Saturday, September 10, 2011

Motivation for a Party for the Middle Classes

Hello everyone
I don't want to act politically. In fact, being a public agent, I can't do it even if I want to.
Yet faced with the political choices before us, I guess somebody has to act.
So, it has to be someone else.

I made this blog because the events of the last few months, the Arab Spring as well as the London riots have motivated us to see that when people do boldly rise, change happens. A glimmer of hope.
I would prefer that I use my talents for solving, or at least analysing, poverty and related development issues in India or Africa or South East Asia.
Unfortunately, every time I meet people and request funding, they ask me what about France?
Well if you look after France, I could go about my work. But if no one is looking at France, I guess someone has to take the lead. And so, I now have to answer their question: yes what can I do for France?
Now, don't get me wrong. I do not have anything against the current leaders or the bright kids from the French Admininstration school ENA. If this is the brightest France has got, well we have to accept our lot in life. And the lot in life is what we have today. Such is France! Well, you get what you vote for. And politically, I am not a change agent since I am a public agent. But I can offer you my analysis of the current political and economic impasse since I have been fortunate enough to receive a good education in India and France.


My analysis is that if you don't like what you have today, the next leaders are not going to be better if you pick them from the same pack. The problem is that academically and theoretically, they just don't know what to do. This is probably, in my personal opinion, the failure of their teachers. Their teachers are oudtated for this world of ICT and globalisation and new criteria of social responsibility and merit.

To understand why: take this simplistic viewpoint of a politician's role which has probably existed for at least a few centuries.

A politician's role is to keep chiefs of different tribes happy so that they live together peacefully and to ensure that people are controlled so that they don't disturb the chiefs. Sounds like Africa?
Now try this

A politician's role is to keep the super rich happy so that they don't compete with each other and destroy each other's fortune and to ensure that the middle classes and the poor are controlled so that they don't disturb the rich. For this they take from the middle class and give to the poor. Sound like Europe or USA?

Do you see the difference? Is there one?

So, the most basics of marketing would suggest we need to first raise the question of what we want? And if we want to give the people what they want, then we need to find out objectively what they want.
We don't know what they want, but they certainly don't want growth, the only mantra of the existing parties. If they wanted growth, they would be spending money and creating effective demand. If they're not doing that, they may be wanting something else. Is anyone trying to find out what they want?
Well I can tell you one more thing that the middle classes don't want: they don't want to pay any more taxes and find that the rich people are handing out small change to show their magnanimity.

1 comment:

  1. Note: Since then the Chambers of Commerce has spun out my school as an NGO. So, technically, I can now be a political actor.

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