#so govt seat is my only option and for that I have to fight with 2 million students for an exam that has subjects that I have no interest

[merinelsa]

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[cyndaquillt]

Ok I feel like writing a long essay on Indian elections so I'm gonna do just that. Full disclaimer though, I'm just airing my thoughts out and I'm just as much of the general public as anyone else. In other words, I'm not a social scientist. While I welcome healthy discussion, if I don't find the strength in me to answer to a certain reply, I simply won't and I hope you understand and forgive me.

With that out of the way, I'm coming out of my optimism bubble to take a stock of things. At this point (6:19 am IST), the counting has been done. It's apparent that BJP did not win the clear majority they were hoping for. In fact, they could only get about ~36% of the total votes, which means majority of seats in the Lok Sabha belong to parties that are not in the BJP. This is a huge deal, despite it being apparent that NDA WILL make the government and by extension, Modi may get elected for PM for a third term.

However, there's the matter of how tightly knit the NDA itself is. At this point NDA holds 292 seats. If JD(U) and TDP (i.e. Nitish and Chandrababu Naidu) flip, NDA loses 16+12 seats leaving them at 264 seats, i.e. below the 272 mark. If only JD(U) flips, they are at 280 and a majority and if only TDP flips, they are at 276, still a majority (See ECI's website for seat tally by party). While all hinges on what Nitish gets offered today and what conversations Chandrababu Naidu has in Delhi today, neither have given conclusive statements towards their intent, and on the contrary, TDP seems to be leaning towards staying in the NDA. For the current government to truly fall, BOTH TDP and JD(U) will have to fall out of the NDA, which is a very optimistic outcome and seems unlikely.

Let's consider both outcomes actually, I wanna do a thought experiment for myself to see how things would turn out if NDA forms the govt vs if INDIA forms the govt.

Option 1 : NDA holds the majority and forms the govt

Very likely Modi will come back for a third term but now there's a sizeable opposition majority in the Lok Sabha. And if systems work the way they should, this should at the very least provide some friction to motions BJP has had ease with passing in the past decade.

Certain ministries will probably be given to non-BJP members. As someone from Bihar I know for a FACT that Nitish is going to push for Something Big. I'm not going to make any conclusive statements about Nitish or Chandrababu Naidu or idk, Chirag Paswan taking up a ministry, but that is a possibility, for better or worse.

Depending on whoever takes up whatever ministry, if the core of the polities remain what the current BJP govt has executed, not much may change. Privatization of telecom services leading to death of BSNL and MTNL to death of Doordarshan/rise of sold out and censored media to increasing gas subsidy to tanking the value of the Indian Rupee, or literally any aspect of daily life that the current government made us used to like slow boiling frogs, may just remain the same or change veeery slowly. Since BJP is at the core of the NDA and still has a sizeable presence, this remains the most apparent possibility.

I do think the divisive, supremacist politics might deescalate. Not because BJP or NDA are going to be soooo nice all of a sudden, but because this election has shown that it clearly doesn't work. Eg: Manipur used to be a BJP stronghold. From 2007 to 2015, I have been in close contact with Manipuri friends who really believed BJP had potential to do great things for Manipur. And yet here we are. They instigated communities that were coexisting for ages to fight, left a trail of blood, ruined people's lives, and even lost the state. Also bringing Manipur in as an example because what happened in Ayodhya is already a national joke at this point. Modi almost lost Varanasi. If there's any lesson to take away from these experiences, it's to cut back on divisive politics.

