This blog post is from Factory of the Mind blog written by Shantanu

I read a few blog posts about how our march to modernity is ruining life, depleting values and causing massive exploitation. People like me, who’ve ‘stepped out’ of the mainstream regularly express themselves on such issues. Based on such articles and on my experience during the last few years, I’ve realised that we’ve come to belong to a category of idiots – absolute idiots.

We are able to see and very clearly articulate the follies of the system – the education system, the economic system, the governance system, the social system. We are able to see clearly and articulate the exploitation of the human resources, the natural resources, animals and birds. We are also able to articulate solutions, at least a direction in which the exploitation can be avoided, the follies can be overcome. But we are naive enough to believe that others cannot see them. We offer talks and discourses thinking that we’re the prophets. People listen to our rambling and agree wholeheartedly, but also ignore it. Neither the ruling party is interested nor the opposition. Neither the industrialist is interested nor the consumer. Neither the media is interested nor its audience. Neither is the exploiter bothered nor the exploited. That is the ultimate proof of our idiocy. The farmer, for whose cause we are prepared to take on the government does all he can to ensure that his children don’t have to get into farming. The unskilled worker, whose life we thought is better off in the village, is willing to grab half a chance to run to the city and live in miserable conditions. The parent, whose children are being ill-educated by the system isn’t interested in any ‘real’ education. He wants his child to pass the system and make a life for himself. Aren’t we idiots – fighting someone else’s battle, when that someone else himself is on the ‘other’ side.

We think of ourselves as brave pioneers of a new way of life. We think we’re an inspiration and hope for people, who want to take a plunge into bravery. Indeed, we’re idiots – for we are nothing more than a source of entertainment for them. They never call on us. When we repeatedly invite them, organise events for them, they oblige us by coming over. They enjoy the romantic side of our lives and make us feel good about it. To make us feel better, they even share a desire of living a life like ours, but soon forget all about it. Then we’re not expected to disturb them – this chapter is over for them. We, the idiots, tell ourselves that we must go on…one in a thousand or ten thousand will be moved to act!

All this is still not the true representation of our idiocy. There are very few idiots like us, who walk out of a system, without insurance. But all of us want to live independently. We aren’t inclined to collaborate in order to improve our own lives. We hold the flags of our ideologies high, make small compromise every day, but to approach someone with another flag will be to lose identity.

God save us.