The greatest evil that has been plaguing Indian society is corruption. Corruption is the main cause of the high poverty level in India and has been the cause of misery, despair and frustration of the common man. Corruption is prevalent almost everywhere and the root cause for this is the greedy politicians and public officials who want to make money through every possible resource available to them while they are in power.
The greatest extent of corruption will be seen the public sector or the government services. One has to keep paying more than the prescribed fees ( 2 to 3 times or more!) to get anything done. For example get a drivers license, permit for building, extension of current dwelling, getting a passport, a birth or death certificate, obtaining a clearance for manufacturing, getting a new power connection, getting a transcript / marks list from a public university, getting an income tax clearance, and the list is endless! The extra money collected is distributed from the big bosses to the clerk who collects the money. It extends to law enforcement where criminals can get away with anything (even terrorism) and to judiciary. I am not saying that 100% of the public officials and politicians are corrupt, but according to my experience it is a majority. I think the honest minority will be ridiculed everyday and their lives will be miserable. I pity them.
Corruption does not stop there. It shows its ugly face in the private businesses like real estate, health care, education and many other places like this. The reasons are high demand and low supply due to overpopulation or connection to government permits for building etc. What I have personally observed is that though lot of people do not like this practice (both taking bribes and giving), they are led helplessly into the system. If an individual tries to resist it, that person will be ruined economically, socially and mentally by hook or crook. The rule to survive is though you are honest, do not protest and play the game for your safety!
I have the fortune of speaking to my grandfather (who was a 28 year old young man in 1947 when India got independence) regarding his opinion about corruption in the early 1990s. His opinion was, though the British had an agenda of exploiting the vast natural resources of the country and using its strategic position in trade between Europe, Africa and East Asia, they did not let corruption to be seen in public services. They hired the best and honest among Indians, built good infrastructure in the big cities. Some people say that even today the big cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are running on the same sewage systems and public transportation systems that were built by the British for 1/4 th of their current populations! After independence the new found freedoms saw avenues for making easy money in public services. Also the quality of people who were recruited has degraded so much due to various reasons and corruption mushroomed. All the money earned by corruption is being stored in Swiss banks and some unofficial figures tell that Indians have the largest reserves in Swiss secret accounts. It is ridiculous for a country like India where almost 25% of the population is below poverty line to has such money hidden away.
The way this problem has been built up and penetrated every aspect of the society, it is hard to untangle it just by passing more laws (by the same politicians who indulge in corruption?) , agitation or protests by a few people. The solution for this problem lies in an increased level of moral values and discipline of the future generation. And this can be achieved either by believing in the wrath of a higher being like the monotheists do or by understanding the destructive power of bad karma. Ones accumulated karma can be a good friend or ones worst enemy. The Law or Dharma is neutral that does not show favoritism but one should realize that it is unforgiving when dealing with ugly karma. The individuals who indulge in such actions should realize how much physical, mental and emotional harm they are committing on others and to the sangha or society as a whole by indulging in corrupt practices.
Buddhism asks us to seek the sangha as a refuge. Corruption ends up making the sangha impure and one who corrupts cannot take refuge in the same sangha in times of need. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita about the demoniac nature as follows. "They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification."
My advice for people for now is try to avoid getting involved, but if you find yourself in a situation where you have to give a bribe to get things done, please play safe and play along. I strongly feel that the solution does not lie in protesting and getting into trouble but by correcting it in a long term fashion.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Great Indian Modern Ongoing Injustice
There have been many injustices done to individuals or to certain sections of society throughout history. I would like to talk about the "The Great Indian Modern Ongoing Injustice" which is ruining the Indian society by dividing and corrupting it and making things worse day by day for the past 62 years! Well you must have guessed by now what I am talking about. The Indian Reservation System or the Affirmative action system.
Here I list facts, ills and oddities of this system. I might add more points after reading a few times.
Please post your comments and thoughts.
1) It has been put in place to help certain sections of the society and was intended to be active only until 10 years after independence in 1947.