Option 2 : INDIA forms the govt

I'm actually not sure who the PM would be. Rahul? Akhilesh? I actually don't like the alternative of Akhilesh being a PM tbh. His failure to understand the needs of the people in 2010s is what paved the way for Yogi Adityanath to win UP. Not that Yogi did a great job and solved everything, but BJP's whole pitch in 2014 was that they were coming in as 'underdogs' to throw out dynastic politics like the kind SP or INC play. Which of course, is a fucking joke seeing that Chirag Paswan or Pradyot Manikya Deb Barma (a literal prince!) are in the NDA this time, but I digress. I was in Varanasi at the time when Akhilesh was the CM of UP and he was pandering at best! I vaguely remember the biggest news was him giving laptops for free to girls who graduate from the state board but that was all! He was passive and BJP+Yogi took advantage of that! Rahul poses a similar issue, but I am overall just worried about whoever ends up as the PM, would perhaps be more of a figurehead than holding together a strong opposition, and that would mean an NDA/BJP opposition would eat them up for breakfast.

When you speak with people who are in denial of media being sold, their counterargument is almost always 'there were so many scams on the news before 2014! Now there are none!' Well, yeah, cause news media is a literal joke now. But they aren't wrong about the scams either! The thing is, there is next to no politician in the current political landscape who isn't a slave to power. Corruption won't go away. Scams won't go away. But will the media actually report them when people in power are involved in it? I'm actually not sure anymore......

Which also makes me think of how much will things actually change? And who will change them? Listen, I grew up in 90s and 2000s Bihar under the Lalu regime as a minority middle class with two state govt office workers for parents. 'Don't trust anyone in power' is in my DNA. I have also seen Nitish flip the landscape of Bihar and bring in resources we'd never even imagined. But core problems still stay. From casteism to corruption to infrastructure issues to brain drain, all issues remain. Simply using Bihar as a toy model, I lose hope of any rapid progress even under a drastic change of leadership. While it would be certain that this government would be Left-Center, I would be highly skeptical of whether or not they'll scrape all right wing policies. Not to mention Amrit Pal won?? Shiv Sena is in power??? Yeah it's a much more complicated and treacherous path up ahead, even if this option may be the most optimistic alternative.

This election was an important one. Preceeding this were whole movements (eg : farmers protests, CAA/NRC protests, etc), a pandemic that brought forth gaping holes in the health infrastructure, agitations that shook entire regions, and that's only scraping the top of the public outcry against the current government. In a democracy, riots, protests, movements are as much a voice of the people as votes and clearly these manifested as votes in this election. While this election day was extremely entertaining and the memes are fun, I do want to remind myself and others that communalism, casteism, regionalism, religious bigotry, corruption, and partisanship aren't simply going away. It will take work to undo things and even more work to right the wrongs that have been around since wayyy before 2014. But I do hope this is the beginning of something positive 🤞🤞

[twinkluffy]

Hero society analysis (for the future)

Hi, after reading the chapter 300 of my hero academia manga I thought it was interesting to make a revision of what we know about how the hero society was built and its apparent downfall. So we are going to review 1) Vigilantes era, 2) quirk’s regulation and pro heroes, 3) the construction of the symbol of peace, 4) the destruction of the symbol of peace and 5) the future of hero society + me rambling about said future.

This is of course my reading of the events transpiring so far in the manga. I will try to keep spoilers at minimum, but there would be a few if you don’t read the manga.

1) Vigilantes era

With the manifestation of quirks, criminals with these newfound superpowers made use of it for evil-doing. Ordinary civilians with their own powers gathered to stop those criminals and bring order to society, that is how Vigilantes were born. All for one became a symbol of society unity in this period of time, making use of his own quirk he removed the quirk from those who didn’t want it and gave it to those who wanted to have superpowers. Obviously this wasn’t a selfless act on his part, he was gathering loyal followers for his goal and ruled Japan from the shadows.

At some point, one for all opposed to what all for one was doing, he saw through those “selfless action”, fought and passed his quirk to the second torchbearer.

The police force moved to prioritize leadership and to maintain the status quo, and decided to no use quirks as weapons.

2) Quirk’s regulation and pro heroes

The pro hero system started on Rhode Island in America under the "Rhode Island New State Statute". 189 Vigilantes were affected by this statute, with only 7 being accepted as official Heroes. Quirk usage has been restricted by the law, that is why groups as the meta liberation army were formed, they believed that the free use of their superhuman abilities should be a basic human right and not only a privilege for heroes.

