Every society has them, they are the unavoidable consequence of living in a group, they take unto themselves all the ills of society and protect us form ourselves. The watchdogs, from the sleaze on our streets to the corrupting influence of media, they vociferously oppose everything. In a democratic society, I suppose they are necessary, especially in India, where someone has to keep an eye on our government, which acts more for its own benefit than for that of the people. Today however, the watch-dogs have spawned into a veritable industry, protesting and opposing almost everything done in the country. Everyone with control issues seems to be on-board lending their voice. Some consider themselves the protectors of Indian morality and culture while others are busy saving us from the designs of the evil capitalist industrialists. It is with the latter whom we will concern ourselves today.
These particular watch-dogs are intent on protecting us from any big industry, particularly multinational companies or as we refer to lovingly as; MNCs. Some of the MNCs’ on the most wanted list are Coke, Pepsi and not surprisingly Monsanto. One group that has taken upon itself to attack all three is the Centre for Science and Environment. The CSEs’ latest attack has been on the cola giants, alleging (again) that there are traces of pesticides in their products. The CSE and other Indian NGOs hold a deep-seated grudge against the two and have raised a number of serious issues against them including the pesticide issue as well as exploitation of groundwater resources in the vicinity of their bottling plants. So far so good but I just cant help be suspicious of their actual motives, sometimes I just get the feeling that all organizations involved enjoy kicking up a storm just for the sake of a little additional publicity rather than for actually doing any good. Pepsi and Coke (particularly Coke) have been at the centre of much public debate concerning their adverse health effect, on how they are very effective at cleaning out toilets or can dissolve teeth in a few hours. Banning their sale from schools and other public places has become an accepted method of gaining a little attention or political mileage. I do not question the obvious health benefits of limiting the sale of colas but I have begun to doubt the motives of those pushing for the same.
In a recent public debate hosted by a prominent Indian news channel, the representatives for the CSE and the Cola manufacturers argued it out in fine Indian style. What struck me was the incoherence of the lady representing the CSE. She kept coming back to one point that Pepsi and Coke were just luxury items with no obvious health benefits and should hence be banned, she quoted how toxic the pesticides that were allegedly found in them are and waxed eloquent on how they were exploiting the resources of the country for their own profit. I had a problem with most of what she said. First (as the host also pointed out), there are many so-called luxury products with no obvious benefits (often with associated health hazards) that are openly sold in the country. Alcohol being at the foremost of such a list were one ever compiled. Alcohol poses a definite health risk in addition to all the allied social problems it causes. Prohibition is the only true solution to alcohol abuse, but we all know how well that works. A number of state governments have tried it at one point or the other but neither the government nor the law survived for long. Second, if pesticides are in the ground water being used for the manufacture of colas, then I think it would be safe to assume that those very pesticides would be present in the water being consumed by millions of Indians, along with a number of other undesirable contaminants possibly in higher quantities than in the drinks. If everyone is really so concerned about consuming pesticides then they should be a little proactive in reducing their use. A simple alternative would be to use GM crops that require less pesticide use, oh but I forgot, Monsanto is also on their most-wanted list, so we can’t really have that right? So what do we do, just ban Pepsi and Coke, sit back and pat ourselves on the back for having thwarted their evil plans? That would seem to be the Indian way to do it, win a battle at the cost of the war. We tend to be shortsighted in most of our endeavours and that’s why more often than not they fall flat on their face. If Coke contains pesticides then I’m pretty damn sure every restaurant in the country is also serving water that is full of DDT, BHC and a plethora of other bug-killers. Try shut them all down, I dare you, I double-dare you. I have a feeling Coke and Pepsi are just being targeted because they are soft targets, public opinion is against them (a contradiction if you consider their enormous sales) and any attack against them is sure to gain a lot of media attention, in a sense they are being victimised.
One common thread running through most watch-dogs is their tendency to use the ‘B’ word. They seem to want to ban everything, it was scary at first but now it’s just grown irritating. I do not like their holier-than-thou attitude and I resent being told what I can and cannot do. A fundamental feature of democracy is the freedom to do what the fuck you want to do to yourself. You may advise me to do or not do something and it is my prerogative to listen to or ignore you, but I resent and oppose anyone telling me what I may or may not do. All these NGOs and other watch-dogs seem to believe that we Indians are essentially a stupid people and do not know what is good for us. What they all try to do is to make enough noise to enforce their will over the entire population. They seem to think that they are our elected representatives. The reason that there is little opposition to what they are doing is because in India there isn’t any concept of freedom of choice, we are so used to being ordered around by our families and by everyone else elder than us, we don’t really resent it when just about anyone else does it to us. Another important factor is that watch-dogs only pursue issues which allow them to hold the moral high ground, as in this case, to oppose them would be to side with the evil Cola giants. Faced with such a situation, how many people would really raise their voices against the power hungry NGOs?
