Politics in my Life

I am sorry to keep writing blogs that relate to how I was victimized. But the blog is about my insights and experiences and this is what I have experienced and what I have learnt from my experiences. Please bear with me.

I am a private citizen who has never at any time been in politics. But politics has played a role (a hugely harmful role) in my social life and career.

This is what I have figured out about what has happened in my life and why.

You may have heard of the concept of the social contract. The social contract at the time these events occurred was defective. But what is a social contract. From a Google search:

Social contract theory says that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior. Some people believe that if we live according to a social contract, we can live morally by our own choice and not because a divine being requires it.

Social Contract Theory

The social contract at the time when I was young was as under. We were supposed to accept that

1. We owe a debt to our parents, society and country; one which we can never repay.
2. Possibly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi we were encouraged to work for the poor and the downtrodden.
3. Respect for and obedience to elders was stressed.
4. People were encouraged to fit in with the mould and not be dissimilar to other people around them.
5. Possibly due to the threat of law and order being disrupted we were encouraged to speak in a way that did not offend. To the extent that our right to free speech that is guaranteed by the Constitution was denied.
6. Powerful people gave themselves the right to act as judge, jury and executioner to punish (supposed) crimes.
7. There was the threat of harassment faced by my family because I did not behave in a way that was accepted by society.

So here I was – completely unaware of all this – wanting to enjoy life. I was also rude to people and caused offence. I never at any time committed heinous crimes but I was treated like a criminal.

Now except for points (6) and (7) above the social contract is not unreasonable or unjust. Point (5) makes the very reasonable point that we should not go about offending people for no reason with our speech. Obviously we have the right to free speech and that includes the right to offend. But the right to offend also comes with our rival’s right to be offended.

 The harm was not because of what was believed but because of the way in which the beliefs was held.

This is a concept I learnt from reading Bertrand Russell. Russell said that when two scientists argue or differ about what they believe they point to the evidence and in that manner try to convince their rival that he is wrong. When a communist differs with a capitalist on the other hand the come to blows (when nations come to blows there is war).

So basically look at and present the evidence and let it speak to your rival or the person with whom you differ. Here is a blog that gives Russell’s views on avoiding foolish opinions.

Bertrand Russell: On Avoiding Foolish Opinions (fs.blog)

But this blog is about politics in my life.

Basically what happened was this. I am living in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and I belong to the Konkani community. Konkan area lies within Maharashtra and Karnataka. People here in Mumbai were apprehensive in case a troublemaker like me would start agitating for a separate Konkan state. So they tried to have me leave Maharashtra.

I don’t want to say anything more than this.

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