Rubaai 7

रुबाई क्रमांक ७

वाटली कधी न स्वप्नात शक्यता

जाणवेल भेट होताच खिन्नता

पण खरंच काळजाला चिरत गेली

चौकशीतली तुझी औपचारिकता

Thoughts And Prayers

Sadly, these are the times of “Thoughts and Prayers”. The following are my hopes, thoughts and prayers.

When it comes to gun violence in USA, I am very pessimistic of any real change - in my lifetime. I think my pessimism is realistic and not emotional. The reasons for my pessimism have little to do with the NRA or the impotent and corrupt Congress. It’s the people. The completely brainwashed population. Just like a person suffering from a mental disorder who is unable to realize the disorder, the majority of the voting population doesn’t even know how twisted, irrational their thought process is. They will never realize. It’s an incurable disease. 

The debate has been distorted. It’s too late to even argue about who distorted this debate, and why. There is no way to settle this via rational debate. Nothing will be changed by pointing out the absurdities in pro-gun arguments. We have been having these debates forever. The Twitter memes have been going on forever. Nothing changed after Sandy Hook. Nothing meaningful will change now. Hence I think my pessimism is realistic.

But my pessimism is only for this generation. I am pessimistic to see a change in my lifetime. I do think eventually USA will become almost free of guns. I may not see it, but my prayer is, my great grandchildren will live in a safe country, where guns are simply not available. Where only military and police have access to guns. Just like most of the countries on this planet. Eventually, USA will emotionally be a mature country on the topic of guns. Eventually.

This requires a social evolution, which is a slow process. Social evolutions do not happen because people change their opinions. Most people never change their opinions. Social evolution happens simply because Time replaces existing people with new people. The cycle of death and birth, the foundation of biological evolution, is also the foundation of social evolution. Not the sole mechanism, but the foundation.

Every generation is more tolerant, more liberal than the previous one. On an average basis. The definition of Left and Right is subjective and changes in each generation. There will always be Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative, but the center point keeps shifting to left with every generation. I am talking about social policy, not fiscal policy. When it comes to racism, or the acceptance of gays, overall compassion, open mindedness and so on, the newer generation is simply better than its previous generation. Our kids are better human beings than us.

The same will be true for guns. The newer generation will not accept the current interpretation of the Second Amendment. They will make it relevant to their day and age. They will confiscate military assault weapons. They will make their society safer. We might add a minor new law, or tweak existing laws, but they will make drastic changes. That’s my prayer.

I pray that the newer generation realizes that the time for debate is over. It’s time to vote. Vote with their ballots, vote with their money. They are marching, giving passionate speeches, engaging the opposite side. That’s today. Tomorrow they will vote, and society will change, slowly, but surely, one vote at a time.

White Working Class

Book Review : White Working Class

Author : Joan C. Williams

My Rating : 3 out of 5

The complete title of the book is “White Working Class : Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America”.

After the financial crisis of 2008, there was a slew of books explaining what happened, why it happened and how a repeat can be prevented. It was exhausting to even look at the number of books on the same topic. A similar thing is happening after the 2016 election. Everyone is trying to explain the Trump victory which has been a crisis for most progressives. I was shocked myself, and wrote a blog post expressing my dismay.

Honestly I am getting tired of these explanations. They are getting very repetitive. It’s always the same theme - “how the liberal elitist globalists smugly ignored the middle class Americans devastated by changing economics who voted with their middle finger”. Not that it is wrong, it isn’t. But that’s not the complete picture, more about that in a minute.

So why did I pick up this book? The appeal was in the organization. One short chapter each for every important question. Author Williams does not shy away from asking direct questions. After explaining why we should talk about class, she first defines who is WWC (white working class). Then there are chapters on “Is the working class just racist”, “Why doesn’t the working class go to college” and so on. 

All the chapters are short. The author comes to the point quickly, directly and bluntly. It’s a very refreshing approach, irrespective of how much you agree with. These are tricky, controversial and often emotional issues. A complete agreement is nearly impossible. I agreed with most of the analysis, and I think most readers will. 

In spite of the agreements, I still have major objections to the approach. I know the author is trying to simplify, but dividing entire population in two groups, elites v/s working class, is completely lacking in nuances of the real world. Yes, a lot of people do fall in those two sets, but I don’t fall in either category, and I suspect many won’t. 

Another problem is putting all the blame on liberal elites. Of course there is blame, but this working class has made mistakes too. Many areas are deep red Republican, and have been for a very long time. Voting for the same candidate or the same party over and over again and getting angry about economic problems, indicates emotional voting patterns. The issue of police brutality is real. Not properly sympathizing with the angst represented by “Black Lives Matter” is unfair and results in more divide. We can disagree about the solution, but the refusal to admit Global Warming is laughable. So don’t blame the divide just on liberals.

At the same time, some real mistakes by liberals are simply ignored. The extreme liberal stance on immigration, which includes “sanctuary cities” is simply unpalatable to most Americans, myself included, and even to some liberals. The liberal hypocrisy, which routinely criticizes Christianity but fails to criticize far darker sides of Islam, is visible to everyone except the far left. Finally, the topic of guns gets no mention at all. Such omissions make an otherwise excellent explanation, incomplete.  

Relating this to 2016 election should have been done with other observations as well. Apart from the class divide there was another problem - namely Hillary Clinton - a candidate with a lot of baggage. It’s all speculation, but it’s possible to imagine Bernie Sanders winning against Trump, or even Governor Kasich winning against Hillary. I would have voted for Kasich. So not mentioning Hillary’s failure to stay out of suspicion is a flaw. Then praising Bill Clinton as someone who connected with the WWC, but not mentioning the role his legacy played in the election is a serious omission. Of course the class divide is real, but that wasn’t the only factor.

That’s what I meant above. Most such explanations focus only on the class divide, and fail to appreciate the chronic irrationality on both sides and severity of the flaws of the Democratic candidate. 

In the final chapters the author offers her thoughts on how the gap can be bridged. It’s all well intentioned, sometimes accurate but honestly, very weak in places. She is correct in pointing out that “higher minimum wage” is not what will solve economic plight of WWC. But saying that changing the slogan from “Pro-choice” to “Pro-child, pro-choice and pro-family” will have any impact, is just naive. 

It’s still a readable book. Don’t think of it as a complete analysis. Whatever has been analyzed, is insightful. That should be enough, as it’s small, feels just like a very long editorial and can be finished in one seating.