Anil Tewari Reward Points : 17400 Member Since : Friday, April 17, 2009
An observance of the recent political scenario would reveal that there seems to be emerging a tendency of gaining popularity by creating a media buzz. And, almost unexceptionally, it is seen in the practice of passing malicious comment s on the so-called opponent. This tendency is prevailing not only in the new aspirants, but also in some of the established politicians. By this practice, while the former is trying to jump to the top in no time, the latter is either trying to improve on the existing situation or worried about the receding political ground. Is this tendency peculiar to the profession where popularity does matter or it reveals some deeper truth about the psychology of the so-called modern populace? Let us take up this issue for discussion.
Posted On : 4/22/2009 8:56:00 PM
Abhi Tripathi [Guru] Reward Points : 74900 Member Since : Monday, January 07, 2008
Hello Anil, its indeed a very thought provoking post. Thanks. what i personally feel since ages language has been a powerful tool in politics and politicians are its most superfluous users. Be it for good or bad purpose language has always acted as that weapon in politics which so very subtly has charted the career graph of the political leaders. I think passing malicious comments to others is a publicity stunt for the politicians who by doing this tries to carve a niche for himself. yearning for cheap popularity i should say for getting photographed or just to be talked about only leads them to such activities. And why politics this very tendency is very much evident in almost every profession where popularity matters as a tool to graph the career chart
Posted On : 4/22/2009 11:16:13 PM
Indravadan Modi Reward Points : 23300 Member Since : Saturday, January 10, 2009
Posted By : Abhi Tripathi Posted On : 4/22/2009 11:16:13 PM Go
Hello Anil, its indeed a very thought provoking post. Thanks. what i personally feel since ages lang..
well.. i agree with you that it is the sheer yearning for popularity which prompts the political leaders to mouth malicious comments. However my question here remains - can we really say that a popular leader is the ideal leader Why politics only the same thing applies to other fields like acting also. There also we find one commenting on the other just to gain attention. The root problem what I feel lies in the misconception of the idea of being successful and being popular. Popularity might not bring success whereas success will always bring popularity. so i feel that if the political leaders concentrates more on becoming suvvessful in emerging as good leaders then only something good can happen.. otherwise these comments and counter comments will continue leading one to sheer abyss of eternal despair.
Hello again... Well, to be truthful, politics is what it is. Its love and war at its best. Quite frankly, politicians will do anything it takes to get elected. If it means labeling the other candidates, if it means bad mouthing then they go for it. It seems like one moment they re friends, and then the other moment they are foes and at time of contest they can talk the most smack about the other person... i think a sense of insecurity, a dying urge to gain cheap popularity are responsible for such action. what i personally fail to understand is every candidate has their own cons and no one is perfect. then why at all one look at the bad side of the other when the good side is so much better..
Posted By : Anjana chakraborty Posted On : 4/24/2009 12:55:26 AM Go
Hello again... Well, to be truthful, politics is what it is. Its love and war at its best. Quite fra..
Each day there is a news about one abusing the other, uttering bad words. I agree with you all that these are all gimmicks, cheap publicity stunts to remain in the cover page. the question which is now coming to my mind is should at all the politician think about popularity in this way... I understand that popularity matter to politicians because that is a major yardstick which graph their standing among the hoi polloi. But attacking one with bad words is this popularity certainly not Moreover they do it just to shift the attention of the common people.
Posted On : 4/24/2009 3:17:59 AM
Roop Chatterjee Reward Points : 21400 Member Since : Wednesday, February 11, 2009
WELL .. To me there is no shortcut to success and in case of the politicians if popularity is success then also there is no shortcut to popularity. They must earn popularity by doing good and noble jobs not by being abusive or by throwing malicious comment. Because by this they will only loose respect instead of gaining popularity.
Posted On : 4/24/2009 3:30:56 AM
Ratri Basak Reward Points : 37600 Member Since : Thursday, December 13, 2007
Posted By : Roop Chatterjee Posted On : 4/24/2009 3:30:56 AM Go
WELL .. To me there is no shortcut to success and in case of the politicians if popularity is succes..
i read all the posts above .. I just want to add that it is always easy to point out the mistakes of others than focusing on one s own faults. It is same with the politicians also.. they just dont want to concentrate on their own faults while portraying the faults of others in abusive language.. if popularity is the bench mark then let us make positive popularity as the benchmark.
Posted On : 4/24/2009 3:48:12 AM
Mohanlal Chaturvedi Reward Points : 20700 Member Since : Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Hello everybody.. i would just like to say that the politicians are overlooking the thin line between popularity and success. Popularity that too gained in such a cheap way will only have a disastrous effect. Its high time they understand this..
Posted On : 4/24/2009 4:23:07 AM
Anil Tewari Reward Points : 17400 Member Since : Friday, April 17, 2009
Having seen some replies to my post I come back to my question now: Is this tendency peculiar to the profession where popularity does matter or it reveals some deeper truth about the psychology of the so-called modern populace? I took just an example from our political situation and raised a general question. Let me distinguish between popularity and publicity before I come to my point. As it is found in the English dictionaries, popularity is the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after, and publicity is the quality of being open to public view. In the replies I see a kind of intermingling between the senses of these two different but interrelated words. It is obvious from their meanings that if one aspires to become popular, one must be open to public observance. In other words, the latter is a precondition for the former. Now, consider the intention of our politicians and their behaviour. They obviously want their general acceptability and for that they have to open themselves to the public. Consider further, the public opinion about the politicians. Barring only handful, almost all politicians are being looked down. Why? One answer comes to our mind that they could not meet the expectations of the people. And how long can one survive by offering false promises? It is not the only reason for disbelief in the politicians. As a household, one very well knows that there is a limit to fulfill our desires within limited resources. Perhaps it is mere selfish interest of most of the politicians that arouses disbelief in them. Every one knows that it is not the scarcity of funds or resources that obstructs developmental processes. They, of course, are limited, but the people want to see a sincere effort in harnessing them for the welfare of all. It is obvious that the selfish politicians have miserably failed in this. It is basically these fishes who make the pond dirty. And, hence is the emotional exploitation of the common people. Now I am coming to the second half of the question: does this tendency reveal a deeper truth about the psychology of those people who are in the group of major beneficiaries in the so-called development. Are such people not confined to their own interest? If the answer is affirmative, then Ratri Basak is absolutely right in saying that we have the tendency to discount our mistakes and magnify that of others. In blaming politicians are we not falling in this trap? Since the politicians are our representatives, should not we say that they are representing our psychological attitudes also? If we are helpless in getting over our own selfishness, are we not insincere in making hue and cry on political situation? What can easily be done to remove the darkness shout on politicians or improve ourselves or both or something else?
Is There Really Any Shortcut To Popularity?
