Sunday, May 9, 2021

Why should you criticize systems even when you yourself are not perfect?

 

Upon discussions (about failings of the present government) with my friend who happens to support the present dispensation at the central level (as do I), I was pushed back by being advised to be restraint in my criticism. This discussion was going on during a WhatsApp conversation. This naïve medium has often been ruthlessly exploited by cult peddlers, serving as a weapon of mass-disinformation. Learned men argue that the more you interact with people who you disagree with, more refined your arguments get over time, and you accrue more knowledge. On the contrary, such disagreement may also arm individual with “template replies” which are able to shut people off without the need to engage in critical discussion. Think of these template replies as a more sophisticated form of, “if you don’t stop, something bad may happen to you.” Why bother using grey cells in your brain, when you are able to command memory to regurgitate some apt video which would counter what the person is saying. The bane of research and development in India is that we have paid more attention to memory and rote learning than actually engaging in the faculties which would help yield some new insights. But that is a topic for another day.

However, in this conversation: a video of Mr. Sadhguru was forwarded to me. In this video Sadhguru laments and says that tea sellers in India have an opinion on how the PM should conduct policy, and on how Sachin Tendulkar should play, but the reality is (Sadhguru goes on to explain) that the person who is giving out the opinion does not even know how to make good tea. This video might have been actively watched by my friend because it is of short duration. Therefore, I thought that it did merit a reply. And since this is something that I would not be able to say to this person (read “friend”), it might be a good idea to go ahead and craft a reply which might bring some peace to me, and maybe some good to the world.

Logic of such blatant protection against criticism for Government’s is faulty at several level. But prior to elaborating on that, let me qualify the situations which I am not criticizing. If an individual is doing something, in their personal life, which does not concern me and is not reneging the rights that I possess, I do not have any problems with the person. Such a person can go ahead and do what he/she is doing without being judged or bothered by my opinions on his existence. However, this logic does not find much merit when the mismanagement of the present government at the planning levels results in the biggest death toll the country has seen since the last pandemic. For the last pandemic, we could consider British mismanagement and racism to be at fault. But current “nationalist” government vowed to protect and preserve the constitution and thereby protect and preserve India. This promise has fell short and India burns!

Some of the areas where I do think that the present government created avenues which resulted in current situation are as follows:

1.       Not bothering to check the current status of critical projects like PSA oxygen generation plants.

2.       Not cancelling panchayat polls in UP even when the pandemic’s second wave was officially on the move.

3.       Not placing a bigger order with the vaccine manufacturers so that they could plan their capacity likewise.

4.       Not investing in the vaccine’s production capabilities, a year before the second wave hit

5.       Not cancelling West Bengal rallies once it became clear that pandemic is fast at work.

There are several other points which could be criticized but let us just stop with these 5. The topic of this post is not to criticize the present government, there are several ways of doing that, and a lot of able people are doing that anyways. The topic of this video is, “why it is important to criticize the ruling dispensation.”

The ruling dispensation is not your parent. It is not your sibling. It is not an individual. It is not even a regular group of people. They are not holy. They are not beyond fault. They are not your Godfather. They are not above reproach. Come to think of it, ruling dispensation of any country, because of demands of people management and centrality of power, are one of the most corrupt and insane group of individuals you may be able to find in that country. Because we know that the government is by definition are suspect primarily because they attract the worst of humanity, it is completely beyond reason to think that they cannot be criticized. They are made from you; they derive the power from the people. They are reflective of the society that they are part of. The people give the power, and the people may take them away. The people have the right on criticizing how long the government remains in power, the people have the right to criticize the working of a government. The people as a collective are supreme and the only way people find voice are through individuals who reason and provide mirror to the governments of the day.

It did not even dawn on my friend to think twice before sharing a video which cites the example of tea seller as criticizer. Our present PM humbly finds his roots in selling tea at train station. Opinions on Sachin’s (or any other player in cricket) batting may help us win the next cup, but honest opinion about ruling dispensation might just help you get the oxygen that you very literally need for your survival.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Why I don't drink Alcohol or eat Meat?

The reason that I don't eat meat is because I believe that other sentient beings hold importance. They have as much affinity to their life as I have for mine. Whenever we like to eat something like a chicken or a turkey or beef, it is important to realize that an actual animal was killed so that you could eat that piece of dead flesh. I sincerely believe that if people were to kill an actual animal before consuming it, it would reduce the number of meat eaters in this world by a great margin. I have come across several people who vouch that they could kill an animal, cook and then eat it. I believe that they are capable of doing that. I also believe that there are a lot of people who will not do that and their empathy would kick in.

Growing up in India one of things that was emphasized in our education was that one should not cause harm to any sentient being anywhere in the spectrum of life. I believe that a lot of progress in the civilization that we see is because of grossly undermining this principle of life. We are not even kind to each other let alone being kind to the animals of the world. I expressly believe that animals have a soul same way as humans do. They feel pain, they feel helpless when they are slaughtered, they experience fear and they experience love. Any other interpretation of these events is not just faulty, it is basically ignoring facets of life which are visible to all.

I did eat chicken in my life. There was a period of 3 years from 6th standard to 9th standard in high school when I used to eat chicken. My lure of chicken was more towards the gravy than the flesh. In my opinion I craved the fats and oils that accompanied the gravy in which the chicken was cooked. I have seen a chicken being slaughtered in front of me. I have heard the cries and the pain that creature experienced and it didn't affect me in the moment. I took the remnants home, cooked and consumed it. I believe at that time my abilities to comprehend the event were not as sharp as they are now. I believe that event did leave an emotional imprint on me.

When I was able to disassociate the spices and gravy from the chicken in my later life, I realized that eating chicken is avoidable. I realized that there are several foods in this world that I can happily ea. This rendered killing an animal both unnecessary and immoral. Therefore I decided to let go of flesh in my diet. I think I am healthy to a high degree and I am sure I have made a right decision.

As far as alcohol is concerned I believe that consuming it mars your judgment and affect your responses. A lot of people in my opinion drink alcohol just because there is no other way they could let out their frustration. This leads them into a hole and they are not able to come out of it on their own. Alcohol causes dependence. Out of all values that I have learnt in America, the most important in my opinion is independence! To be free is as basic life requirement as drinking water. Gambling it away by depending on alcohol is both a bad deal and highly deleterious to the body. It is much better to cultivate a habit which is not associated in any way with alcohol and which gives you the same high. It would be better if it is not part of your work but to each his own.