I want to be a politician

My friend Jaiprakash Singh, runs the 'Sujata School' in Hyderabad and Moinabad. 

During my visit to the school he requested me to speak to and motivate the young students in class 10, who were shortly due to leave school for college. The easiest thing to do in the world is, to lecture others especially the young and dole out unsolicited advice. Rather than lecture I prefer to have a dialogue with the young, for they never fail to surprise me with amazing new perspectives and their boundless enthusiasm and energy.


We spoke about several things and then a quick poll of the students revealed a great surprise. Several boys and girls said their career choice was to become politicians.

Wow! I never saw that coming.
I later realised that, we often ask what, but rarely why?
I have no definitive answers but yes a theory. 

Most people dream of being powerful, rich or famous. In India all these three things are possible in one profession represented by the Indian politicians of today. Politicians are a force that is not dependent on any other group in society. They are just one step below God in social standing.
All they need is a fig leaf of concern and service. 

Politics is the only profession in which no pre-qualification, formal training, skill acquisition or training is mandated or required. Politics is open for admission to all, and it seems to require no study or hard work.

Traditional Indian society had four classes. 
1. The warrior class who held the muscle power. 
2. The priestly class who were custodians of society's knowledge and wisdom. 
3. The traders who had most of  the money and controlled commerce. 
4. The working class, who had the skills to provide products and services and also those who tilled the land, the farmers.  

This arrangement ensured that no one group controlled more than one lever of power. This provided balance in society because each group was interdependent on the others. The is why India was an economic success and social stability, and there was no social unrest or revolution for over 5000 years.

Now in post independent India there has been a convergence. The people with muscle power now also have financial and administrative power. They are the politicians. Sadly they have made irrelevant religion and education by subjugating and corrupting them.

Though there are exceptions, it is generally believed that politicians exist only to serve themselves. 

During their team as elected officials, they are magically transformed into business and property tycoons. Their wealth grows by leaps and bounds sometimes a thousand fold in 5 years.They usually live in palatial homes and estates, and are surrounded by incredible luxury.  If you smell an incredible amount of money, you can be pretty sure a politician is nearby. 


Politicians are extraconstitutional authorities. Yes I know about that humbug, that everyone is equal under the law and as per the constitution. Politicians are not under the law, they are above it. The entire government administrative machinery is at their disposal. Their power comes by controlling criminal elements, the law and order machinery, the keys to the vault etc. Politicians withhold funds from opponents and those who do not pay, while granting favours and projects usually to cronies, themselves, their kith and kin through front men or to others for a fee. They usually misdirect tax and regulatory authorities to harass and destroy any voice that speaks or even contemplates speaking against them. They are powerful and they have no qualms about demonstrating it, and flexing their muscles often.

Famous, they are. Other than film stars and cricketeers media reports primarily on politicians. They cover almost every action, and expression. They hang on to every word politicians utter, as if it were holy gospel. This encourages more useless and often harmful verbal diarrhea. The media uses this 'info-tainment' to often fake concern for the people and affairs of the nation to make money while irresponsibility abounds

Kids are impressionable and they learn quickly, particularly fast the things that are not good. Is it any any wonder that politics is the preferred profession for many youngsters?

Isn't it wonderful that India is the worlds's largest democracy?

A career in organised crime

Ineptocracy

Power hungry people always find a way to get to the top of the pyramid of power or die trying. They know how to use and discard people and manipulate levers of power effectively. Power is so intoxicating that people who acquire it become insatiable and typically want more and more until they themselves are consumed by power itself.

Democracy as it was born gave relief to the masses and a good shot at changing their means of survival and progress. It however requires that the people exercise wisdom in the choices they make. Democracy is unfortunately under siege. Instead of providing a better world and India, it has in fact mutated into something toxic called an 'ineptocracy'.

People are made to believe that democracy provides a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Nothing can be further from the truth. Leaving aside the rhetoric, the press briefings and speeches, it is now 'a government of the evil, by the cunning and power hungry for the benefit of a select few.'

History clearly shows that across the world across nearly all time that a group of people representing a marginal percentage of  the population are the 'haves' and the vast majority are the 'have nots'. The politician needs the money and resources of the haves and the voting numbers of the 'have nots', while promising to protect each group from the other.

Our current model of government evolved a long time ago and the result is INEPTOCRACY, which can be defined as; 

A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

When a state reaches a position where approximately 50% of it's citizens rely on the largess of the state for their continued sustenance, the form of government becomes one of ineptocracy.

The least capable to lead are not fools, they are extremely intelligent and cunning with questionable morals. They just know how to game the system and devote their whole lives in manipulating the system. The only consolation for Indians is that this disease is not restricted to our country but even to most of the developed countries.

