Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site eagle.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!eagle!prem From: prem@eagle.UUCP (Swami Devanbu) Newsgroups: net.nlang.india Subject: Re: Political maturity of the masses Message-ID: <1245@eagle.UUCP> Date: Tue, 12-Mar-85 14:09:10 EST Article-I.D.: eagle.1245 Posted: Tue Mar 12 14:09:10 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Mar-85 01:15:59 EST References: <2458@hplabsc.UUCP> <173@sbcs.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Summit, NJ Lines: 28 > I'm especially flabbergasted at talk of "political maturity" when political > nonentities like Amitabh Bachhan win landslide victories over veterans like > H N Bahuguna and Chandra Sekhar. Whither maturity when the only factors > that matter are a <> and caste and party stickers? > -- > Saumya Debray > SUNY at Stony Brook True, true, Sri Debray. I am also hopelessly underwhelmed when the world's most powerful democracy elects a former movie actor (who falls asleep at defence policy cabinet meetings, and is prompted by his wife at press briefings) as president. And don't tell me that his opponents were not seasoned, well qualified politicians. Arey Yaar. The US deserves much praise for the vitality of its democracy. Yet its voting public is not invulnerable to a well orchestrated, well-funded, comprehensive media blitz that carefully builds personality cult around an accomplished show man. And what Reagan can do, does Amitabh not have the talent to pull off ...? And who can fault him, or his voters for it ? Both India and the US have fallen prey (in love ?) with the silver (phospor ?) screen. So blame the coterie that controls the media and obfuscates the minds of the people. Don't blame the public.