The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it’s right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try to understand each other’s point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross is a clue.
– BONO, lead singer of U2.
– BONO, lead singer of U2.
Religion in America, takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions…I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion – for who can search the human heart? – but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.
– Alexis de Tocqueville on the role of religion in America
– Alexis de Tocqueville on the role of religion in America
Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?
– Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
– Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
MIDDLE EAST, November 8, 2011 – Watching Thomas Friedman’s interview on New Delhi Television recently got me thinking.
Friedman suggested that the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S has not been as successful as India’s Jan Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill agitation, because while activists led by Anna Hazare succeeded in arm-twisting the Indian government, in America the protests have not yet fully mobilized the country or received serious government attention.
That may be true, but Friedman who says the "flat" in his book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded,” is his, “shorthand for the rise of middle classes all over the world,” may have overlooked the fact that middle class profiles and values are vastly different in some countries.
Transparency International awards Indians the dubious distinction of being among the most corrupt, with India at 87th in world rankings.
According to Asian Development Bank (ADB), India has approximately 26 million affluent people – those who can spend more than $20 a day. ADB notes that India’s middle class – those who can spend between $2 and $13 a day – is made of approximately 264 million people.
Compared to China, India has more of its middle class precariously perched just above the poor, a spot from where it is very easy to tumble back into poverty. Economist Nancy Birdsall suggests India would have no middle class at all if you restrict the definition of middle class to the number of people who can spend $10 a day and yet are not in the top 5% of the population by income distribution.
Not surprisingly, India’s dog-eat-dog society is in a non-stop rat race to survive. When it comes to politics, it a routine practice to fake popular support and “rent a crowd.” If the rumors are to be believed, Anna Hazare is either a naive old man being used by his power hungry colleagues, or a puppet on a string for sinister political forces that have backed a movement that may work to their advantage in the days ahead if they can keep the pot boiling.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has reached India now with activists including Gandhi’s grandson Tushar Gandhi protesting on Dalal Street near the Bombay Stock Exchange. India has become the 83rd country and Mumbai the 1,501st city to stage the protests, which started in New York against greedy capitalism and corporate self indulgence, according to news reports.
The point I’m making is that Occupy Wall Street is more likely a genuine people’s movement than Hazare’s, and if it gathers momentum like it steadily seems to be doing, perhaps it will lead to real change in America. It’s unlikely much will happen in the subcontinent as long its people remain spiritually bankrupt – our crooked politicians are only a symptom of a far deeper malaise that grips the country.
The real issue remains invisible in India’s national dialogue, because every religion in our country is corrupt.
It’s not the same in America, where political candidates are routinely dumped for being adulterous or crooked, unlike dishonest Indian politicians who just hang on to their positions.
India’s middle class and political morality is like its official soft porn policy for Bollywood which can basically be stated as: “Show them everything without showing them anything.”
Unquenched thirst keeps people lusting for more but they end up with nothing.
Bollywood’s growing clout worldwide may indicate that it's a smarter strategy than Hollywood’s “bare it all” policy.
If the Jan Lokpal Bill movement is being manipulated from behind the scenes, as it probably is, the Indian people won’t get much out of it. The fact is the average lower or upper middle class Indian simply does not think through issues like the average middle class American.
My American son-in-law Erik Hadden offers an interesting example of thinking through issues in his Facebook post, “Why a Pro-Life Christian Voted for Obama.”
He admits: “I voted Republican in 1992, 1996 and 2000 (yikes!) mainly because of the abortion issue. Partly, also, because I disagree with the over-arching ethos that says that any movement away from 'traditional' values is 'progress' or movement 'forward.' But, if I am honest, I could not bring myself to vote for someone who is okay with what I believe is no less than murder. Further, I began to believe that the Iraq war was unnecessary. And that starting an unnecessary war is equivalent to murder, no better or worse than abortion for convenience.
“I began to believe that the Republican party waves the 'pro-life' flag just to garnish votes. They preach that the government should be pro-life but that it also should do very little to help the poor and single mothers who often consider abortion as their only real solution. I began to believe that 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' are terms that create a false dichotomy that keep Americans opposed to each other, instead of working together to lower the number of abortions for convenience (which most people no matter their political party, I think, would agree is a good thing).
“I began to believe that foreign policy, the budget, the economy, education and abortion are ALL moral issues. I began to believe that all these issues are interconnected in such a way that you cannot look at them independently.
“Also, I am not afraid of the word "socialism" and I haven't had anyone explain to me why a socialist democracy would be so bad.”
America has a huge problem according to Friedman who has just co-authored another book with Michael Mandelbaum, titled, “That Used To Be Us.” They analyze how America fell behind in the world it invented, and how it can come back. Identifying four major challenges—globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption—they spell out what Americans need to do now to rediscover America.
“We need to study harder, save more, spend less, invest wisely, and get back to the formula that made us successful as a country in every previous historical turn. What we need is not novel or foreign, but values, priorities, and practices embedded in our history and culture, applied time and again to propel us forward as a country. That is all part of our past. That used to be us and can be again—if we will it.”
“I began to believe that the Republican party waves the 'pro-life' flag just to garnish votes. They preach that the government should be pro-life but that it also should do very little to help the poor and single mothers who often consider abortion as their only real solution. I began to believe that 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' are terms that create a false dichotomy that keep Americans opposed to each other, instead of working together to lower the number of abortions for convenience (which most people no matter their political party, I think, would agree is a good thing).
“I began to believe that foreign policy, the budget, the economy, education and abortion are ALL moral issues. I began to believe that all these issues are interconnected in such a way that you cannot look at them independently.
“Also, I am not afraid of the word "socialism" and I haven't had anyone explain to me why a socialist democracy would be so bad.”
America has a huge problem according to Friedman who has just co-authored another book with Michael Mandelbaum, titled, “That Used To Be Us.” They analyze how America fell behind in the world it invented, and how it can come back. Identifying four major challenges—globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption—they spell out what Americans need to do now to rediscover America.
“We need to study harder, save more, spend less, invest wisely, and get back to the formula that made us successful as a country in every previous historical turn. What we need is not novel or foreign, but values, priorities, and practices embedded in our history and culture, applied time and again to propel us forward as a country. That is all part of our past. That used to be us and can be again—if we will it.”
I can’t help but speculate whether the book’s title “That Used To Be Us” can convey another meaning in the case of India.
America is looking back at its history wistfully about the way things used to be.
Can India too look back one day and say “we were once corrupt, rapacious and politically cynical, but now we are not?”
America has separated church and state better than most countries. Its spiritual heritage is such it could possibly help turn the country around.
Indians may have separated temple, mosque, church and state, but not the volatile mix of corrupt religion and politics.
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