~Left, Right, Left, and winging it~ I am often bemused that so many in India think that the phrase Right-wing is an undisputed, impossible to challenge insult and still try to use it, especially people who still have not recovered (and suspect never will) from May 26, as an argument clincher, the Brahmastra which once used must immediately lead to the surrender of the enemy and instant retreat. And Left wing is a badge of pride, the bunker no missile of bungling can penetrate, once you declare yourself Left wing, it is almost Karl Marxs ghost who rises to protect you and whisper in your ear, May the Force be with you. Examine this a little closely - which no one ever does - and this theory falls flat instantly. Abraham Lincoln was Republican, ie, what is today the American Right. Hilter was Socialist. Stalin, a Communist, murdered many many more than Hitler, as did Mao, another Communist. Who ran the killing fields of Cambodia? Was Pol Pot right wing? No. He was an avowed Communist. I have been thinking about this forced Left-Right debate in India and as someone who grew up in Communist Bengal, I know how murderous and debilitating the Left can be. Of course the Right has masterpieces like George W. Bush, aided ably by Tony Blair from the Labour Party, the traditional Left in Britain. I thought about this in my recent visits to Scandinavia where - it seemed to me - to a large extent a balance has been achieved. As everyone knows, Scandinavia has some of the best planned and run welfare states in the world and yet country after country in Scandinavia continues to churn out some of the finest companies and brands in the world - from a Nokia a few years ago to IKEA to Spotify. It is great example of the best of both worlds - enterprise and welfare. The point is this - these labels can only be used as an insult if you take the best example of one and the worst of the other. If you are comparing Pope Francis, perhaps the most wonderful example of a Left orientation these day, with the American Rifle Association, then obviously one becomes an insult. At its best, being Right is about liberty of choice, enterprise, honest, caring family values, love of the nation and the land, creation of wealth, innovation, unlimited opportunity, a climate for disruptive genius, zero red tape. At its best, Left is about compassion, equality, equitable distribution of resources, a sense of idealism in foreign affairs. In fact if you look at it, no country apart from mad aberrations like North Korea, is ever entirely Left or Right. It is always a mix of these twin forces that take nations forward. To blanket use one as evil and the other as godliness is the sort of 20th-century primitive thinking we need to now leave behind. Especially in India, we need innovation and wealth creation - and we need greater social justice, equity and stronger laws against graft. For us then to be trapped in this binary is stupid. Fight it. It wont be easy. But think about it for yourself, dont get bullied and then fight it. Let your politics not be Display Photo Politics.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 09:42:19 +0000
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