I recently had a chat with a friend on how Facebook enables everyone of us to look smarter than we actually are (naah, that is not what this blog post is about). We all put up statuses that have been copied and pasted from elsewhere and conveniently forget to thank the source, we click ‘like’ on causes and issues that we don’t understand( or worse, don’t give a darn about) and flaunt quiz results that make us look good, but the feature about Facebook that makes us appear smart effortlessly is the one that lets us choose our stance on politics- political views: liberal, humanitarian, communitarian, Marxist etc etc etc, you name it they’ve got it and thankfully they do not ask for an explanation on why we support that form of government.
I wonder how many of us who have blissfully selected liberal, humanitarian etc know the meaning of it? No, Marxism does not mean Che Guevara and Che Guevara is no fashion icon, trust me when I say that he’d be insulted if he saw the way people of today flashed shirts with his face on them all the while being unaware of the pain and effort he had put into uplifting the lower classes of a neo-colonialism infested Cuba ( naah, I’m no Che Guevara fan, as much as I appreciate his efforts, I can never truly support Marxism). A funny thing about Marxism and people is that if you do not support Marxism or own caps and bags with Che Guevara pictures on them when the fire of youth in you is at its burning best people would think that you are lame and if you still support Marxism once you have entered your middle age people think that you’re downright crazy. Yup, funny.
Probably every country would have to change its regime or mode of political thought every once in a while (20 years or so) as no form of government would be permanently feasible. Politics in itself is dynamic, it changes with culture and with each generation that adds to it as they live. We have moved from a tribal society to monarchy , we have been colonialized, have won freedom some 300 years later and then wondered what form of government would be at least an ounce better than being shepherded by the British, we moved to a socialist democracy and then to one that is trying its best to embrace liberal democracy. We changed because we had no choice or because someone amongst us thought that we needed change just for the sake of trying out something new. Who knows? Maybe it was you and me who sat at the corner of the tribal panchayat or meeting group or whatever they called it 2000 years back and gossiped away on how a tribal form of governance was getting boring and that we’d probably do much better with a new exciting chieftain. Or maybe it was you and me who tricked Mangal Pandey into believing that the cartridges were smeared with pig fat... possibilities are, as always, endless!
Every country should begin with a few years of socialistic rule; just a few... to level differences, remove class differentiation- not that we would be able to do much, but a few years as a token of effort wouldn’t hurt. If socialism is allowed to persist for long the class differences and gaps are only going to widen (ironically), apart from a shift in power there wouldn’t be any change because for the survival of any form of government there needs to be a villain and a hero ( in Marxism, the upper and the lower class). Communitarianism on the other hand is blind, oblivious Pollyanna. Communitarianism or humanitarianism, initiates us to believe that we all live to serve each other, as good as it may sound, it is impossible to believe. And those who cling on to its infallibility are going to learn it the hard way, reality check- not everybody is dying to help you. My Libran optimism fails me. Sometimes it is better to be practical. Communitarianism banks on the absence of a real villain, it sees just heroes. Another flaw.
That is why I like the idea of liberalism, the idea that subtly chides us to believe that the villain and the hero are one and that they both fit quite comfortably into every individual. The idea of liberalism is ability to negotiate, to solve our differences and to live together. To live, to reap, to enjoy and when you do all this you can step over people who come in your way but not on them to get your way. It is a science that asks us to live and let live, a science that does not ask us to live for others but to do our best, the ripple effect would help others too. God helps those who help themselves.
