Time and Pressure

Manufacturing Dissent

2009-04-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t have discovered Chomsky at a more appropriate time. I have just read the ebook of “Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky”, which presents his views on a great variety of subjects in a Q&A format. There is really a vast amount of literature by and about him on such topics as politics, society and activism, waiting to be explored, which I am sure would offer unique insights and reliable information on just how the world today is being run by those wielding all the powers. All of it can be extremely depressing and can very easily inject a sense of despair and pessimism into anyone wishing for a more just and egalitarian society, were it not for Chomsky’s supreme confidence in the impact of and strong advocacy for organizing and activism – not at all misplaced when we hear him reveal the small yet substantial successes achieved by activists and resistance movements in recent years.

Chomsky is arguably the most brilliant mind at work today. It would be unfair to put him in the category of intellectuals, for from Chomsky’s own criticism of the intelligentsia, it is very clear today that the so-called intellectuals mostly possess no conscience and no independent mind and are merely elites and propagandists sub serving the political and business class. When we imagine the dangers that are inherent (and in fact, which have been playing out in reality for over a century now) in this whole phenomenon of the intelligentsia - meaning people from universities and scientific communities - aiding and abetting the concentration of power in a few hands and subjugation of the general population, it is a great relief to listen to someone like Chomsky. One can only wish he was listened to more, and by more people. Atleast for me, his efforts and activism undoes the hollow and ultimately sinister work of most of the intellectual community.

It is difficult to not see sense in anything that Chomsky says. With his amazing ability to collect, distill and articulate information, he can tear apart something like the entire fabric of US foreign policy that has been in action for the last 200 years. He can uncover the massive propaganda being carried out by the mainstream media in US and elsewhere, and demonstrate to anyone too willing to stamp a ‘conspiracy theory’ on all of it just how the media is merely acting in its own self-interest, much like any other business trying to maximize profit because even media is run by corporations, and people in power are never going to permit anything that has the potential to take away that power. In fact, when we look at the incredible amount of evidence Chomsky can present to support any and every one of his views, we realize that there is not many others who possess such genius and there is every reason to feel thankful that Chomsky does have a conscience and he can’t help but listen to it.

So you read all his criticisms and his revelations such as how the elite and powerful have been using the media to ‘manufacture consent’ among the public to find support for their indefensible and reprehensible actions both home and abroad, and there is a fair chance one might ask, “So has this guy got anything constructive to say?” I got my answers before I had time to ask and that is where Chomsky appeals to me the most. He harbors a rightful skepticism for ideologies (he considers Marxism, Leninism etc akin to other organized religions) and one cannot agree with him more when Chomsky says we must be wary of anyone brandishing an immediate and ready made solution for all our current problems. That is a lesson from history that could be missed only at our own peril; the scourges of Communism and Fascism all arose as not very different versions.

I have always been attracted by the ideas of Gandhi (I call him “Mahatma”) and Thoreau, so it was a wonderful coincidence for me to find Chomsky an anarchist. As refreshing as it is to hear Chomsky clear away the popular misconceptions about socialism and democracy, he presents a very practical approach to activism and resistance, never going gung-ho about an anarchist future but always careful to point to institutional rather than individual failures and the need to not overlook piecemeal but important social changes that can be brought about by popular struggles within the current authoritarian framework.

To call Chomsky a hero is to wrong him, for he is ever at pains to emphasize that the real work is always done by people who forever remain in the background – spreading awareness, raising funds, distributing pamphlets, organizing people and so on – and the leaders often merely use the platform so painstakingly built by such people. It touches me profoundly, as a young man with a lot of ambitions who somehow happen to have this rather nice vision of being a mass leader and creating a harmonious society at the stroke of a pen. I guess leadership is dangerous, because power can corrupt even the best and being an anarchist demands a general skepticsim of all authority. Once again, such consistency in views and self-conduct over a long and illustrious activist career is what sets Chomsky apart. Inspiration is never difficult to find, one can always go to a Vivekananda or the Mahatma; but Chomsky makes it difficult for anyone with a conscience to not act; to listen to him (and use our own reasoning to verify his views) is to stand up, totally convinced of an urgency and responsibility to act, and believe in and work for change.

