Policy on the Leader: Extremism Isn't the Only Option

Ground Report | New Delhi: Policy on the Leader; Today, we live in a world that is witnessing an extremely polarized society. The fact that it doesn't take even five minutes to trigger someone politically shows that our 'public' has become a victim of this polarization. Everything has to be either love/hate, right/wrong, patriotic/anti-national, and black/white. However, there is a gray area that also needs to be recognized!

Policy on the Leader

Rational Choice: Be Objective!

Unfortunately, this 'love-hate relationship that we have with our leaders has created a binary, leading to a great deal of prejudice. In this herd-mentality of loving or hating politicians, we have forgotten what really matters - how to evaluate policies! Think about it. How often do we really dig in and see what a particular policy covers?

Do most people make a blanket statement based on their perception of the leader who proposed it? We need to be objective with the policies and not the state.

You may like some things and dislike others

Individual Objective As voters, we have the freedom to choose and choose, we do not need to tie our allegiance to any political entity. While policies are introduced by politicians, their intricacies are planned and executed by bureaucrats. Thus, there is always a chance that the same government has a policy you like and a policy you dislike.

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For example, let's consider two radical economic policies that, in the author's opinion, have polar opposite effects:

1. GST

According to the author, a much-needed reform, the GST simplified the complex tax regime in the country. While it could have been implemented better, it was certainly a law that changed the taxation paradigm in our country and was a striking example of cooperative federalism.

GST is a multi-tiered tax system that is comprehensive in nature and is applicable on the sale of goods and services. The main objective of this taxation system is to prevent the cascading effect of other indirect taxes and is applicable all over India.

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Demonetization

Demonetization was a very poorly thought-out decision. Going against advice from most corners, the prime minister has backed himself to withdraw an alleged anti-corruption campaign.

While the intention was to reduce the circulation of black money, what actually happened was that more than 99.3% of the currency in circulation was recovered by the government, reducing the liquidity or spending capacity for citizens. Lastly, demonetisation also badly affected India's economic growth trajectory and caused undue suffering to the masses.

Change the discourse

Now if you notice, this is the same ideology that is objectively liking and disliking the policies of the same government. it's possible!

And that brings me to my focal point. No government is good or bad as a whole, it is a combination of many good and bad policies. Ultimately, it all boils down to which one (good or bad) dominates the other!

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