2) But politicians kept it alive till now and grew it from a small weed to a big monster (in terms of the extent of reservations). Now they want to keep adding different sections of the society for vote bank politics.
3) Instead of taking the venom out of the wealthy land lords who have oppressed the weaker sections of the society, the reservation system attacks the economically poor so called forward castes.
4) The system ensures entry into public as well as private educational institutions for certain individuals ahead of others who scored better in the entrance examinations.
5) It does not stop there, it ensures securing jobs in government and public sector organizations. Well it does not even stop there. It ensures them to get promoted ahead of others who perform better than them.
I think you can see why the public, municipal and government services and the public sector are pathetic and under performing.
6) I think though this system has been created with an intention of providing social justice to certain sections of the society, it is doing long term injustice to the Indian nation as a whole by promoting under performance, corruption and lower morality.
7) If the deserving people were given the right opportunities, they would have created better opportunities and lifestyle for the society as a whole.
8) The emergence of the private sector came as a boon for many deserving candidates. Private sector does not discriminate (as of now! But some politicians are trying to force this system into the private sector also after eying its successes.) and created many opportunities and avenues for exhibiting brilliance. Hiring a person with a science degree (B.Sc) who could not utilize reservation proved better for a private organization rather than hiring a person with a more sought out degree (B.Tech/B.E) who got entry through reservation.
9) The politicians should work on trying to provide a better and free public education system for all rather than putting this reservation system in place. There should be a time line to end this system forever.
9b) Even if it is not ended completely at least there should be a rule making sure that if a person has already taken advantage of this unfair reservation system, his or her children and grand children will not be eligible for reservations. The person who has taken advantage of this system should have made provisions for his children to get a good education and compete in the "open market".
10) People talk about injustices done long time back and try to justify this system. Injustices were also done by invading armies from the middle east as well as by occupying imperial forces. Can we ask them compensation now?
11) The real injustice was done by the land lords and even now they cannot be touched! because they are the dominant castes in politics. Only the poor forward castes are targeted.
12) One great thing is the politicians did not want the armed forces (army, navy and air force) to have reservations! May be they were fearing disloyal officers who can indulge in coups and take over the so called democratic government that they run. They want honest and moral people there! and fortunately it has been that way in India.
13)To end this with a comedic note, I think politicians should force reservation system into the music and entertainment industries of bollywood, kollywood, tollywood, punjabiwood, bengaliwood etc also. The high caste Kapoors, Khans, Bachchans, Mangeshkars, Mukherjees of Bollywood and Kammas from Tollywood are making too much money ;-)
Here I list facts, ills and oddities of this system. I might add more points after reading a few times.
Please post your comments and thoughts.
1) It has been put in place to help certain sections of the society and was intended to be active only until 10 years after independence in 1947.
2) But politicians kept it alive till now and grew it from a small weed to a big monster (in terms of the extent of reservations). Now they want to keep adding different sections of the society for vote bank politics.
3) Instead of taking the venom out of the wealthy land lords who have oppressed the weaker sections of the society, the reservation system attacks the economically poor so called forward castes.
4) The system ensures entry into public as well as private educational institutions for certain individuals ahead of others who scored better in the entrance examinations.
5) It does not stop there, it ensures securing jobs in government and public sector organizations. Well it does not even stop there. It ensures them to get promoted ahead of others who perform better than them.
I think you can see why the public, municipal and government services and the public sector are pathetic and under performing.
6) I think though this system has been created with an intention of providing social justice to certain sections of the society, it is doing long term injustice to the Indian nation as a whole by promoting under performance, corruption and lower morality.
7) If the deserving people were given the right opportunities, they would have created better opportunities and lifestyle for the society as a whole.
8) The emergence of the private sector came as a boon for many deserving candidates. Private sector does not discriminate (as of now! But some politicians are trying to force this system into the private sector also after eying its successes.) and created many opportunities and avenues for exhibiting brilliance. Hiring a person with a science degree (B.Sc) who could not utilize reservation proved better for a private organization rather than hiring a person with a more sought out degree (B.Tech/B.E) who got entry through reservation.
