Cronicon O PEN A C C ESS EC PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY Opinion On the Nature of Democratic Psychology Abhijit Naskar* Neuroscientist, Author and Speaker, India *Corresponding Author: Abhijit Naskar, Neuroscientist, Author and Speaker, India. Received: March 07, 2018 The human society has been running on fumes - the fumes of pleasure, reward, gratification and charm. And while walking on this illustrious path, they have constructed illustrious ideals without thinking about their practicality and actual implications in the society and have tried their best to stand up for those ideals, despite the fact that these so-called ideals have nothing to do with genuine everyday human existence whatsoever. On this disorderly path of delusions, humanity has organized its religions - it has developed its methods of education - and to watch over all these structures, it has developed its so-called governments on an illustrious ideal of democracy. Democracy - that is what it’s called, when a huge population of sapiens are made to think that they are competent enough to choose the individual or individuals who would essentially be in control of their lives in the society. Democracy is supposed to be a system of government constructed by the people, for the people. Now here is the question? Do people really construct the government! Democracy of today’s society is dictatorship without the bitterness. At the current mental maturity of the human species, democracy is as barbarian and degrading as dictatorship - it just doesn’t feel that way, because of the illusory sense of control. Please don’t freak out or think of me as anti-democratic. I am not anti-anything, except anti-fundamentalism and anti-sectarianism. We are just beginning our journey of investigating the actual implications of the so-called system of democracy upon the human society. And this is not going to be a criticism of democracy. I despise criticism, because it brings out no positive outcome in the society, but only makes one waste time and energy. Criticisms and revolt do not solve a thing, what does, in actuality, not in theory, is awareness of the reality. And the reality is democracy can be effective, productive and progressive only in a society where people live with the awareness of the self, beyond the labels of traditions and ideologies. But in the current mental state of the human society, though superior to tyranny in terms of comfort of the masses, democracy is actually inferior to dictatorship, because of its hypocrisy and its manipulative nature. For the people to have power, it is imperative that the people are competent, not simply intellectually, but in their entire psychological realm. But in contrast to this, today, only a handful of people are truly psychologically evolved, and the majority are deluded with prejudices, biases, conformities and ideologies. And when this neurotic majority makes the decision, it is only going to create a neurotic government. So, true progressive, non-conflicted, peaceful, peace-making and sane government is only possible, when the majority is non-conflicted, peaceful and sane. But now one needs to ask the question - is the majority of the human society actually non-conflicted, peaceful and sane? If not, then what kind of government is going to be formed with their decision? Now here is a hard truth - the whole world is run by such governments created by the so-called decisions of neurotic majorities. Therefore, the whole world has been living, nay surviving, at the mercy of some neurotic structures, which we call democratic governments. Democracy at the current evolutionary stage is a glorified fallacy. Till this day, the sane ones are still considered to be exceptional, and not the majority, which means the majority is insane - and this is not an opinion or theory, rather it is a fact. But here is the question? What are you? Because regardless of how many words you gobble from this piece, it all ends up with one utterly significant question, which is - are you conscientious enough to take the actions necessary in order to push the species ahead towards a sane society? Because all sanity begins with you - the individual. All democracy begins with you - good or bad - progressive or barbarian - sane or neurotic. In a society where the majority choose charisma over character, democracy does more harm than good to the actual progress of that society. And in today’s so-called democratic society, the majority do indeed choose charisma over character. Such democracy is no more Citation: Abhijit Naskar. “On the Nature of Democratic Psychology”. EC Psychology and Psychiatry 7.6 (2018). On the Nature of Democratic Psychology progressive and civilized than the choosing of leaders within the tribes living in the jungle. The world is not yet ready for democracy, so it is imperative that the conscientious individual gets in power, so that the non-conscientious ones do not ruin the society with their craving for power and authority. Remember, the difference between a dictator and a true leader, is in intention. Hard as it may sound, politics means manipulation, but it depends on the individuals in power, whether they are going to manipulate the society for their own benefit or influence it for its own benefit. The world of today can only be uplifted through positive authoritarianism, not through the so-called democracy. But the point is, whenever you think of authoritarianism or dictatorship, you relate it to tyranny, yet that’s only the negative side of authoritarianism. You never see the true, compassionate leader, as a dictator, because you don’t feel oppressed by him or her. So, it is all about the willingness of the people. When the people willingly give authority to a politician that politician is called a leader, whereas, when that authority is gained by force by a politician, he or she is hailed as a dictator. A father can be either a good, caring and responsible guardian or a drunkard, but a father is not necessarily a drunkard. It is the same with a politician. A politician can be either a good, caring and responsible guardian of his or her society, or a psychological drunkard, but a politician is not necessarily an oppressor. Now the question is - what are you - a leader or a tyrant? We all know that, evolution