We may never know the truth

We all need some basic ideas to build our principles and values. We strongly believe that our values and ideals are based on the truth and we base our entire value system on that perceived truth. In reality, the truth can change, and new evidence can counter or even prove them wrong, what is considered true today may not be true tomorrow in light of new evidence. This has happened in the past and may happen in the future too. Only religion can afford to have this rigid attitude and survive, most religions propagate things as eternal truths, things that cannot be questioned, and people believe them without any evidence. The interesting part is that people always want religions other than the one they follow to demonstrate their belief system with evidence but don't expect the same from their own religion. Another funny thing is that all religions claim that they are based on scientific facts without even providing any verifiable evidence about them. However, no matter what any religion says or what our belief system is, we should appreciate the fact that we may never know the real truth. We can only base our judgment on all the evidence and data we have today and be ready to accept new evidence if it counters our current set of values. This approach is what scientists take when they are performing their research, there is a hypothesis, but it may or may not be true based on the data collected after performing related experiments. Rigidity with our values causes polarization, hurt sentiments, and even communal riots. Why? Just because someone feels my belief system is better than someone else's, people kill each other just because of a difference of opinion. Humans are supposed to be intelligent and thinking creatures, and such acts challenge this notion. Whoever claims to know everything is the most ignorant person, no book on this planet has answers to all questions, there are many great books and many more will come, but they all are books, written by some human expressing their ideas or opinions, nothing more. Therefore, please accept the fact that we may never know the truth and be humble and kind. Be amenable to the fact that what we believe so passionately today may be proven wrong. This will be our greatest contribution towards preserving humanity and evolving our species one more step ahead of animals.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

©Vinay Thakur,  Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com

Why it is important to understand enigma of American politics - Donald Trump

One of the front runners for the Republican nomination for next year's presidential elections Mr. Donald Trump has been creating a lot of media waves all over the world. Somehow, he manages to grab headlines in print or electronic media because of his statements. Many of his statements have generated very polarized responses with some praising him for calling spade a spade (hinting that he is telling the truth, even though he might sound politically incorrect) and some criticizing him for spreading hatred and negativity about certain sections of society (an outright racist, misogynist, etc.). But to everyone's surprise, so far he managed to stay in the news, and also if polls are to be believed he is still one of the front runners to grab the Republican presidential nomination. Many people are surprised by his high popularity as well as the amount of support his statements receive. He is considered an outsider in politics, but for all Republican primary candidates, he is giving a run for their money. To some, this "outsider" tag might seem like a big drawback, especially, when you are planning to run for the topmost political post in the country, but this guy has managed to turn this to his advantage by diffusing all attacks that question his political inexperience. I am not at all his supporter or for that matter any party supporter, but I have a deep interest in politics and like to study various aspects of it, and there is no doubt that Mr. Trump is the most unusual and interesting candidate in this US presidential race.

I live in Connecticut, which is considered a loyal Democrat state, that's why I was really surprised to hear when an old lady who was a very devoted democrat supporter for many years said that maybe this time she will vote for Mr. Trump if he gets the nomination. It is worthwhile to note that she didn't say that she would vote for some republican candidate, but she specifically mentioned Mr. Trump. I guess the main reason behind this is people's frustration with politicians from both parties, election after election they witnessed every presidential candidate making huge promises during their campaigns, they all promised to bring change, and in the end, nothing much changed on the ground. So, it seems that people are increasingly getting frustrated with the inability of seasoned politicians to deliver on their election promises. They are losing their faith in them, for all those people Mr. Trump is like a breeze of fresh air, someone who may not lie and cheat just to win an election. To boost this confidence, Mr. Trump already declared that he is not going to take any money for his campaign from so-called BIG donors who then try to influence the government. This is a very well-known fact, called lobbying. The donations that these corporations make to various candidates from both major parties is a sort of investment on their part to protect their own interests, and it doesn't matter which candidate wins these corporate houses make sure to keep their goodwill with both major parties. There is nothing illegal or wrong in this practice as it is allowed by law and everything is declared for everyone to see, so one should not blame these corporations for this as the system allows them to do this. They are just using legal ways to protect their business interests. It is the duty of politicians to make sure that they protect people's interests. Mr. Trump's controversial statements about illegal immigrants, Syrian refugees, or Muslim immigrants are very insensitive and controversial, but I think he knows that people will relate to his statements as most politicians won't dare to make such statements as they are offensive. Many seasoned politicians don't want to touch some of these topics because they don't want to get into trouble, they don't want to hurt their vote bank, and because of this attitude, many of them just refuse to accept that these problems even exist. This is where traditional politics fails and gives someone like Trump an opportunity to make their case, these problems and concerns are there and people need some answers. Why can't Democrats explain that if you legalize current illegal immigrants then how it doesn't mean that you are actually encouraging more illegal immigration? Just because people who broke the immigration law are in millions, is it okay to pardon their illegal act? Suppose the government does that today, then what is the guarantee that after 10 or 20 years the country will not be facing a similar situation, and then what to do? Issue another legal pardon and legalize all peaceful illegal immigrants? What is the process followed to make sure that all refugees entering the US need genuine help? The point I am trying to raise here is, that people have many questions like these, and politicians or political parties who are willing to legalize illegal immigrants or want to take more refugees are not able to explain properly why they want to do that. They somehow are not able to explain the logic and rationale behind their decision clearly and assertively. If you dodge a question, you give your opponents a chance to say that you are hiding something, or you don't have any answers to that question. This creates confusion and builds resentment. Any opposition to these issues can not be dismissed just based on partisan politics. This should not be projected as a democrat vs republican battle. Mr. Trump is not even a seasoned republican guy still he is getting so much support, we need to ask, why??

