Dhruv Rathee, ’eminent’ Youtuber and propagandist for the Aam Aadmi Party, is renowned for his habit of oversimplifying complex issues in order to suit his larger political objectives. Recently, he made a comment on Twitter which perfectly captures his intellectual bankruptcy. Responding to a tweet Dhruv Rathee opined that ‘by default, left-wing thinkers will always be more creative, imaginative and empathetic than their right-wing counterparts.
The ’eminent thinker’ also opined that the left-wing promotes ‘globalisation’, ‘open-mindedness’ and ‘out-of-box revolutionary thinking’ while the right-wing promotes ‘tradition’, ‘rules’, ‘strictness’ and ‘conservative thinking’. Thus, Dhruv Rathee is attributing causal relationship between personal traits and political opinions but he is doing so in the wrong direction. From his tweet, it is evident that he believes a person automatically becomes more creative when he endorses left-wing political opinions when, in fact, it is infinitely more likely that a creative person is more likely to have left-wing political opinions under the very specific sociopolitical conditions that exist today.
As is his wont, Dhruv Rathee oversimplifies a complicated and an interesting issue in order to turn it into another opportunity to pat his back for having left-wing political opinions. His claim that left-wing promotes globalisation is extremely incorrect and is so wrong that it makes one question his very sanity. ‘Globalisation’ is very much a capitalist agenda that has no support at all from the left because it impacts domestic workers adversely. It is an agenda of the MNCs and MNCs by their very definition are not ‘left-wing’.
Does the Left-Wing promote globalisation as Dhruv Rathee claims?
The core objectives of ‘Globalisation’ are free trade, greater ease in the movement of goods and resources and more migration. In the United States of America, these are all the main agendas of the Republican Party, or at least it was until Donald Trump put his feet down. The support for illegal immigration from the Left and more globalisation from the Left is not due to ideological commitment but because it serves the interests of the Corporate Donors of the Democrat party by providing them with low wage workers. It is a simple matter of supply and demand. The more the available pool of workers, the lower is the cost of labour.
Similarly, MNCs stand to benefit the most from free trade as well. It can be seen how MNCs in the United States have outsourced manufacturing to China where the cost of labour is low so that they can increase their share of the profits. As a consequence of course, workers in the United States have suffered gravely due to it. And these policies had bipartisan consensus across party lines. And it also must be noticed that supporters of Bernie Sanders agree with those of Bernie Sanders when it comes to such economic issues. And that is why a lot of ‘Bernie Bros’ voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential Elections instead of Hillary Clinton.
Thus, ‘Globalisation’ should not be viewed from the prism of ideology under current circumstances. But objectively speaking, it is closer to right-wing economics than the left. Care should be taken to remember here that the Indian ‘right-wing’ is not very ‘right-wing’ on matters of economics. Furthermore, it should also be borne in mind that Communist parties, with the prominent exception of India, have often been fiercely nationalist. Soviet Russia in the 20th Century was extremely nationalist in its approach, the Communist Party of China is extremely nationalist. It’s only India that communist parties have often tried to undermine the territorial integrity of our country.
Thus, considering all things, to claim that left-wing promotes ‘Globalisation’ is foolishness of the highest order. China, which literally has a Communist regime, has dedicated itself to bring an end to Globalisation as we know it. In India, the protectionist measures which are strongly espoused by all parties, and most vigorously by the ‘Left-Wing’, also indicate that Dhruv Rathee was just being an idiot.
Will Left-Wingers always be more creative, imaginative and empathetic?
Let us be clear, creativity and empathy are core human traits that have existed ever since the dawn of humanity. By contrast, left-wing politics as we know it has its origins in the French Revolution of 1789. If it were left to Rathee, he would argue that the Early Man who used to make paintings in caves was a left-winger. By his account, religious texts and traditions from thousands of years ago which emphasise the importance of acts of compassion and kindness are left-wing too. That is, quite obviously, ridiculous. Therefore, for him to declare that left-wingers will always be more creative and empathetic is simply ridiculous.
Also, creativity and empathy are more or less traits that are innate in an individual. These are traits that cannot be acquired. Either a person is creative or he is not, either a person is empathetic or he is not. Either a person scores high on the openness trait or he does not. Contrary to political opinions of an individual which changes frequently during the course of an individual over time, such characteristics of an individual do not usually change. Therefore, to insinuate that left-wingers will magically always be more creative and empathetic and left-wing promotes ‘open-mindedness’ is just bollocks.
Humans have been creative for as long as they have existed. The greatest works of Art throughout the course of history have been produced by deeply religious men and women. Such artists have always been patronised by the Kings, Nobles and the Aristocracy. Therefore, the claim that left-wingers will always be more creative than their right-wing counterparts flies in the face of all reason and logic. Were those who composed the great Bhakti music ‘left-wingers’? Were the great composers of ancient India who produced some of the greatest works of literature ‘left-wingers’? Just as not a single creative individual until the 18th Century were left-wingers, more likely than not, there will come a time in the future when left-wing ideas will lose favour among creative individuals.
