Implicit Self
Images from my soul, dedicated to the world that makes me
Growing up and electing a president
Politics and economics, two fields mostly misunderstood and misrepresented and permanently shrouded in mystery for the average person. The very person most manipulated and affected by them, even as he or she either accepts ignorance, claims injustice or expresses disdain for one or both. Justice: another tough word. When we were young, we were taught to be fair and not take sides when making a decision that can affect the handing out of moral justice. The only kind of justice left in the hands of individuals to dissipate. We were also told, that is the most important kind. After all, who doesn’t want to be told they are important in matters that matter and things that count.
Your vote counts.. go and cast your vote if that is indeed the only thing you do! It is the most important thing you can do in your adult life for society, the society that does so much for you, the government you must participate in if you call yourself a responsible citizen of this world, of democracy. The very society that is mostly a silent invigilator, maintaining vigil in a manner mostly inconsequential because it will never herald a change by speaking out of turn. In India, all middle class kids are taught at some point in life, whether at home or school, that the country comes first. Remember the freedom fighters who fought for this freedom you enjoy, remember their sacrifice. Be them, and if you cannot, love your country more than you love yourself. Some of us, grow up believing that. I did.
The businessmen in India, are often looked down upon as culturally and morally inferior. Basically corrupting society with their money-making mind sets that do not respect laws among other finer things in life. For the longest time Gandhi had such a presence in Indian society of being incorruptible ( which for all intents and purposes, we can assume he probably was) that he changed the entire outlook for generations, as political leaders came out as being the ‘true’ leaders of a nation. Thats what an individual can do. A society, other than the mass movements in French revolution historically, Egypt and Libya more recently, doesn’t really do much. Almost never, for anything that can last for generations. The power of an individual, over society, nations and even the whole world – Hitler being a notorious example, can and should never be understated. Karl Marx is also only slightly less notorious. The power of an individual is not moving with the herd, it is always in leading a herd. Small or large. Without a herd there can be no leader of course, but evolutionarily, living in a herd provided us enough benefit to make one, something anyone with some talent and a lot of will can accomplish, easier still, if its the other way around.
Even if, today, we are much more aware of the corrupting forces and their burgeoning power in the government , we are not in a position to choose a better future for us. That is because an individual vote doesn’t count, not in India and not in the U.S., and they can never be counted on to bring such changes that will actually change the world for a better place.The leaders with power, corporations, lobbyists, powerful supporters for an incumbent president, easily over- ride the power of a vote. They should, they worked hard to get where they are or their previous generations did by hook or crook, they will not allow something as simple as a vote ballot to overpower them. Not even if it is in thousands. Because once the vote is cast, it is on its own, even less powerful than a powerless person casting it. The people of Florida know that. Elections will always be close in this world of sophisticated liars and delusional or misinformed and self absorbed people, which is not the same as self empowered people. So in such high stake games, the results are rigged. On the other hand, if these business men were left to themselves and had to work for profit- basically in a real free market, without being assured political maneuvers that could come to their rescue whenever they needed, they would make better informed decisions, work more efficiently and not be able to forcibly acquire valuable land with absolutely no form of reimbursement to the displaced, like Salwa Judum is meant to, in tribal areas in India. Criminal justice, economics and politics, best left unmixed.
So vote at your peril, because anyone who believes it will not have to get much worse before it gets better, is going to vote and that may not be the herd you want to belong to. They will vote either for or more likely against someone and then complain that they didn’t vote for this. Doug Casey says to vote for a lesser evil, is still voting for evil. Instead, be a leader. Not a political one at the out start, one that first leads their family. Be responsible first to the people who will not stand by in the crowd as men tear your clothes off or cut you to pieces. Be responsible to the money you make for the future you worked for. Because it is the responsible people that are in the most danger of losing the most. The people with sub prime mortgages, had never really thought of the future or planned for it. The people who thought their houses and their stocks were an investment, who were a product of previous generations of hard working people, acting responsibly, are still paying the mortgage of a house that lost a lot of its value and stocks that were wiped out. Then find more people like you, to lead or follow. But that, much later. The current situation is such that no matter what the most optimistic economist predicts, no matter who becomes president of the U.S. and prime minister of India, the vicious circle formed and propagated by groups with political power can and will change the economic future for you, you who thought their vote counted. You, who has to now rethink many things and teach their family different ideals. Probably, of putting yourself first. If you can vote for public officials responsible to maintain law, then vote carefully, if you can’t then be vigilant.
And for you, who always has put yourself first, never believed in over all society or government, reveled in individual rights, small businesses, you my friend, you need to think economically and work practically and plan ahead to be what you thought you have the right and freedom to be. The opportunity maybe arriving soon.
I, the scientist, taught to think so far into the future, that economically does not make any sense, I am not sure what I should do. So seriously, do not believe anything I write.. or believe it. You probably know better! If the USD no longer remains valuable in the future, houses are not investment, I might just spend it all on travel now, because given the state of the world, traveling may no longer remain possible in the future, once all the airlines have declared bankruptcy and the governments don’t allow anything to be made in China and cannot hold a manufacturing unit together anywhere else.
Implicit Self 