I think one major reason behind Mr. Trump's popularity is that there was an apparent disconnect between republican voters and politicians, and Mr. Trump is trying to bridge that gap. His ability to say some things that any traditional politician won't even dream of saying on a public platform is paying him some dividends. We all know that many times in politics political parties try to make use of the same issues in every election. Actually, many political parties are interested in keeping many issues alive because those issues generate votes for them in every election, I have seen it happening in India for decades, in the US the situation is much better compared to India, but these things happen here also. I guess people think that Mr. Trump can challenge this and change this, whether he will get elected or do it or not, is a different issue, but at least he is projecting himself as a "no-nonsense" person, and many people are buying that. Many of his controversial statements are highly flawed and made with a clear intention of polarizing people, they are inflammatory statements. They are clearly targeted to make use of feelings of uneasiness in people's minds. I guess he is willing to take the risk, and he thinks that rewards are high if it works in his favor. I am sure he also knows that it can backfire on him, but if he is also like the rest of the politicians, then why the heck people should choose him? He wants to set him apart from the rest, and I guess so far his strategy seems to be working. Pressure and obligation to be politically correct all the time has made many politicians very defensive, they hesitate to attack any problem aggressively because of fear that it might disturb their core constituency. Fear of being sidelined or hammered by the press and the public who are just looking for one loose statement to finish someone's political career is very real among all public figures. Mr. Trump seems to be immune to this fear and it seems many people are appreciating this. 

One can agree or disagree with Mr. Trump's statement or even dismiss him as publicity publicity-hungry businessman or call him an insignificant candidate who is not going to make it to the finish line, but there is no doubt that this man has created a lot of waves in the political arena. If it is good or bad only time will tell, but I think people should ponder over the fact that why is he getting so much support? Maybe it will help us understand many issues that are stuck in deadly partisan politics in such a way that it seems they can not be resolved no matter how long both parties try. But there is no doubt that this is a dangerous path to achieve power, this is not a sustainable approach. You can not create a rift in society and then expect peace and unity. A similar thing happened in India last year. Current Indian prime minister Mr. Modi made use of a huge vacuum created by indecisive leadership and the inability of politicians to address some real problems like corruption, black money, poor infrastructure, communal tension, etc. He rose to the charts of the popularity index day by day by making many statements and promises which seasoned politicians in India hesitate to make. He said whatever people wanted to hear, whether it was about taking on Pakistan or China, about black money, the so-called pink revolution, or about dynastic politics. He used all rhetoric and theatrics, never apologized for any of his mistakes, or never minced his words while attacking someone and it all worked in his favor. Voters of India saw a ray of hope in him and gave him an unprecedented mandate, but since coming into power he has been struggling to clear his image as a divisive leader. He is finding it hard to rein in some elements of his own party who totally believe that it's okay to spread hate and make inflammatory statements as such things are validated by their top leader. Almost a year and a half has passed but the current government is still finding it very hard to pass some key reform bills in parliament in spite of having a clear majority as the opposition is just refusing to cooperate. It is easy to win elections by polarizing the society, but then it is not easy to neutralize that polarization when you want to run the country. While filling the vacuum created by indecisive political leadership, Mr. Trump is setting up the same dangerous precedence in the US that Mr. Modi did in India. Their intentions might be good, and they might be sincerely trying to do something good for their country, we should give both these leaders the benefit of the doubt, but then the method they are using has some serious side effects which cannot be ignored. Today he is targeting Muslims, what if tomorrow he says the same thing about Hindus or Africans? What is a guarantee that his supporters won't target other minority immigrants who according to them are taking up American jobs? A polarized and divided society can go in any direction, it is very difficult to predict. Purposely cultivated hatred can manifest in several ways, it is very dangerous to play with this fire. Divide and rule is the well-tested and best strategy if you just want to rule any society without having any concern about its welfare. This trick has been successfully used in the past many times to exploit many regions, but these regions are still struggling with those divisions, they are still grappling with problems like a lack of trust and perpetual communal tension. It is a very tempting strategy as it seems to provide immediate short-term gains, many political parties and leaders still use this in India. Does Mr. Trump want to see a similar situation in the US? We can find faults with other methods and ways used by other politicians or political parties, policies like minority or majority appeasement are also not good, but a clear agenda of divisiveness or hatred is the most dangerous among all. So, I hope people try to understand what's really going on. I hope even Mr. Trump will realize that he doesn't need to make such divisive statements to stay in the limelight or ahead in the polls. After all, no election win should be more important than the unity and prosperity of the nation. Please note one thing here, I am not at all objecting to the right of Mr. Trump to say those things, he has the freedom to say those things and others can criticize him for that as much as they want, I am just trying to discuss the merits and demerits of his divisive approach. If Mr. Trump doesn't change his ways, I hope voters realize that his approach is dangerous for the country and act accordingly. One should not underestimate his candidacy and approach, this has worked in countries like India and I see no reason why it may not work in the US. I hope each one of us understands this and thinks over these things logically, no matter in which country we reside, or which party or person we support.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Politics is a game of perception