Depending on their performance, pro heroes have the potential to receive government pay, along with fame and glory. This govt. pay, fame and glory is important, a lot of heroes aren’t into the heroic world because they think it is the best for the world, but mostly because it pays good.

3) The construction of the symbol of peace

At some point, quirkless Toshinori Yagi met the 7th OFA torchbearer: Nana Shimura, when the world was still in chaos with criminals rampaging through the streets and citizens had no one to believe.

Toshi wanted to create a new age of harmony, where this chaotic age of crime was left behind and everyone can have a future to laugh and live together. Toshinori wanted to be that pillar, this symbol of peace for everyone, for the civilians, for other heroes and even for the criminals, for them to see what is waiting if they make a wrong move.

Nana chose Toshinori as his successor, making him the 8th torchbearer of one for all. His body was already strong so he could use this power at it 100% and his training was to learn how to fight properly. Nana died in his fight against afo to make sure that Toshinori and Gran torino escaped safely. This caused a big impact on Toshinori, who thought about Nana as his own mother. Torino recommended him to travel to the united states and continue with his training there, while at the same time being safe of the threat that afo was for him as the eight torchbearer.

From here on onwards I don't think it is necessary to make a list of the heroic things Yagi did to be recognized as the symbol of peace, but we need to talk about what he almost unconsciously constructed as the symbol of peace in the civilians and his fellow heroes eyes. A hero that is always with a smile on his face, charismatic, devoted to the point that he didn’t have any personal time, selfless, indestructible, unwavering, always the winner no matter who he fought, no matter what happened all might’s would always be there to protect everyone. He took all the burden of Japan's safety on his shoulders, reducing the criminal activity to around the 5%.

(I don’t want to sound like Izuku Midoriya is ghost-writing this post, but damn if i don’t tear up thinking about Toshinori carrying that weight on his shoulders alone for so many years)

And this is the central problem of what is going on now in the bnhaverse, the archetype of the symbol of peace that all might create, those are such big shoes to fill and at this point no one can. He became an unreachable pillar, even other heroes acknowledge the pressure of being the #1 that they let all might carry alone, this pressure that he didn’t waver to carry even when he was badly injured.

Toshi in his effort to make a better world unconsciously make everyone dependable of him or what he constructed as the symbol of peace. His fight against AFO marks the beginning of the end of the hero society as we know, the slow collapse of the unreacheable pillar of the symbol of peace.

4) The destruction of the symbol of peace

This “destruction” of the symbol of peace isn’t something new, small blow after small blow villains has been working towards this one goal. As readers we could be expectators of this fall, villain after villain, of small actions becoming bolder. Small fries, solo workers and leagues, villains have been gathering, seeing the cracks on the pillar of Japan's best hero and trying their shot.

But after AFO imprisonment and all might’s career end, they have become even bolder. The hero society is weaker than ever, because All might was the biggest threat to the villains

The symbol of peace that all might carefully constructed can’t be imitated. Endeavor and the rest of the heroes couldn’t even start to fill the spot of All might legacy.

I’m not saying that heroes aren’t doing their best to prevent the fall of the status quo of society till this moment, i’m saying that civilians and even the press don’t let the heroes do their work. There is so much fear in the population and the villains know this, every villainous act helps them and makes the civilians lose their faith in the heroes.

We see this shortly after Endeavor takes the spot of the #1 and fight against that high gamma nomu:

a)The collective trauma of what happened to all might. The fight was recorded by the press, everyone saw the horrible face of the world's biggest criminal and the hero everyone loved ending his career to ensure their safety. Even when this was about Endeavor risking his life to save everyone, as the #1 should, they only can think about All might.

b) This second panel is the same as the previous one, we can see again the lost faith in the symbol of peace. Endeavor is risking his life to protect the city, probably in a way different from what all might approach to fighting villains was, but this also says a lot about this fourth point: there isn’t a sense of safety in the population. They saw their symbol of peace fall, why would be this former #2 any different?, this man who never could take the #1 spot from all might at his best.

