The common man has lost his ability to protest.
I remember my school and college days in 1970s and 1980's when the common man was not afraid to take to the street in droves to protest against price rise and other issues affecting him. Of course, he was aided by the various political parties who used grass root workers to mobize them. This was true especially of my home state Kerala. Everyone was politically and socially very consious. I have heard arguments, and even I make them, that today's generation is blessed with information explosion that makes them more knowledgable than our generation. But pertaining to socially relevant causes, the current generation falls way short. They are more informative about macro problems like global warming, carbon emission, financial crisis than about matters that affect their day to day life.
R K Laxman's famous caricature of the common man (see above), in his legendary cartoons that spanned a few decades for Times of India, was always a bystander and never spoke one word. Then, I had thought that this was a misnormer, for the common man was very vocal. Maybe he was ahead of his times, like most geniuses are.
Today's protests on the streets are more for the TV cameras. The hype created by TV channels about protests 'all over the country' is laughable, as it shows maximum ten people shouting some slogans for the sake of the camera and then vanishing. Gone are the days when thousands march in protest showing their strength. A more materialistic life style, a sense of futility, lack of faith in government listening to the common man, chaging culture of political parties that have become highly centralized in decision making, lack of incentives for grassroot level leaders to organize protests, and a general apathy towards social and political causes have led to this pathetic scenario.
It is because there are no massive street level protests, that the Governments are getting away with double digit inflation for the past few months and the food inflation is hovering at 20%.
No one gives a damn for the common man. Well, he himself doesn't give a damn for himself. Then why blame the Government. The common man gets the government he deserves.
