Reflections of Rajaram Bojji

The weakness in pursuing clear cut paths and objectives is rampant in politics. It is the art of possible. So ethics, values and strong positions needed to be taken in war time crisis like situation will be thrown overboard when the going gets tough for the political party in power. Real war unites a nation and society. But the diabetic like disease, invisible, but deeply debilitating is deceptive and our financial system and economy are in the throes of such debilitating disease. It does not look like the black and white war situation which all can understand. But spreading hunger and depression with more and more joining the ranks of jobless, grievously hurts the society. But the enemy is invisible to the suffering population. If intellectuals and economists are able to unite and define the parameters in very scientific terms and indices and remedies too in as much clear cut terms, instead of leaving it to some long winding interpretations and widely differing approaches to attack ...

How do we define a failed state? When do we define the state to be sound? The various checks and balances we accept in a democratic society have to be based on the pillars of justice, laws , equal opportunity for all to grow, equity for all, some affirmative action to take care of poor and down trodden and those unfortunates to be cared for by those who do well- if a state can ensure this can we call it a sound one? If all the opposites occur can we say state has failed? Can we identify the thresholds of some identified parameters to give us different degrees of the health of a state on a scale of 1 to 5 – and give warning signs before a state fails? It cannot be 0 or 1 case- the degradation has to be gradual spread over years and similarly building back the framework of values has to be long drawn out affair. Merely holding a dictator in position and supporting a coterie with weapons and fear promoted in the ruled, cannot make a state, I believe.