Eradicate Identity Politics and Symbolism

Identity politics and symbolism have long been part of politics everywhere in the world. Good economics cannot be bad politics. Except for subsidies on basic items like food, water, housing etc, economic considerations should guide political decision making. But unfortunately, the current situation is the exactly opposite of this. Poll strategies across parties involve fielding public representatives not based on their ability or commitment but based on their community or religion or net worth. By now everyone must understand that if you have a President or a Prime Minister or for that matter any public representative belonging to some backward class, the plight of all the people of backward classes in that country does not improve. In all classes, castes, creeds, religions etc there is a layer at the top beyond which growth and development may not reach. Any form of discrimination by governments positive or negative depending on an individual's caste, religion, creed, language etc is not acceptable in a civil society. These features are limited to an individual's person life and decisions. It may sound too idealistic but over a period of time we must, as a society move towards a system where any discrimination by governments is based only on economic status.There is so much of technology available at our disposal and we can use it to good effect.

There is a need for change and it is high time to eradicate identity politics and symbolism. As education levels increase and information becomes more widely available, people must be able to differentiate between political and economic issues.