I loved the reading The Country of the Blind. Not that I am an expert on Mass
Media or Communication, but it shows how hard it is for and individual to
convince the masses of a truth. To the cattle widely accepted truth is the
truth. For an individual to propagate the truth, however obvious it maybe, is
close to impossible.
Take a look at Galileo or the various other astronomers who tried to prove
that the earth wasn't the centre of the universe, or even that the world was
round. Christianity shunned them as being members of the Illuminati. The Church
shunned the very idea of free thinking, as does any other religion. Preachers
going "Nooo, I will not let you prove that there is no God!” Religion
after all was a tool to control the masses. If there was a God I don't think he
would've gone "Hmm....I'll create 10 different races, each with their own
god and religion. Over the centuries they'd fight over their one true God and
this would be fun to watch! Yo Gabriel! Get me some popcorn would you!” We
humans like to believe that that everything in the universe revolves around us
so much that even after Carl Sagan told the world that we are nothing but an
insignificant speck in the universe, that we still like to believe that it was
our very own God who created the universe. Now, try telling them religious
folks this.
I know what you're thinking. Being the unpopular voice in a group isn't a
comfortable place to be at. Depending on how receptive/hostile people are there
is the risk of people developing negative impressions or enmity towards you, or
even declaring you a social outcast.
This time the BJP-Congress war was as unfair as that between Christianity
and Paganism. If Guy Ritchie were to make a movie on Modi he'd name it The Real
Rocknrolla; his movies fit clever, scheming, conniving, corrupt, smooth talking
sleaze bags. He has proved that to become the PM of the biggest democracy
requires you to have the stronger PR, from flooding feeds on social networks
mocking Manmohan to now reinforcing his established strong public identity. Now
you can find just about any cow on social networks going "....ab ki baar
modi sarkar". Public opinion, being an abstract of fast food news, is
shallow.
