Insightful newsletter of Drishtikone: Issue #295 - Burden of Manufactured Greatness
Greatness is a burden. Morality a crippling handicap. Geopolitics is played in the margins. Those who understand that can do something useful for the masses. Others run the society into the ground.
Image by Randy Rodriguez from Pixabay
“Mientras mas honda la herida, Es mi canto mas hermoso.
While more deeper is the wound, The more beautiful the art.” ― José Martí, Versos Sencillos: Simple Verses
When you deify someone and burden him with the “greatness” that he has to live up to to justify his pedestal, then it is easy to make him destroy himself.
No one can live by morals. For morals are inherently useless pretenses. Every moment brings its own challenges and those challenges need to be met in the best manner possible.
The infiltration of the Islamists in Europe and the illegals in the US are predicated on using the “moral burden” of democracy and liberal values that these societies espouse.
That is how it is always done.
Deconstruction of a society necessitates assignment of some crippling greatness to your target. Many tools are used to do that. Many heroes are constructed that are used as tools to thrust “greatness” on a society which that society is forced to live up to, while it is destroyed. Gandhi was one such tool.
Today we will look at the principles of a guy who was the ideological guru of two of the most influential politicians in the US today. To understand how those principles are being used against India. And Hindus.
Ideological father of American Left - Alinsky
On October 25, 1968, the offer letter for a job to Miss Hillary Rodham, Wellesley College was sent, signed by a “community organizer” named Saul David Alinsky. Alinsky thought very highly of Hillary.
Hillary Clinton, in turn, wrote her thesis - a fawning account - on Alinsky
17 years later, disciples of Alinsky hired another young man for organizing the communities in the Southside of Chicago. His name was Barack Obama, a 23-year-old Columbia grad.
Saud Alinsky impacted both - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Alinsky was a bluff iconoclast who concluded that electoral politics offered few solutions to the have-nots marooned in working-class slums. His approach to social justice relied on generating conflict to mobilize the dispossessed. Power flowed up, he said, and neighborhood leaders who could generate outside pressure on the system were more likely to produce effective change than the lofty lever-pullers operating on the inside. Both Obama and Clinton admired Alinsky's appeal for small-d democracy but came to believe that social progress is best achieved by working within the political system, and on a national scale. Both went to law school, turned to a mix of courthouse and community remedies, and eventually moved into electoral politics. Associates describe the candidates as combining streaks of idealism with a realistic appreciation of the politically possible, a mix the goal-oriented Alinsky would have recognized in himself. Like Alinsky, they fashioned political strategies defined more by coalitions and compromise than by the flashy but often hollow rhetorical pyrotechnics that Clinton, in her Wellesley honors thesis, called "the luxury of symbolic suicide." (Source)
In a book - a primer really - titled “Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer” (1971) he was talking to the impatient leftist-liberal generation. He was calling for open confrontation and compromise while organizing to bring about a struggle for “social justice.”
To understand President Obama and Hillary Clinton, one must understand Saul Alinsky. At the top of a short presidential resume in 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama touted himself a “community organizer,” a construct of Saul Alinsky. In 1969 Hillary Clinton wrote a fawning senior thesis on Alinsky. In Alinsky’s 1971 book “Rules for Radicals,” in the chapter titled “Tactics,” he divides the electorate into demographic groups (today’s identity politics) and says the organizer must “rub raw the resentments of the people.” This cynical tactic may win elections but serves as a poison pill for our national cohesion. After eight years of Obama-Clinton we are left to wonder why our culture is so divided and filled with resentment. (Source)
To understand how the American and global ecosystem is working to upstage the democratic dispensation in India - one needs to read the rules that Saud Alinsky, the philosopher-guide for two of the most powerful liberal elites in the US laid out.
Here are Alinsky’s 13 rules and their explanations. (Source)
1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
2. “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear, and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
3. “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty.
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
6. “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
7. “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
8. “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
10. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
11. “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
12. “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
Let us analyze these and how they have been used against India, more so with the current government and Modi in particular. Also in general against the Dharmic groups.
The main strategy of attack is to pick the target and freeze it.
In a zone of conflict, the first thing that Alinsky suggests is to single out the target and isolate it. Within societies that are complex, interrelated, and multi-cultural, it is imperative to find the target for blame.
Blame for any and every evil or wrong that goes on.
When the target is not the only one to blame, and others point to that, the Alinsky way is to “freeze” the target. S/he is aligned with characteristics that make her/him a target of hate.
It was 2002 earlier.
That ‘freezing mechanism’ was neutralized. No new one was available. So Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Registry of Citizens (NRC), Farm laws protests were manufactured. In themselves, they may not have “done the job” but progressively the narrative is being built.
