December 27, 2012

Democracy is not hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is defined as thinking or doing what one does not truly intend but as surrender to the deviousness of the mind. When ingrained in us, we act this way as mere subconscious behavior. Thus, hypocrisy is considered one of the most derogatory aspects of our being. It indicates certain deceptiveness in our behavior that thrusts society into collective negative behavior and seals a stalemate on any hopes of progress towards the social harmony democracy hopes for.

Democracy is about consultation and this cannot happen effectively in the context of negative emotions and ambiguity of agreements that will militate against good decisions becoming mainstream and sustainable. When the very people who agree to a policy today bunks it the next day, it bodes dark to the progress of this consultative process. And needless to say, the public merely becomes onlookers or mere spectators in a battle that is fought on the political stage. Hypocrisy kills the confidence in those that lead us or even estranges friends and partners that make for the effervescent confluence of our social relationships.

Getting away from hypocrisy requires an internal reflection. A reflective eye into our inner selves will show us from where these dark thoughts arise. And what are the causes behind the causes. Inevitably we will be confronted with the realization that all our hypocrisy is due to the jealousy we harbor within us; and surely there will be reasons why that jealousy resides in us as it does – that too can be clarified with further reflection. And reflection requires dedicated time away from the traffic and noise of the mind we are so used to sustaining in this modern world of electronic gadgetry and instant connectivity (with our friends but not with our soul). We seek to hide the whisperings of the ego to be in the limelight by the outward manifestation of doing what it tells us to do – not what our true self would like us to do. So in effect we are just responding to the callings of our ego which is not our true self. Always having to please the onlooker rather than our inner selves, we live our lives in a charade of sorts. This has to be so because the ego doesn't want to annihilate itself by society rallying against it. So it is better to seem to be conformist even though what flows in our true mind is just the opposite. This negativity thus makes us quickly agree – especially when authoritative and powerful sources coax our indulgence, in time of action however, do nothing to help, or do the opposite.

We read in our holy Book, the ignominy of hypocrisy and yet we fall prey to its callings orchestrated by the ego. Prayer and social service can help us reverse such devious callings. If done consistently, it can become a habit over time, and surely our ego's voice will be thus incrementally muffled and the voice of our true self will ultimately emerge to shine through our ethereal self. Parents, we can all attempt to build a new society by encouraging our children towards truthfulness and non-hypocritical behavior by example --- by us being so ourselves; “being the change we hope to see”.  



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a very interesting article. Actually there is a lot of misconception about the word democracy. Among the so called “democrats” who want to push it down your throat. I am friends with one of the most senior persons in the MDP and I asked him what he meant by democracy… His answer surprised me. He said democracy means freedom.

Then it occurred to me that the senior most politicians are unaware of what democracy means. People think using words. When a politician’s word has a meaning that is not in harmony with what is understood generally by the people, a lot of problems are likely to take place; their actions and motivations seem bizarre.

I have always argued that what Maldives need is more democracy… democracy to the extent that Parliament is not necessary as was the case in Greek demokratia.

The Parliamentary powers must be returned to the people.

Abdul Sattar Yoosuf said...

that would be the day when we can function without a parliament. Perhaps it has its place in the balance of the extremes of anarchy on the one hand and authoritarianism on the other. But of course we the people must elect the right people to be our representatives. And for that we all need to be aware of what democracy means. Thanks for your support. Let a dialogue begin on this!