On 5/17/07, Udhay Shankar N <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The real issue (to me, at least) is "what kind of society do you want to live in?" One where any random goon's _current_, _public_ interpretation of "morality" and "culture" is what one has to genuflect before? In this context (there's that word again!) crab's comment about it being quite possible to protest the destruction of a lousy painting has resonance. That's not a rhetorical question (or, not _just_ a rhetorical question). Some responses appreciated.
The point that I was trying to make was that in a free society the aforementioned random goon's opinion has as much validity as that of a genteel intellectual. The difficulty, of course, is that the goon is going to be a heckuva lot more loud, direct and violent in his protest than the intellectual. Generally in India, the goons are pandered to rather than quieted down for other voices to be heard. As with many of India's other problems, this can be traced to the fact that the Indian political class is largely made up of 3rd rate criminals. What kind of society do I want to live in? One which is not like the one I actually live in. :-(
