The Real War
By- Pamarty Venkataramana
‘We, the people’ is no more a cliche to describe constitutional democratic structures of societal governance. The phrase epitomises the social pattern of ‘sheep mentality’ by which almost all known communities of contemporary world are afflicted. Dictating the masses via set electoral methods has become passé.
More agreeably all lands led by peaceful mass leaderships have turned into arsenals of debatable (if not dubious) traders in arms & ammunitions.
The fear-psychosis trend set by manufacturing nations of weapons of war aided ably by the acquirers of such ‘defence’ related systems only speaks of an acquiescence by political commentators and ‘we, the people’ body of humanity existing on the most friendly planet known to mankind.
But,the ‘real’ war is not fictional nor are the pangs of it fictitious.
Yet, not many realise which or what is the ‘real war’ that is taking away lives as well as proving every elected government order to be a defeatist enterprise of the respective masses of humanity.
Without mincing words, let it be known that the real war is the daily ritual of law-abiding and peaceful citizens struggling to eke our a livelihood or afford to have two square meals a day or find a shelter to sleep by night ; to find an affordable healthcare,educational and co-existential identity amongst a society fast turned into a ‘bubble of virtual community ‘ with unseen and anonymous buddies turning peers and forces of mindfulness.
Poverty is but a tag.Wealth is not moralistic but more of a feather safeguarding loss of face in the face of any adversity.
Life has become a calamity and a calumny resulting from sidestepping on time-tested,age-old tradition and giving a go-by to culture. Societal mores have changed drastically as well as dramatically.
‘Ease of breathing’ ought to be the new slogan to caption the efforts and endeavours of any elected government on a war-footing instead of an ambiguously worded-‘ease of living’ !
When life and survival are uncertain elements of every citizen, the government of good disposition ought not to indulge in empty euphemisms of popular noise but get down to brass tacks and instruct their top-brass to be engaged in combating the real monsters.
So, who is the actual foe?
Definitely not the ghosts of terror lurking across the borders but the sense of ennui and despondent one positioned in a seat of power – at whichever level.
This can be across a wide spectrum of departments and spheres of life. Such as education, healthcare, medicinal supplies, agriculture, environmental/ pollution control, water supply,irrigation, electricity generation, commodities import and export, devising fiscal policy, manpower/human-resources management, meteorology, meteorological, labour and work-place practices, so on and so forth : encompassing almost all walks of life.
There is hardly any elected leader addressing the ghouls on the prowl as they are all engaged in warfare of the other kind- hyping tensions, spread of phobia and mistrust of one another based on factors such as terror, casteism, religious denomination or fashionable habits of acquiring latest defence weaponry systems.
Thought is not given to encourage or promote genuine new inventions, scientists and artists but several budgetary allotments are made towards emulating unknown foreign habits.
Agriculture enjoys only a minuscule of budgetary allocation made for Defence ministry.
The defence department itself has a huge bill being rooted without any active optimum utilisation of human resources on payroll.This most productive citizen-force could be deployed for construction of bridges, helping in the agricultural fields, manning traffic on streets to help imbibe a civic sense absent amongst an unruly ‘civil society’.
There is a huge section of ‘retired’ folks receiving pensions prepared to serve the society by imparting their accumulated skills, knowledge and work experience for the ‘good of society’. Their life-span will invariably increase if engaged productively.
That the ‘happiness quotient’ is missing in contemporary society of mankind even in most celebrated democracies is visible in the manner in which the ‘sheep mentality syndrome’ is ubiquitous when large numbers of voting public flock to pseudo gurus and self-styled incarnations of Almighty God rather than going to the elected representatives of the country.
Superstitious beliefs overtake rational thinking even as cultural values are buried in cacophony of ‘modern society‘.
All is ominous. All is not well.
Ease of breathing & not of ease of living must be the slogan of any eager-beaver leader.
Technologies abound to revolutionise the manner in which amenities of life can be provided without cursing an unequal society or the unchecked propensity of humans to procreate their population-strength.
Laws of Nature must replace artificial,antiquated ones on the rule-book which has left judgments to ‘discretionary powers’ enjoyed (if not vested) by bureaucracy and their underlings.
‘ Food for all’ and ‘work for all’ ought to be the song of every political outfit.
Partisan arguments are as myopic as straight-jacket rulings by biased judges.
‘Right man in the right job’ would ensure that one who has no inclination to study at a school or college but enjoy the onerous chores of everyday life is not put to jeopardy but exists as the essential cog in the wheel for a community that can’t address all activities by itself. This is not only reinforcing the ‘varna-shreni’ system of yore in Indian society but also bridging the gap between ‘able’ and ‘unable’ minds as does the Chinese system.
Parallels need to be drawn with every age of history where trouble befell an empire which basis in lost glory or populist sloganeering rather than devising newer and newer means of overcoming obstacles to dispensation of ‘human security’ in an ever-changing social order.
Change is a constant and unless the rulers constantly encourage and motivate real change,the real war shall continue from within the borders of a land rather than being waged by hordes of jealous enemies from beyond.
The cancerous multiplication of vacuous criticism can be checked only if the loopholes are plugged in the present system of ‘equality of laws’ in a ‘society of unequals’.
Towards such an objective,India for one must view the noble goal of enhancing the measure and quality of living as being more than an egalitarian one.
Let there be a changed order of governance and pole-centres of power be dispersed equally amongst elected representatives instead of remaining undisturbed in hands of unknown seats of hierarchy distributed among a club of non-accountable officials.
Youth of today are but bound to become disillusioned over a span of as little as five years if no real development is noticed and no potent policies formulated in order to combat the real foes. Therefore the sense of urgency should permeate all echelons of a Government.
Solutions abound and only a fresh perspective spearheaded by Heads of State can result in ‘ease of breathing‘ for all regardless of economic or social strata and across every age group and gender.
Are we listening?
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Really we have become blind and unable to see the real issues of our lives and Nation as well.
well said Sir..
Really we all have become blind and unable to see the real issues of our lives as well as country…
Are we listening? No, Sir… because we don’t want to listen the real issues..