Boo boo in select company

Boo boo in select company
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Wednesday 25 October 2017

The Multiple Faces of Tyranny

The Multiple Faces of Tyranny

Once upon a time, I thought I knew what tyranny was, but now the many faces are confusing me. I am unable to distinguish tyranny from just mere cussedness.

   There is China to start with, getting more and more prosperous by the day, and retreating politically to some 17th century despotism. The young tried, once upon a time, in Tiannamen Square, to get past that, but did not succeed. You can't succeed with young uprisings, without the police and the army on your side. Remember our 'take-over-the-square?'

   The uprising in Tahrir Square, Cairo, was betrayed too. They got rid of one ruler but succumbed to another from of despotism.

   And Amm-er-ica? 'Make Ammerica Great Again.'  This clearly involves a great deal of lying, sacking anyone who disagrees,throwing out people of other hues, reneging on welfare...

   Turkey? Clearly straying down a path of one-man rule.

   What about India then? When Modi turns a blind eye to the police being complicit in the injustices against the Muslims/ Christians, I call that tyranny. The exercise of power without accountability. Hopefully India's democracy will show Modi the door in the next elections.

   Also what is this Hindutva nonsense about slaughtering cows, eating beef etc? Surely it is up to each family to decide what is cooked in their kitchen? Similarly, why should any government concern itself with the sexual practices of consulting adults in their own private space?

   Tyranny at the workplace, sometimes, but not always in the form of sexual harassment, is familiar to many. This is not just in the media and entertainment world. I was a common, garden teacher and had to fend off my share of unwanted groping men and their nonsense-talk. 

   Then there is the sub-culture in an office. Everyone knows how it works, but it is not written down anywhere. It is defined by what you have to do and who, or which group of people, you have to please, to progress in your work.

   Within the family also a kind of tyranny rules: among partners who threaten or shout at their wives/ husbands, children who terrorise parents by refusing to abide by any rule that makes it possible to share a home...

   Which of these shall we call tyranny, and which just bad behaviour?
   

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