About: Democracy

Following is recent reply to a series of mails amongst a bunch of us. I used it to voice something which I have been mulling for a while now. The point needs more research and elaboration and perhaps a more tighter line of thinking. Initial comments?

Lodu,

I think you are the only one so worked up about elections in the US. And please don't compare US elections with Indian ones. I think Indian elections are infinitely more interesting and exciting than US elections. Ours is a very boisterous democracy like no other in the world.

I have always believed Modi is the right person. Hell, I would love it if became the prime minister and replicated his model of growth in Gujrat throughout India. The key factor in India's current economic growth is Gujrat's growth.

On a tangential note, Modi's recent win has planted this idea in my head that democracy is a farce. I never had an opinion about this but I am beginning to form one against democracy. Not that I advocate a dictatorship based government, but maybe a democratic institution with more check and balances against corruption, special interest groups controlling the country, and the lobbyists. In democracy, we assume that all the monkeys will get together and write Hamlet (Hamlet only na?). It is a form of institution built to perpetuate the bullshit that everyone is equal. They conveniently contort the original intention that everyone is equal before the law, the government etc. I think successful countries everywhere have become a success only because of the single-minded determination, clarity of vision, and a strong will of a few people. Via election, you can only hope that somebody like that will be elected.

Imagine if all doctors, lawyers, pilots, or any other professionals were "elected" ! Then why "elect" people who run the government ? These guys affect the lives of a lot more people with their whim and fancies than all doctors put together.

Enough said. Maybe I will do a bit more research and elaborate my point later.

Abhishek

Update

Following the discussion over dinner, I have to clarify that I do not oppose democracy as a whole. It is necessary for a free, fair and functioning society that every individual in the country have equal rights to everything and be considered equal before the law and the government. It is the process of electing the representatives that I want to debate tooth and nail.

Yes, Modi has his flaws and he can cause a communal outburst but I really believe that if he can sustain his development efforts, nothing else will matter. Really, do you think when a hindu and muslim are leading a good life, earning good money, and sending their children to good schools, they are really going to bother about participating in communal discord? Once the quality of life is lifted, all other considerations automatically evaporate.