Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is fascist

[Guest guest]

Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is Fascist

 

 

I still remember those days in my early twenties when I got

to read the novel `Atlas Shrugged' by

`Ayn Rand' loaned to me by my cousin

sister. Ayn Rand was a born rebel who had her own vision of a society based on

an idealistic objectivism.

 

If someone mentions `capitalism' to me ,then Jefferson, Washington and Ayn Rand

only come to my imagination. Such has been her influence on

American society.

 

Ayn Rand and democracy:

 

She will tell in one of her works- " Whenever you hear words

such as `unanimity, consensus, etc, immediately know that the organization is

fascist. Democracy has dissent built into it. No two men think alike and act

alike.

 

So , in a large organization like a business corporation or

a political party, if there is such a thing as consensus, it simply means that

views of one man or a few are pushed down the throats of those down the

hierarchy. The result ? Oppression , obviously.

 

Think of an organization or society where plurality of

opinion is accepted rather than tolerated and even welcomed. There, my friend ,

democracy blooms. Where the freedom to think, speak and act is inherent in the

society, democracy shows its fragrance.

 

Suppression is fascism. Liberation is Democracy.

 

The ideal society

 

Rabindranath Tagore, in his Gitanjali writes

 

Where the mind is without fear and the held is high

Where knowledge is free

Where words come out from the depth of truth

……………………

 

Have you ever heard of a land where these values were

actually practiced ? Well, it was the wonderland called Bharat. The sons of

Bharat , a fearless intellectual group, dared to differ from the mundane and

visualized a society based on free enquiry. We see much of it even now in India

though

the society lost many of its golden standards.

 

The village level self management, freedom for self enquiry

and self realization ( as later summarized in the Gita) speak volumes of the

society. It was in Bharat that is India that the 'free education for

all ' policy was proclaimed and practiced till 1850 when the indigenous Gurukuls

were destroyed.

 

An example of a Democratic village:

 

A small village in the erstwhile Chola Kingdom,

Uttiramerur, Tamilnadu, (which is a temple village), has a written constitution

in the

temple complex devoted to Lord Shiva. This temple is typical of Chola Grandeur

in stone. There , in a mantap, the gram Sabha met and elected its chief. The

tenure was fixed and the election process was by dropping the choice written on

a palmyrah leaf into a pot. The votes were counted and the winner declared by

the village nobles.

 

The norms were also stringent. The contestant must not have

married more than once, not have had illicit relationship, who has not usurped

public property and so on. This happened thousand years ago under Rajaraja I.

 

The Present India

 

The India of present is a mix of honest, pious, religious and law abiding

citizens headed

by a few dishonest, deceitful, bigoted , nepotist and corrupt leaders. They

have perfected the art of dividing the population on the basis of religion,

caste and language in order to keep the throne for perpetuity.

 

Democracy was made into a laughing stock when a single

family of Father, Daughter, Grandson, and his wife were all raised to the

throne in almost regular succession. The family employed all the untruthful

means to remain in power thus ridiculing the price of the blood of freedome

fighters.

 

Undoing of Indians in Democracy

 

They realized that the only true bond of all Indians is

their religion. So, they employed all means to keep the Indians disconnected

from their umbilicus. To this end, they invented a novel formula of secularism

which meant several things to several people.

 

The Hindu was taught that secularism meant sacrificing his rights of his

religion over

his motherland. It also meant forgiving of all oppressions of the past by other

religions. It also said that tolerance even in the face of grim oppression was

secularism.

 

The Muslims and Christian were free from such indoctrinations.

For them secularism meant they were free to practice their religions and

convert anyone to their religion by whatever means. They could even use force

on Hindus who had to be complacent as a rule.

 

The Hindu, by such vicious inculcation of untruths, became

indifferent to his society. His temples were nationalized and their lands and

properties were stolen by the government. He dare not show off his religious

affliction as it is a sign of aggression. If he formed a party, he was termed

as communal. But the other religions were free from such injunctions and they

were as secular as ever.

 

The average Hindu is longing for real democracy. His plight

is his own making. He simply has to look back in time and realize what a

tradition he belongs to. His tears will vanish and so will the suppressive ,

fascist , secularistic bondage.

J Venkatasubramanian

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hari Om!

 

I am moved by this passionate post from Venkatji.

