Scene : Sitting outside a small park in a fairly crowded market, with people staring because they think we are some scholars from JNU discussing issues of world change. Red Bull and not Chai in our hands. Following is a summary of our conversation (and some stuff I added later)!
Democracy and the Perfect System : What does democracy mean to you? It's a system that allows each person to voice out his/her concerns.It's the only system till date that has an exit clause ie: all members of a democracy can actively decide to opt out from the democracy. It is in some ways better than Monarchy and the many systems we have had till date. However, it is not perfect. The promises that democracy makes are only fulfilled at the superficial level. Even though each individual feels he/she is deciding the course of the nation through his/her vote, in real life he/she isn't really doing so. Normal people hate wars. Normal people have right to vote. But their right to vote doesn't lead to no wars, as democratic countries fight wars. People in a democracy don't vote on issues, they vote on candidates. Even though the candidate is the representative of the issue, this extension leads to an increased gap between people and the issue at hand; as political representatives never really survey what their constituency wants, but instead vote with the political party they belong to. But one can also say, that the problem is with human nature, its conquest for greed and its comfort with ignorance. That people ruin the system and that there is nothing wrong with the system itself. But then that's exactly the problem. Either the system should cater to ALL emotions and give all the emotions equal status or it should not respond to emotions AT ALL or it should give priority to both emotions and reason. The perfect system would be one which doesn't lead to diversions from its goal. If democracy is flawed because it caters to emotion, then the next step is to eliminate emotion. If democracy is flawed because people are ignorant, then the next step is to hold them accountable. Is there anything such as the perfect system? We don't know. Perhaps Indus Valley and hunting and gathering were perfect, since there is no record of famine or war. In fact that's what we assume could have been the reason for their decline. But then again what of History do we know? We pretty much assume that this is what it must have been like. Akbar's time had wars, religious conflict and administrative issues, but we have them even now. So how has this transition from one system to an another helped us? It has just given us a fake sense of assurance that our voice has been heard. In fact it goes on to provide a feeling of satisfaction-that what you want is being done, which curbs the desire for finding a new system. So even though there is an exit clause, the system itself preserves itself. The next step from a democracy would be one that forces the individual to think of the collective. A system might be called as perfect if it thinks as a collective. Because then no ones' rights are compromised. A system that might have a referendum on everything might hold each person continuously accountable for issues at hand. That can be the starting point for holding people more accountable. While a democracy focuses on the individual and his rights, the ideal system should focus on the collective and its rights. However the problem is that in both systems, an increase in one set of rights will necessarily lead to a decrease in another set of rights. And therefore there will be reduction and increase. So what is the criteria for a perfect system? A system that no longer perpetuates the problems mankind has been facing. A system that is Utopia. The problem is people have stopped dreaming of Utopia. And think it's unreal. That it cannot be true. And therefore they don't strive for it. Perfection might be impossible. But improvement is always possible.
Humans and the things they Hype : Humans love to hype things. As one of my CAT passages said, it is incredibly hard for humans to think that they are only transitional species on earth and in fact not the center of this whole wide universe, which is not meant for their consumption. Humans love to think they've inherited their parents qualities. There is some extreme value in tradition and things that are vintage. And this is primarily behavioral. You might be talkative, because your schooling was such and your father because his friend circle was such - two totally different independent situations. But no, we would love to say that we inherited this from our parents. I am no scientist, but I don't think there are behavioural genes that are in built into our programming. If that were to be the case, then life is essentially meaningless. Because you are born with a certain set of characteristics which you just cannot change. Even Karma accounts for the scope of improvement. All behaviour is post birth. But this fascination for inheritance exists across all cultures. Do all cultures promote this sort of feeling? Maybe yes. All cultures promote a sense of belongingness. That you have a family, a set of friends, a nation etc. And you constantly want to reinforce that belief. Why do you do that? Because your set up promotes this so you actively look for reasons to justify it. Children are more receptive in their earlier days than rebellious. So if you engrave this system in them, they will take it for true. And when they grow senses of reason, they look for reasons to ratify the same belief of belongingness. This is why adopted children go hunting for their biological parents, because they feel a sense of emptiness. As if they no longer belong. As if they haven't explored themselves fully. As if there is a mystery yet to be found. A feeling of what would I have in common with them. Blame Television for this.
Emotions and it's conflict with Reason : Humans deal with both these aspects in their life. Even though reason is seen as the stronger virtue, there is absolutely no justification for the same. People are emotional. They are designed to feel. As Shakespeare said - You are not wood, you are not stones, but men. If reason was the be all and end all of the world, then what is the difference between robots and humans. But if we were meant only to emote, what would be the difference between animals and us? It would be a value judgement if we say one is superior to the other. Emotion makes one selfless and reason makes one selfish. So like every Saint says, strike a balance. But how? That's a very good question. One can only tell by experience.
Conclusion :
You know people keep asking what keeps India going despite the mess it is in. It's because India is an agrarian economy. As long as you have Food, there is no problem at all. In fact Food and Water. All other things are artificial constructs and can always be eliminated. And can always come down. But food and water are essentials. This is only biological. In fact one more thing. Morality. A sense of right and wrong. And for some reason - religious, traditional, emotional, democratic, rational or any other, Indians have some amount of sensitivity. I am not saying abundant, but some. And that is important too.
