Tuesday, September 04, 2018

Election Season in a Dangerous Democracy

In between everything else, I tweeted out a reply to one of the leading historians in India:
The parallels between the adopted and the old countries, with the venomous anti-others politics that has become mainstreamed, is absolutely disheartening. 

Anybody can contest elections in a democracy.  Even I can.  I don't because I know well that I can't even count on my own vote!  Which is why the shocking aspect when it comes to trump and modi is not what they are doing after having won, but that there are people who actively voted for these fascists.

India is as close to an emergency situation as it can get.  The tragic irony is that the story of Vajpayee and modi began essentially as a response to the emergency that Indira Gandhi imposed, for which she later paid a heavy price.

India's trump is gearing up for elections, and America's modi has his midterm exams in two months.  In a brutal essay that lists some of the biggest issues with modi and his toadies, Arundhati Roy concludes:
The vulnerable are being cordoned off and silenced. The vociferous are being incarcerated. God help us to get our country back.
Here, the vociferous are not being incarcerated, yet.  The media at trump rallies is literally cordoned off.  Voices that are critical are shouted down and silenced.

A reminder that trump and modi were elected to their offices by people who fully knew these candidates and their politics.  The blame lies on the voters, which includes your friends and family, and neighbors, too!  There's no such thing as a good trump or modi voter!

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