My friend Sufyan recently posted a link to Hitler's speech. It was an interesting watch, watching the rambling rants of a charismatic megalomania. This might sound abnormal to a normal person, but those were no normal times. Hitler's rabble rousing speech was able to arise the passion of a proud, resurgent German race, considering the response he was getting, driving the crowd insane.
History is rife with such examples. Many great dictators like Hitler were popular demagogues. Life does not necessarily follows logic. When you talk sense you are likely to be ignored, but your crazy rants can get you some attention and make people lend their ears. If you are outright looney, more will passionately fall for you.
What can be attributed towards such defiance of the conventional logic ? My take - goodness usually sounds dull and boring, whereas negativity gets noticed. In schools and colleges, a bully gets more attention than a good student. It's said good girls fall for bad boys. The reason - Love, like any attraction is the strongest when it's unreasonable. However logical we talk, sound or portray of ourselves, we humans are basically irrational creatures, our emotions often override our power of reasoning.
We all know that SANTULA (an Odia dish of boiled veggies) is healthy. But keep a bowl of Chilli Chicken besides it, the later will go like hot cakes. We prefer a glass of Lassi to water, though the later is calorie free. Our ears are more tuned for spicy gossips than bland stuff. It yet vindicates that we humans are basicially creatures of contradiction, acidically oriented towards tangy stuff.
If I support a good cause, nobody would care. But if I oppose something, make some noise or nuisance, I make news. It instantly catapults me as a newsmaker. That makes the demagogues like Hitler a dangerous proposition as they lucidly juxtapose negativity with some excellent communication skills. They have that infinite ability to raise their passion, being able to connect to them with their amazing oratory skills, even amongst the so called educated and sensible folks. That's their forte.
Couple of nights ago, the Republican candidates were questioned by voters in a town hall format on CNN. John Kasich had a wonderful life story to narrate. But the icing on the cake and the last item on the agenda was Donald Trump. He was received by a standing ovation.
Though he talks crap he still manages to get attention of the audience, including me, who will never vote for him, yet stayed up late to hear him speaking. Even CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, known for posing tough questions was conspicuously soft on him. Obviously his negative remarks, slurs attracted more attention than his lack of specificity.
Bottomline, we have a term in Odia called MUNDA, which can be transliterated as - someone stubbornly moron or diehard stupid. In India we have mostly illiterate, poor MUNDAs whom politicians easily take for a ride. In West we have mostly literate, economically better off, SUV driving, Coke guzzling MUNDAS.
History is rife with such examples. Many great dictators like Hitler were popular demagogues. Life does not necessarily follows logic. When you talk sense you are likely to be ignored, but your crazy rants can get you some attention and make people lend their ears. If you are outright looney, more will passionately fall for you.
What can be attributed towards such defiance of the conventional logic ? My take - goodness usually sounds dull and boring, whereas negativity gets noticed. In schools and colleges, a bully gets more attention than a good student. It's said good girls fall for bad boys. The reason - Love, like any attraction is the strongest when it's unreasonable. However logical we talk, sound or portray of ourselves, we humans are basically irrational creatures, our emotions often override our power of reasoning.
We all know that SANTULA (an Odia dish of boiled veggies) is healthy. But keep a bowl of Chilli Chicken besides it, the later will go like hot cakes. We prefer a glass of Lassi to water, though the later is calorie free. Our ears are more tuned for spicy gossips than bland stuff. It yet vindicates that we humans are basicially creatures of contradiction, acidically oriented towards tangy stuff.
If I support a good cause, nobody would care. But if I oppose something, make some noise or nuisance, I make news. It instantly catapults me as a newsmaker. That makes the demagogues like Hitler a dangerous proposition as they lucidly juxtapose negativity with some excellent communication skills. They have that infinite ability to raise their passion, being able to connect to them with their amazing oratory skills, even amongst the so called educated and sensible folks. That's their forte.
Couple of nights ago, the Republican candidates were questioned by voters in a town hall format on CNN. John Kasich had a wonderful life story to narrate. But the icing on the cake and the last item on the agenda was Donald Trump. He was received by a standing ovation.
Though he talks crap he still manages to get attention of the audience, including me, who will never vote for him, yet stayed up late to hear him speaking. Even CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, known for posing tough questions was conspicuously soft on him. Obviously his negative remarks, slurs attracted more attention than his lack of specificity.
Bottomline, we have a term in Odia called MUNDA, which can be transliterated as - someone stubbornly moron or diehard stupid. In India we have mostly illiterate, poor MUNDAs whom politicians easily take for a ride. In West we have mostly literate, economically better off, SUV driving, Coke guzzling MUNDAS.
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