my friends and relatives to make them aware that these people can actually bring about a slow change in the corroding society.

They are hard workers, by hard workers I mean it starts from their childhood, they slogged hard to face a competition that is purely merit based and they achieve that goal by hard work alone. They are trying the same when they are entering politics; they are working harder than they worked before. They are geniuses and it requires perspiration, I have had some of my classmates go into these institutes and I do not have to mention how hard it is. The people I have met from these institutes have always been honest and true to1.to themselves 2. to others. The other trait is that they are quite straight forward. I don’t have to mention the knowledge they possess. I just don’t want to praise their qualities, it speaks for itself.

For the people who are asking what were they doing till now, why are they joining politics now, when they could have contributed long back? Instead of asking rebellious questions, why don’t we actually support them now when they are trying to do it. For the educated people who vote, it is an opportunity to be heard if you vote for them. What I like about them is that they are not throwing stones or criticizing other parties; they promise a society based on knowledge and believe that it can be done. They are not trying to cheat with false promises and most of all they are not blaming anyone for it. They are making people aware of the inaction that goes on and they are starting it with a crowd which can actually understand their philosophy. That’s one reason I believe they are contesting in cities for now. They have actually given their strategy in a transparent manner in their website.

And they have achieved quite a few milestones in a short amount of time even though they are not actors or enjoy an already famous or familiar face. The stronghold they have is their education and I don’t think any present politician can match that. They have entrepreneurship qualities and if they can make a company earn millions they can for sure make the society earn much more.

Quoting from their website ‘This state of affairs is somehow deeply ingrained in the minds of the people and has resulted in a state of collective hopelessness. The most honest efforts are viewed with suspicion because people have lost the ability to comprehend the possibility of the existence of good will.’

To most people it looks like they are calling you hopeless and then asking for your vote, very few actually think that they are pointing out the simple truth that is in the very existence of the society. I have seen bloggers dig out this meaning to make their page popular or simply to oppose them. The questions they have are -“Aren’t we biased because most of these people are from IIT, what if they are from some XYZ college will they have such hype in the media”. The answer is no, they will not. But that does not mean that they lose their credibility. If an XYZ college alumini starts such a movement I would support that too, but they have not. The media projections of them that they could be working in US or Europe earning a millions of dollars but they chose to be politicians also creates a negating effect here, where many people believe that if they lose they can easily go back to what they were doing. If they really wanted to do what they were doing they would not contest at all. They are contesting to bring about a change. Well, ‘Everyone promises that’ – is the second argument, but why don’t we question it when they actually do not deliver it, we had a long history of corrupt governments and we never question them and in a dumb manner we vote for the lesser thief the next time or a famous actor, or do the dumbest thing of all – not vote at all – which in turn favors the existing corrupt parties. They win because only 15 percent of the population voted. If only the educated people voted this time I am sure by any logic they will find the Lok Paritran better than other candidates.

The other question is how sure are you that these people will not turn out to be corrupt later on? The answer is – that also has a non-zero probability, but it lies close to zero, where as if I compare the other parties I estimate a probability of one and it’s not just close to one – it is one.

To all the people who question their popularity or the people who just think they will not win. You can make a small difference and even the small difference that you make contributes. You can vote. You can influence other people to vote. They have already taken the step of standing in the elections, which by itself is huge, if at all you cannot help do not spoil the chances by your expert pre-analysis- by giving a statement like “do they have the money or matter” or “they cannot win”. It’s like telling a kid that he will fail in his exams because he is honest.

If you can, please do forward these links to your friends and family and let them decide, if you truly believe that it can be achieved then you can also try convincing them to vote.

The website.

The plan.

Media Links:

http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/03/03/stories/2006030315510300.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/04/stories/2006030419340400.htm

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1016236

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1444561.cms

http://www.ibnlive.com/article.php?id=5107&section_id=3

I do not have any associations with Lok Paritran other than that I am just a silent supporter. These are just my views on them and do not reflect anyone else’s. I am not even a member of Lok Paritran. I am just an admirer of their spirit and I hope they win.

If you are a strong believer in that it can be done then some strategic points would be getting some printouts of their plans, try to make some copies of it and make your colleagues/friends/relatives and college mates aware of it or at least talk to them about it. When Educated Indians speak of politics they speak of corruption and lack of facilities and blame it on their political leaders and use the phrase- “nothing can be done here to change it” – If we are not encouraging the change, how will we even change.

Its not about winning or losing, it’s about doing the right thing to the best of your knowledge. If not this time there is always a next time, but why not do it this time?

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Guest post: Politics for sceptics

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