A See-saw of Democracy

Black swan(book i'm now reading) is quite difficult to understand, especially for someone like me whose only knowledge of philosophy is limited to the syllabus i studied in the moral science books during my school years .I wonder if moral science is categorized under philosophy, because all i remember reading in those books are anecdotes describing how good deeds are rewarded, how to imbibe good values within oneself........ etc,etc.
While reading The Black Swan i came across two philosophy terms-Mediocristan and Extremistan,which i am proud to claim to have understood them(at least superficially). Black Swan illustrates Mediocristan as "When the sample is large no significant instance will significantly change the aggregate or total". Mediocristan refers to the Indian middle and lower class  which outnumber the remaining and overrule any singular event which is executed with an intention to impact the masses in a bad/good way. In other words the effect imposed by any element which lie outside the periphery of Mediocritanism is very subtle and can be easily mitigated by the masses which have major contribution to overall average.For example, events  like 26/11 which was a singular and major event perpetrated to destabilize the nation did not have lasting effect as they(perpetrators) had wished for, after a couple of days of mourning the entire city of Mumbai got back to its daily routine,this is where Mediocristanism played its part.
Extremistan is exactly opposite. According to the book "In extremistan, inequalities are such that one single observation can disproportionately impact the aggregate ".Best example of Extremistan is Indian government's yesterdays decision to increase the fuel price, this although a singular event had a huge impact on the aggregate i.e Indian public.Another example is 9/11 ,a singular event but had enormous after effects resulting an altogether shift in paradigm as far as issue like security is concerned.
One positive trait of any democratic nation is its ability to switch between Extremistan and Mediocristan attitude.For instance, when it comes to increase in fuel prices we adapt to extremistanism and accept that  increase in price was done out of necessity owing to decrease in rupee's value as opposed to dollar.We allow the price hike to affect us until we get used to it and the new rate of Rs.71.83 per litre becomes a new normal.
But when it comes to social/security issues -Mediocrity rules.I have already explained how we switched over to mediocritism when dealing with 26/11 after math.But what about issues like corruption,which side do we switch to?Remember the Lokpal saga?, when Anna Hazare protested for the Lokpal Bill we switched over to Extremistan and collectively made ourselves vulnerable to be impacted by this singular event(Anna's 15 days fast).When government made a blunder by arresting Anna,which was against the basic rights offered by constitution we felt the unbalance created by the governement between mediocristan and extremistan.This aggravated the scale of protest and government had no option but to relent before Mediocristan.Mediocristan Rules!.
My point is, democracy is like a game of see-saw between Mediocristanism and Extremistanism where the people have to be aware of the issues they are facing and not allow any trivial issues to affect them.Also they should switch over between these two categories wisely for the purpose of greater good.
   

UTOPIAN OR DYSTOPIAN, YOU DECIDE!

I was bit sceptical regarding the title, but I guess the content below will hopefully provoke the reader to self introspect and also give reason for above title.

We live in a society which is democratic, secular and most importantly an open society which means we are conferred the freedom to do anything we like. But we tend to take this freedom for granted and don’t realize its importance or its profound impact which tends to shape our thought which in turn shapes our action and life in a broader perspective.

Imagine yourself in a situation where you are being watched, your every move is being watched, your every word is being listened to and you’re every thought being discerned. Watched by a force so immense which is beyond the realm of your imagination, watched by an authority so powerful that although you cannot see it
but you can feel its presence everywhere. Confused??? Same was the state of mind
of protagonist Winston Smith described in the book ‘1984’, authored by a British intellectual George Orwell, this book gives an account of an ideal dystopian society
(‘ideal’ because it’s the standard against which you can measure all the other dystopian societies). Orwell describes a society where every individual is watched by a ‘Big Brother’ as he being the head of so called ‘Party’ which ruled the society.
Party had its own principles and expected every individual to follow them without showing signs of any discontent.
If an individual gets caught mandating some anti-Party ideology he/she were led into an oblivion where they get brain-washed and then shot dead. Brainwash prior to death
since Party prioritized its principles before life.
Reading 1984 gives an account of perfect dystopian society and one wonders how horrible the life would be. But in contemporary world such societies does exist!
Take North Korea for instance a country ruled by a person who has a taste for Hollywood movies but imposes harsh punishment on anyone who tends to show an inclination towards western ideology. Last week a top official was executed just because his so called short term economic policies failed. Such society is closest to a dystopian mentioned in ‘1984’.
I consider myself lucky to be born in an open society where ideologies of individuals are not only heard but analysed and best among the proposed few are adopted. But this does not mean we are an utopian society in fact we are not even close to it, there are many factions who have vested interest in capsizing this open society to a barbaric and isolated one. So what ideology do these people resort to???
The answer is Extremism, though it is not the only factor which can lead to a dystopian society nevertheless it is one of the leading traits of dystopian society.
The only way to face extremism is by adopting a liberal approach towards everything, to be broad minded. There are many instances where our society has
practised liberalism but while dealing with some we have resorted to extremist ideals.
That’s why I said that we are far away from being a utopian society and it is only a matter of an individual’s self introspection on which basis he/she can decide what ideology to follow.
That’s why the title “Utopian or Dystopian, You decide”.