The rise of the liberal-right intellectual: Rajgopal Saikumar

[prasad1]

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In India, the media has been substantially growing since the 1990s. With print media, television, websites, blogs, twitter and a competitive publishing industry, there is a growing demand for opinions and comments on matters of public concern. Television channels are criticised for giving more opinion than reporting facts. Opinion pages in newspapers have an extremely wide readership, in print and digital. There is a growing demand on the Internet for alternative media, and blogs are becoming influential platforms for critique and dissent.
The public intellectual market is only partly about the content; it’s a lot more about reputation and credibility. Mr. Posner refers to the Aristotelian category of “ethical appeal” in the public intellectual rhetoric. Ethical appeal is an appeal to authority, credentials and character rather than the merit of the argument. For instance, some Nobel laureates who would’ve spent much of their lives in isolated research in laboratories, suddenly, on winning the prize, find a voice to comment on peace and social welfare. India has some famous ‘IIT-IIM graduates turned novelists turned public intellectuals’ who do the same. The same logic also grants legitimacy to the several IT moguls and business tycoons to impose their ideas of politics, welfare and justice, even when the content of their arguments deserves no merit.

This raises two important considerations. One is that we need to understand the special nature of this neoliberal demand in order to think about the skewed nature of supply. The nature of this demand is so highly commodified and overwhelmingly materialistic that sometimes the intellectual class resists acting in bad conscience, refusing to be objectified by such a market. The demand for intellectuals in mainstream media is not for a critical or radical politics, but for tacky commentary.

The second point is that younger academic intellectuals are yet to grapple with their identity in these growing, private and wealthier academic spaces. The dilemma is between our cultural baggage of the ‘jhola carrying left-liberal professor’ imagination, vis-à-vis the privileged, consumptive careerism in private universities and think tanks, travelling for international conferences. Until we grapple with this dilemma of identity and location in the academic markets, our actions will continue to be confused and fickle. The silence of scholars that Professor Thapar laments is due to the staleness and failure of the left-liberal scholars to stand up and face these new challenges.

The rise of the liberal-right intellectual - The Hindu

 

[krish44]

The opening out of india post 1990 has given rise to a new articulate class of IT multi millionaires and business tycoons

in telecom and other industries. They are misusing their positions of eminence to articulate their views on

political,religeous,culture and poverty issues.Some IIT,IIM graduates feel attracted by these figures than their

thinking to promote the cause of the super rich when 70 percent of indias population is poor.

their articulations are immoral and nothing to be proud about. If one carefully studies their outpourings, they try to

project that their thoughts are ethical and moral and more a justification of their way of living.

Some liberal right intellectuals are trying to emerge to justify the actions of these elements and trying to find a

space for themselves.

with the collapse of russia and the left in india, liberal left intellectuals are getting marginalised. They are unable to


confront and challenge the emerging forces of right liberalism.

It is just intellectual bankruptcy of left liberal who do not have role models to emulate and look up to after Nehru.

What india requires is new set of young leaders with some feelings for the poor and promote an ideology which will

ensure the needs of the poor are addressed and indias poor can look forward to a better life.

India has no shortage of brain power. we have to wait for a new order with fresh thinking which will satisfy the needs

of the majority of indias population which is silent and suffering.

 

[Vaagmi]

The opening out of india post 1990 has given rise to a new articulate class of IT multi millionaires and business tycoons

in telecom and other industries. They are misusing their positions of eminence to articulate their views on

political,religeous,culture and poverty issues.Some IIT,IIM graduates feel attracted by these figures than their

thinking to promote the cause of the super rich when 70 percent of indias population is poor.

their articulations are immoral and nothing to be proud about. If one carefully studies their outpourings, they try to

project that their thoughts are ethical and moral and more a justification of their way of living.

Some liberal right intellectuals are trying to emerge to justify the actions of these elements and trying to find a

space for themselves.

with the collapse of russia and the left in india, liberal left intellectuals are getting marginalised. They are unable to


confront and challenge the emerging forces of right liberalism.

It is just intellectual bankruptcy of left liberal who do not have role models to emulate and look up to after Nehru.

What india requires is new set of young leaders with some feelings for the poor and promote an ideology which will

ensure the needs of the poor are addressed and indias poor can look forward to a better life.

India has no shortage of brain power. we have to wait for a new order with fresh thinking which will satisfy the needs

of the majority of indias population which is silent and suffering.

