Objectivism, Collective Liberation

Food for thought.

Ayn Rand and how her thoughts have apparently impacted the world economy. But my fascination for Howard Roark's philosophy may never die.

Corruption as Usual

What's new? - India is at it, as usual. Sigh.


When I come across people who continuously complain, criticize, comment, and consider things like corruption (especially in politics), I feel a tinge of guilt because I myself rarely focus on such aspects of life. But, to my credit, I have at least wondered if my, well, indifference is a good thing.  I shouldn't perhaps call it complete indifference because it does make me feel sad, angry and annoyed when it stares me in the face. But I never find myself craving to study or aggressively studying the situation, reading press articles, watching interviews, reports etc to understand the intricacies of the scam or the complaint as the case may be. (Maybe I'm too result-oriented and perhaps averse to being affected by negative news in the case of areas outside my control)


I think there are many ways in which one can react or respond to problems in the world of politics (which is, according to many, one of the most abused occupations/services ever). 


1. Ignore most of it and go about our regular work in a sincere manner, knowing (or assuming) that we cannot change things (or even get to the full truth!) but can, instead, make a difference to what is under our own control - our own life. (Note: I think all this talk about voting for the right person or party is a farce because you will find only one honest and sincere politician amongst many thousands and that person is either crushed into inaction by the system or widely recognized for being different and therefore known to even those who do not 'follow' politics)


2. Complain about it or criticize everyone involved till the next scam surfaces or something else distracts them and, well, waste a lot of energy accomplishing, arguably, nothing much except creating temporary unrest and angst amongst the members of the circles we move in


3. Comment on it in an informed and intelligent manner (based on extensive and reliable research) and influence people (preferably those who can pull some strings and change things or those who might have an indirect impact on the situation if not a direct one) to think about potential solutions 


4. Comment on it armed with half-baked ideas, incomplete information and declare things based on a highly biased and subjective analysis and pretty much add to the confusion and chaos around us 


5. Comment on it in a humorous (and hopefully sensitive) manner and get a few people to see the funny side of the whole thing and laugh even as they suffer the implications (it's only those who understand the situation who will also be able to fully relate to the humor and therefore enjoy it) 


6. Consider it seriously from various angles (a bit of type 3.) and actually act on it with the intention of changing things for the better - either by joining politics and bravely taking corruption head-on or, for that matter, creating an informal community that passionately finds solutions and implements them


It's anybody's guess under which category most of the population falls. Having said that, I am not proposing that everyone must fall into a particular category. After all, it is society's mixed reaction and response that will hopefully add up to prevent corrupt elements from surviving and succeeding. I rest my case.
  

Politics: Lesson #1

Methinks, knowing how to handle politics is akin to and, quite a few times, a matter of knowing how to handle pressure. Those who resort to politics (read selfish motives) and manipulate the system and other people to suit their whims are people who will, more often than not, do it by putting pressure on the targeted entity. So, it is the subject's ability to not give into pressure or know how to ignore or deal with pressure amicably and smartly, that will determine how successful she is in avoiding the unwanted consequences.

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What? I guess the posts I am coming up with these days are all somewhat philosophical or the types that attempt to teach problem-solving to the people who are less practical and more idealistic. Thinking it's time to move to more KM posts and perhaps some funny/humorous ones.......but it really depends on what's happening to me or around me. ;-) Gives me another opportunity to analyze types of bloggers....

- Those who blog what they're learning, reading, thinking, observing, experiencing....
- Those who more or less stick to the above style but restrict themselves to just one topic and keep out the rest of their lives from the blog...
- Those who blog but in a very non-personal way....it's not about their thoughts and perceptions and learnings but just links to information and what is happening in the world outside - general sharing is the primary motive
- Those who blog mostly so they can converse with others rather than make it a one-way sharing process....they probably have short posts that always end with provoking questions and they don't reveal too much of what's on their own minds

Ok. I am going to stop thinking now and let you add to the list if you feel like. :-)