9) The politicians should work on trying to provide a better and free public education system for all rather than putting this reservation system in place. There should be a time line to end this system forever.
9b) Even if it is not ended completely at least there should be a rule making sure that if a person has already taken advantage of this unfair reservation system, his or her children and grand children will not be eligible for reservations. The person who has taken advantage of this system should have made provisions for his children to get a good education and compete in the "open market".
10) People talk about injustices done long time back and try to justify this system. Injustices were also done by invading armies from the middle east as well as by occupying imperial forces. Can we ask them compensation now?
11) The real injustice was done by the land lords and even now they cannot be touched! because they are the dominant castes in politics. Only the poor forward castes are targeted.
12) One great thing is the politicians did not want the armed forces (army, navy and air force) to have reservations! May be they were fearing disloyal officers who can indulge in coups and take over the so called democratic government that they run. They want honest and moral people there! and fortunately it has been that way in India.
13)To end this with a comedic note, I think politicians should force reservation system into the music and entertainment industries of bollywood, kollywood, tollywood, punjabiwood, bengaliwood etc also. The high caste Kapoors, Khans, Bachchans, Mangeshkars, Mukherjees of Bollywood and Kammas from Tollywood are making too much money ;-)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Dharmic Vs Monotheistic religion : A logical comparison # 11
Dharmic Vs Monotheistic religion : A logical comparison # 11
11) Reaching the unwilling Vs Un-conditioning the willing
Mono-theistic religions try to "reach the unreached" without considering if one is willing or unwilling. It used to be done forcibly before and now it is done by offending and associating other beliefs and practices with evil.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not try to reach unwilling people. They try to un-condition the conditioned minds of willing individuals to see the reality. Buddhism can do a great job at this because it states the problem statement first, works towards eliminating the problem and can be practiced with least amount of paraphernalia.
11) Reaching the unwilling Vs Un-conditioning the willing
Mono-theistic religions try to "reach the unreached" without considering if one is willing or unwilling. It used to be done forcibly before and now it is done by offending and associating other beliefs and practices with evil.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not try to reach unwilling people. They try to un-condition the conditioned minds of willing individuals to see the reality. Buddhism can do a great job at this because it states the problem statement first, works towards eliminating the problem and can be practiced with least amount of paraphernalia.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Dharmic Vs Monotheistic religion : A logical comparison # 10
Dharmic Vs Mono-theistic religion : A logical comparison # 10
10) Religious Conversion
Mono-theistic religions try to convert others into their religion. This stems from the built in intolerance of any other views that oppose theirs. In the medieval period wars were waged and people were converted by force. In the modern world religious groups try to convert the most vulnerable from any society by promising them better future/social status and by demonizing and ridiculing the native belief and practices. But they seem to forget the atrocities committed by their own like waging wars, keeping slaves and eliminating native populations in conquered lands. They also offer a helping hand during calamities in the pretext of gaining more followers.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not make efforts to convert people into their religions. This is because of the idea of reincarnation or rebirth. The individual soul or consciousness chooses a particular birth according to its free will that is allowed by its past karma baggage. But the belief is no birth (into whatever religion) is useless. Every birth leads that soul or consciousness towards the goal of nirvana or moksha.
10) Religious Conversion
Mono-theistic religions try to convert others into their religion. This stems from the built in intolerance of any other views that oppose theirs. In the medieval period wars were waged and people were converted by force. In the modern world religious groups try to convert the most vulnerable from any society by promising them better future/social status and by demonizing and ridiculing the native belief and practices. But they seem to forget the atrocities committed by their own like waging wars, keeping slaves and eliminating native populations in conquered lands. They also offer a helping hand during calamities in the pretext of gaining more followers.
Dharmic religions on the other hand do not make efforts to convert people into their religions. This is because of the idea of reincarnation or rebirth. The individual soul or consciousness chooses a particular birth according to its free will that is allowed by its past karma baggage. But the belief is no birth (into whatever religion) is useless. Every birth leads that soul or consciousness towards the goal of nirvana or moksha.
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