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31.8.10
Autocratic democracies - II
Patriotism is antithetical to the idea of democracy for it does not allow exposure of the rot within. Double standards make it mandatory, however, for Indians to applaud Pakistanis who rip their own country apart; Pakistanis do the same for Indian media warriors. Societies whose USP is poverty and go to the West with a begging bowl get self-righteous if, along with some coins, the mastahs throw in a few homilies because we quake at the country's reputation being at stake. Nationalism becomes an obsessive compulsive disorder as we start on Operation Scrub-scrub from sanitised pedestals.
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5 comments:
Are those who fought in freedom struggle not patriots?? You are thru and thru India hating. When will you say anything positive about the country.
The website is also not putting up my comments
I am the positive thing about the country, so can't beat my own drum all the time.
Mstaab:
Hi Mark:
Along with everything else touched upon in our recent Salinger discussion, certainly the *timing* of publication is yet another tool media may employ to sort of manage the impact of an article (the difference between relevance versus irrelevance in certain instances; that aggressive words in other instances be countered with more passive[?])
To speak more generally, it is indeed a tool used for several reasons. My hands-on experience with such internet tools is limited, but there my theory about time zone difference does not hold true for I have seen other comments posted at unearthly hours. The ‘controversy’ element is left to feed off itself, therefore what is ‘in’ is given free rein. A comparison between the print and internet versions of newspapers will clearly point this out. There is also the factor of where you come from, literally and figuratively.
In the case of ‘going viral’, I don’t know. It is, of course, interesting, that the comments came in much later. Mine took some time, too.
As an aside, while I got complimentary remarks via email on my Arundhati piece, the comments section had negative comments and in fact personal attacks. Of course, I did not raise any objections, but had I moderated a newspaper site I would most certainly have not permitted one-liners that said nothing much.
My concern is an authentic version of what I write.
- - -
Re: "begging bowl". I've also seen it argued quite frequently on the part of certain interests in South Asia that, having thus "served" as the sharp end of the stick in the "War on Terror," Western largesse is only their due. Such an argument, I think, adds an interesting dimension to your treatment of "patriotism" -- to include, if only peripherally, the Boston Tea Party of U.S. history.
In the contemporary context, Western largesse while seeming to be seen as the ‘due’ makes people more open to intrusion. And the served are not dumping the tea, but inviting a storm in the tea cup, although the mental framework would be working along the lines you mention.
Mstaab:
Hi Mark,
Along with everything else touched upon in our recent Salinger discussion, certainly the *timing* of publication is yet another tool media may employ to sort of manage the impact of an article...
To speak more generally, it is indeed a tool used for several reasons. My hands-on experience with such internet tools is limited, but there my theory about time zone difference does not hold true for I have seen other comments posted at unearthly hours. The ‘controversy’ element is left to feed off itself, therefore what is ‘in’ is given free rein. A comparison between the print and internet versions of newspapers will clearly point this out. There is also the factor of where you come from, literally and figuratively.
In the case of ‘going viral’, I don’t know. It is, of course, interesting, that the comments came in much later. Mine took some time, too.
As an aside, while I got complimentary remarks via email on my Arundhati piece, the comments section had negative comments and in fact personal attacks. Of course, I did not raise any objections, but had I moderated a newspaper site I would most certainly have not permitted one-liners that said nothing much.
My concern is an authentic version of what I write.
- - -
Re: "begging bowl". I've also seen it argued quite frequently on the part of certain interests in South Asia that, having thus "served" as the sharp end of the stick in the "War on Terror," Western largesse is only their due. Such an argument, I think, adds an interesting dimension to your treatment of "patriotism" -- to include, if only peripherally, the Boston Tea Party of U.S. history.
In the contemporary context, Western largesse while seeming to be seen as the ‘due’ makes people more open to intrusion. And the served are not dumping the tea, but inviting a storm in the tea cup, although the mental framework would be working along the lines you mention.
Along with everything else touched upon in our recent Salinger discussion, certainly the *timing* of publication is yet another tool media may employ to sort of manage the impact of an article (the difference between relevance versus irrelevance in certain instances; that aggressive words in other instances be countered with more passive[?])
To speak more generally, it is indeed a tool used for several reasons. My hands-on experience with such internet tools is limited, but there my theory about time zone difference does not hold true for I have seen other comments posted at unearthly hours. The ‘controversy’ element is left to feed off itself, therefore what is ‘in’ is given free rein. A comparison between the print and internet versions of newspapers will clearly point this out. There is also the factor of where you come from, literally and figuratively.
In the case of ‘going viral’, I don’t know. It is, of course, interesting, that the comments came in much later. Mine took some time, too.
As an aside, while I got complimentary remarks via email on my Arundhati piece, the comments section had negative comments and in fact personal attacks. Of course, I did not raise any objections, but had I moderated a newspaper site I would most certainly have not permitted one-liners that said nothing much.
My concern is an authentic version of what I write.
- - -
Re: "begging bowl". I've also seen it argued quite frequently on the part of certain interests in South Asia that, having thus "served" as the sharp end of the stick in the "War on Terror," Western largesse is only their due. Such an argument, I think, adds an interesting dimension to your treatment of "patriotism" -- to include, if only peripherally, the Boston Tea Party of U.S. history.
In the contemporary context, Western largesse while seeming to be seen as the ‘due’ makes people more open to intrusion. And the served are not dumping the tea, but inviting a storm in the tea cup, although the mental framework would be working along the lines you mention.
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