Let’s talk politics

: I am tired of this.
: What are you talking about buddy?
: I am tired of today’s wretched politics.
: Why?
: Well, can’t you see how the politicians have lost all their morality? Many leaders have sunk below the level of normal decency. Their dirty games to stir up religious and ethnic tensions to maintain power have created a ticking time bomb that could go off any second and result in a violent civil war and bloodshed.
: It is true. We are seeing the aftereffects of government-sponsored terrorism around the world.
: Power is addictive for these politicians. But they are not satisfied with just power, they want absolute power.
: As Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” But in a democracy, media, opposition, and judiciary can check the ascend of the government to absolute power.
: Here is the tricky part. The government today has bribed, maimed, and blackmailed these pillars of democracy and bends them according to its will.
: That is the perfect example of a democracy moving towards autocracy. I suppose the leader would be lauded as a superman too.
: You said it. The glorification of the leader is the most dangerous and sometimes comical aspect of this. Dangerous because he or she is deemed all-powerful and unquestionable, comical because of the illogicality and absurdity of much of the claims.
: But why does a country with a rich tradition and legacy of respectable leaders fall to such depths?
: I think there are multiple factors to this. One is the rise of extreme right-wing forces around the world. Following the economic crisis of the last decade, people started doubting the status quo. Most blamed immigration, globalization, and international cooperation—in other words, concepts of liberalism—for the difficulties they faced. This led them to think of alternatives to liberalism. The extreme right-wingers were quick to identify this shift in social consciousness and promote the ideas they kept brewing for a long time, namely: majoritarianism, racism, and ultra-nationalism. Thus democracy favored the majority and trampled minority rights, people were segregated according to their religion, creed, and the color of their skin, and patriotism started changing its form so much so that it resembled terrorism.
: What might be the second factor?
: The latent ingroup bias in human nature. The ‘us versus them’ attitude ingrained in the human psyche clouds our senses and forces us to see outsiders as dangerous.
: True. Is there a third factor?
: The growth of social media and fake news. People can be easily fooled by non-factual information and can thus be manipulated. Pepper this with hagiographical narratives of a Nietzcheisque super-man leader who can save ‘our’ culture and redeem ‘us’ from dystopia. The brilliant use of these tools will lead to the spreading of propaganda and hero worship.
: It is a depressing social situation. But isn’t there any solution for this?
: There is, of course. One is time. No amount of fake news, lies, and threats can cover bad governance for long. Like a house of cards, it will crumble in time.
: But instead of waiting for that to happen, shouldn’t we do something?
: Yes, we should. The best way is to spread love and kindness. Only a shift in social consciousness can bring down such a government fast. There is nothing more powerful in the world than love to expunge hatred.
: That is true. The mistake most make is getting frustrated and reacting with violence, which only fuels more hatred.
: Yes, remember that we cannot wash away blood with blood. Non-violent protest and spreading of kindness is the way forward.
: As Gandhi once said, “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”