Have been reading a book called "Gangs". It basically profiles some of the most notorious gangs around the world in an attempt to glamorize the whole gang persona.
One thing that is stark is that gangs tend to breed in places where the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is almost insurmountable. So you will be stuck in the place where you were born and look for people who you can "belong to" and then stick it to "the man".
In India we have invariably had a class to aspire to and reach since there was always the next best thing in sight. The poorest had the roti-kapda-makan dream (Lower middle class). The lower-middle class aspired for the 2nd hand Maruti (R-K-M and Maruti). This upper middle class aspired for the next level - get one kid in the US. So the rat race was always there to keep you busy and not take to the gun.
I wasn't born when the naxal movement started but whatever little I know about them, their basic ideology was to reduce the gap between the land owners and the workers => Naxal gangs.
I think at the rate we, the middle class are "prospering", there is going to be a HUGE problem of resentment and helplessness that will lead to our dive into a cycle of violence. Unless we plan to take the people who are not as fortunate as the rest of us (purely in monetary terms) along for this "development ride" that is impending, we better start buying guns and armed guards...
2 comments:
Its a scary chasm between the haves and have-nots. AS a country we are well past the stage where this can be bridged, imho.
i think there are probabaly too many gradations between the have nots and the have nots. and more importantly, the difference is the haves think they can climb up to the next level, which is the reason the gaps arent so much.
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