The second wave and pinning the blame on one “target” as he is “frozen” despite it being a state subject, is the way to permanently freeze him in the eyes of his dearest backers.
The target needs to be personalized. It has to be an object of hate. A person to hit at and use it to make him into a “polarizing figure”.
See how often you hear that word when only a few people are discussed?
It’s Alinsky rules at play.
In no other society is Secularism even a concern. Christian and Islamic exceptionalism has the claim to discarding any notion of inclusivity built into them. With fundamental conditions like - “Jesus is the only savior and salvation is available only through him and not other false gods” or “Allah (as defined in Quran) is the only god and Mohammad his only prophet” - built-in as an integral part of the religious belief system, such that these cannot be compromised, there is little room for discussion to the opposite.
That American President is always Christian. That he always takes his oath on Bible - and not the US Constitution. These are taken “in the stride”.
Because by definition, these conditions have been “take care of.”
On the other hand, the Indian Prime Minister, cannot be considered “Secular” unless he wears a Muslim cap. If he as much as visits his temple, he is considered communal.
No such condition is enjoined on a Muslim VP who holds iftar at his home.
Secularism is a burden on one who holds the “all religions are equal” rule as the fundamental truth. Not on one who holds “my way is the only true one, your way is a sure way to hell and damnation”.
That is called - Make your enemy live up to his rule book. To be flexible, have no rules. Or as Hillary called it the luxury of symbolic suicide."
Now, some of these rules were part of the Dharmic ways. But a lot of them have been the result of misinterpretations of Dharma itself.
When the “Western Indologists” took away the mantle of translation and defining Hinduism, while shooing Hindus out of the academic halls that studied and defined Hinduism, they were writing our rulebook.
A rulebook that we had to live by.
Were made to live by.
Any attempt to even raise our voice against such academic vandalism was met by the “freeze and polarize” tactic. Those who called out the ethnic crime being committed were abused with “Hindutva”. Making it legitimate to abuse and isolate them.
Even when these were Hindus who were saying that I need to define my own rulebook, not someone who has no idea and is not a Hindu.
But that is the Alinsky model, isn’t it?
There are two Alinsky principles that are key to success.
“Development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition” and “when you push hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.”
Every positive has a negative. The way to defeat your enemy’s positive is to push your negative hard enough.
The fake news (on CAA, NRC, Farm Laws, Kashmir) via mainstream media around the world and within India, is part of that relentless and uncompromising push.
No relenting.
There is no pretense to journalistic ethics anymore.
When Fareed Zakaria vehemently and aggressively targets Modi and his governance, he never mentions even once that his family has been part of the Congress establishment throughout. Or that his father was the Deputy leader when Indira Gandhi came back after the emergency. Or that his father considered APJ Kalam as a ‘token Muslim.”
You see if you want to create negative propaganda against anyone, ensure you have sworn ideological enemies of your target leading the communications charge against him. Of course, they should be chosen to seem like they are “neutral.”
The most important dictum - no relenting. The pressure has to be continuous. Every positive has to be countered with a negative. Without stop.
To keep up the pressure, keep changing the tactics. "Militant interest” can only be kept up for a certain time period by anyone. So, to keep the pressure and hold up the aggression, change the tactics to keep things contemporary and ensure that the tactic is being enjoyed by “your people.”
Do you see how it has been done in India?
One after another - whether it is online media, mainstream channels, global media, intellectuals coopted for this purpose or even standup comics.
The Standup Comics who use ridicule as a way to dehumanize and delegitimize a certain religion, party, leader, and people, make a large number of confused and ill-formed minds believe in things that are not even there. Behind their paychecks and the financing of their gigs, that is the goal.
“There’s a political comedy industry now,” said Mike Still, former artistic director of Los Angeles’s Improvisational and Sketch Comedy Training Center and theater, the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, “[and] industry means that it needs to be bought.” (Source)
One is not necessarily saying that Modi’s political or ideological opponents are coming with bags full of cash for Kunal Kamra and Atul Khatri, but there is an industry that is overwhelmingly churning out abusive, one-sided, and profane performances – in word, speech, and hashtags – and bottling it as humor. Such a spectacularly prejudiced and politically weaponized industry cannot be an organic happening.
It is a creation.
And such a creation – this industry – has questionable financing at its base.
This is rule # 5. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. It makes your enemy angry and he reacts to your advantage.
That is what most Hindus are pushed into doing. React angrily. Right into the hands of the waiting media who use their reactions to further delegitimize them and have that “I told you so” smirk splashed end to end!
Now, how is it that what the opposition can use on me, I cannot use on him?
That takes discipline, fanaticism, and an urge to uphold one’s agenda.
For Hindus, that is missing. As is missing the element of exceptionalism integrally sewn into the fabric of their ethos. So, even while talking tolerance, they reserve a legitimate right to be exclusive. Of course.
