2009/10/20 Mario Goveia <mgov...@sbcglobal.net>: > I developed a health disrespect for Indian history as a schoolboy in > India and reading in history books written by some British ...
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:30:43 +0530 From: Frederick Noronha <fredericknoro...@gmail.com> Btw, were you reading history books *still* written by the British when you were a schoolboy in the 1970s? Or did the texts simply take that long to get changed in good ole Jubbulpore :-) Mario responds: Sigh! I wish I were a schoolboy in the 70's:-)) Fred wrote: Also, I was amazed at your ability to write a largely Goa-related post on Goanet! We'll overlook the Bushisms and Saddam tidbits creeping in! Mario responds: The only reason you could be "amazed" is because you are blind to similar posts written by your friends. Fred wrote: It depends what you mean by "Goan". Mario responds: The last time I checked the citizens of Goa are commonly known as "Goans". Even you should know that Goa was turned over to the citizens of Goa when it became a state in 1987. Fred wrote: As you would have realised, as the only voice of reason etc, Goans are a divided lot, and two can seldom agree on matters of history, politics, culture, song, religion, common heroes and the like. There are chasms of differences in perception not just among religions, but also within people living in different areas of Goa, those with affinity to different caste groups, and depending on what point of history they were born at and whether they turned out Anglophone or Lusophone, Konkaniwadi or Marathiwadi. Mario responds: As the lone voice on Goanet of reason, truth and shanti, I almost certainly realized this much before you did, just as I realized that Indians were a divided lot, just like the citizenry of most countries or regions are a "divided lot". Being a divided lot doesn't exempt the citizens of Goa from being "Goans". Fred wrote: Btw, why 1987? You could say 1963. Even the Lieutenant Governor (despite the power he had in paper) was a figurehead, who seldom went against the wishes/advice of the Goa chief minister even in union territory days. Mario responds: Perhaps you could, but, as the lone voice of reason, truth and peace, I could not say 1963, because in 1963 Goa was still a Union Territory administered by an appointee of the President of India. Fred wrote: You are presuming that the system works in a way that (i) by electing the right people, it can be fixed (ii) the system itself works in the interest of the people (iii) 'honest' people can get elected -- despite the huge cost of the carnival called elections -- and will stay honest after getting elected. Mario responds: You are absolutely right. Not being a communist, I automatically presume that a well organized state begins with electing honest people to run it. We also know this from the fact that the worst of the remaining failed states in the world are all communist-style dictatorships (N. Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia) or sham single party democracies for all practical purposes where dictators are elected in sham elections with no real opposition (Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia) Fred wrote: I do not think it does justice to your "only voice of reason" claims to see the issue in such simplistic terms. Mario responds: Actually, your many illogical presumptions above validate my "voice of reason, truth and peace", since Goa has never tried what I have suggested and is a worsening mess. It is your presumption that electing honest politicians will then make no difference to the "system", that elections are "expensive carnivals" and that honest politicians will subsequently become dishonest, that makes no sense. To begin with, the totalitarianism underlying your presumptions is unlikely to prevail in Goa. The "expense" of an election is the cost of being a democracy that is returned in good governance over the long haul, and if a politician perceived to be honest and truthful turns out to be dishonest and untruthful, there is always an election coming up where he or she can be removed - which is a situation we are faced with in the US right now.
