There are situations when absurdity is reality and reality is absurd. It’s called politics. The story of two elections are examples.
The bid of Irish prime minister Enda Kenny to win a second term depends on his ability to take Netflix to the remotest corners of Ireland. The absurdity of high-speed Internet as an election issue? Well, that’s the reality.
Meanwhile, the master of pushing reality to absurd limits, Donald Trump, could well be America’s 45th president. A man who owns four bankrupt companies is supposed to fix the US economy. After exploiting the current Muslim phobia of Americans, Trump played comedian. Trumpisms were cruel: he vowed to build a “cheap” wall along the Mexican border, although only 19 per cent of immigrants are Hispanic workers in the US. He called Mexican criminals, drug smugglers and rapists. Then he Hispandered by tweeting a photo of himself with a taco bowl, captioned, “I love Hispanics.” He accused blacks of lacking spirit at a time when many were being gunned down by white cops. America’s 109-million African-Americans comprise 34.5 per cent of the voters. The blonde-wigged, thrice-married presidential contender supported traditional marriages. Airing his views on India, Trump told CNN, “India is doing great. Nobody talks about it,” meaning it’s not getting the recognition it deserves. Next, he mimicked an Indian call centre worker at a Delaware campaign rally.
In Britain, sexist stand-up comic Al Murray announced his intention to contest the next general election. Comedians like Murray, Rufus Hound and Eddie Izzard are making traditional politicians look like jokes: as terrorism, unemployment and immigration fears haunt Europe, the public seeks the surreal sanctuary of humour over promises that are delivered less than more. Germany absurdly admitted Syrian refugees without checks; 13,000 have disappeared, and probably some of them are making bombs in some black forest cottage. Belatedly, Chancellor Merkel has called for joint border control in Europe. In Paris, a city ravaged by Islamic terrorism, an eminent bishop would rather see churches turned into mosques than discotheques. The extreme right is hence becoming a challenger in European politics. A grimmer absurdity surfaced when a Danish imam said it was okay to rape children—right wing leaders promptly cracked down on immigration, gaining popular approval.
Absurdities rule rulers, past and present; like Italian motherhood prompting Sonia Gandhi to promote her son and political dud Rahul. The Congress takes to the streets when the AgustaWestland records mention a Signora Gandhi—which obviously isn’t Maneka, or Gopal Gandhi’s wife. The government manifests its share of absurdities, too. When Narendra Modi dreams of Digital India—and was the first to use social media to ride to power—the NDA wants the Geospatial Bill, which puts at risk the use of Google maps and WhatsApp, integral tools of millions of Indians. At a time when Ambedkar is celebrated as a national icon, a Dalit girl is gangraped in Kerala.
Julio Cortázar, a fellow traveller of Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes, Jorge Luis Borges and Mario Vargas Llosa said, “We no longer believe because it is absurd; it is absurd because we must believe.” This encasilates the challenge of facing the reality of our times. The absurdity of today’s bloodstained, socially skewed reality is challenging man’s belief in himself. It would be absurd to give in.
ravi@newindianexpress.com