Indian middle class desire for the Chinese Way, since feeling irritated with slow moving democracy

Correspondence between friends on the topic

A - If Narender Modi (CM Gujarat) is to be believed , a glass will always be full . In a lecture in Sri Ram College Of Commerce ,Delhi , he brandied a glass which contained some water . He said ," People say that this glass is half-full . I say it is full--half with water and half with air ." What Modi perhaps meant that the part of glass containing air still had great potential to get replaced by some water.. B - Hitler succeeded in trains running in time , industry performing very well, building military might to awesome levels ...... Food for thought. A In fact that is what I mean (minus Hitler's wrongdoings) , Hitler saw great potential in the half empty glass . Had Hitler used that potential for the good of mankind ,he would have been a Hit (ler) .He was able to recognise potential for progress(?) in that emptiness. B Can u really, really 'minus Hitler's wrong doings ' , that includes murdering lacs of Jews, killing thousands of other Germans with physical handicaps whom he tagged as useless ? Look at some quotes from friend Tirath's forwarded article from London.

" the subtle rehabilitation of Mussolini (another similar strong person) depends on portraying his brutality as strength and " Stalin (another strong person) may be one of the worst mass murderers in history, but he made the factories run on time." " Mao Zedong ( another strong person) arguably the worst mass killer of them all. An estimated 36 million people died in the appalling famine between 1958 and 1961 caused by Mao's disastrous economic experiment known as great leap forward." However, " in Germany,..... no public politician would dare suggest that the horrors of Fascism were merely errors..... they were running to" About Hitler it is said that if world leaders had seriously read his Mein Kamph book, written years before he came to power, millions that died in 2nd world war would have been spared. There were clear indication of what he would do. Some times early actions do indicate what kind of disasters such strong men can land the country , the world in. Indian middle class's irritation with slow moving democracy and a desire for a strong person to take over, needs clear rethinking. A - I am not saying that wrongdoings of some tyrants should be ignored. What I am saying is that potential for progress exists (as demonstrated by Hitler ,Stalin or other tyrants) and isn't it sad that the potential was or (as we are wont to think) can be exploited only by tyrants and not by other forms of good leadership . Every one in Germany knows that Hitler made trains run on time and where minimising, even trivialising his crimes."

The potential exists ---I emphasized in the context of change in glass half-empty concept (in view of Modi's remarks) . The concept that democracy has to be inherently slow moving must be shattered by some good leadership and I feel that it is possible if corruption gets mitigated . We have the example of execution of Metro Project in Delhi under the leadership of Sridharan . He worked in a Democracy under some conditions set by him . B Accepted, that u are not saying that wrong doings of some tyrants should be ignored. However, the main point is being missed. Our personalities are a given by the time we are adults. So those strong persons who have the capability / style of making quick decisions without consulting others, without listening to various interest groups, the essence of democracy, tend to some times make horrendously wrong decisions. Mao did not start to kill millions of Chinese in his great leap forward initiative, but the decision was bad and it could have got suitably modified if he followed a bit of democracy . So the suggestion is worth repeating that Indian middle class getting irritated with slow democracy and wishing for a strong personality taking over needs rethinking. Democracy will always b slower than dictatorship, with some variations accounting for individuals. To consult / listen t others does take time. Example of Mr Sridharan , to my mind, is not relevant. He only insisted on some constraints not interfering with implementation of decisions taken by others. In his style of working he might not be dictatorial . * * * * * * * *

V K Sharma / Feb 24, 2013