People making choices on careers and electing their leaders should do a bit of homework and then make informed choices on how to proceed. I for one, am not going to vote for people that will push us further towards an ineptocracy. 

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What are the management lessons I can share with you?

An outcome of my many years of teaching and consulting with organisations and families, it is observed that there are 3 possible types of leaders, based on rewards and punishments. 

The first is the briber. This person is normally an incompetent person and has no other choice but to keep bribing the people to support him or her. This is not difficult to implement because one can always be gracious with someone else's money and resources. This is why the government of India under the UPA leadership has been compelled to spend Rs 11 trillion in past decade in programs of highly questionable value. The follower or employee gladly takes the bribes but often feels offended and alienated. When the sops dry up the followers leave and seek other alternatives.  A problem for bribers is that the followers or dependents become addicted to sops and soon grow dissatisfied and they need even larger doses of bribes. Such leaders are initially lauded but soon despised, and they are almost always never respected. 

The second type are the slave drivers or 'intimidators', the primary tool they use is fear. They so intimidate the followers that they do not dare disobey. They work towards crushing the individuality and collective identity of people. Once implemented this approach delivers very fast results and impact of change can be rapid. This is possibly what is happening in China. Unfortunately gains tend to reverse as soon as the fear factor diminishes. The performance of followers is also just above bare minimum so that they escape punishment. Many school teachers and administrations also use this approach. Such leaders are often hated. They demand respect but almost never get it. 

The third type are the true leaders, they use a blend of positive reinforcement while wielding a big stick.  They normally have a well thought out strategy which is communicated and excites their followers. The leader's dream becomes the dream and vision of the followers. This is based on educating, facilitating, supporting and encouraging followers. Performers are suitably rewarded after evaluation by a transparent system, and non performers are encouraged to perform better after due dialogue and analysis. The laggards are often cast aside and supported to survive but fall behind the main group.  This approach is the foundation and builds a meritocracy. Typically leaders adopting this style of leadership are hated and loved at the same time, but always command respect.

Still Looking For Freedom

It is the 15th of August and the anniversary of Indian independence.
There is great official pomp and ceremony across the land. Patriotic songs are heard everywhere, to imbibe a sense of patriotism in the people. Sadly most people do not bother and patriotism seems to be waning everywhere except in the field of cricket. But the youth they do listen, because they are trusting and eager to learn and they can be forced to listen in the educational institutions.

Independence means freedom, but from what and whom?  India won her independence not only from the British, but also the Portuguese and 562 monarchs with titles of Rajas, Maharahajas, Nawabs, Nizams, Khans and Baigs.  

The foreigners and the kings and their staff may have departed and replaced by a new breed of rulers. The country is now run by numerous criminal politician cum businessmen and an often corrupt and dysfunctional government administration.

Sadly we Indians have always been outsourcing our governance to foreigners for over a 1000 years. As long as that happens, India cannot be free. Foreigners need not only be people of foreign birth but also people who do not have their heart or their minds and commitment to the Indian people or nation whom they have sworn under oath to serve.

Every citizen wants, a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Forget about evil political leaders and useless governments for a while. Let us focus nearer to our own selves and our homes. 

Teachers at schools may teach various subjects but it is the parents in homes who instill values.

Every man is a king and every woman a queen of your own home, where you make and implement your won rules and policies. Your writ runs in your own home. 

Do you show integrity and responsibility in your own home? What example do you set for your family and your colleagues?

Voltaire the French Philosopher and writer said, "It is not only important to be free, but to also know what to do with one's freedom".

We are a young and fragile democracy. We must realise that with freedom comes not only rights but also responsibilities. Almost everyone demand their rights but apparently remain oblivious about their responsibilities. Such a society is like a one winged bird, may even look beautiful and chirp happily, but it cannot fly.

Freedom is not only about being physically free. An individual can never be free if he or she is shackled by an enslaved mind. And an enslaved mind is the product of a weak spirit.

Our children are our future, however they will become what we help mould them into.

This independence day let us vow afresh to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, instill the wisdom to make right choices and the courage to do the right thing. 

If each one of us does this, then we can hope to be truly free.

Dance Bars are back.

The Supreme court recently quashed the law passed by the state government of Maharashtra banning the operation of dance bars. Many hailed this verdict as a great economic boon as it will now bring in more than Rs 3000 Crores (US$ 550 Million) annual revenue to the state and provide jobs to 100,000 bar dancers, and another 90,000 allied jobs.

A question arises. Is this type of economic growth that is going to make us a better society? Would we like to see a daughter or sister in this profession?

Sure we want to reduce material poverty but does it have to be by impoverishing the character and spirit particularly of girls and young people? Bad things happen everywhere but civilized people and the government cannot be party to promoting such things.