As a wise man once said, men is always caught in the eternal present. And unfortunately, people believe that what is now shall always be. However, through the ages, enlightened men have always cautioned us: This too shall pass. Therefore, if Dhruv Rathee had the semblance of common sense and could cut down on his arrogance borne of unparalleled ignorance, he would have realised that there are certain conditions related to the very specific circumstances that prevail today which give people the impression that creative individuals are naturally ‘left-wing’. But this is an illusion that is generated due to a well burnished elaborate structure of incentives and inhdoctrination.
The Will of the Cathedral
There exists an elaborate network of multinational corporations, universities and civil society organisations which work together to dictate what is permissible for public consumption and what is not. The mainstream media and the entertainment industry serve as the propaganda wing of this structure. The neo-Reactionaries of the 21st century call this structure the ‘Cathedral’, an ironical jibe towards the fact that although the structure promotes a materialistic ideology that is antithetical to traditional religions, the ideology is essentially a sect of Christianity.
Over time, with significant organised effort, the ideology has managed to capture all the prominent institutions in the West. From Universities to civil society organisations to the mainstream media and the entertainment industry, the ideology dominates every aspect of Western society. The Cathedral engages in what Noam Chomsky calls the ‘manufacturing of consent’. This great beast has employed the considerable resources at its disposal to de-legitimise every other political thought. The ideology, of course, is Progressivism, the official doctrine of the left-wing today.
Unlike the West, the Cathedral has not been able to capture Indian society entirely due to a few obvious reasons. Firstly, it is an ideology that is entirely foreign to India and hence, it is not as suited for Indian society as it is for its native countries. Secondly, traditional religions are very dominant in India and the roots of Hinduism in India are still very very strong. However, it has managed to make great inroads. It has almost total control over the entertainment industry as of now and as the election manifesto of the Congress party demonstrated, it has hijacked the biggest opposition party of India as well. Simultaneously, the entire ‘civil society’ nexus in India, which is almost entirely controlled by the West, is an integral part of this cathedral as well. Also, due to the lack of educational reform, the Cathedral has hijacked Indian Universities as well.
It is due to the growing influence of the Cathedral in the entertainment industry and Indian Universities that it gives one the impression that creative individuals by their nature left-wing and will always be so. In reality, it is due to the indoctrination of our youth in Universities that the most intelligent among them endorse Progressivism as an ideology. And it is due to the financial incentives offered by the Cathedral that progressive works of art dominate the institutions of mass production. It might appear ironical but Left-Wing ideology in the 21st century is spread entirely by Big Business.
The dominance of left-wing politics in the entertainment industry works in two phases. Firstly, Universities ensure that the youth is indoctrinated en masse in progressive ideology. And secondly, it is ensured that works of art that promotes the said ideology are incentivised through financial means. For instance, while mediocre progressive-sounding movies are funded and released on Netflix and in theatres, it is inconceivable that a movie or web series that depicts Hindutva in a positive light will ever see the light of day. For instance, while movies and web series that demonises Hindus and Hindutva can be found in abundance, a venture that treats Nathuram Godse fairly and refrains from demonising him will never be funded and if somehow enough funds are generated to create a good enough product, finding a platform for it will be almost impossible.
That is how left-wingers dominate the entertainment industry. It is not because their product are inherently superior, it is because progressive works of art are capable of generating enough financial support. Furthermore, it is also essential that people in the industry air the right opinions or they are ‘cancelled’. Due to the uneven structure of the whole situation where individuals and works of art are not judged on the basis of merit alone, left-wingers tend to dominate the field. However, with the advent of Narendra Modi and the mainstreaming of Hindutva, a handful of movies have been produced which do not toe the progressive line. And with the continued dominance of Hindutva, it is almost inevitable that ‘left-wing’ ideology will lose prominence in the entertainment industry as well.
Dhruv Rathee: A servant of the Cathedral
The disproportionate influence of the Cathedral has also created a horde of idiots such as Dhruv Rathee who are convinced of their moral superiority and higher intellect merely because they are capable of mouthing the approved talking points. The ‘Champagne Socialists, or the ‘Status-Quo Revolutionaries’, do not realise that the opinions they voice are not controversial in elite circles at all and that they are essentially advocating for establishment talking points. But the illusion created by the Cathedral is so strong that such dim-witted individuals unironically believe that their opinions find greater prevalence among creative people not due to indoctrination but due to the inherent intellectual superiority of their beliefs.
The fact of the matter is, creativity and empathy are personality traits that have existed in people since the dawn of humanity. Under current circumstances, people who score high in these characteristics tend to fall in a specific political category but it does not always have to be so. The political dynamics of the 21st Century are transient and they will change in the near future and when they change, things that might appear true as of today will not hold true then. Even now, traditional art is produced almost entirely by conservatives and ‘right-wingers’. For instance, only a fool would call folk music ‘left-wing’. It’s just the Cathedral does not deem it fit for mass production.
Thus, ‘midwits’ of the Left such as Dhruv Rathee who work under the false impression that they are somehow superior intellectually to everyone by virtue of the slogans they endorse should try to gain a better understanding of circumstances instead of taking every opportunity to advertise their ignorance. The opinions on the left-wing and right-wing as aired by Dhruv Rathee are good for self-aggrandisement on social media and for lazy attempts at taking swipes at political opponents. However, they do not have any basis for truth. But when these are spouted often enough as grand facts, it further acts as self-affirmation for already indoctrinated individuals and raises a generation of highly confident ignorant deluded clowns such as the propagandist himself.