And the last blow to the title of the symbol of peace took was Dabi exposing everything Endeavor did to his family in his desire to be the #1. Dude, the timing of all this was beautifully executed, it exposed and proved the reasons of the failing hero system that the league of villains preach about. This speech made everyone think about the dichotomy of “heroes and villains”, after this there isn’t just black and white, good and bad, there are grey areas mingling, there are heroes that in their personal life act as villains and the population is starting to see the flaws in the system.

5)The future of hero society (spoilers of chapter 300)

This fight against the league and MLA marks the end of hero society as we know it, first because it make clear to civilians that heroes aren’t invincible and that their safety isn’t guaranteed anymore and second it make other heroes that were safe behind the shadow of the symbol of peace, know that dark times are approaching and they jobs are riskier than ever.

We have to remember that being a hero is a job option for anyone with a quirk useful enough to combat, not everyone is doing this job because they have a hero heart. In this moment, with shit hitting the fan in the hero society, the good pay, fame and glory isn’t worth to being killed. Hence a lot of pro heros quitting the job, and also a lot of heroes died in the fight against the league; that’s causing a big impact in the structure of japan’s hero society.

The police can’t fight against quirks as well as heroes can (they don’t use quirks as weapons) and they are already busy trying to arrest the people who escaped from the different prisons, civilians are buying (hero) support items to protect themselves because a lot of hero agencies have closed.

Endeavor, who is supposed to be the #1 hero, is broken to the core after having a physical proof in the form of dabi of what his ambition caused. We have seen other characters showing a kind of support to Endeavor, seeing a change in him, but this isn’t going to be enough to gain the civilians approval.

On another topic, I think Vigilantes are going to appear again, of course they never disappeared, but in this moment the public image of them wouldn’t be that bad in civilians eyes. Of course the hero association is going to be against it.

The UA kids have gone through lots of things in their short time being students and having their provisional hero license, but we have also seen their hearts, every one of them being ready to put their life on the line if that is what it takes to save lives. This last fight was the hardest they had to face, they suffered the loss of a dear teacher (Kayama), watched their friends hurting/destroying their bodies fighting and having a first line seat to see the collapse of this hero society that they were so eager to partake in.

This can a) boost them to train harder to be a good hero or b) make them retire early and discard their dream. I personally think that of what we have seen of them, the first is the most logical option, but also they are kids and their parents make the legal decisions for them and after seeing how heroes are handling things, they couldn’t entrust their kids to UA anymore.

Talking about kids, the craziest one of the bunch, Izuku, said something in chapters prior that amazed me and made me love him even more. He said that Shigaraki's face looked like he needed to be saved. We don’t know if afo used someone else before in the way he is using shigaraki to gain power and become a “demon lord”, but if that was the case, you think that any of the previous torchbearers even thought about saving their destined rival?. This is what makes Izuku so different that even the first one for all user, all for one little brother, acknowledges his worth.

So at this point the question we can make ourselves is, what is gonna happen now? Personally and this absolutely my reading of the possible turns of events: i think the hero system is going to be re-constructed, which isn’t going to be easy, but those UA kids would make sure of it somehow. There isn’t going to be a next symbol of peace.

I know you guys are thinking that the next symbol of peace should be izuku, because he is the only one who can fight against shigaraki, has the same vision of heroics that all might and in chapter one we learn that he is narrating the history of how he became a great hero / the greatest hero(i know there are a lot of different translation to this), but looking at what i have writing so long, putting the pressure of japan’s safety in the shoulders of only one person is what dragged the hero society to this point and izuku is smart enough to know that too.

Sorry for this long ramble tho and any typos, when i get excited it's gets harder to translate the words to english my mind hahaha

PS: I feel like we are going to have a time skip after Izuku wakes up.

