We must thank unfortunate Italians for warning

These are the worst of the times and best of the times (apologies to Dickens). The virus is making a relentless march. Cities after cities are in lockdown. It is sad but the silence is overwhelmingly satisfying. Considering that India is overpopulated and psychopathically noisy this is such a respite not only for people who value silence but for other species too. It is as if earth has started to breathe again and a pernicious virus in its system is checked. Irony.

Sometime back a very interesting book was on the rack: Bullshit Jobs: A theory (by anthropologist David Graeber), he argues that there are millions of people across the world — clerical workers, administrators, consultants, telemarketers, corporate lawyers, service personnel, and many others — who are toiling away in meaningless, unnecessary jobs, and they know it. Bullshit jobs are jobs which even the person doing the job can’t really justify the existence of, but they have to pretend that there’s some reason for it to exist. There is a difference between bullshit jobs and shit jobs they’re not the same thing. Graeber elaborates “Bad jobs are bad because they’re hard or they have terrible conditions or the pay sucks, but often these jobs are very useful. In fact, in our society, often the more useful the work is, the less they pay you. Whereas bullshit jobs are often highly respected and pay well but are completely pointless, and the people doing them know this”. This is another irony and in a primitive society like India bullshit has always been prioritize over essential. It begins from the deviance of the sanctum. The only parameter of blessing is money and power. So we have scenes of youngster leaving essential jobs to join administration –the one that is elevated as epitome of intelligence among the unthinking populace and carries the perks and power assimilating all the feudal trappings. Few weeks back I was with these retired administrators in some interview panel (probably one of the least sick jobs) and asking question to the candidate as to “opportunities for india in corona spread” words like “supply chain disruption” “advantage over china” were liberally used for intense satisfaction of retired bureaucrats posturing as intelligentsia (they do have body language and compelling semantics though, clearly being in BS jobs with lots of power have taught them tricks of con artists. I too keenly learn this!). And this was in delhi, and I carried my sanitizer and was quite sure that the virus was in the next turn. When you are aware of what is happening around the world and take news in its seriousness, and not as an entertainment, then you will be concerned. You may even panic considering amazing level of ignorance and nonchalance of people around. You cannot blame the people they don’t take warning seriously because they are not aware. They are not aware because this society values bullshit. Literacy rarely becomes education hence they are easy fodder for manipulators. News is about entertainment and touches lowest commonest denominator at every available opportunity. With no moral ethical context conscience is rarely an issue. They normalize third rate movies and stupid game of cricket as news, they nurture manipulative mediocre actors and cricketers as influencers. A microorganism is here to sieve the bull shit. Primitive societies are in for a soul searching moment of meaninglessness.  

Thankfully India has the lessons of unfortunate countries like Italy and Iran. If we didn't have these warnings marketers would have scuttled all efforts for profit and hundreds thousands of people would have died by now. It is the same motivation that influence the biggest con artist of all time: Donald Trump. He is a breathing slimy feed appropriating everything for market to nourish. He epitomizes its crassness to dangerous insulating bullshit grandeur. He represents the degradation of the world we live. He is a constant reminder of what will happen to humanity.

As India is in lockdown PM Modi has taken some rightful actions and shown to be a compelling motivator in these bleak times, and to the chagrin of castetva forces posturing liberal saviors who seek to band him with rightist nutcases across the world with the help of fattened western fluffs, he is a seasoned and matured astute politician who knows how to work the deal with much restrain. He has been consistent when it comes to focusing on emerging challenges such as renewable source of energy, climate change matters so on. It is however necessary that neoliberal context needs to rethink on basic income to the unorganized sector. 

A society that doesn’t have much sense to distinguish right from wrong nor any parameter to decide these in such instance righteous authoritarian interventions works well. Mr. Modi intervened at the right time to drill the seriousness of the situation. As a political leader he has been a great communicator. Most Indians are incapable to take decisions that has concern for society as a main context, being blessed they are incapacitated to conceptualize themselves as subservient to crucial social restrictions that is indeed matter of life and death. Many see these as affront to their special place in universe. In their grand world every occasion is an occasion presented specially to them to capitalize. It is a society in prisoner’s dilemma with no basic communitarian understanding. Hence it is important that rules are strictly enforced. Again we must thank unfortunate Italians, Spaniards and Iranians. We are incapable to be proactive nor can act with conscience. We need to be shown, and convinced, of the consequences with gory details with repeated requests. Since even this is difficult to get sense of the reality to zombies –who have been isolated from reality for too long, severe action must be initiated against the violators.