Ever wonder why the common man or the much flouted aam
aadmi suddenly becomes the talk of the grand political hob nobbers at every
election and then forgotten? Why the plague of this strange class of voters are
never really met? Is it because they are always complaining (I know we Indians
can be a complaining bunch!) or is it for another reason?
A reason that is so
dripping of selfish commercial and economic gain of the fat tip of the iceberg,
that it makes a lot more sense to let the aam aadmi remain there
complaining, crying and being traded for their emotional reaction to the
practical problems. Are electricity, roads and water the root of all problems
plaguing this vote bank or is it just the superficial countenance of a deeper
problem. If electricity, road and water were the only problems, the somewhat
khaas aadmi would also be bitching. And maybe they are but no one is
listening since the weight of the democracy is with the aam aadmi with
their commonplace superficial needs.
Have any of us ever wondered why the aam aadmi remains
aam over the years and years of trying to improve their condition? I
have a theory or two like I always tend to but what strikes me as odd is that
the aam aadmi never seems to complain about living and dying aam
forever. Well it is the most visible conspiracy ever! Because they rant and
cry, and swing election from one political party to another and with all of the
nuisance that they can be, they are the largest generators of money for the very
few from whom all of them buy. Yes, that’s right! It is the huge population that
is buying the bulk of what is generating the money for the khaas aadmi
to get more khaas every day in their swanky urban residences and BMWs,
fancy clothes from blindingly lit up malls and all the hype and hoopla.
If only every one of those poor aam aadmi guys could
get a world class education and aspire entrepreneurially or get a polished
service sector job, who would be sweating to harvest the crop, clean the houses
and stand guard while the narrow rich throw around their spoils? And who would
by the high volume fast moving products and services that make up the source of
these spoils? The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid has many sides and
welcome to the dark side.
There is profit to be made by letting the laborer toil and the
sweeper sweep without developing aspirations. And all it takes is very meagerly
financed (given the stretch of the bigger picture) but well thought out
propaganda based on picking on memories, triggering emotional reactions to
common problems and yes, remind them of their religious and caste based
affinities to ensure that they can be divided and ruled – confined to serving,
all the while being micro machines for the incredibly large profit
generators.
And it is the same the world over – except probably in Marx’s
dreams. Once the votes are counted and the voting machines put away for the next
4 - 5 years, the common man is better-off at the bottom of the pyramid because
if they aspire and rise and claim their share of the potential pie, there would
be, well, much less pie to go around because the pie would get smaller and the
mouths to feed would grow. So whether they are the leaders of the extreme and
conservative right or the super liberal fringes of the left, the hard core
capitalist selling the Gujarat story or the communist fascist selling whatever
it is that they continue to sell, or for that matter the Aam Aadmi Party – the
aim is the same in the end. Make sure that the carrot keeps dangling just out of
the reach of the aam aadmi and make sure it stays fresh, colorful and
attractive at all times and never really let them have it.
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