One thing I always wonder is why certain people are so hell-bent on having other people follow the way of life that they prescribe... why do they care so much? Why do they impose their ways on everyone and the ones who protest are the ones committing sacrilege for no fault of theirs...
I do not have the exact answers but I believe 3 facets of human characteristics influence this behaviour - 1. Insecurity, 2. Ego and 3. Victimhood.
Insecurity is of 2 types:
1. Fear that my way of life which I consider sacrosanct may become obsolete if I do not zealously preserve it!
2. Fear that if my way of life is rendered insignificant by others, I will have no identity left.
Ego again is of 2 types:
1. Individual Ego: How dare people not follow what I follow... If I can choose this way of life, others better follow suit.
2. Group Ego: What my people follow is sacrosanct as we are superior and all other arguments will not be heard or accepted.
Finally, victimhood arises out of being deprived by the ruling authority over extended periods of time... this deprivation in most cases is debatable as rebel leaders have the power to brainwash people into believing they are victims when that may not be the case.
I have left politics out of the above discussion as I believe its only a by-product of the above human characteristics... Politicians do not care that much about culture or religion but they know people do care and can be manipulated and therefore 'people' are the root cause for the problem and not politicians.
Too much attention is given to extremists when we talk about bigotry and jingoism... where we miss out on is the conservatives in our society who may be as bigoted but not extreme to the point of taking up arms. Such people vote and silently add fuel to fire for the extremists.
Various civilizations have gone through cycles of liberalism to conservatism and vice versa... I certainly hope the Indian civilization is at the dawn of a liberal era.
I do not have the exact answers but I believe 3 facets of human characteristics influence this behaviour - 1. Insecurity, 2. Ego and 3. Victimhood.
Insecurity is of 2 types:
1. Fear that my way of life which I consider sacrosanct may become obsolete if I do not zealously preserve it!
2. Fear that if my way of life is rendered insignificant by others, I will have no identity left.
Ego again is of 2 types:
1. Individual Ego: How dare people not follow what I follow... If I can choose this way of life, others better follow suit.
2. Group Ego: What my people follow is sacrosanct as we are superior and all other arguments will not be heard or accepted.
Finally, victimhood arises out of being deprived by the ruling authority over extended periods of time... this deprivation in most cases is debatable as rebel leaders have the power to brainwash people into believing they are victims when that may not be the case.
I have left politics out of the above discussion as I believe its only a by-product of the above human characteristics... Politicians do not care that much about culture or religion but they know people do care and can be manipulated and therefore 'people' are the root cause for the problem and not politicians.
Too much attention is given to extremists when we talk about bigotry and jingoism... where we miss out on is the conservatives in our society who may be as bigoted but not extreme to the point of taking up arms. Such people vote and silently add fuel to fire for the extremists.
Various civilizations have gone through cycles of liberalism to conservatism and vice versa... I certainly hope the Indian civilization is at the dawn of a liberal era.
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