Patriotism I

This is the beginning of a few posts on patriotism and the like. I saw an Indian film which was rather good. It was not so much about patriotism but more about how we tend to bitch about the current state of affairs but essentially, it is our choice too. We elect our politicans and in some sense, let them do what they want as against holding them responsible for what they have and have not done. One of the things that I liked about the film was its universal relevance. Ultimately, at the end of the day, however much we dislike politicians, their thefts and their crooked ways and means, we have elected them. They come to power only because we the people, have elected them. Politicans stay the way they are because they continue to be elected by us and more importantly, people like us (you and me) stay out of politics. Yes, politics is dirty and sometimes the best of us change. But how can we expect it to change unless we initiative the change? One of the best ways is to try and join the political system. I might agree to some extent that the electorate does not always know best but I refuse to believe that they are so dumb that they do not recognize honesty and integrity. Yes, it might take a few tries but hell, everything takes a few tries. In essence, what I am saying is we have to be part of the system to change the system. It is far harder to change the system bit by bit by being in a position of power inside the system than as a rank outsider and just bitching about it. It also means sacrifice which makes me wonder that not too many people are willing. Arm-chair intellectualism is so much easier. Revolution does not work anymore. But talking about it and hoping for things to change is easier than trying to change the system. We can all do out own part to improve the system.