Set piece: A somber room, in twilight glow, save for the center, which is brightly lit with a battery of powerful lights focusing directly beneath them. And there, you lie, anesthetized by the sleep-inducing chemicals entering your blood stream. Blissfully unaware of the millions of nerve endings screaming to those parts of your brain that can decipher the well-being of the body it resides in, that all's not well. The individuals grouped around you have to make the decision as to whether the mass of sinew, bone and blood vessels that form your left arm (A) should be salvaged or (B) has to be amputated. The last thing you did before going under was to pick the team that huddles around you...
Team #1: A handpicked team comprising of a couple of orthopaedic specialists, vascular surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a seasoned anesthetist, with the requisite support staff
Team #2 : A team put together by making random sweeps of different areas of the city, taking care to represent all sections of society, professions, races, religions and so on and so forth
Now, what if you didn't have that choice? That the decision was based on the following reasoning:
- You are a successful white-collar professional who makes several multiples of your country's per capita, hell, maybe even more than that of the most developed countries in the world
- Yours is not a physical profession (e.g construction labor) plus you're right-handed, so its not your dominant arm anyway
- (A) (refer above) means you recover in 10 weeks and go back to your life, possibly rejuvenated and be more successful than ever
- (B) would mean you would require a prosthetic which means a chance for the company that manufactures those to stay afloat, also for the farmers who supply the raw materials to avoid penury
Fiction, all of it, macabre albeit.
But then how is it, that when it comes to making decisions that sculpt laws, policies that govern intakes into institutions of learning, zoning regulations that determine setting up of commercial hubs, financial policy that oversees utilization of gargantuan amounts of money are based on the overarching principle of "Majority Wins!"? that saffron-painted thugs can go burning vehicles and demolishing property in the name of the 'common good'? Is the democratic way really about doing what's best or is it the blunt instrument of the teeming worthless hordes? Maybe its time for a rethink?
4 comments:
Is it really based on "Majority Wins"? Over the years politicians have always pandered to "I win", "My whims and fancies win" and "My interests win". And unfortunately they make the laws too!
As for the rethink, I think the idea is fascinating - I have been a huge fan myself - but outdated!
the politicians only get there on the basis of their 'vote banks'...hence the reference to mindless hordes who while lacking the skills or gumption to better their lives, exert the force of numbers. the debate over the value of an SEZ to the state/nation being settled by uneducated louts with hockey sticks...only in this country dude!
but there is still hope in the form of judiciary and constitutional rights. I would take this anyday over the dictatorships flourishing outside of our country!
As for the vote banks... the mindset needs to change towards activism after voting, instead of the usual ballot policy of the masses - fill it, cast it, forget it!
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1117310
constitutional rights mate? a state government just ordered a business to shut down because it is more efficient and would cut out layers of middlemen. leave aside that its the biggest corporate house in india, what if it'd been your brand new venture?
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