[vegas-glitz]

I Observed Kennedy's Ghost

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A motorcade traveled north on Torresdale Ave. in Northeast Philadelphia PA, Summer of 1960. I was wearing a shorter sleeve plaid shirt with button down collar and mild slacks. In the regular manner of Philadelphia for a sixteen-calendar year-old that summer months, my shirttail was out. There were huge crowds lining the two sides of the busy avenue. A few blocks to the West, neighborhoods bordered the Delaware River and its occupied inland port. At that time, a transportation hub and the most industrialized place on earth

Tens of 1000's of citizens lined the avenue to see Senator John Kennedy, who had lately announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

The gentle-colored Cadillac approached slowly but surely, behind a wedge of Philadelphia Bike Law enforcement. A business-like voice more than a megaphone urged, "Senator Kennedy's motorcade is arriving, please continue to be to the side."

The candidate's ideal entrance profile arrived evidently into watch. I tried out to catch his eyes. Confidently at 1st, but then came the realization that it wasn't occurring, he was going absent. I could see the back of his correct shoulder as he held it up and waved to the crowd. The convertible handed gradually and his back arrived into check out.

Someone instructed me a number of days' prior, that Kennedy's father had been nicknamed 'Black Jack' all through the prohibition times. "Hey, Black Jack" I shouted. He turned abruptly and looked specifically in my eyes. JFK waved as the Kennedy motorcade pale from watch. In my teenage intellect, I rationalized that it was all suitable. We would satisfy someday in the upcoming. I questioned if the comparatively mysterious, right until just lately, Senator would try to remember me.

All people understood Kennedy. It would seem as if he was a collective extension of our personal personalities. We admired his devotion to normally putting his best foot forward. That is why we cherished him so substantially.

Just about every yr due to the fact JFK's assassination, ideas of the incident return. On Tuesday, while the rain saturated the hemlock and great western cedar on just one of people damp, misty Pacific Northwest afternoons, I invested time by itself, meditating in my household home.

In my mind's eye, I observed the mist swirling outside the house the sliding glass door. The vapor handed through the glass and took type as the spirit of President John F Kennedy.

"Appear," the spirit claimed, taking my hand. "We don't have much time."

In an quick, we stood on a cliff on the Washington coastline overlooking the Pacific.

If our time was minimal, we desired to dispense with formalities.

"Mr. President, was Lee Harvey Oswald the lone assassin?" Last but not least, we would get an respond to to the most perplexing concern of my lifetime.

"All people asks that," President Kennedy answered. "The final factor I try to remember about my earthly existence was likely downhill in the again seat of a convertible. Just for an fast, I was taken aback in shock. I could see the still left front profile of a man or woman in the drainage culvert at the bottom of the slope about thirty yards in front of us. There was a flash from that site. Some thing sharp poked me in the Adam's apple. I gagged and gasped. Jackie referred to as my identify. There was blood, gore, brains and the back again of my cranium on the trunk of the convertible. I was now dead."

The reply was sudden and disappointing but I appreciated our time constraints.

"Do People in america these days even now share your values and vision," I asked promptly. Kennedy pondered the question as he watched the surf slam against the jetty in the distance below us.

"I have, ah, usually, cherished the sea," he smiled, gesturing toward the white drinking water and the inexperienced pacific further than, back-dropped by a moist, grey sky. "In my earthly lifestyle, I, ah, started off sailing as a child," the President said, with a large New England accent. "What about you," he questioned. "Have you gone to sea?"

"Indeed sir," I replied. "I was serving in the US Coast Guard at the time of your assassination."

"Very well, ah, you likely by now know about my thoughts to the Coastline Guard I experienced to transfer them from the Treasury Department to the Transportation Section," he said. "I preferred to dissolve the assistance fully but the folks bordering me recommended strongly from it. The new Transportation Section offered a ideal match."

"With present day expanding port stability complications and switching marine weather conditions, we will have to have the Coast Guard extra than at any time. I did deal with to get the Honey Fitz, our loved ones yacht, from...the Coast Guard."

