Black. White. where is the grey?

Being part of an organization that's been called 'socialist' for its blunt ways and forceful protests, I have sensed the psyche and pulse of the people who invest all of their weekend-time into it. You can see the pride with which they take up these issues and work at them. I admire people who can devote time and soul into a task (rather than religion, but then that’s me. If it’s a social cause - even better). So I know it when people say “How can you build dams at the cost of displacement of thousands of people?”, or “How can big companies like Coca Cola (which promise employment in a crooked manner and use up a town’s ground water at an appalling rate) and Dow (with the Bhopal campaign which never seems to end) be allowed to come to India and not hold any corporate responsibility for their actions and destroy lives and flee?”. I understand the plea they make. The question is, always, “why the poor, why inflict those who can’t voice their opinions, why oppression!”

If that’s one side of the coin, the other side are (great) people like C.K. Prahlad, who believe in impressive ideologies about Bottom of the Pyramid and the profit scope that it offers. Reading his interview, it’s hard to take a side between being completely socialistic and socially-aware-capitalism (if there is such a thing).

My cynicism kicks in, and rages a war with my borderline-idealistic optimism. Is it really hard to avoid harming a whole sect of people, do we have to find the weak and oppress them at the cost of development. Why can’t we all make some bit of sacrifice? Can we not make a business model that makes us all lose a little bit instead of shoving the brunt of it onto the weakest sector?

On the other hand, I think democracy is awesome because there are people who always take all the sides of anything postulated, and (I hope) that is what forces us to take the right decision.