Do-gooders is a title of derision and a major criticism in the United States. It implies giving help where none is requested and idealism in a situation where everyone is comfortable.

Here it is used in another sense, political newcomer, neophyte, starry eyed idealist, etc. That is only to be expected. Generally speaking to be effective, a wide ranging movement eventually becomes organized to maintain pressure over long periods of time. In the United States, organizations like C.O.R.E., the Congress of Racial Equality and the N.A.A.C.P., National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, carried on the struggle for civil rights for minorities in the United States. It was recognized that even though the public favored the cause, it required continuous pressure to make change possible.

A large unorganized movement can easily be broken by attacks because it has no mechanism for defense, no central leadership to react to these kinds of assaults. Hazare’s organization is not really organized. It is almost helpless against attacks in the media. Because of its diffuse membership, there can be a dozen different responses to crisis coming from different parties in different places.

I admire Anna Hazare but the next stage of the battle is about to begin. It will take continuous pressure over decades to change the endemic culture of corruption. I’m going to watch. India is no longer a backwater in the field of social change, it is the front line in a worldwide  battle for ethics and morality in public life.

This is a good article, a little more cynical than me, which is saying a lot. My heart and prayers are with the reformers. It is time for a change.

James Pilant

By Amulya Ganguli When Anna Hazare and his warriors launched their anti-corruption crusade in early April, they were acting like starry-eyed idealists ready to take on the world. Their ardour had something of the assurance, full of zest, which every generation felt when they embarked on a mission to usher in a new dawn. Although a few of those in the frontline are young – Hazare himself is a septuagenarian – their youthful fervour of those days w … Read More

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