"The rest of the military services was a distinct, ah, challenge. The Joint Chiefs of Personnel confirmed definitely no respect for me. They regularly produced jokes about my naval knowledge, or to be correct, naval inexperience," he claimed with a grin. "Remember, less rating officers below their command experienced authority to commence a thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union. Can you envision what that was like for me, with all the hawks associated in politics? These whom I surrounded myself with aided me wrest manage. I designed quite a few enemies among our military ranks. To make issues even worse, I was acquiring each day reviews of exploding racial tension in the army."

"My administration obtained to function on the difficulty and we were equipped to make several changes and improvements. Recognize, ah, the South is still fighting the Civil War. Any modifications in that way will often be tough fought. My administrations, ah, obtained the ball rolling to, ah, employ the Civil Legal rights Act. Race challenges add to so a lot heartache for Us residents. You would imagine right after all this time it would be improved currently."

"Mr. President," I questioned, "Do you imagine Weather Adjust, and the detrimental consequences on humanity, are America's most pressing issue?"

"Totally! Completely! Of course. Just, ah, the weather anomalies by itself must trigger alarm. All through my administration both get-togethers pulled alongside one another and paved the way for Public Operates Projects like, ah, the design of extra nuclear electricity crops. Just in advance of I, ah, acquired whacked, my administration was critically wanting at a land reclamation undertaking that had been, ah, proposed a 10 years earlier by the Military Corp of Engineers named the North American Drinking water and Electrical power Alliance. "

"Perfectly, I was taken out of the photo just about the time Los Angeles took motion to begin the task. Preserve in intellect, we ah, we planned to divert h2o from Alaska and Canada by way of the Tintina Trench close to the British Columbia-Yukon border to the Rocky Mountain Trench. It is seriously just one continuous trench. The job would create hundreds of significant construction jobs and thousands and thousands of building employment for two a long time. We could present h2o to all of the major agricultural areas in the Southwest, California and Mexico. Rivers like this 1 in entrance of us, the Columbia River," Kennedy stated pointing, "and the Frazier River in Canada, would, ah, have improved flood regulate and frequent irrigation h2o offer. Just after I was taken out of the photograph, the action in Southeast Asia begun. The usa and the Corp of Engineers experienced other priorities and the idea waned. California, our big agricultural agent is dealing with a long time of drought. It would not be a challenge if NAWAPA had been used. Look at it to Washington's Grand Coulee Dam and the irrigation it offers from the Columbia River exactly where, ah, drought issues are mitigated."

"Our youth were fired up about the path of the US was taking. We were initial in technological know-how, particularly communications technological know-how, wellness treatment, agriculture, producing, creation, transportation, strength and just about each individual financial sector," the spirit continued. "We regarded the will need for advancements in instruction, wellness treatment and we started out to create an enhanced social safety web. The tax amount for the middle class was much larger then. I think people today these days want the finer factors govt can supply but are not eager to shell out for it. That is the major variation. Maximize General public Operates and you will set our young era back to work with fantastic positions in profitable firms and professions. Only the govt has the ability to place it jointly, but you, ah, have to be eager to pay back for it."

"I consider the variance involving the younger males and women of all ages of November nineteen sixty-three and currently is, ah, present day staff just have a diverse benefit system," Kennedy asserted.

"Do you feel all those values are legitimate," I requested hesitantly.

"Of class," Kennedy mentioned, smiling. "Just be open to revision. My father experienced a saying, 'Trust every person, depend every little thing.' Examine the quantities. It is fifth quality math really. Nuclear Ability is the only option to balancing vitality needs and local climate adjust."

A dog barked in the length. It appeared to get louder and nearer. When the animal came into check out I saw it was my have minor Chiwene, Nene. She was scratching at the sliding door to the property. I was at residence. My ghostly buddy experienced disappeared.

Resource by Jim Flynn