Social Media and Public Pronouncements

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The ability to communicate, document, share and express; all democratic tendencies that all people like to embrace, appreciate and more over participate and utilize are now a part of the global life cycle.

There are billions of mobile devices that help us with not just call each other, but also have become vehicles for documentation of every nuance.  It won’t matter if we like it or not we are under constant vigil, with someone or something is always watching us.  Be it by our actions voluntarily or involuntarily we are under surveillance.  Anything we write, email, text, browse or any mode of communication leaves a digital foot print that will be forever documented.  If we speak to a gathering, work with a group, express an opinion, just about anything done with one more person is probably being filmed (more than just documenting).  It is not simply a picture of a few words, but what we say, how we are saying and in what context.  We are no longer innocent of anything we do or anything we say.

It doesn’t really help that the politicians make it a habit of abusing every opportunity they get in doing and saying absurdities as a habit and to attract attention.

Certainly there is interpretation of the words and context.  But spiteful and/or specific words and provocative language that leads to sedition cannot be retracted.  What sometimes was said in private no longer private, everything gets captured, documented, shared and somehow or somewhere in stored.

It is somehow the norm these days for politicians to constantly blabber nonsense and often at the opponents (perhaps gets worse by the day) and also with the continued advancements in communications and their reach to the general public.   It is really hard to imagine that any of these folks are aware of what sedition means.  With anyone with access to a simple mobile to blast out opinions, is all that is needed to blurt out opinions.  Personal attacks, wild allegations, accusations, stories and concocted details are really become a practice to get attention albeit for a short duration.  Whatever the opposition does is simply blasted as anti-democratic and anti-something.  Ignoring the national interests and democratic principles people simply latch onto every idiotic issue and make a huge public spectacle about supporting anything that will gain them a couple of minutes of screen time.  We really have forgotten that country comes first and national interest is paramount, not sedition and personal agenda.

Every time a nation gets put down the democracy gets trampled.  Guys who have a mike or a mobile phone start making statements that are of absolute inconsequence to the reality, rather they constantly attack someone else.  There is no need for probes or investigation or SIT or whatever terms that cost time and money to public and yield more animosity.

When someone says something in public it is on tape recorded and easily available.  Why not just put it out in public to listen to what was said?  Is it that difficult to face the truth?  Why anyone has to make comments on things that don’t need any context.  Just get the tape out in public, and if there is sedition that let the courts and police act on it.  There is no reason for anyone to target their opposition for the sake of making some comment that really disparages the availability of a mouth piece.