THE DEATH OF THE IDEAL

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Politics is all about power, and it has nothing to do with morals and ideals. It was a matter of ideals only up to 1966

Dr. Jernail S. Anand

A society always has an undercurrent which does not necessarily go with what is happening on the front. The frontline narrative is carefully crafted by the powerful, whereas the underground current is the real narrative, the voice of the people, which remains mostly crushed for fear of being branded as a violation of social code. This underground anti-narrative is full of pains, sighs, losses and despairs, which people have suffered at the hands of the frontline narrativators.

PoliticsThe Two Selves

When we are sitting in the office, we have two selves. One is the official, we are up and doing and attentive to our work even if we do not like our boss. The other self is invisible. This is the self which keeps revolting against the boss. You keep murmuring to yourself in inaudible tones. And this narrative goes on even when the frontline narrative is on. When you look at your boss, you are apparently humble. But, your eyes carry impressions which show, your inside defies all this. This division is seen in the social and political narrative also. Apparently, we may be doing anything but when we are alone, and going to sleep, the other self comes to life, which is not happy, which is in despair, and we keep ru[e]ing what is happening to us. Therefore, what men feel is not always what they say and do. When they come to decide, it is the undercurrent, the anti-narrative that decides their course of action.

democracy-dictatorship-cartoonSelfish Hordes

The power knows that people are essentially selfish, and if they get their meals in the night, and a half of liquor, majority of them will go to a stirless sleep. So, they are provided ration by the government so that their heads remain immune from any stir, and no discontent rises to their head to turn into a rebellion. If people are given the bare minimum, and a strong dose of promises for their betterment, including a few dreams – this is enough to keep them glued to a stirless advocacy. The powers know revolutions take birth in the mind of men who are discontented with their lot, [unlike these millions] and then, who have time to think, fantasize and dream.

Society-and-CultureDistrust for Education

The front narrative which is built on deliberate half- truths, can thrive only if the youth is weaned away from the light of knowledge. Education is also an antidote to status quo, and this was a risk which the English ran, and finally lost the empire, but the governments in tribal and post-tribal [non-modern] societies make sure that the youth are divested of progressive ideologies by crippling free thought in the universities.

A good society must have a core group which appreciates or criticizes things impartially. In the past, it used to be media, but nowadays, media has lost its objectivity and therefore its sanctity also

The false narrative of ‘feel good’ can be sustained if reasoning ability of the masses remains clouded. To draw cobwebs of blind faith, religion comes in handy. They either engage religious engineering to distract the masses from truth, or they throw them in the boiling cauldrons of unrealistic dreams. When the people, neither get education, nor become wise, there is no question of questioning the mighty. For this, even if they have to redraft history, they do it.

RationThe Voice versus the Narrative

The voice of the people, though ruffled, is true, but the narrative that rules the country is a fabricated voice, created by AI using media and coercion. People should not be moved by official narratives, these days, when media has been grabbed by the parities in power, and the people have only YouTube to depend on. The government wants more and more people to live on charity, for obvious reasons. But even if people defy the powers, and vote according to their conscience, the crafty politicians know how their mandate can be hijacked.

Core Group

A good society must have a core group which appreciates or criticizes things impartially. In the past, it used to be media, but nowadays, media has lost its objectivity and therefore its sanctity also. We need an informed core group of a society whose main concern is the welfare of the masses, not power.

Politics is all about power, and it has nothing to do with morals and ideals. It was a matter of ideals only up to 1966 when Sh. Lal Bahadur Shashtri was the Prime Minister. After him, a different type of politics was played in the country. Indira Gandhi was a powerful ruler and after all the plus and minus of her career, she emerges as a great leader. Rajiv Gandhi, though he might have made mistakes, was a man of forward vision. India will remember Atal Behari Vajpayee as a man of ideals and principles, and Dr. Manmohan Singh for the qualities of head and heart. Now, we see a steep fall in the quality of leadership as well as the masses too, who stand vertically divided into castes and creeds. The language of the country too has nosedived. It seems difficult the country can recover from this descent in medieval darkness unless a strong alternative narrative is in place.

Read: RESTORING THE DISTURBED BALANCE OF SOCIETY

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Jernail Singh Anand- Sindh Courier-1Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 167 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari [Italy] honored him with the award of an Honorable Academic. Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engineering and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus: The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com

Link Bibliography:

https://atunispoetry.com/2023/12/08/indian-author-dr-jernail-s-anand-honoured-at-the-60th-belgrade-international-meeting-of-writers/

https://sites.google.com/view/bibliography-dr-jernal-singh/home

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