Thriving on enmities
We survive on our enemies. Some of us even thrive on them. We have to have at-least one established enemy who better be hell-bound so that it is conferred upon us that we are the force of good. We must be against a force of evil if we are to proclaim that we are fighting the ultimate cause of righteousness. The illusion of cohesiveness among people is also best promulgated by providing a unanimously accepted enemy. That is one string that serves to connect all in a loop.
For the democratic camp that enemy may be a collection of all who can be defined as undemocratic. This helps a politician carry the ultimate virtue of representing people and of being someone who is pushing back the dictators and power hungry zealots, however, his achievements may be insignificant. Whoever comes up with the notion that all undemocratic forces are against him has to bring up the maximum count of enemies ‘on his side’, to be well placed as a man for the people. This is a recognition that takes a democratic leader’s personal achievements out of context and makes him grow in stature depending on how bad his undemocratic rivals have been, as a kind, throughout the history.
For the establishment, the beloved enemy is corruption. This is such a beautiful concept that people can never argue against it. Corruption as an enemy is highly useful when you can always come up with the thought that it is an elected public leader who must be the purest of the pure and must be subjected to all the scrutiny before everyone else. Hence, if corruption is your enemy you would love to scrutinise those involved in corruption. A world sans corruption would mean that those in the air-conditioned offices must be dragged out to the pleasure of those who have been waiting perpetually outside these gates of heavens, holding their ID cards to their chest, in a queue that makes them look like a herd of sheep that is waiting for the shepherd to decide between the food and the stick. Hence, corruption is an enemy that gets the directionless behind it easily. Those naming corruption as their enemy might be abiding happily in the same barricaded heavens denying entry to the commoners but the masses have lost the capacity to understand that; they can’t be blamed for becoming sheepish waiting in that queue under the mercy of hot summer sun.
Then there is the most conveniently, adaptable enemy you may ever wish for. This enemy gives the opportunity of innumerable fresh starts to the social thought of otherwise ideologically deprived hordes. This enemy can become a friend whenever a breeze of fresh perspective is to be breathed among the people. On need only basis, such an enemy is always at your disposal to come to haunt the people again as the “monster he always was”. You can play cricket with this enemy and you can test your muscles against him. You can watch his cinema and you can ban his cinema. You can defy the world who thought you were born to be opposing poles by hugging this enemy during the most tense of moments. You may also slap this enemy when you want his monstrous side to surface again. This is a highly useful enemy. You may turn him into your opposite in the name of religion and religious history and you may turn him into your mirror image in the name of culture and cultural history. You can get everyone excited when the friendship is on the rise with this enemy and, yet, you can get all equally ecstatic when the animosity is to be desired from the same enemy. Best of all you can do this flip as many times as you want it. It gets better every time.
When the animosity is to be summoned from this despicable enemy, equally stronger ideas must flow again for the people to feel standing united in their hate for this enemy
When the air of friendship is on the rise against this enemy, this change may be presented as unpredictable, unprecedented and as the underlying good of human form. This is so very appealing and highly commendable .This is the crux of all goodness and all virtue, and this may also serve as a sign to the whole humanity that peace was always destined to replace wars. Now these are very strong ideas and the hordes of directionless must now stand united for this cause that is beyond the scale of all known history.
When the animosity is to be summoned from this despicable enemy, equally stronger ideas must flow again for the people to feel standing united in their hate for this enemy. This time the whole weight of wars and discords of centuries is brought forward to make the enemy look like the only existing problem that must be overcome to achieve some kind of stability and peace. Earlier the peace lay in harmony with this enemy but now it lays in his complete and utter destruction. Such a convenient enemy, it gives you all you want at the push of a button.
You must keep the timing of your friendship and animosity right when it comes to this special enemy. When you are at the helm of affairs he must be your friend for you must consider economic good of all. This is the time for cricket and Kabaddi (traditional sport). When someone else is considering doing the same you must know that this is the time to sabotage the friendship and your dear enemy comes back to life to save the day for you. We survive on our enemies. Some of us even thrive on them.
