Key Concepts

As David Deutsch writes in ‘The Beginning of Infinity’-

Any system of Government and its policies, if chosen by the people for themselves, will obviously be based on knowledge of what seems best to them at that particular time. But as any such system or policies can never be perfect for all times or situations and, as flaws and problems are inevitable, it follows that a good system should allow improvement or progress in knowledge to continually effect change in the system or policies.

To expect things to remain the same and not see the need for any change is the view of a pessimist who assumes that knowledge will not grow, and in any case that change will always be for the worse. A rational optimist, as contrasted to a blind optimist who believes out of a reckless overconfidence that nothing bad can happen, sees all problems as arising out of insufficient knowledge or lack of enough time or resources (wealth) to eliminate them at that time, and sees progress as continuous, even if it is not clear, at that moment, how or in what manner.

A pessimistic civilization prides itself on its children’s conformity to the traditional patterns of behavior seen as proper and bemoans every real or imagined novelty. An optimistic civilization is open and not afraid to innovate, and is based on the tradition of criticism. Its institutions keep improving and the most important knowledge that they embody is knowledge of how to detect and eliminate errors.

“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.”– Robert A. Heinlein.

The exceptions seem to be those that do not believe in proselytizing or evangelism and who do not have a ‘Book’ which lays down religious rules as alleged to have been revealed to their Founder. Therefore in the interest of greater harmony, all religions should be kept out of politics and government. (See – ‘Religious Cultures and Dharmic Culture’)

“I worry about the future of our democracy if a combination of a free press and democratically elected leaders cannot together somehow more effectively defend empirical reality against the onslaught of ideology and fanaticism.” –Lawrence M. Krauss

It is always also, necessary to recognize that, as Frank Chodorov says, once “the State acquires power… because of its insatiable lust for power it is incapable of giving up any of it. The State never abdicates.” Therefore it is essential that the Constitution guards against this and that the people must always be wary and watchful.

“All must bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority in all case is to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which laws must protect, and to violate which would be oppression.”– Thomas Jefferson.

Democracy should not be allowed to become ‘majoritarism’. Meant ‘for (All) the People’, it should allow the interest of every sort of minority to be addressed equitably, without resorting to appeasement in order to garner votes. It should be kept in mind that every majority has within itself some minorities and everymminority also, contains further minorities and that the final minority is a minority of one -The Individual. However, as no man is an island, it is therefore essential that the Rights of an individual should always be subjugated to the Rights of the family/ clan or Jati/ group to which he seeks to belong to, as long as such Rights do not clash with similar Rights of any other Individual of the same or other similar group/Minority. Also, as it will never be possible for everyone to agree on everything every time. The aim therefore should be to find ways, not only the best for the majority, but also the best possible for all. Therefore, the rights of any minority are best protected by best protecting the rights of the individual / family. (See – “Minority – What is it?”)

As Arun Maira writes in ‘Discordant Democracy’ – Every interest should be addressed in a manner as to arrive, as far as possible, at a ‘win / win’, or atleast a ‘win / not lose’ result and not a ‘win / lose result’.

“The first requirement of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

– And not that he waits for others, or the Government, to meet or subsidize his needs or wants.

Human responsibility requires one to blame oneself for taking decisions or chances which lead to whatever happens. Blaming others is not rational. The concept of blame really has no value… the key question is not whom to blame, but rather whose behaviour to modify so that the problem does not arise again.

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