So it is up to this generation as to what it will do?
Be reactive and keep running around in circles by those who openly unleash Alinsky rules on us, or can we turn the whole scenario on its head?
The Second Wave: Change is in the offing
As we had looked at the predictive maps by Manindra Agrawal, Professor at IIT Kanpur (Source - Twitter), in our earlier newsletter, the peak for news cases is to peak in the first week of May. The Active cases will go on to peak in Mid-May.
There are indications that the second wave may be peaking and turning around. Madhya Pradesh is on its way down (Source), as are UP cities like Prayagraj (Source), Kanpur (Source), and Varanasi (Source). Gujarat is nearing its peak (source), while the other states are still seeking their peaks.
Mumbai is quickly moving down. (Source)
Delhi is faltering and holding high on the counts but not going up sharply. (Source)
Areas like NOIDA do not show any sign of coming down. (Source)
Let us hope that in another two weeks, India’s worst nightmare will be over.
market corner: 10 quick bytes
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nota bene
Not ONE Ventilator bought in Delhi since July 2020: Amidst rising cases of Covid-19 in Delhi, the failure of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government to prepare for the second wave is baffling. RTI activist Vivek Pandey had submitted an RTI with the Government of Delhi to learn how many ventilators, oxygen cylinders, and tanks were purchased between July 2020 to April 2021. According to a reply received from the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Delhi, not even a single ventilator was procured between the said period. In the reply, the department said that the Central Procurement Agency of the Delhi Government did not order or purchase any ventilators in between July 2020 and April 2021. (Source)
Filipino FM abuses China: The Philippine foreign minister on Monday demanded in an expletive-laced message on Twitter that China's vessels get out of disputed waters, marking the latest exchange in a war of words with Beijing over its activities in the South China Sea. The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for making blunt remarks at times, follow Manila's protests for what it calls the "illegal" presence of hundreds of Chinese boats inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). (Source)
China mocks India’s Dead: The Communist Party of China (CPC) mocked India over the deadly coronavirus, which began in Wuhan last year wreaking havoc in the country. An account on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, which was linked to the Chinese Communist Party, posted a now-deleted photo over the weekend of China launching a rocket alongside an image of bodies being cremated in India.
The account on Weibo, China’s Twitter-equivalent, shared two images side-by-side of a rocket launch in China and a cremation ground in India, adding a message: “China lighting a fire, India lighting a fire”. (Source)
Beijing has the highest number of Billionaires: The Big Apple has taken a back seat to Beijing as the world’s billionaire capital, and that’s before a new state tax hike possibly pushes more fat cats to leave. The Chinese capital has exactly one more billionaire than Gotham, 100 to 99, according to Forbes’ recently released list. The number of billionaires worldwide increased 32 percent to 2,755, or 660 more than a year ago, as many cashed in on a surging stock market. Beijing saw an uptick of 33 billionaires during the worldwide COVID catastrophe that began in China, while NYC’s roster increased by only seven. (Source)
Restoring Colosseum: The floor of Rome's Colosseum is to be restored to its former glory, it was announced yesterday. The ground that saw gladiators fight wild animals and each other will again let visitors see 'the majesty of the monument Inset)', according to Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini. Engineering firm Milan Ingegneria has won a £16 million bid to build and install a retractable arena floor, with the project set to be completed in two years. Mr. Franceschini said: 'In 2023, we will have the splendor of the Colosseum with its arena again.' The amphitheater once had a sand-covered wooden floor on top of a network of tunnels and fighters' waiting rooms. The floor was removed in the 19th century so architects could excavate the levels below it. It was opened to the public to see the underground area in 2010 and the new stage will be able to cover or uncover the underground networks. (Source)
video corner: The Hamitic Hypothesis
The Western Colonial rule was established and justified on the basis of theories that were forced upon the masses. From the Aryan Invasion theory to the Hamitic Hypothesis - these theories belittled and washed away every accomplishment of the natives and installed the British or Europeans as the masters.
Our mistake? We took them seriously.
It is important to understand and deconstruct these savage lies to salvage whatever can be for humanity.
The Hamitic Hypothesis was a 19th-century anthropological theory that claimed that humans originated in Asia and then migrated to other regions of the world. The theory was used to explain the discovery of so-called “white races” in Africa in the late 1800s. The Hamitic Hypothesis was not simply a curiosity of anthropological science. It was an idea that changed lives: from those European colonists who relied upon it to justify their presence in Africa, to the scientists who used it to explain away the accomplishments of African civilizations as a result of “white” influence. Ultimately, the Hamitic Hypothesis anchored a global theory of human origins and migration that, when combined with the Aryan race theory, shaped anthropology, colonial policy, and even the attitudes of Africans themselves for a hundred years.
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