People think I'm a cynic, and a self conceited bastard who doesn't like to play fair. People are right. Take, for example, last night's final match. I supported Sri Lanka, not India. In fact, I dislike the present Indian team, or more so, the way the present team is. And for that, I was called unpatriotic, traitor even.
Well, with a nation full of such "patriots", I think it might do rather well without one like me.
So, am I going to defend myself now? I don't know. Am I going to apologize? Hell no.
Firstly, I haven't committed a crime to ask for forgiveness, or to grovel at someone's feet, pleading for mercy. I stood by my convictions; whether they were wrong or right, fair or unfair, I don't give a damn. Secondly, I think, and I'm saying this not in a fit of rage, but through years of patience and observation- may the public be damned. They do not know what is good for them and will never do.
Some call me a Marxist for my dislike of capitalism and the consumerist way of life. Others call me a misguided and dangerous individualist, one who would sacrifice the greater good to fit the outcome in his very own twisted sense of ethics and morality. I say, I'm a little bit of both.
I am not a Marxist for the reason that I do not agree with most of what Marx had said. I do not think it to be wise or even beneficial to sacrifice the talents of one individual to abolish the injustice that arises from inequality. And I'm not a misguided individualist either. I am a perfectly guided one. I believe that man, by himself, is perhaps the most sentient being nature has created, her finest. He enters into an agreement with other men, of equal or perhaps more, talent to meet his own needs, never seeking refuge from incompetence under the guise of charity.
This is the single individual. The single man, who is endowed with this biological virtue; fine-tuned through years of evolution. True, man has always lived in groups; he was ever in need to cooperation. Not a blatant sense of conformance that shows disdain to his superior intellect just for the one reason that it seems to create inequality between him and the lesser man. Cooperation, then was turned to a forced relation of charity and philanthropy, benefiting not the needy, but the incompetent.
Tell me, is this justice? This, my friends, doesn't fit in my twisted sense of ethics and morality. And a great woman by the name of Ayn Rand showed this- that selfishness is not an undesirable trait- Selflessness, by its most direct meaning, is that itself: the loss of the self. The loss of conviction. The loss of that biological virtue.
Animals either hunt individually, or in packs. That's how nature has programmed them; wolves and lions hunt together, it's the basic philosophy of their existence, and for tigers and vipers, to hunt by themselves. But even pack animals don't give into to mass delusions; a condition to which we humans are so susceptible. We create terms like 'patriotism' and 'teams', with their own set own prescriptive standards; "if you're not this, you can't be that"; "if you're not supporting India, you're a traitor to the cause".
Public opinion is a powerful tool in a democracy. It has the power to change the fate of the nation, for the better or for the worse. The fate of the world has, on many occasions, been safeguarded by public opinion itself; sound and logical thoughts shared by the citizenry. This is where the first contradiction of the modern time arises. The public can, with proper and informed knowledge, be mobilized to do great good that the governments of the world may not even dare to achieve. But, it can also be made slave to delusions, by offering it the sweet nectar of mass conformity. A sense of identity derived from not what we believe in, but believing in what others want us to believe.
Yes, I didn't fight any war, or kill any enemies to show by allegiance to my nation. I don't think any citizen in today's world should ever have to do that. It is so easy for us to direct our nationalism against another nation, or an individual, whilst asserting our love for the motherland. When, at the very some moment, we are sending it to the gutters. Hypocrisy is one thing, a patriotic treason, quite another. I might end up making more enemies than friends through this essay. But I know you, and your tools of subjugation.
How do you defeat a man who loves none but himself? How do yo wound him, when he has no guilt whatsoever, when he risks his own standing in society, by choosing to stand by what he believes in?
The answer is: you cannot defeat him. Kill him, maybe. But not claim victory. Because, the letter 'i' isn't there in the word 'team', but it's there in 'victory'.
You've sacrificed your self worth for the sake of complacence; your identity as a responsible citizen, for the ecstasy of a victory to which you have contributed nothing. To the death of both, a sport and a nation; to create one that suits your twisted sense of ethics and morality.
With that, I sign off on this note...you may agree with me; though most would disagree, violently even. But I am just exercising a right that my nation guarantees me (or maybe it once did), the right to freedom of speech.
You have that right too. Don't forget so; because if you do, then God help our nation.