True economic progress can only come from social progress, and true social progress can only come when women and families are treated with dignity. The building block of a society is the family. Wherever families are torn apart the fabric of society is greatly damaged and communities and even nations become dysfunctional.

Men may make houses, but women make homes. A house is just a cold lifeless structure and a home is a place filled with hope, joy, dignity and courage. The soul of our society is embedded in our womenfolk. 

Women should work and pursue careers only out of choice and not out of necessity. Necessity often leads to exploitation and misery of the weak.

What will be the fate of those children that come home to a no parent or single parent home? What sort of a mother or wife will a woman make who has been reduced to a thing and that too an undignified one?

It is said God has distributed his work to mothers. Generally wherever people have excelled there is inevitably the influence of a woman.
Traditional Indian teachings lay great emphasis on love and respect of women. It was taught that "The Gods dwell where the womenfolk are happy".


There is hope that wise and noble people in society will raise our consciousness and pave the way for justice for the weak and exploited  in our society as can be seen from the example of an Indonesian judge.


An Indonesian judge by the name of Marzuki was sitting in judgment of an old lady who pleaded guilty   of stealing some tapioca from a plantation. In her defense she admitted to the judge that she was indeed guilty of the crime because she was poor. and her son was sick while her grandchild was hungry.

The plantation manager insisted that she be punished as a deterrent to others.

The judge going through the facts and the documents then looked up and said to the old lady, "I'm sorry but I cannot make any exception to the law and you must be punished" The old lady was fined Rp 1 million (US$ 100) and was informed that if she could not pay the fine then she would be jailed for two and a half years as demanded by the law.

The old lady broke down and wept as she could not pay the fine.

The judge then took off his hat and put in Rp. 1 million and said "In the name of justice, I fine all who are present in this court Rp. 50,000 (US$ 5.50) each as dwellers of this city who have let a child starve until her grandmother has to steal to feed her grandchild. The registrar will now collect the fines from all present."

The court managed to collect Rp 3.5 million (US$ 350) including the fine collected from the plantation manager. After paying the fine  the balance money was handed over to the old lady.

What can you do with Rs100 ?

Across the globe people are deeply dissatisfied with their governments and leaders. No one buys their glib talk anymore. Here is an example why;

In the lower house of the Indian Parliament called the 'Lok Sabha', a government MP (Member of Parliament) narrated a story to glorify his leader .....

"There was a father who gave 100  Rupees each to his 3 children and asked them to buy things and completely fill up a room.

First son bought hay for 100  Rupees but couldn't fully fill the room.

Second son bought cotton worth 100  Rupees but unable to fill the room completely.

Third son bought a candle for One  Rupee and lit it up and the room was filled with light completely."

The MP added "Our Prime Minister is like the third son. From the day he has taken charge of his office, our country is filled with the bright light of prosperity"

A voice from the opposition asked "Where are the remaining 99 Rupees??

The angry elephant has now begun to run free

• Why do powerful elephants tethered by just a a slender chain remain calm, peaceful and productive?
• What allows a relatively puny man to control the giant? 
• Why does the elephant not break free which it can very easily do?

To domesticate and control the fiercest of animals, man breaks the spirit of the animal. The mahout ties the baby elephant up and no amount of resistance or opposition helps.

The calf is also beaten selectively and kept hungry for extended periods. 

At last the calf develops a fearful and submissive attitude towards its master. Any deemed act of opposition will be met with pain and torture. 

The small chain becomes a powerful psychological restraint.  The same technique used by despotic /exploitative rulers and corrupt administrators to break the spirit of the people that they rule or seek to control.

Emasculating the population, autocratic and thus arrogant rulers do pretty much what they want, even so under the guise of a democracy. Sadly this has been the case in India since past five decades.

The problem with corruption and exploitation is that it feeds on itself continuously and always spirals downward and things keep getting worse until something snaps.

Similarly when an elephant has been pushed too hard and is made to work perversely and harder just to enrich its master, its enormous patience gets exhausted. It then rebels against its  own mahout and attacks and kills him and also destroys all those structures and people directly associated with the mahout.

The noose of injustice, bad governance and exploitation by our own leaders and government has been tightening steadily but has now accelerated greatly in the recent past.  The liberalised Indian economy provides great opportunity for the development of our economy but also the perfect way for corrupt people to launder their money and bring it back into India through various front entities.

How else can one explain Mauritius with a current GDP of US$ 8 Billion investing US$ 205 Billion in a decade in India alone? So rampant and insatiable has been the greed of many of our officials and elected representative that it is open and shameless and even considered a badge of honour to be seen to be corrupt.

Like the elephant the people of India have broken their chains. They have rediscovered a true spirit thought to be long broken and dead.

On the proposed Lokpal bill, our cunning political leaders and the arrogant government still see Appu the tame elephant  which can be ignored and at worst be threatened into submission.  