Crossroads

2009-04-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

In view of the dwindling resources and the tangible impact global climate change is beginning to have on our lives (irregular rainfall patterns, rise in sea-levels, the terrible heat, to name a few!), there is a real urgency now to stand up and raise our voices – not for individual rights and demands, but for the very survival of life on our planet. Unfortunately, the current lifestyles and attitudes, influential theories and doctrines, the whole orientation of academic, corporate and political communities are all in direct conflict with what is urgently required of all of us now. We will need to rethink and change, persuade the naysayers and make concerted and substantial efforts to prolong our existence in this world.

It turns out that the much-admired economic development model pursued by the Western countries (and now being vigorously taken up by countries like China and India) has come at great costs to the nature and environment. (It is another matter that it has also been largely responsible for ensuring that poverty and hunger remains on a devastating scale in the Third World.) A recent study says that if the entire world were to follow the Western lifestyles, we would require as many as 5.5 planets to sustain it! If there had been any illusions as regards the the resources on earth being infinite, they have all come crashing down now.

The capitalist or free-market model on which the developed economies are built on and for which a dangerous consensus is emerging in the all the global policy platforms is clearly faulty and ultimately self-destructing. The unbridled consumption of goods and services, facilitated by the great technological advances, has led to this very grave scenario where all of our seemingly middle-class aspirations such as to travel by cars and flights, own houses, work in air-conditioned offices and on computers are all slowly turning our planet uninhabitable. It is easy to push this off as some sort of a ‘conspiracy theory’ but basic common-sense would suffice to understand the gravity of the situation.

I am sure we all have come to think that having enough money guarantees us a right to anything which that money can buy. For example, a really wealthy man would say he has every right to own three cars at a time for he can afford to buy and use them at his will. But it is this very implicit of assumptions which we will have to give up sooner than later. Because we are 6.5 billion here (excluding other species, they have always been dispensable for us!) and the resources, especially the very basic ones such as drinking water and inhale-able air, are very, very limited now. So even if one is earning a high income and can afford to buy up luxuries to satisfy his greed (yes, greed is what it is!), he is in the process depriving others of the basic resources as well as using up energy and polluting the environment to an extent this planet can’t take anymore, thus endangering the existence of not only himself, but all. That is the new reality we must wake up to now – money can’t be an absolute right to things anymore.

The sooner we realize how difficult we have made things for ourselves, the better off we are. There is no marks for guessing who are primarily responsible for this morass, they are the very same people who are most admired and celebrated today, who wield all the power globally and seems to be telling the have-nots, “Look, we have set the example. Open up, consume and get rich!” But fortunately or unfortunately, there isn’t even time for a blame game. The task is onerous; it includes persuading people who won’t admit to the reality due to their belief and confidence in their own ‘knowledge’ and for fear of losing a culture and lifestyle that has been tragically exclusive and an outright robbery. It also means we have to organize people on mass scale, spread awareness, take collective and inclusive actions and bring about changes which were never more urgent. Perhaps this crisis is also an opportunity – to assert the equality of all, to root out illegitimate authorities and corruption, to build an equitable and just society and to live in harmony with nature.

"The world has enough for everybody's need, but not enough for everybody's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

Once upon a time...

2009-03-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while. When i deleted my last blog, i told myself that i need a swing-change. The inspiration was of course Tiger Woods, who famously decided to change his swing sometime in 2005 when his game was still winning him title after title on the golf course. Of course, i was giving myself airs, because everybody knows what Tiger has achieved since. The break however was well-earned for i went at it so intensely, perhaps too much intensity for an activity like blogging that is supposed to help you unwind and slow down the motor of your mind. Along with it, i stopped every other kind of writing too. My association with our magazine had ended and my diary hasn't heard a confession from me for close to two years now.

I don't know if this is a permanent return, although the urge to write is slowly returning. Not only did i stop writing blog myself, i severed a lot of friendships i had earned and valued immensely by going away from this virtual world completely. That was and is my biggest loss. I hope all those wonderful people are doing well wherever they are. It was nice to meet minds akin to yours, share and empathize and learn extraordinary things from ordinary people living ordinary lives, just like me. Today, i find myself asking, “Where are they?” While i mourn the loss that is entirely mine, i am filled with a little hope as I write this.

There is very little inspiring hope outside in the real world, as of now. It might only get worse. Two more years of surviving this warming and disintegrating planet and our own marauding species leave me in such deep anguish and disappointment. Determined as i am to fight on, i must hope to meet and befriend some kindred souls – for my own sake only, for the redemption of my own faith in our shared values like love and tolerance.