The Opinion

It is bizarre that most of us form our opinion on a lot of things based on what we hear or see and yet we get it wrong. It would not take a rocket scientist to guess that the reason for it would be that what we are getting to see or hear is wrong. Who do you think is responsible for it? Of course it is the media.

It is easy to plagiarize the way of some people who made significant changes for good by doing something that was not done earlier and which was probably criticized in the beginning but later was accepted by the world for some reason which may or may not be what it looks like now.

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the armed wing of African National Congress. Mandela spent 27 years in prison on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid. He was called the biggest terrorist on the face of the earth at that time and today we know him as a celebrated elder statesman who has more than one hundred awards under his belt. It is not that that he was a terrorist earlier and later he changed himself and became a righteous man to win a million hearts. He was awarded all these awards, including the Noble Peace Prize for the very same activities which he performed throughout his life. There is no doubt that he is a great man and he continues to live by his values till date. However, it is strange that the world did not understand him earlier and later it did.

We have a good example of our own country. Before India achieved independence from British rule, some freedom fighters of India who did not subscribe to non-violence were labelled as terrorists by the British government. The same individuals have been lauded by Indians for the same activities and hailed as ‘patriots’. Thus two different labels have been given to the same people for the same set of actions. One is calling them terrorists while the other is calling them patriots. Those who believed that Britain had a right to rule over India called these people terrorists, while those who were of the view that Britain had no right to rule India called them patriots and freedom fighters.

These are just two proverbial examples. This has been happening since ages and no one could ever get a solution to it.

It is therefore important that we make our own decisions instead of maintaining that the majority is always right. It could be wrong as well. Like everybody, the media sells what is sold. And the sad part is that we don’t have an alternative but to buy what is sold. The laws of demand and supply are applicable here too. And if I remember my books correctly, the law of demand states that if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the less people will demand that good. On the contrary the law of supply implies that the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied. I am not an economist but it makes sense to me that if we eliminate the good or product, the demand for it will fall and in turn the price would fall, which will lead to a drop in production of that product.

I understand that it is not a practical solution. Because if we do not confide in the media, we may not be able to form our opinion on a lot of things but wouldn’t it be better than forming a wrong opinion? Some problems need impractical solutions.