There is nothing great about the left intellectual liberal.
He was looked up to with awe and respect whenever he spoke about one generation sacrificing so that the subsequent generations can live happily. In fact when sacrifices continued through generations he did not have an answer because he was equally in the dark about the forces at work.
At the drop of a hat he used to tell his fired up comrades that the problems faced by them was due to the benevolent dictatorship of the proletariat. And his proletariat turned out to be rowdies of the worst kind who were time servers and collaborators.
So the left intellectual was at best a scare-crow.
With the collapse of soviet and the neo capitalism of the chinese proletariats he lost his script too and was orphaned overnight. Technology, time, events and science overtook him and he was too slow to keep pace.
Thus we have him today sitting in the arm-chair reminiscing about those revolutionary days. Poor thing. He just lives in his past memories.
Nehru's left leaning was a deliberate ploy in politics. He needed to capture a space for himself and he did that. He wanted to make the teeming poor millions subscribe to a slogan and he cleverly coined democratic socialism-an anachronism by itself. It served him well as he could get respect in the world and save his country from being gobbled up by the capitalists of the world. His 5 year plans were unique and he feverishly built up huge assets for the country -feverishly by Indian standards.
It is on this base that today's India rests smugly. It is even able to sell a few of these family silvers for a huge price in today's integrated markets to invest in american treasury notes-financing uncle Sam.
The credit for dumping the left intellectualism formally goes to that crafty brahmin PM PV Narasimha Rao. Nowadays we do not hear much about the democratic socialism in the congress sammelans. People have quietly forgotten it. The orphaning of the left intellectual is complete.
In Bengal it is a story forgotten.
In Kerala comrades are at each other's throat.
And the indian intellectual-not the left variety-is enjoying the tamasha. LOL.

 

[mkrishna100]

Thus we have him today sitting in the arm-chair reminiscing about those revolutionary days. Poor thing. He just lives in his past memories.

In Bengal it is a story forgotten.
In Kerala comrades are at each other's throat.

:amen:

 

[krish44]

liberal indian intellectuals swinging from one extreme to another like a pendulam shows utter bankruptcy of this class of people.

Simply clapping hands for demise of the left does not solve the problem of poverty of the millions.

A new leader who faces the basic issues of indian economy boldly involving large sections of our unemployed population , skilled , semi and unskilled in large

infrastrucure and other projects , creating wage structures reducing the differential between the upper and lower classes, opening education ,medical care for all

sections, putting to an end to the consumerist culture aping the western countries will be welcomed by the majority of population.

just opening up the economy dismantling controls mindlessly has created social unrest for which in times to come , a heavy price will have to be paid by large sections of

population slipping further into more poverty, India will cease to be a place where people can live in peace and prosper.

indian intellectuals have let the country down . they have not worked to give fresh ideas and thoughts to the ruling classes to make them develop policies and

programmes for both development and equitable progress by all sections of people

 

[krish44]

What does the new dispensation stand for. a heady dose of capitalism with minimal control combined with religeous intolerant cheering sadhus, saffron clad thugs

advocating women bearing 4 or five children to save hinduism. creating communal tension all over the country to get a few votes, grabbing land of poor farmers to build

apartment complexes. Did we get freedom for all these things

Is this what our liberal right intellectuals advocating?

who are they in the first place? these are mostly invisible.Theyhave to be imported from US universities, world bank and american think tanks.

already some have joined the indian babu class in key economic ministries.Others will get in to damage our institutions built over last 50 years.

we will be like our neighbours looking upto western countries for day to day needs

 

[V.Balasubramani]

liberal indian intellectuals swinging from one extreme to another like a pendulam shows utter bankruptcy of this class of people.

Simply clapping hands for demise of the left does not solve the problem of poverty of the millions.

A new leader who faces the basic issues of indian economy boldly involving large sections of our unemployed population , skilled , semi and unskilled in large

infrastrucure and other projects , creating wage structures reducing the differential between the upper and lower classes, opening education ,medical care for all

sections, putting to an end to the consumerist culture aping the western countries will be welcomed by the majority of population.

just opening up the economy dismantling controls mindlessly has created social unrest for which in times to come , a heavy price will have to be paid by large sections of

population slipping further into more poverty, India will cease to be a place where people can live in peace and prosper.

indian intellectuals have let the country down . they have not worked to give fresh ideas and thoughts to the ruling classes to make them develop policies and

programmes for both development and equitable progress by all sections of people

Unfounded blah blah