Many educated well to do Indians keep posting facebook updates and blogposts asking for forgiving and supporting Arvind Kejriwal. I have no issue with that. May be he does deserve a second chance.
Some of these posts brought me to think about how much value do I place on non-corrupt ideal non-power hungry politicians. To put it simply not a rat's arse! Let me explain myself. I want non-corrupt political leaders - no doubt. But more than non-corrupt political leaders I want leaders who will work towards policies that will improve the lot of the common man. For example, consider AP from 1995-2004. Hyderabad was not a IT Hub or an educational powerhouse. Nara Chandrra Babu Naidu worked hard to make Hyderabad what it is now. He brought in IT companies that provide jobs to a huge population. I have family members who were reliant only on farming - their kids now earn a good living in Hyderabad because of the work he did. Now, was he non-corrupt - no way. He built an empire of his own (not to the scale of Jagan, but still). I see this as a consequence of being in a poor developing country. Rich and powerful people will exploit the system and amass huge fortunes - the reason is simple they are in a situation to game the system. Now, so if you stick with principles alone NCB should never be allowed to be a CM. But, I prefer the current scenario where he gains something and does something for the real people. I am willing to forgive individuals who work for others and make money along the way. At no point am I blind to their failings but at the same time I am aware of how their work is making way for the poor people. Remember principles would not put food on their table. For all the well to do folks out there yes - i want India to be corrupt free but i rather have an India that is poverty free before. It is as simple as that. Dont give me idealistic scenarios that both are possible. They are not possible - because only when the size of the poor communities shrinks can we move towards a non-corrupt society.
Now, coming to the national scenario - BJP is no ideal party. There are a number of criminals and corrupt people there. But the alternative we have is Congress which ruled the country for majority of the time and made no reduction in poverty - because they believe in socialism (or to put it bluntly keeping Indians poor to win elections!). BJP, on the other hand, has policies that are directed at growth. See the period from 1998-2004 for evidence of market economics employed under BJP*. So, inspite of the corrupt people in BJP, I will support them because I know their policies implemented will help the poor in the country. Yes, they will make some individuals like Gadkari, or Adani or Ambani or others very rich. Fine by me - they would have gotten rich anyway - now at least we have a lot of poor people who benefit. Now this is a compromise I make everyday. I feel bad that this is the option I have to make. Principles or poverty removal. For me the choice though hard, is rational - I would rather have some people become very rich and others come out of poverty than stick to principles and keep everybody poor. For me it is not worth it. As simple as that.
*PV Narasimha Rao did do good things - but he is not the traditional Congress leader. So that credit cannot go to the Congress party.
Some of these posts brought me to think about how much value do I place on non-corrupt ideal non-power hungry politicians. To put it simply not a rat's arse! Let me explain myself. I want non-corrupt political leaders - no doubt. But more than non-corrupt political leaders I want leaders who will work towards policies that will improve the lot of the common man. For example, consider AP from 1995-2004. Hyderabad was not a IT Hub or an educational powerhouse. Nara Chandrra Babu Naidu worked hard to make Hyderabad what it is now. He brought in IT companies that provide jobs to a huge population. I have family members who were reliant only on farming - their kids now earn a good living in Hyderabad because of the work he did. Now, was he non-corrupt - no way. He built an empire of his own (not to the scale of Jagan, but still). I see this as a consequence of being in a poor developing country. Rich and powerful people will exploit the system and amass huge fortunes - the reason is simple they are in a situation to game the system. Now, so if you stick with principles alone NCB should never be allowed to be a CM. But, I prefer the current scenario where he gains something and does something for the real people. I am willing to forgive individuals who work for others and make money along the way. At no point am I blind to their failings but at the same time I am aware of how their work is making way for the poor people. Remember principles would not put food on their table. For all the well to do folks out there yes - i want India to be corrupt free but i rather have an India that is poverty free before. It is as simple as that. Dont give me idealistic scenarios that both are possible. They are not possible - because only when the size of the poor communities shrinks can we move towards a non-corrupt society.
Now, coming to the national scenario - BJP is no ideal party. There are a number of criminals and corrupt people there. But the alternative we have is Congress which ruled the country for majority of the time and made no reduction in poverty - because they believe in socialism (or to put it bluntly keeping Indians poor to win elections!). BJP, on the other hand, has policies that are directed at growth. See the period from 1998-2004 for evidence of market economics employed under BJP*. So, inspite of the corrupt people in BJP, I will support them because I know their policies implemented will help the poor in the country. Yes, they will make some individuals like Gadkari, or Adani or Ambani or others very rich. Fine by me - they would have gotten rich anyway - now at least we have a lot of poor people who benefit. Now this is a compromise I make everyday. I feel bad that this is the option I have to make. Principles or poverty removal. For me the choice though hard, is rational - I would rather have some people become very rich and others come out of poverty than stick to principles and keep everybody poor. For me it is not worth it. As simple as that.
*PV Narasimha Rao did do good things - but he is not the traditional Congress leader. So that credit cannot go to the Congress party.
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