Sympathy and Apathy

I am watching Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 right now. In spite of this damning documentary Bush got reelected for a second time. One can only wonder if this probably shows the apathy of the American public to their own condition. It would be interesting to find out what Americans that the rest of the world should think about them. Many of them probably can't even point out 'the rest of the world' on a map. Their national sporting events are titled 'world series' if I am not mistaken. I am sadly reminded of the term koopastha mandookah - a frog in a well from that famous parable.

September 11 was undoubtedly a tragedy for the US and a lot of other countries who lost their citizens as well. But one reaction outside the US would definitely have been 'serves them right'. This would have been the case especially in India which has long been a victim of terrorism so conveniently ignored by the US in aid of its friend, Pakistan (probably not VERY different even now).

Another point shown in the documentary is how people from the undeveloped parts of the US were being recruited into the US armed forces. This is on the lines of a thought that I had myself when I was an NCC cadet. When I was at BIT Mesra we had to take a non-academic activity as part of the educational requirements. I had chosen the NCC as I was told it was an option that did not involve a whole lot of work. Well, it was true. I attended a camp once in Ranchi that was organized by the Air Force NCC company (I think that is the right word, I was in the Army wing). Many of the cadets I saw seemed to be from the lower strata of the society (economically or otherwise). When I wrote my B certificate exam (the details of which I do not want to reveal for reasons of my own) I had to attend an interview also. I was asked a question as to why there are not many south Indians in the armed forces. I gave them an answer I could think of at that point of time. When I later told this to a senior of mine he gave me a reason which seems the most logical. In south India there are a lot of job opportunities. Hence people need not look at the armed forces as career options. This is not true in the case of places like Bihar (at least erstwhile Bihar) where there were not many job options. The same can probably be said to be the reason for the proliferation of Biharis in the civil services.

So, is this the right thing to happen? Somehow this does not seem right. I talked about this some time back also. Even after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai people in south Mumbai did not come out to vote (I myself have not voted till now to be honest, I can try and justify, though I probably should not). Does the upper class of the country (and to an extent the middle class) really care about it? The Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary showcases how the Bush family's business interests seem to take precedence over their responsibility towards US citizens. Even in case of the lower classes I am sure they vote because they WANT something, not because out a feeling of patriotic duty. In this light, probably making voting compulsory does not seem such a bad thing after all.