is an irrefutable scientific fact of life. But what about psychological evolution. And by psychological evolu- tion, I do not mean the mental capacities that we have developed through millions of years. Rather I am talking about the real application and utilization of those faculties, in order to be really a psychologically evolved species. Have we evolved psychologically at all! Yes we are capable of great many feats of excellence and kindness, but the question is, do we really put that capability to practice - in order to make ourselves better and then our society better? We have the neurological potential to be truly a wise species, unlike any other species on earth, yet we act like the dumbest species on earth. We are a stupid species with smart phones. Think about it a little. Humanity is widely proclaimed by itself as a wise and conscientious species, only because of the actions of a handful of conscientious individuals. Why does humanity not realize that it is not the responsibility of only a handful of individuals to be wise, to be courageous, to be conscientious and to be humane, rather it is the existential responsibility of all humans! And only when they realize this basic fact of living, can the human civilization have real democracy of real progress. Otherwise, every kind of democracy will take the civilization back to the stone age, where any man with the biggest penis, or any women with the largest breasts, would be a leader, not the human of real character. Now the hard reality is, we cannot simply hope for this to somehow become a reality in some illusory futuristic moment. We have to, not should, but have to, get ourselves involved in the system known as politics. In order to clean the sewage, you must get down in the sewage and get your hands dirty. The cleaning cannot be done by simply wishing for somebody else to take action. You, my brave soldier, have to get your hands dirty - that too against all odds. And you need to do it, not as a politician, but as a leader. See yourself as a leader first, beyond all sorts of doubts, confusions and internal conflicts, then only the world will see you as their leader. And the irony is, if you don’t act that way, some other manipulative tyrant will keep on abusing the human society for his or her own benefit. The evil gains strength only when the good is not acting. So, you must, my friend, act. If you are a leader, first you yourself need to know it - know it enough to go against all odds and radiate nothing but pure conscience. The mass only follows, regardless of what any naive thinker proclaims, because the mass as I said earlier, is not yet wise enough to take their own decisions. They despise manipulation consciously, yet subconsciously they crave for it. That is why they have so many gods in the first place. They just love the idea of somebody else deciding things for them, and it gives them a kind of comfort. So, it is up to you, not the people. Therefore you see, democracy is illogical at the moment, because the masses are not qualified to choose anything. If they are given the choice to elect either a lesser known scientist or a pop-star, who do you think the majority of them would elect? Isn’t it obvious? Now the real question is - is this kind of democracy, where the majority most proudly and happily choose glamour over wisdom, really a progressive system? Until the human society becomes naturally aware of the value of wisdom over all glamour and charm, democracy is only going to do more harm than good. So, harsh as it may sound, the human society needs an authority figure, a guardian figure - be it a glamorous fool, a megalomaniac tyrant or an actual, conscientious, courageous and above all wise leader. Citation: Abhijit Naskar. “On the Nature of Democratic Psychology”. EC Psychology and Psychiatry 7.6 (2018). On the Nature of Democratic Psychology Now here is an interesting matter to consider. You may be wondering, whether it is only a politician who can be a leader! Actually it is quite the opposite. Politicians rarely become leaders. It is the leader, who becomes a great politician. Even then these leaders never see themselves as politicians, because the term politician has rarely any actual value of character whatsoever. It is the character of the leader that gives value to the term “politician.” Which means the term politician on its own says nothing about either the character or the mental mettle of an individual, rather, it is the individual who defines all of it with his or her actions. The society thinks that politics creates a leader. The truth is exactly the opposite. Only a leader - a true leader - a leader with veins of steel - and conscience made of thunderbolt, can create a progressive, effective and humane system of politics. So, in short, politics does not make leaders, leaders make right politics. Which means, the politics that you see today, all over the world, is not the right politics - it is the wrong politics - the politics that is more about power and control, than about true concern for collective human well-being. The point is, you already know what the wrong politics is. In this state, what one really wonders is, what could the right politics be! In reality, the right politics, is not really defined by politics itself, rather it is defined by the majority of the leaders in that political system. If a political system is filled with mostly leaders of zero wisdom, and extreme religious fundamentalism, then such politics is only going to act as not just the wrong politics, but most alarmingly, the most dangerous one. And this my friend, is no laughing matter - or a matter of television discussion. It is a fact - a hard undeniable fact - which would not magically disappear, if we cover our eyes with the illusory glasses of intellectualism. No intellect ever solves a problem in the world - what does is unquenchable thirst to find an absolution to the agonies of life. Now here is the real question. Do you feel that thirst – that burning, intolerable thirst - a thirst that takes away your sleep - a thirst that takes away your appetite! Do you feel it yet my friend? Volume 7 Issue 6 June 2018 ©All rights reserved by Abhijit Naskar. Citation: Abhijit Naskar. “On the Nature of Democratic Psychology”. EC Psychology and Psychiatry 7.6 (2018).