Lastly I would like to say something about the NGOs themselves. NGO stands for Non Governmental Organisation, they are technically not intended to earn profit but that hasn’t stopped anyone associated with them from earning a damn good living off them. They are no longer seen as crusaders for a better India but as an opportunity to earn a fine living. They are fundamentally corrupt and I wouldn’t trust them to weed my garden much less influence national policy. I have no problem with those actually doing good quietly like working with street children, educating women and suchlike. So while I sip my rum and coke and smoke my cigarette I have but one message for the rest, “go find yourselves a real, honest job.”
These particular watch-dogs are intent on protecting us from any big industry, particularly multinational companies or as we refer to lovingly as; MNCs. Some of the MNCs’ on the most wanted list are Coke, Pepsi and not surprisingly Monsanto. One group that has taken upon itself to attack all three is the Centre for Science and Environment. The CSEs’ latest attack has been on the cola giants, alleging (again) that there are traces of pesticides in their products. The CSE and other Indian NGOs hold a deep-seated grudge against the two and have raised a number of serious issues against them including the pesticide issue as well as exploitation of groundwater resources in the vicinity of their bottling plants. So far so good but I just cant help be suspicious of their actual motives, sometimes I just get the feeling that all organizations involved enjoy kicking up a storm just for the sake of a little additional publicity rather than for actually doing any good. Pepsi and Coke (particularly Coke) have been at the centre of much public debate concerning their adverse health effect, on how they are very effective at cleaning out toilets or can dissolve teeth in a few hours. Banning their sale from schools and other public places has become an accepted method of gaining a little attention or political mileage. I do not question the obvious health benefits of limiting the sale of colas but I have begun to doubt the motives of those pushing for the same.
In a recent public debate hosted by a prominent Indian news channel, the representatives for the CSE and the Cola manufacturers argued it out in fine Indian style. What struck me was the incoherence of the lady representing the CSE. She kept coming back to one point that Pepsi and Coke were just luxury items with no obvious health benefits and should hence be banned, she quoted how toxic the pesticides that were allegedly found in them are and waxed eloquent on how they were exploiting the resources of the country for their own profit. I had a problem with most of what she said. First (as the host also pointed out), there are many so-called luxury products with no obvious benefits (often with associated health hazards) that are openly sold in the country. Alcohol being at the foremost of such a list were one ever compiled. Alcohol poses a definite health risk in addition to all the allied social problems it causes. Prohibition is the only true solution to alcohol abuse, but we all know how well that works. A number of state governments have tried it at one point or the other but neither the government nor the law survived for long. Second, if pesticides are in the ground water being used for the manufacture of colas, then I think it would be safe to assume that those very pesticides would be present in the water being consumed by millions of Indians, along with a number of other undesirable contaminants possibly in higher quantities than in the drinks. If everyone is really so concerned about consuming pesticides then they should be a little proactive in reducing their use. A simple alternative would be to use GM crops that require less pesticide use, oh but I forgot, Monsanto is also on their most-wanted list, so we can’t really have that right? So what do we do, just ban Pepsi and Coke, sit back and pat ourselves on the back for having thwarted their evil plans? That would seem to be the Indian way to do it, win a battle at the cost of the war. We tend to be shortsighted in most of our endeavours and that’s why more often than not they fall flat on their face. If Coke contains pesticides then I’m pretty damn sure every restaurant in the country is also serving water that is full of DDT, BHC and a plethora of other bug-killers. Try shut them all down, I dare you, I double-dare you. I have a feeling Coke and Pepsi are just being targeted because they are soft targets, public opinion is against them (a contradiction if you consider their enormous sales) and any attack against them is sure to gain a lot of media attention, in a sense they are being victimised.
One common thread running through most watch-dogs is their tendency to use the ‘B’ word. They seem to want to ban everything, it was scary at first but now it’s just grown irritating. I do not like their holier-than-thou attitude and I resent being told what I can and cannot do. A fundamental feature of democracy is the freedom to do what the fuck you want to do to yourself. You may advise me to do or not do something and it is my prerogative to listen to or ignore you, but I resent and oppose anyone telling me what I may or may not do. All these NGOs and other watch-dogs seem to believe that we Indians are essentially a stupid people and do not know what is good for us. What they all try to do is to make enough noise to enforce their will over the entire population. They seem to think that they are our elected representatives. The reason that there is little opposition to what they are doing is because in India there isn’t any concept of freedom of choice, we are so used to being ordered around by our families and by everyone else elder than us, we don’t really resent it when just about anyone else does it to us. Another important factor is that watch-dogs only pursue issues which allow them to hold the moral high ground, as in this case, to oppose them would be to side with the evil Cola giants. Faced with such a situation, how many people would really raise their voices against the power hungry NGOs?
Lastly I would like to say something about the NGOs themselves. NGO stands for Non Governmental Organisation, they are technically not intended to earn profit but that hasn’t stopped anyone associated with them from earning a damn good living off them. They are no longer seen as crusaders for a better India but as an opportunity to earn a fine living. They are fundamentally corrupt and I wouldn’t trust them to weed my garden much less influence national policy. I have no problem with those actually doing good quietly like working with street children, educating women and suchlike. So while I sip my rum and coke and smoke my cigarette I have but one message for the rest, “go find yourselves a real, honest job.”
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