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Arundhati Roy & the Facade Of Democracy
One of the world’s best writers breaks it down
“The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.”
Arundhati Roy, the fantastic writer from India, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for The God of Small Things, has relevant things to say on democracy, regarding her country and in turn, America and the world. Her comments apply to America, because as she has noted, America is the model for the world. Countries follow our model.
While India and America are not totally the same in their current tension points, they are both countries that hold themselves out as democracies. They are also free market nations that believe mostly in unfettered capitalism of the few at the expense of the many.
India and America are caste based societies who are fighting a civil war with authoritarian rule. India is losing (the Hindu nationalists are winning, I guess you can say). Prime Minister Modi remains in power and has hit the accelerator. Modi’s hardcore supporters have literally called for open violence on the country’s Muslims and also the Sikh population at times.
In America, the war marches on. The goal, by some, is to stop authoritarianism in its tracks. For others, it is to also punish those who sought to overthrow the government on…