Democracy, Nuance and the The Revenge of the Fringe ..

In the pic: 1) 27 April 1994 , Nelson Mandela casts his vote in the first South African elections held without the discrimination of voters on grounds of race. It was the first time Mandela had voted in his life.

2) An infographic portraying the origin of all the languages in the world (Source: Ethnologue.com)

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Rogue One is the latest addition to the Star Wars saga. It highlights the daring mission undertaken by a rag-tag group of rebels (ordinary by Jedi standards but with a firm belief in the FORCE) to steal the Death Star plans in order to save the galaxy from an impending doom. Sorry, are you a bit confused that the title says democracy, the pic shows Nelson Mandela and here I am sharing spoilers of Rogue One? Please bear with me. We are definitely going to discuss democracy , lament about the lack of nuance in the current public discourse and talk a bit about a very 2016 phenomenon which I prefer to term as the “Revenge of the Fringe”. But I would like take generous inputs from Pop culture to make some sense here with your permission of course 🙂

So back to Star Wars then. Rogue One is a clear deviation from all the other movies in this George Lucas saga of Mahabharat proportions , because for the first time we come across characters who played a pivotal role in the scheme of things but were mere footnotes in Star Wars History, simply the Unsung Heroes. What Jyn Erso and her friends achieve by sacrificing their lives, offers a RAY OF HOPE to the Rebellion cause and ultimately lays the foundation for the fantastic exploits of Princess Leia, Han Solo and others in destroying the Death Star eventually.

Enough of Star Wars Mumbo Jumbo I say!! This brings me to my second pop culture reference, It’s a MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, a 1963 cult classic comedy of a madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers based on the last words of a dying old man.One of the strangers is a Truck Driver who gets constantly outwitted and out-maneuvered in the chase by the others who are slick , suave and well-healed and take advantage of his gullibility to derail his moves. But thanks to his determination , he always catches up and makes himself heard. In the course of the movie he is called STUPID but this truck driver guy gives it back when he says

“Then they all decide that I’m supposed to get a smaller share! That I’m somebody extra special stupid, or something! That they don’t even care if it’s a democracy! And in a democracy, it don’t matter how stupid you are, you still get an equal share! “

YES THE TRUCK DRIVER DID MAKE A CORRECT OBSERVATION. IN A DEMOCRACY, EVERYONE OF US HAS AN EQUAL STAKE AND AN EQUAL SHARE AS WELL.

2016 was a very bad year they said. Death blows were stuck to the Liberal agenda and the cherished notions of Globalization. Annus Horribilis !! Brexit, President Trump, Demonitization back home. But ask a Trump supporter or any one of the 52% who voted for Brexit or the Indian Anti-corruption crusader for whom the Black Money is the root-cause of the malaise that plagues our greatness, he or she will come up with a different world view and they are loving every moment of it.

Ladies and Gentleman, we live in a BI-POLAR world. A world where either you can be WITH ME or AGAINST ME. There is no middle ground. Sadly, there is no room for building consensus. We have all forgotten the art of agreeing to disagree.Democracy, my friends, is not a REDUCTIONIST CONSTRUCT. It is not an ULTIMATE or ABSOLUTE value. In fact the notion of democracy truly lies in its inherent ability of preventing the majority from imposing their choice over the direction that our politics and society might take.

2016 is definitely the year when the POLITICIAN failed to do his job. Yes, it’s the politician’s job to bridge the divide and heal the wounds. The reality was that conventional politics that champions Globalization and Free Market and bats for a borderless economy failed to grasp the growing feeling of disenchantment and disenfranchisement amongst a large section of the populace (Whom I call the FRINGE ) who felt powerless and left out from this so called Gravy Train. The politician should have swooped in on this opportunity , discussed and debated and legislated on a new more inclusive economic model .. but alas the so called Liberal politician abdicated on his duties and the inevitable happened. The FRINGE turned instead to a virulent ANTI-POLITICS in which facts and arguments are replaced by slogans, symbols and sensation where the Internet Trolls, the Nigel Farages , Donald Trumps and Marie La Pens ruled the roost.

Back to Pop Culture. After the end of Mad Men and Downton Abbey, I thought this was the end of a Golden Period of television. But the Crown saved the day (Narcos as well) and has been a revelation to say the least. For the uninitiated, the Crown chronicles the the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the UK. The Crown shows Sir Winston Churchill in his last years , resting on his past laurels of defeating the Nazis and hardly governing the country thanks to his failing health. Ask any Briton about Churchill, and you will see the halo of a world statesman whose magnificent oratory and iron-clad leadership helped save the civilization from the Third Reich. But ask an Indian historian, he might point to Churchill’s infamous role in denying assistance to Bengal during the Great Famine of 1943 which left millions dead out of starvation. Or the fact that he despised Mountbatten because he gave up India, the Jewel of The Crown. So how do we judge Churchill then ? You see there is never a black or a white, always shades of grey. It is a matter of perspective and hence our arguments have to be nuanced with facts and less with rhetoric or emotions.

Democracy is an ONGOING NARRATIVE. Democracy is a Compromise where the Middle Ground has to be reached. When I speak on merits and demerits of demonitization, I should not been branded either a JNU jholawala or an RSS Sanghi. I can be a devout Hindu and still fight for Mohd. Akhlakh’s right to eat whatever he chooses to. And You have the right to disagree. I may believe that free trade is the economic model to follow while you may bat for a socialistic model. We both may agree to disagree but the moment we cross that line of decency or try to suppress the other person’s opinion, we cease to be a democratic society. We can’t say to the other person with a divergent opinion in Pablo Escobar style “Plata or Plomo”. Escobar doesn’t work in a democracy. Let us debate and discuss and endeavour to keep the narrative moving into a better and brighter future. The day we surrender to the Internet trolls is the day we renege on our promise to uphold our democratic ideals.

Mitron, all this might have sounded too heavy for a 31st night. If you have gone through the 1000 odd words penned above, I thank you for your patience. My sincere apologies if my random musing has offended your sensibilities or dampened your celebratory mood.

Democracy is not about ONE SUPREME LEADER , it is about the faceless millions who tirelessly work to keep the SYSTEM up and running. That’s what Madiba’s life story and his prison term in Robben Island should have taught us. As the pics show, all of us share the same roots in language and culture and the fact that the notion of democracy has to be cherished at all costs

All right. That’s it. My FB calendar tells me that I have to attend 31st get together at Place du Marche by the lakeside where the whole of Vevey will descend to celebrate a New HOPE (again so filmy) and rejoice in unison irrespective if their caste, creed or colour or even the nationality (yes there are a lot of expats and I am one of them).

Happy New Year !! May the FORCE be with you ALWAYS 😀

Ending with one of my favourite quotes,

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

#HappyNewYear #RandomMusings #EatPrayLove