This article is for people who say – “I hate politics” . I am tired of hearing this phrase over and over again not only personally but also listed in facebook profiles which says ‘not political’ or ‘not interested in politics’ which makes me wonder why and how does well educated people don’t understand the very meaning of politics. I want you to consider two scenarios which I think you would be able to relate to.
Case 1 :
There’s an interesting job opportunity lined up for you where you have to give an interview to a panel of five people from the company. Somehow, you have come to know that a guy who’s academically far superior to you will appear for the interview too and apparently, there is only a single vacancy.
What would you do?
You would try to convince the panel that you’re a good candidate for the post. You’d tell them that you’ll work very hard and be an asset to the company. Since you’re not good academically, they’ll certainly ask you why is it so that they should choose you over some other guy? Then you’ll tell them about your practical skills and try to convince them that academic excellence need not be a necessity for the job and you have also done great in extra-curricular activities which helps in developing ‘competitive skills’ .
In the end, they got impressed by your smart talks and they select you for the job though you always knew you’re not academically better that the other guy but you stood out in convincing them.
I want you to consider the analogy between the people who contest for elections. How is it any different from what we all term as ‘politics’.
I have seen people cheat in exams, these ‘politicians’ cheat in elections. Any different??? What’d you do if you have a leaked paper with you before the night of exam? Of course, you would read it once that it might come in exam even if there’s a little hype about it. Is it legal? NO . So why do we condemn when these people bribe and distribute alcohol to vulnerable communities for a biased vote? It’s the same.
Case 2 :
You see another job offer and this time you’re the one who’s the best qualified person but still you don’t get selected because the other person was a smart-ass and convinced the panel about his potential. Now who would you blame? Of course the company is responsible as it was unable to identify your potential and took someone else in your place.
I want you to consider the analogy between the blame we put on politicians when the blame should really be on the people. I believe the government, howsoever it is, it is still what the majority of people think it should be.
Politicians are a class of people who are less talented and really smart to convince others. They’re just like marketing agents who are selling promises, commitment and a vision.
Consider some more popular politicians. Dhoni is a politician. It’s a political comment to blame IPL Parties for the poor performance in T20 WC just like Congress says it’s the high fiscal deficits and subsidies that has forced them to raise the prices. (comparable??? ). This is just a recent comment and I haven’t even talked about the politics associated with team selection yet. Cricket is still the most popular game in India and Dhoni was still among the most eligible bachelors in the country of the youngsters who ‘hate politics’. (Double Standards, huh??? )
Consider the fact that in IIT Delhi, the place where I study, all the HOD’s and Directors are the ones who did their PhD in India and most of them from IIT Delhi. If I’m allowed to be factual, in 90 % cases, people who stay in India for a PhD are the ones who are unable to get admission abroad because most of the PhD's offer you scholarships to cover all your expenses and considering the fact that there are open minded people educated from who have a vision for changes in educational system, they’re not given enough chances. Can you believe that some professors don’t like it if you do your final degree project under some profs and can really screw you if they happen to sit across the table while you’re presenting?
Consider a singer from a village in , let’s assume, Rajasthan appealing to people of Rajasthan to vote for him. He gets huge votes as a benefit of the huge population of a particular state. Doesn’t his relatives and family ask people they know to vote for him endlessly. Doesn’t campaigns run around to vote for ‘the pride of Rajasthan’. Isn’t he a damn politician? How many people who vote for him really think he’s the best singer? Do we hate Indian idol??? Do we hate the singers??? But yeah. We hate politicians and damn, we hate politics.
What more examples do we need to understand the fact that Politics is just a survival extinct against competition from talented people. Why're the people with the job of running the country are considered bad politicians comapared to these cricketers, professors, singrs, judges and so on. It certainly appears bad when you’re on the losing side but you’ll get enough chances when you’re not the most talented person and want something badly.
I feel really pissed off when people say – “I hate politics”, it’s just like saying “I hate competition” because politics will always be there in competition whether one likes it or not, whether one is good at it or not. I do agree that our country needs to improve a lot and a few things must be really based on talent but it’s not the case in the present and we're sadly living in the present era.
Please keep in mind, Politics is not just being in government. We would always hate our government (or at least we would like to think we all hate a ‘democratically elected’ government) but we all have to be smart to convince others to hide our weaknesses or the ambitions of being powerful.
P.S. - Don't hate politics. KILL politics ...
Additions - 10th July (I thought a dialogue is missing)
P.S. - I don't think everyone should indulge in politics, if you choose to stay away from 'politics' and selections not based on talent, I respect you but at least we should potentially 'realise' what all around us is politics and be 'conscious' when we've some power to 'select' .
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quite long...but the way you used examples was amazing...do u want to write for our magazine...
ReplyDeletewww.21fools.com
i hope you can write twice a month..if intersted do reply on twitter..
nice ...keep writing..valid point
ReplyDeleteWow. it was such an enlightening post.
ReplyDeleteand i think it was long, but after a long time, i was so interested to read the full post properly on a blog. u captivated me with such careful reasoning.
very good
ReplyDeletevery direct
properly written
.....an absolute no-nonsense post.
and I can very well relate to it....exactly what i was trying to find the right (and fewer :P) words for, when I was mentioning my political views in my FB profile ;) I was trying to sum it up in one single line and here, I got a full good elaboration of it. :)
@Divyanshu -hanks. I replied to you on twitter.
ReplyDelete@Kartik - thanks :)
@Tanay - Thanks. I tried to keep it short but failed, had to add popular examples :)
@Sugandha - I love big comments . thanks :)
this was one of my shortest. :P
ReplyDeletePeople do not hate politicians canvassing for votes. They hate the fact that most of the pre-poll promises are not met. A functional democracy is not what people hate, they hate a dysfunctional one.
ReplyDeleteI hate Indian Idol and most of the people you see in your facebook profile also hate it. The multitude don't. The multitude don't have a facebook profile page where they post their love of politics.
Competition and politics are not one and the same. The case study right at the top is a prime example. The guy with the lesser academic performance sells the best qualities he has, namely his people skills and his extra currics. As hordes of consult companies prove year after year, such skills do matter. If the company thinks this is a fair criterion to choose people the person left behind (the one with the better grade) has nothing to crib about. Both got a fair shot, one lost.
I can go on and on, but please wake up and smell the roses (or lack of). People don't hate politics just because it's cool to do so. They are as rational as you are in making their choices.
@Abhishek -
ReplyDeletePre polls promises are not met... Correct... Then are we fools that we choose such people?
Secondly, it's not only politicians who make claims. Companies also make claims when they project their future plans, everybody makes claim. Of course, politicians forget because they're not selected but elected and they don't have pressure to do good during the five years, they just have to present a convincing image to the 'majority of people' .
What I wanna say is educated people should be more involved in politics rather than being more repulsive towards it.
The cycle has been going on.. and will go on.. How do you see anything change?
to be very frank firstly the whole concept of politics has been very wrongly taken by our generation( courtesy our politicians).while in true sense politics is the science of running a state. what is practiced is not politics. politics is actually something very different. its a concept of running the nation with each one having the best of the nation. even though it is ideal still near to it is achievable. so instead of condemning "THE POLITICS" we need to first get its true sense and then do our bit to improve. because proper politics is the only way to save the nation and no one but we IMPERFECT YOUTHS CAN DO IT. so do not quit it! COME AND SHOW THE TRUE POLITICS !
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