At the root of most problems we face today is the belief of this Government that there are simple solutions to complex problems and that the only reason these solutions were not adopted earlier was either timidity or malicious intent on the part of earlier govts.

So it blunders on with its half-baked decisions, with disdain for expertise and eyes firmly shut to the natural consequences of their actions - consequences that any person of judgement and wisdom (who is not overawed by their own ‘brilliance’) could have clearly foreseen.

Since it has the narrative machinery firmly in control, with Whatsapp groups & toady media ever ready to do its bidding, these half-baked, thoughtless decisions are applauded by common citizens in the early stages. But the nation ends up paying a heavy price each time.

This applies to all fronts - economy, national security, foreign affairs, internal harmony... The proclivity for unthoughtful ‘simplicity’ is a common trait of many Rightwing parties and movements, but rarely has this choice been exercised with such intensity and ‘confidence’.

What makes each of these ‘bold’ decisions bigger and irretrievable disasters is the fact that the checks and balances in the system are not working as they ought to - especially media and the judiciary.

The ‘56-inch’ imagery in a way sums up the reasoning behind these ‘bold’ decisions, with the emphasis on using muscle rather than understanding and posturing rather than strategy. Look closely at each of our major crises today, and its origins will lie in a ‘muscled’ decision.

The only mechanism the govt uses for checking whether its policies are working or not is public perception and popularity, NOT any objective measure, since perception is what determines its continuing hold on power.

Its mastery of the art of perception management & its impressive ability to sell fake narratives through Whatsapp groups & mass media owners, editors & anchors, therefore, necessarily means consistently poor outcomes for the nation. How long this can continue is anybody’s guess.

In Economics, there’s a paradox called the ‘oil curse’. A nation that finds a lot of oil will have its currency shooting up, making its other exports & sectors weaker & weaker. It also has other negative consequences. The curse of extremely agile image management may be similar

But can people keep voting for a govt that makes their situation objectively worse? Yes - IF they can be made to believe that others have been put in an even worse situation, so they are actually better off in a relative sense. That’s the ineffable beauty of divisive politics!