"Ruining people is considered sport" - Brutal reality of Politics in USA & India; Spiritual org. politics
Given below is some of my part (edited) of a mail conversation I had recently:
Well, after Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Mahasamadhi (April 2011), I studied Indian and international political happenings. And given the massive amount of info. easily available on the Internet, I got a lot of insights into, not only how decisions get taken in Indian state and union govt. levels, but also about how it happens in some states of the USA and in Washington D.C.
I don't know how much exposure you have to politics. But it is brutal. I recently read about the Whitewater controversy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy, that had some negative impact on Bill Clinton's (USA) presidency (not that I believed the allegations; just was noting how the game was played to understand contemporary politics). Vince Foster, long time friend of Hillary Clinton, who was Deputy White House Counsel in the first few months of the Bill Clinton presidency, is reported to have committed suicide out of depression. I think this extract from his wiki, says it all about politics then (which continues today) in both USA and India, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Foster:
A suicide note of sorts, in actuality a draft resignation letter, was found torn into 27 pieces in his briefcase. The letter contained a list of complaints, specifically including, "The WSJ editors lie without consequence" and lamenting, "I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport."
--- end wiki extract ---
This is the brutal reality of politics - "ruining people is considered sport". I have seen that happening in India too, in my study of Indian politics after Swami Mahasamadhi.
...
BUT political (verbal) attacks have their CHANGE impact like the USA anti-current-establishment candidate Dave Brat, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brat, (verbally) attacking then USA House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cantor, and defeating him in a 2014 primary contest which seems to have shaken up the USA Republican party.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brat :
Brat's primary victory over Cantor made him the first primary challenger to oust a sitting House Majority Leader since the position's creation in 1899, and is considered one of the biggest upsets in congressional history.
...
Brat ran against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for the Republican nomination for Virginia's 7th congressional district and defeated Cantor by a 12-point margin. Brat was outspent by Cantor 40 to 1: Cantor spent over $5 million, while Brat raised $200,000 and did not spend all of it. Brat's primary campaign was managed by 23-year-old Zachary Werrell. An analysis of campaign filings conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics concluded that Brat did not receive any donations from political action committees and ultimately conceded, "it's almost impossible to profile Brat's typical donor, because he had so few." Brat's win was a historic and stunning victory, as it was the first time a sitting House Majority Leader was defeated in his primary race since the position was created in 1899.
Compared with Cantor, described as aloof, Brat was characterized as knowing how to work a crowd. He ran an anti-establishment campaign criticizing government bailouts and budget deals while frequently invoking God and the Constitution in his speeches. During the campaign, Cantor criticized Brat as a "liberal professor" who had strong ties to Tim Kaine, Virginia's former Democratic governor and current junior Senator.
--- end wiki extracts ---
If you have not seen these videos related to their 2014 campaign, it is worth a look: Dave Brat around 7 min speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRai-bDYuFc and Eric Cantor around 7 and a 1/2 min speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkp2M1sMGUw.
...
Most people want to be in their comfort zone. Truth that shakes them from their comfort zone does not interest them, and so they do not want to know it.
...
I am not at all worried about engaging in Sai spiritual debates with anybody who is willing to stay within the Lakshman Rekha (red lines) of being polite and not indulging in any sort of violence. But I am not good at political leadership kind-of thing. I am very, very strong on logical debates, on software, god & science, Sai Baba, spiritual fraud etc. Hope you don't mind me blowing my own bugle a bit :-). Where I am still a learner is about how to handle the groupism, politics, back-stabbing kind of thing that, very unfortunately, is part-and-parcel of large spiritual organization realities. But some people are masters in that area :-). Anyway, I don't intend to get involved in such stuff - but even in my writing, as it impacts such stuff, I see reactions/comments from readers, which seem to have its roots in these political issues rather than logical or spiritual issues.
Well, after Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Mahasamadhi (April 2011), I studied Indian and international political happenings. And given the massive amount of info. easily available on the Internet, I got a lot of insights into, not only how decisions get taken in Indian state and union govt. levels, but also about how it happens in some states of the USA and in Washington D.C.
I don't know how much exposure you have to politics. But it is brutal. I recently read about the Whitewater controversy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_controversy, that had some negative impact on Bill Clinton's (USA) presidency (not that I believed the allegations; just was noting how the game was played to understand contemporary politics). Vince Foster, long time friend of Hillary Clinton, who was Deputy White House Counsel in the first few months of the Bill Clinton presidency, is reported to have committed suicide out of depression. I think this extract from his wiki, says it all about politics then (which continues today) in both USA and India, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Foster:
A suicide note of sorts, in actuality a draft resignation letter, was found torn into 27 pieces in his briefcase. The letter contained a list of complaints, specifically including, "The WSJ editors lie without consequence" and lamenting, "I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport."
--- end wiki extract ---
This is the brutal reality of politics - "ruining people is considered sport". I have seen that happening in India too, in my study of Indian politics after Swami Mahasamadhi.
...
BUT political (verbal) attacks have their CHANGE impact like the USA anti-current-establishment candidate Dave Brat, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brat, (verbally) attacking then USA House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cantor, and defeating him in a 2014 primary contest which seems to have shaken up the USA Republican party.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brat :
Brat's primary victory over Cantor made him the first primary challenger to oust a sitting House Majority Leader since the position's creation in 1899, and is considered one of the biggest upsets in congressional history.
...
Brat ran against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for the Republican nomination for Virginia's 7th congressional district and defeated Cantor by a 12-point margin. Brat was outspent by Cantor 40 to 1: Cantor spent over $5 million, while Brat raised $200,000 and did not spend all of it. Brat's primary campaign was managed by 23-year-old Zachary Werrell. An analysis of campaign filings conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics concluded that Brat did not receive any donations from political action committees and ultimately conceded, "it's almost impossible to profile Brat's typical donor, because he had so few." Brat's win was a historic and stunning victory, as it was the first time a sitting House Majority Leader was defeated in his primary race since the position was created in 1899.
Compared with Cantor, described as aloof, Brat was characterized as knowing how to work a crowd. He ran an anti-establishment campaign criticizing government bailouts and budget deals while frequently invoking God and the Constitution in his speeches. During the campaign, Cantor criticized Brat as a "liberal professor" who had strong ties to Tim Kaine, Virginia's former Democratic governor and current junior Senator.
--- end wiki extracts ---
If you have not seen these videos related to their 2014 campaign, it is worth a look: Dave Brat around 7 min speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRai-bDYuFc and Eric Cantor around 7 and a 1/2 min speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkp2M1sMGUw.
...
Most people want to be in their comfort zone. Truth that shakes them from their comfort zone does not interest them, and so they do not want to know it.
...
I am not at all worried about engaging in Sai spiritual debates with anybody who is willing to stay within the Lakshman Rekha (red lines) of being polite and not indulging in any sort of violence. But I am not good at political leadership kind-of thing. I am very, very strong on logical debates, on software, god & science, Sai Baba, spiritual fraud etc. Hope you don't mind me blowing my own bugle a bit :-). Where I am still a learner is about how to handle the groupism, politics, back-stabbing kind of thing that, very unfortunately, is part-and-parcel of large spiritual organization realities. But some people are masters in that area :-). Anyway, I don't intend to get involved in such stuff - but even in my writing, as it impacts such stuff, I see reactions/comments from readers, which seem to have its roots in these political issues rather than logical or spiritual issues.
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