It does seem like no one in this country knows anything except those in absolute but temporary power. The bureaucracy has been the torch bearer of this mindset since colonial days. They were the very first to understand that the average brown skinned native was incapable, given her limited intellectual abilities, to comprehend what the goras knew about the universe. That thought process has flowed down the line to this day and time when even those youngsters who have cleared that ONE single test by the UPSC that makes them ‘rulers’ for life think they know whatever it may that is needed to be known. Mostly, the bureaucracy thinks the political class is dispensable except whosoever heads it since pleasing that Headman becomes very important for them to further their careers. Political minions however have a different story to narrate. They are nowhere near the stage to matter for the bureaucracy. It is only personal relations that help them survive the upheavals that most of them face as daily grind.
The political class is an endangered species in current times. Take for example the US Supreme Court’s ruling on the Roe Vrs Wade issue. After drastically curbing basic human rights of women with pregnancies by nullifying a law that was in force for half a century, the USSC’s verdict has been condemned across the Western world but the American politician is being viewed as a weakling who has very little power over what the social changes are doing to his career. While most Republicans have no choice but to support the anti-abortion decision while opposing any changes to existing gun laws, the Democrats have, similarly, no choice but to oppose the changes made to the abortion law while supporting changes to the gun laws. In simpler terms, politicians of all hues are observed as little flags that flutter downwind with the slightest of breeze. Downwind is where all of them end up since very few have the audacity to stand against the current. It is mostly a matter of convenience that makes politicians do whatever it is that they do.
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Of course, there are aberrations like Ukraine’s Volodymir Zelenskyy who seems to have a conviction that his nation needs to be independent and his strength of character seems to have percolated down to his country folks who can be observed as real combatants in a real war. The USSC ruling on abortion has not remained limited to American shores. The sign of the times is that the regressive mindset is here to stay. At least for some more time. Depriving women of a very basic right to control their own body’s reproductive activities smells of a society that has corroded from deep within. Seemingly the Court did not bother to go deep into issues that affect every individual of that country. With six out of the nine judges going on a roll together, conservatism looks like it is back in vogue.
Some optimists, on the other hand, feel strongly that even though the present global scenario seems to be having a massive swing towards an anti-poor, hate filled and intolerant society, the truth could be trudging along somewhere else. They feel that there is a great desire among the common citizen for a more equitable, tolerant and just social order and that could be the key to change.
Undoubtedly the courts, governments and politicians, across the globe, seem to have all lost credibility. The supporters of power are seen as scared and timid people filled with hate for everyone else. Those who oppose are counted as rodents that need to be exterminated at the very first opportunity. With a global society that is diametrically opposite to what everyone thought as being obvious and natural just a decade ago, the future could be changing. Which way the dice rolls is anyone’s guess.
