Your Voice

To the Editor,
Witnessing the election aftermath and the accompanying political drama has been quite appalling and frustrating. If I were disillusioned with the political scenario in India, then I am no less pleased with political system out here.
The most outrageous incident in this whole election gamut was the preposterous accusation made against Nader for taking away Gore’s votes. Does that imply that American democracy has no room for a third party!
It is high time that U.S. explores different perspectives beyond the closed walls of a bi-party system. Country like India had 169 parties participating in the last general elections, a number quite reasonable for a nation with so much of diversity, but why cannot U.S. welcome the birth of a third party ideology that promises a different agenda. If Nader finally breaks the ice and draws people’s attention to a different political thought, then bravo to him.
Also most astounding to witness was the degree of voter apathy here. 50 percent turnout for a nation with a literacy rate of 97 percent is quite disappointing. On the other hand, India, which has a literacy rate of 52 percent, had a voter turnout of 60 percent in the last parliamentary elections.
Not that I claim that the Indian political system is in anyway better that the system out here. Rather, it is much worse, infested with far more serious crises like corruption and power hungry politicians who are selfish, apathetic and lack basic in-house etiquettes.
Yet in this apparently unipolar world, where people all over the world look up to U.S. as an epitome of successful democracy, I would certainly expect the people here to be more politically active. After all, we seek education to become responsible citizens and not be indifferent to the society that we make.