Other People’s Views

I have been talking a lot of people about the recent terror attacks. Posting some of their other views

Aaradhana : ” if they dont stop this back and forth between people who have no knowledge or expertise to comment then no concrete dialog will start and eventually the shrill rhetoric will die and so will the new sense of wanting to act
what is also frustrating is that the media (except maybe the biz channels) is still being so emotional about the incident and its aftermath that its not helping create a sense of unity and calming nerves so people think rationally”

Raoul: “In terms of not paying taxes, it seems like we are punishing the wrong people. Who benefits from progressive taxation” -the poor. If you decide not to pay taxes a lot of welfare programs would have to be abandoned. Why punish the poor? If people really want to make a difference, they should start a grassroot level campaign and stand for elections – take accountability. Make sure you provide a viable alternative for the leaders we are slating. That is not solved by not paying taxes or not voting.. pay more taxes but take accountability and make sure it goes to the right areas. Vote and make sure that the candidate is worthy of those votes. Thats how you solve systemic problems”

Irresponsible, callous and stupid

The aftermath of the Bombay massacre has been both – encouraging and discouraging. A lot of very prominent Mumbaikars (read Simi Garewal Abu Azmi) etc insist that the way forward is by not voting and by not paying taxes. These assertions are irresonsible, callous and to be very honest incredibly stupid.

On the one hand, everyone complains of not having better leaders and on the other they insist that we get rid of the very system – if given  chance – that will produce leaders amongst us. Can they please explain why they feel that not voting is going to help?

Another popular idea doing the rounds is dont pay taxes. Simi Garewal defended this on television by saying if 10 people do not pay taxes – they will get caught, but if everyone does not – what can the authorities do? Once again, how is that going to solve the problem?? People complain that the policemen and other forces tasked with maintaning law and order in the country are understaffed, have shoddy World War II equipment and harp on the fact that we need to better equipped police personnel. How in Gods name are they going to be able to achieve all of these things if we suddenly decide that we dont want to pay taxes.

Public personalities, due to the amount of airtime they get, have to realize that they have a large role to play in shaping public opinion. They have a resposibility towards society that they must fulfill . Making statements,such as those discussed above, in anger and frustration not only serves to distract people from what really needs to be done, but also irrepairibly harms the polictical system which is already in shambles. Strengthening our institutions is the way forward and for this we need change.

This is what The Movement is.

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