Considering
the chicanery prevalent in our times, I think it is worthwhile for everyone to
be a Machiavellian "fox" or
a vixen. One's trust on an individual or a group should not be so irrational as
to assume the proportions of blind faith. That doesn't, however, mean that the
world is full of tricksters who are motivated solely by their own benefit. The
world is not so simple as to fit under the binary classification of good and
bad, or black and white. It involves shades of grey. A thing beneficial for
someone may prove to be detrimental to some other person's interests, as is
figuratively phrased in the saying—one man's food can be another man's poison.
Nevertheless, it is pertinent that one follow a "scientific", i.e.
rational, approach while going about in accomplishing any task. This approach
involves an empirical outlook complemented by the eagerness to learn about the
various dimensions that an issue can possibly have.
In
the following paragraphs I'll narrate, through exemplification, why I've put
forward the above views. Let us consider a number of examples (which I've cited
in context of India):
- Politicians bickering (or so it may seem) over petty issues
- A beggar asking for alms
- Religious persons seeking alms in the name of God
- Youth seemingly enjoying the consumption of junk food
In
the first case, while some people may get tricked into the view that most of
the political leaders represent the legitimate interests of their followers,
what they fail to realize is that politics is also a profession. Political
leaders are not motivated solely by pangs of philanthropy, but they too have
their personal aspirations and ambitions. Take the case of Mohamed Ali Jinnah.
A man, who entered the erstwhile British Indian political scenario as a devout
secular person, put forth the two-nation theory
to fulfill his personal ambitions. In his personal life, the London-educated
barrister Jinnah wasn't even a practising Muslim—he had a taste for whisky and
ham. What more? Having created Pakistan, he wanted to establish a secular
polity in that country.
A
recent example that can be cited is the controversy over the educational qualification of
the Union Minister for Human Resource Development. What seems to be ridiculous
is that Rabindranath Thakur (he was called Tagore by the British), who did not
have a formal education, went on to win the Nobel Prize and established the
Shanti Niketan—a novel innovative experiment in the field of education imparted
amongst pristine natural surroundings. Though a doctorate, a masters degree or
a bachelorette may be an asset, it cannot be held to be a prerequisite to appointment
to the post of the education minister. Many other examples can easily be
thought of.
It
should also be noted that most of the people have the media as their source of
information and the media itself is not free from any bias. Owing to corporate
ownership of private media houses, many of them can have a decisive role in
colouring an issue as per certain vested interests. Further, it should also be
seen that many political leaders who may be bitter political opponents,
polarized by ideological divides, seem to share good personal equations amongst
themselves when it comes to matters outside politics.
I'll
now consider the second example. While a human being cannot be completely
devoid of emotions (because emotions are the very basis of humanity), one
should try to be as objective as possible while taking decisions. A beggar
asking for alms may arouse feelings of sympathy among certain people, which in
turn might compel them to 'donate' alms. While these donors may be happy with a
sense of achievement—alleviation of the suffering (atleast to a small extent)
of the 'beggar'—it is more important to think about the underlying causes of
this seemingly trivial occurrence. While the root causes are poverty and
inequality in the society, this event may also point towards organized rackets
of human trafficking who force abducted people (especially children) into
begging. These illegal groups even resort to maiming children to force them to
eke out a living for these trafficking-lords. One does not become a beggar by
virtue of his/her socio-economic condition, one becomes a beggar by the way
he/she acts (is sometimes taught to act) in front of the spectators. This
farcical pretense is a strategy to arouse emotions in the donors.
Then
comes the problem of seeking of alms by able-bodied people. Karl Marx had
referred to religion as the "opium of the masses". These able-bodies religious beggars seek alms in the name
of God, in the name of various auspicious occasions. Thereby,
simple-minded people are carried away (courtesy the superstitious beliefs in
India) by the astrological and numerological jargons that are fed to them by
these beggars. The unsuspecting fellows feel a sense of satisfaction in having contributed
to a noble cause. Consider this—the number 370 has recently been in the news,
although for two completely unconnected issues. These issues are: the
mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft MH370 in the Indian
Ocean and the debate over the Article 370 of the Constitution of India. The
psychological trait of the human mind is that it is adept at recognizing and
relating patterns. Thus, examples based upon purely co-incidental events can be
presented to unsuspecting people as omens having a deeper meaning. Thereafter, an ideology is created on the basis of a
certain logic, and this ideology is used for promoting vested interests. The
donors must understand that giving 'alms' to such people doesn't solve the
problem, but aggravates the issue by incentivizing beggary. Charity to an
institution is not a bad thing. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had also advocated
the use of capitalists' wealth as a trusteeship for the poor. However, it
should be ascertained that the donated resources are utilized (with full
transparency and accountability) for attaining social justice through
educational institutions, hospitals, etc. Derrida's
method of "deconstruction" and Gramscian
theory of "hegemony" are particularly useful tools for obtaining the
complete picture of an event.
My
fourth illustration has its roots in the hegemony (courtesy Antonio Gramsci) of fast-food
multinational corporations, which is promoted by the advertising industry and
supplemented by intense lobbying (at the national level) in the name of
free-trade and investment. While it is true that such multinational
corporations create opportunities of employment for some people of India, the
effects of the produce of such firms on consumers is deplorable to an unequivocal
extent. This is because such a transaction involves a trade-off between the
money accrued to a handful of workers and the sound health (which cannot have a
monetary equivalent) of a much larger number of people—prominently the youth
(who are the "demographic dividend" of the country). The dopamine-induced sense of pleasure of junk food (a very apt term to describe
such foods as are high in salt and/or sugar content, low in nutrients) has
long-term side-effects. These include (but are not limited to) lethargy, obesity,
infertility, hypertension, diabetes, retardation of mental growth, chronic
kidney disease and (in several cases) kidney failure. A cause of concern is the
promotion of junk food by movie actors. Movie actors, who most probably do not themselves
consume such products and consider the commercial as just-another assignment,
are given hefty amounts of money by multinational corporations for the
promotion of their products.
In the current scenario,
the use of rationality is a matter of Darwinian
survival by being among the fittest. The absence of the traits of the
Machiavellian "lion" can be compensated by having the traits of the
Machiavellian "fox". When primacy is given to self-interest, it is
important that one acquires knowledge (which Michel Foucault related to power) so that one is not entangled in
the complex web of propaganda. Thereafter, this knowledge should be used
scientifically.
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