Politics unable to deliver

The virus (misuse of power and influence; indiscipline, and absence of punishment) has spread to practically all the sectors of society. There is no clean group left to carry out the cleaning, and subsequent reforms. The scenario prevails in many developing nations (look closely at Africa and S America, not to speak of Asia).

The political parties are fighting amongst themselves in an isolated manner. There is practically no interface with the masses (voters). General elections have become meaningless. Since the politicians cannot be relied upon, there is one basic way to bring about a dramatic change shatter the black money market.

The system diagram or flow chart is too complex, as it is a multi-faceted operation. How to select and insulate the operators of this major operation? Can we run it without bringing in outside entities? Nowadays money can buy almost anything, then what is priceless when something valueless becomes expensive?

Look at the costs of an election campaign by an individual candidate. Genuine social workers (and future leaders) cannot serve from the political camp. Outside the political arena there is no support structure. The role of the NGOs is different; it is non-political, and is more professional than national, while the people's representatives have to belong to some socially-defined group; which are, generally, the political parties.

Bad politics cannot be reformed in the larger presence of corruption and black money. Outsiders cannot, and should not, carry out this operation. Mass movement comes in. It is back to zero, but now the fight (targets) would be within the local societies.

Self-cleansing is not that easy. The price is very high, in lives and assets. None of the culprits would surrender, under the spell of black wealth (and temporary protection). It is not gardening; trimming the branches. The roots have to be uprooted.

What are the sources of national strength and stamina for this long campaign? The start has been noticed in many countries, but the tendency is to wither out after a while. The majority live around the poverty line. A microscopic minority is riding the waves. So?

A start has to be made for generating public opinion for a united stand by the majority. It means revolution? There are short-cuts, but the abiding vicious circles are tenacious. More character is needed than numbers (quantity versus quality). There is dearth of good, honest leadership, willing to suffer with persistent patience and courage. The spirit of sacrifice has rusted. The IT age has increased the communication gap!

The awareness is there on what to do, but how to carry it out?