I am a keen observer of politics, it amuses and surprises me and many unpredictable things associated with it keep me interested in it. Whether we take an active interest in politics or not, politics affects our lives directly or indirectly. I think there are very few among us who can claim to be immune from politics and the political environment around us. One can see the effect of this most during any major election, like the presidential election in the US or general elections in India. One noticeable difference in the style of election recent election campaigns is that nowadays they use a lot of data and statistics to push their agenda. They still use a lot of rhetoric during their election speeches, still, various leaders promise whatever they can think of without even bothering to check if they can fulfill them or not. I think during an election campaign the main focus is to win the election by making whatever promises and statements it takes to win it. Whoever is successful in making people believe in their agenda wins the votes and hence the elections. It becomes very important for candidates and their political parties to create a perception in voter's minds that they can deliver better than their opponents. They all claim that only they can deliver and their opponents are either with bad plans or won't deliver any of their good promises. In the end, any election is a game of perception.

One very good example of this was the recent general election of 2014 in India. BJP and its PM candidate Mr. Narendra Modi successfully managed to create a perception that the Gujarat model of development is an immensely successful model and can be easily replicated in the rest of India. They started really early and carried out a very aggressive PR campaign to spread this message with the use of selected data that suited their argument and people really believed in it. Other parties fighting elections against them including UPA which was in power tried to challenge this by using some data but it was too late by that time perception of the successful Gujarat model was already created in people's minds and it was difficult to break it. Many corruption cases which were discovered during the UPA-2 rule are still going on in court, so far no one has been charged or convicted in any of them, but there is a perception that UPA-2 was the most corrupt government India ever had and no one is interested in real data to confirm if this is true or not, people just believe that it was the most corrupt government based on media coverage and political rhetoric. This time the UPA is trying to use the issue of the land acquisition bill against the current NDA government and Mr. Modi. They want to paint the image of this government as "anti-farmer." I think they are somewhat successful in this attempt and their aggressive stand on this issue has put this government on a back foot. Now, whether Congress and its leaders are right in accusing this government as anti-farmer and whether they have any data to prove their claims or not, these things are not important. No one is even asking these questions, the government is trying hard to put some data to show that it is not their fault that farmers are committing suicide but it seems a perception has been already created that this government is pro-corporate and anti-farmer.

Actually, this game of perception is very good for political parties to win elections, but it is very bad for voters. While playing this game political parties try to take advantage of certain scandals or issues to build a positive image of themselves and a negative image of their opponents, there is no follow-up about various accusations and no one really gets convicted only voters are fooled. Once the game of perceptions is won, parties don't have to do much to win the elections, they don't even have to propose any concrete plan to resolve the issues, just hollow election promises and grand speeches by their star leaders are enough. In this whole game, voters are the ultimate losers as they only change the ruling parties without any substantial change in their own fortunes. I hope slowly voters understand this trick used by all political parties to fool and misguide them and educate themselves with real facts using various resources available to them. Once they start making choices based on fact-based information rather than perceptions, then I am sure these political leaders and parties will also be forced to change their campaign style. Then we might expect to have more meaningful political debates and discussions, but until then let's keep on fighting against this game of perceptions with the hope that we can minimize the effect of false perceptions during election campaigns.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]