Desicritics Comments on Paradigms of Power

Comment by Eieucii

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:44:36 EDT

Hi this is a very informative site!

Comment by K. M.

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 14:02:58 EDT

If you are wondering why it is that those practising moral ideals are powerless and those flouting them rise to power, all you have to do is question the nature of moral ideals. The unquestioned moral ideal today is altruism. It is the idea that the good is sacrificing for others. It is obvious that when someone is making sacrifices, someone must be collecting them. If a person who makes sacrifices is good, what is the nature of a person who collects sacrifices? Why is it good to serve evil? What results do you expect from a moral system that requires the good to serve evil? K. M.

Comment by kerty

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 07:59:28 EDT

Author starts off good by highlighting the culture of crimes but then he leap frogs all over places to make unsubstantiated claims and wild linkages and predictably ends up looking for Gandhi and alike. Culture of crime is a product of break down in social norms and values, of dis-empowerment of forces of good, of empowerment of ideas that are corruptive and destructive. When social and cultural infra-structure is erased, no social or moral development can ever take place in a society and no amount of laws and police can control billion strong mob out to trample on each other. We blame our politicians for the sorry mess, but they are held accountable thru elections. If they are such jack ass, they can be kicked out. They keep getting elected, and so obviously people are happy with them. What plagues India is not politicians who can be held accountable - it is people who hold soft power thru their ideas but refuse to be held accountable for their ideas. They mostly fall in media, bolywood, NGOs, activists. Gandhi is a prime example - his ideas enjoy power, but consequences of those ideas rarely get accounted for. If Gandhi ran for office, his ideas would be dissected by opponents and we would have honest accountability of ideas. But because he shunned political offices, his ideas have enjoyed political power without having to submit to political process or accountability that goes with political offices. Power without accountability is a mother of corruption - and that is what Gandhism has become - a refuge of scoundrels who get instant face lift by dipping in few Gandhian slogans. Even terrorists like Munnabhai look adorable when they wrap themselves in superficial Gandhigiri. As long as people keep blindly worshiping Gandhis and Terresas, crimes and corruption can only prosper in all walks of life.

Comment by Ayan Roy

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 04:22:22 EDT

The quote "With great power comes great responsibility" rings true here. POWER + EGO + GREED = "I am the greatest!! I can do anything! Nobody can touch me! I can crush you like a fly! Mwuhuhuahahahahaaaa !" People like Gandhi, Teresa, Baba Amte had the qualities of SELFLESSNESS, HUMILITY, CHARACHTER and RESPONSIBILITTY imbibed in them from a very young are. Unfortunately today, the wrong people are coming to the high posts of power. Is it a symptom of the society in general? Or is it true that power can corrupt an angel too? Why does the system weed out the good and select the bad? I too am thinking of answers to this question..

Comment by K. M.

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 03:01:36 EDT

You should ask what gives these men their power (or their position). After all these men speak of the same ideals that Gandhi, Baba Amte and Mother Teresa stand for. Why is it that those who practise these ideals are powerless and those who flout them become powerful? Is it because it is in the nature of evil to succeed? No matter whether you answer that question in the positive or in the negative, you will be left with the answer that there is something profoundly wrong with conventional morality. Either way it proves that conventional moral ideals contradict reality to such a degree, that they cannot be successfully implemented. K. M.

Comment by IdeaSmith

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 01:21:29 EDT

This is disturbing and true. The people we appoint as our leaders, our idols, our symbols of respect have turned into barking goons at best and lowlife scum at worst.