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The rise of the weird: AAP and Kejriwal

AAP confounds me. It doesn't confound because of its stupid bland unhygienically regurgitated theatrics in sole blinders-on aim to gain some credible new bytes before it hits the jackpot just a few weeks away. It does, certainly, but not as much as its firm believers believe in this alien philosophy of nonsense with no roots of politics, economics, sociology or common sense, believe with so firm a mind that an evangelical priest knows where to pitch his tent next.

The reason why these so called politely named AAP-tards (I would actually prefer AAP-turds) are so sadly in need for approval and a flag post to hoist their hopes and dreams that they would hitch onto any weird ideology which sounds good, irrespective of the value, benefits and realism this salesman holds out for them.

I remember the mass waves of hysteria of good old days when Ganeshji was said to drink milk. I really loved it because I saw the most sane of the people, the professors and commissioners et al, diligently trying to queue up to feed Lord Ganesha a few drops of milk. It would have been a great thing to do, except that it wasn't true to any extent.

We have seen this hysteria*, and I also like the word delirium, in several spheres of life, especially in markets that we deal with day in day out. But in politics these kind of events are quite rare. That is because the world of politics moves at a glacial pace, and has any chance of impact only several years apart. Hence, such events are very good learning points for those looking out from their balconies.

Barrack Obama came to power in one such hysteric events when all people wanted to do was to get rid of one person with only one more person as an alternative. Therefore, it was not much of an hysteria as much it was of lack of opportunity and choice.

Put it in this context the rise and din of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP (we have dealt with these themes before, see the archives), is far removed, and not so far too. However, just like Barrack Obama, here is a guy with absolutely no policy clarity what so ever, on any issue or departments what so ever, trying to gobble up the public mind space only on one and only one theme of  - providing an alternative!

Funnily, and tragically, people are falling for this gamble. So desperate and befuddled are these people that they cannot look beyond their conditioned stereotypes and propaganda mindset that they are barely able to analyse the actual opportunities in a logical manner. THIS, is why I find this entire sequence of events puzzling and even hysterical.

And just as I was thinking of this an interesting mail with a video link drops by, which probably gives a lot succinct explanation of why people fall for such bull.

This rise of AAP, and the chaos its created, is an interesting sociological case, much like the post-Wiemar (as I have often mentioned in these blogs), leading to almost hysterical frenzy of following the 'dream' of 'purity' in (public) life (/race). For lots of people who trade and watch market psychology in action, this mass lemming-like behavior is an excellent point of view to learn, study and analyze, and if it does really break anything in the election - whine about it.

This is the link to that video: Michael Shermer: Why people believe weird things

Then, until next time, stay sane.

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*I love these dictionary definitions of hysteria so much that I will quote it here fully

Hysteria (noun) 

1. exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement.

2. an old-fashioned term for a psychological disorder characterized by conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization) or a change in self-awareness (such as a fugue state or selective amnesia) 


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