 

Those of us who are familiar with the free flow of discussion in this forum and

in other forums dedicated to spiritual matters, would know well how the Indians

have the passion for truth. We are an intellectual society. Ours is not a banana

religion or a banana democracy. The bane of the present Indian society is its

polity. Our people grow and progress despite the retarding influence of the

politics. Thugs have captured the political institutions. We need really a kind

of revolution to clean the Aegean's stable. That revolution could be triggered

by a movement wherein all the members of Sanathana Dharma practise their

religion very seriously without any discrimiantion amongst themselves. The

internal social discrimination should go at any cost and all sections of the

society must feel at home being in the religion. The downtrodden in the society

will be led by the example shown by the previleged who are looked upon not for

their social status but for

their spiritual attainment. Being steeped in your sadhana is the effective tool

against the onslaught of other religions. All those who had been herded away

from the Sanadhana Dharma will turn back to their home, once they find the

difference between the conditions prevailaing in their new situation and that of

the original faith. We need to make our faith more soothing and comfortable. As

Venkatji rightly said due to ignorance of our glorious tradition, much of the

people have no will to fight to defend our faith. Hence, the emphasis should be

on our spiritual tradition.

 

It is not the first time that Hindu religion was subjected to dangers of

conversion etc. Our Bhakti movement won back our place of pre-eminence from such

non-Vedic religions like Jainism and Bhuddhism. That Hinduism absorbed much of

the teaching of these two religions speaks volumes about its vibrant dynamism.

The moving hymns of Devaram and Thiruvasagam and those of Nalaayira Dhivya

Prabhandams in Tamil bear witness to the role played by Bhakti movement in

vanquishing the evil that fell on this religion. Saint Thirunavukkarasar's

valiant struggle against the oppression of the royalty, after his re-conversion

to Saivism and the fact that he emerged alive after all the attempts to kill

him had failed with the grace of Lord Siva and that of the Saint

Thirugnanasambandar winning over the Pankya King back to Saivism, defeating

the Jains and the Buddhists in 'Anal vadam' (Test of Fire) and 'Punal Vadam'

(Test of Water) are there for all of us to follow

as an example to withstand the newer threats to our faith.

 

One may wonder what is wrong if this religion is allowed to die and some other

religion comes to engage the people. I am afraid this argument stems from a

basic misconception about the greatness of our faith. Many seek to convert as a

mark of protest. Even if there is some personal justification for leaving this

religion, they cannot negate the ultimate truth contained in this theology. Even

the Jainism and Buddhism still retained certain fundamental truths of the

Sanathana Dharma. But, the neo-Christians, especially the recent converts try to

repudiate every thing about this religion. They seek to throw the baby with the

tub-water. As a member of the Hindu Society, I acknowledge that my society

requires reformation at the social level. But, I am deeply entrenched in its

theology. I firmly believe that my sadhana will elevate me and help me in my

journey towards Self-Realisation and that will serve as an impetus for others

to follow my faith.

 

ulaganathan p

 

 

 

 

Venkat <apexpreci2000

 

Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is Fascist

 

I still remember those days in my early twenties when I got

to read the novel `Atlas Shrugged' by

`

[Guest guest]

Dear Venkatji,

 

It is excellent, Venkatji, excellent. I couldn't agree with you more.

You have summed up well what majority right minded and hearted people

think! Congratulations!

 

 

 

, Venkat <apexpreci2000 wrote:

>

> Dissent is Democratic, Consensus is Fascist

[Guest guest]

Dear Ulaganathanji,

 

Yes, indeed, I fully agree with you and appreciate you elaboration on

Venkatji's submission. We all should move towards that. Vedas (

Original ! ) are the ultimate in human enrichment, humanity as a

whole, and also to reach the pinnacle of human existence.

 

Regards,

 

M.S.Thimmappa.

 

 

 

, ulaganathan p <apunathan wrote:

>

> Hari Om!

>

> I am moved by this passionate post from Venkatji.

>

[Guest guest]

The writings of AYN RAND has beautiful flares of " Karma Yoga " ....especially in

THE FOUNTAINHEAD.......ATLAS SHRUGGED too one of her Classics. Karma, Gyana and

faint glimpses of Bhakti is what I perceive from the works of AYN RAND. Her

writings are Simply Superb !!! She is among the rare people who could weave into

words the innate craving within every Human being for - " Poornata " ...and also

present in a commerically acceptable platter.

 

Regards,

Anupam

 

--- On Thu, 9/11/08, ulaganathan p <apunathan wrote:

ulaganathan p <apunathan

 

Hari Om!

I am moved by this passionate post from Venkatji.