The trumpeting is getting louder by the day as the elephant is walking free and unchallenged in the middle of the city, as yet unsure what to do.

The  Jan Lokpal bill need to be discussed and a broad consensus has to be evolved for an adequate and effective anti corruption solution but ignoring the writing on the wall and showing utter disdain and contempt for the people's popular expression is fraught with grave dangers.  What Anna Hazare has done is, reignited a spirit into the Indian people.  

The elephant has realised just  a bit of its immense power. It must be handled with fairness and respect that it  justifiably demands. The mahout which is the government must realise its folly and make amends and try to win back its elephant. In spite of all the provocation the elephant is merely running free and only showing its displeasure. If the politicians and the government do not respect the elephant and enrage it further, they are in real danger of getting grievously hurt if not mortally, much like the arrogant and foolish mahouts. 

The government has a few draconian laws and also enormous firepower in its police force and its para military. They believe they can bring down the angry elephant. With their finger on the trigger all they are looking is for an excuse to put down the elephant. It is not inconceivable for the politicians to engineer riots, but that may just enrage a giant herd of elephants.

History shows that evil and corrupt rulers look their strongest just before they collapse.

Burn Out

Photo by Sanjay Kothari.    www.sanjaykothari.com      

Burnout

Complaining has become a national pastime. Though pessimism makes people appear intelligent and concerned, no complainer ever solved any problem.

People foolishly think, that merely by wringing their hands and clicking on 'likes' on social media their problems will somehow magically get solved.

People who can do anything usually do something. It seems that those who cannot do anything, usually complain. Actually, most people can actually do something, rarely try,  because they suffer from something called 'Burnout'.

What is burnout?
First reported by researchers in 1974 to describe long term unresolvable stress. Simply put 'Burnout' is the feeling of helplessness and the realisation that it is futile to even try to effect any change. 

Though there are many reasons, modern social expectations and work pressure seems to be the main culprit for burnout. Burnout produces cynical, bad tempered people who suffer from physical and emotional exhaustion. Burnt-out individuals display 80% of the same symptoms as people suffering clinical depression.

Modernity has mostly produced a depersonalised humanity, a society of organisations, which are directly or indirectly connected to an obscenely gigantic government. 
No individual is free to say, do or pursue what he or she wants without being challenged or obstructed by some organisation, usually a government department or organisation. Most organisations being bureaucratic in nature, over time rot and become dysfunctional. Therefore they tend to be unresponsive and significantly detached from the needs of the people they employ or are paid to serve, they become obstructive.
  

Its important to remember that in any conflict between a good individual and a bad system, the bad system always wins. This is because the faceless organisation has the resources power and time to frustrate and exhaust the individual. 


A cruel but powerful illustration of burnout can be observed in an experiment carried out by scientists on rats in a laboratory. 

In this experiment rats were placed in two different cages. 
Both cages were wired so that disturbing electricity could flow through the floor of the cage. However in first cage there existed a red lever, which, when bumped against would cause the electrical current to cease flowing. In the second cage there were no options to stop the electrical current flow by the rats.

When activated the first group of mice very quickly learnt to stop the current by bumping against the lever. They neutralised the threat having learnt how to respond. 

In the second group the mice went into a frenzy whenever the current was passed and after some time they merely lay down to await their death..

Now the group of mice were interchanged between the cages. The same current was passed. The mice that learnt of the red lever kept on trying to find solutions. Eventually this group of mice tore open the bottom of the aluminium cage and chewed and short circuited the wires and shut off the flow of the deadly current. They had developed an attitude to find solutions and survive.


 The second group even though having an option to stop the current simply lay down and waited for death rather than looking for solutions. Solutions that were there glaringly right in front of them. They were experiencing burnout.



This is why a small chain can tether a large elephant , because as a calf the baby elephant is conditioned to believe that fighting the chain is useless and the creature should stay put when the chain is fastened around its foot. Its burnout in childhood.  


The human animal is not much different and this is why organised religions take so much interest in the education of the young. Mass education often burns out children before they can even flower.

Have you noticed that many organisations phase out people after a particular age in spite of them being knowledgeable and experienced. Why? Because the system has burnt them out.
They are unable to cope with change and adapt.


Burnout results in people being defeated by indifference, incompetence etc. This could help explain why citizens are unmoved by harmful things like pollution, crime, corruption, violence and unresponsive organisations and governments etc. Once burnt-out people get emasculated and become docile and passive. 

This is why revolutions and changes are almost always initiated by young people that have not yet burnt-out. They do not know what they cannot do, so they often do the seemingly impossible or inconceivable.


Even for the not so young, there is hope, for humans are very resilient. 'The Yellow Vest Protest' revolution currently consuming France shows that, given enough provocation, passion can often be reignited even in Burnt-Out people. 

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