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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Just who is the public?

The smoker is not public. He's a disease-spewing addict who needs to be banished to dark corners. He will be ostracised.

The homosexual is not public. He's a deviant who needs to be driven into the closet. He will be denied medical care.
The artist is not public. He's just an inconsiderate lout who needs to be taught not to offend anyone's sensibilities. He will be mobbed.
The missionary is not public. He's an evil do-gooder who lures innocent illiterates from their true religion by promising them food, clothing, education & dignity. He will be slaughtered.
The immigrant is not public. He is an invader who has come to corrupt culture by talking, dressing & behaving differently. He will be looted.
The youth are not public. They are just wastrels of voting age who are abandoning the lifestyle we have championed for 5000 years. They will be jailed.
The rich are not public. They are merely achievers who use their wealth to wallow in decadence and luxury. They will be curbed.
The poor are not public. They are ignorant animals who will be kept in poverty so that their servility is permanent. They will be exploited.

Who then is the public? In whose name are the laws of our land made? Whose good do they mean when they talk of the 'greater good'?

The corrupt. The fanatic. The bigot. The intolerant. The powerful. The numerous. The mob. 

Yup, it makes sense. The mob is the majority. And democracy, they say, is rule by the majority.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting start to blogging :)
Came here via Aristotle the Geek.

gaea said...

great post! welcome to blogocracy my friend...

Unknown said...

Sad but true.

± said...

Awesome.

Anonymous said...

Great start. But I have to crib about the 'wastrels' bit. How do you know these kids won't drive over people in a drug induced haze. A lot of violence in the U.S. is drug induced and its a good thing we don't have it here. And these rave parties will give dealers the incentive and money to expand operations. How many lives and families will the dope trade ruin?

Agree the police should arrest the dope dealers first, but breaking up a rave party isn't wrong.

Ramesh Srivats said...

If they do drive over someone, they should be punished for that. Because that is a crime with a victim (someone else's right to life has been violated). Even if they dope and drive, they could be punished because they are an imminent danger to someone's life. But not because they are partying and could be driving home. By that logic, police should also raid booze parties because people may drive back later in a booze induced haze. Or any party that lasts late because people may drive back in a sleep-induced haze.

My point is that there is some arbitrary age when you consider people to be adults. I take that as the voting age (18 in India) because it means you consider them responsible enough to elect a government. After that age it is up to the individual what he or she does as long as no one else's rights are violated. The police and the state have no role to play in this.

And incidentally, the biggest incentive drug dealers have to expand operations is the fact that it has been declared illegal. How many smugglers do you hear of these days (after imports have been eased a bit). Any victimless activity practised by consenting adults only becomes a crime because the mob decrees it to be one.

And that incidentally was the point of my post.

Anonymous said...

Hammer, meet head of nail. Great post.

The other problem is that if the youth don't stand up for the immigrants, the poor don't stand up for the homosexuals, and nobody protects each other, then one by one we'll all lose our rights.

Anonymous said...

Nailed ever so accurately :-)

Anonymous said...

And it is also said, eternal vigilance is the price of democracy.

Anonymous said...

'tyranny of the majority' as John Stuart Mill said.

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