The special skill of the politician consists in knowing what passions can be most easily aroused and when aroused how to prevent them from being harmful to himself and his associates.
Dr. H.C.Pande
Einstein once remarked that politics is a pendulum which swings between tyranny and anarchy. One man rules, all the time, at one end, and, everyone rules, all the time, at the other, both being equally undesirable. Apparently, democracy lies in between where some men rule for some of the time. Governance has meaning in organized societies alone, and as such, anarchical politics is of no relevance in any system of governance. One has to choose between the two systems, dictatorship or democracy.
The plus side of dictatorship is that just one good person at the top, can usher in reforms leading to successful governance. The minus side of democracy is that, even one bad person at the bottom, can stall reforms leading to failed governance. Conversely, the minus side of dictatorship is that just one bad person at the top can completely ruin the system, whereas, the plus side of democracy is that even one good at the bottom can prevent the system from being ruined. Since the bad always outnumber the good, five versus one hundred from Mahabharata times, preferred choice has to be democracy.
Yet what is the reality of democracy? In the words of Bernard Shaw ‘Democracy, substitutes election by the incompetent many, for appointment by the corrupt few”. Let it be clear that the incompetence of the people is only in the sense that they do not have the holistic view of polity, in fact only a few do. The voter often enough, is guided by emotions, sentiments, misinformation or just plain casual attitude. The politician, of this day and age, is no longer an idealist guiding people and enabling them to take a well thought out, fact based, judgement. His expertise now is very different. In the words of Bertrand Russell “The special skill of the politician consists in knowing what passions can be most easily aroused and when aroused how to prevent them from being harmful to himself and his associates. ……..”
Thus the quality of the elected is always a question mark.
Sadly, the elected politician, and the selected bureaucrat, today is, more often than not, purchasable. This is the major reason as to why the democratic governance, at all levels, as of now,is badly flawed. Tongue-in-cheek remark of Mark Twain describes the situation in totality,”We have the best government that money can buy.”
The idea of democracy,bereft of the cosmetics,means majority rule,and,as M.N.Roy had caustically remarked, that it could even be the majority of one.Constitution,,moral values,ethical values et al,have not descended from the heavens but have been framed and accepted on the basis consensus which again is majority consent.That the people have been misguided,deceived or led astray is another matter but their consent while it lasts,is,whether we like it or not,a democratic reality. As Sartre holds, values are self imposed,be it a person,a group or a nation,or why,even United Nations.
Self preservation is the primary natural instinct.So long as personal or group interest, is not affected,one thumps the table,quotes the scriptures and cites the constitution otherwise,one hollers,that the scriptures are out dated,and,that the constitution needs urgent amendments.
Civilization has progressed many a millennia,yet man has only evolved,from animal to man-animal stage,and,reacts accordingly.Human intuition based on knowledge, and,animal instinct,co-exist.Intuition urges one forward to press for liberty,equality and fraternity but instinct pulls at one’s sleeve and reminds one of self interest and always
prevails.It is meaningless to deny this reality.That ideal social and economic systems can be established within nations and between nations,is just a dream.In the best of situations self-interest is a non-zero quantity,and,one can only attempt not to step on any toes,but,step one would,on some toes.Remember there are 8 billion human beings.
Everything for everyone is a grand idea which one can dream about but can not realize in practice.Greatest good for the greatest number can only be attempted.Here again who is to decide what is good and what are the numbers? It is not just the numbers,but the numbers which have formed a gang that decide.Call them as you please,parties unions,associations,alliances federations,consortia or whatever,but a gang is always a gang.This is true 25,000 miles around the globe in space,and across two millennia,in time. (The views expressed by writer is personal)
(Dr HC Pande is Vice Chancellor Emeritus, BITS, Mesra)
