Defining Democracy

Democracy is a tough concept truly to nail down and define, mainly because there are so many conflicting ideas and interpretations surrounding it. Democracy for some can potentially appear to be tyranny for others. When the "majority" is in power, what happens to "minorities"?

Let's begin by considering how Lincoln defined democracy in the Gettysburg Address:

. . . that government : of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

These are lofty, noble words expressing the highest of ideals. However, they are, in the end, only words. What, precisely, do they mean? It seems that it always all comes down to a question of semantics. We all know (more or less) what "government" means (though that is an issue that can be debated extensively in and of itself), but who, precisely, are "the people"?

As defined by the process, "the people" refers to the legal citizens of a nation—more particularly, those who are eligible to vote—and even more specifically, those who actually do vote. More than that, because a "government" is elected by the "majority," the "people" apparently refers specifically to that majority that voted the current executive branch into power.

So what about everyone else? What happens to all the "minorities"—i.e. those who were not eligible to vote in the first place, those who neglected to vote, those who voted for the opposing candidate . . . . Do these people have any rights at all in a democracy?

In ancient Rome, every time a new dictatorial tribune seized power, the event was followed by "purges," in which those Roman citizens and residents who were deemed to be disloyal to those currently in power were hunted down and executed. Similarly, in Latin American Banana Republics, every time one general deposed another through revolution, what invariably followed was a violent bloodletting in which all those loyal to the previous administration were placed before a firing squad.

Thankfully, we live in a more civilized society, one in which regime change does not equate to bloody reprisals, guaranteeing certain fundamental rights to minorities, such as the right to disagree with those in power and the right to express one's opinion in lawful, civilized discourse without the fear of being incarcerated, extradited or excommunicated. Constitutionally, at least, which is to say, "theoretically," we are all guaranteed those rights—even minorities.

Because the alternative is not democracy in the least but, rather, mob rule, demagoguery and authoritarian totalitarianism in which those in power oppress the citizenry—as in George Orwell's dystopian vision of an authoritarian regime empowered by an ubiquitous media, in which the "people" are coerced either to conform with the mainstream or else be expelled or incarcerated, and all free, honest, civilized self-expression is drowned out either by the howling of a hysterical mob or the deafening rhetoric of a demagogue or by the incessant drumbeat of the media—and that is not democracy, not by any definition!

A democratic society is forever walking a fine line—it is only too easy for democracy to regress into some form of totalitarianism or tyranny. That is why one has to be grateful for all great democratic institutions worldwide—and especially for those in the United States which are, arguably, a shining example for all governments globally. Because the temptation to devolve into totalitarianism is always a very real potential threat, it takes tremendous strength of character to remain a truly democratic society.

Quoting Lincoln once again:

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

I think these words apply to all democratic nations worldwide.

Horizon Cybermedia is committed to supporting democratic ideals everywhere and is especially committed to the free, honest, open and civilized expression and exchange of ideas and sincere opinions. Stay tuned for the next film in our Exploration series—now complete and ready for release online pending a complete redesign of our website http://www.explorationtheseries.com.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

The Curse of the Plagiarist

I recently finished reading author Andrew Keen's scathing critique of new media and online culture, The Cult of the Amateur. I highly recommend this eye-opening and well-researched, if extremely negative, one-sided and self-important, investigation into the media trends of the past couple of decades. Even if you disagree with Keen, which I do, you cannot help but appreciate his point of view and the extremely valid issues he addresses.

Keen concludes, somewhat morbidly, that modern culture is doomed by rampant, unchecked technological advancements—technology that, he claims, empowers the "amateur" to such a degree that the expert and specialist are drowned out by the cacophony of "amateurs" with uncontrolled access to new media. His core argument is that the massive setback to the modern American music industry caused by internet piracy through peer-to-peer file sharing software and by low prices from online media retailers like iTunes and Amazon.com is representative of the threat posed to traditional culture by the internet. He suggests that the internet promotes a culture that encourages plagiarism, piracy, remixing and mashing up of traditional media, and he self-righteously condemns what he deems to be widespread trends towards copyright infringement and the trampling of the intellectual property rights of professional artistes.

This is where I feel compelled to interject and present the opposite side of the picture. True, Andrew Keen presents a well-researched, well thought out argument and makes his case very convincingly, but for all his ranting, he neglects to mention one very critical point which, for me at least, clinches the argument for the opposing point of view.

This may not apply to everyone, but to the select few who have a genuine creative impulse and who have taken time out of their busy lives to be creative in some way—whether it means writing a book or a screenplay or making an independent film or composing and recording a song—only to find their creative efforts stymied and obstructed—even plagiarized and ripped off—by "traditional, mainstream, professional" media and culture—to these select few, new media and the internet are a boon.

Hollywood, for example, is full of aspiring screenwriters—pretty much everyone has written a screenplay or two if they have lived in Tinsel Town. Most screenplays, it goes without saying, are pretty shoddy and mediocre—but a few are excellent.

But let us suppose, hypothetically, that you happen to be such an aspiring screenwriter in Hollywood and that you have written a couple of screenplays. Arguably, they are pretty average efforts, but they do have some original ideas and sparks of brilliance. So you decide to shop them around because you never know—some agent or studio just might pick up on one of them. Time goes by and your efforts prove to be fruitless.

Then, one fine day, you head to the movies to catch the latest, hot new film release. As you watch it, lo and behold, it appears to become more and more familiar to you. You experience an odd sense of déjà-vu as the film you are watching seems more and more like an old friend disguised by some elaborate costume. Then, gradually, recognition dawns—the scenes, the key characters—they are all so familiar because you created them! That's your screenplay up on the screen—remixed and mashed up, to be sure, but plagiarized and ripped-off, all the same, by mainstream Hollywood!

Outraged by the copyright infringement (because your screenplays are all copyrighted, of course, under US copyright law) and the transgression of your intellectual property rights, you are determined to sue! But good luck taking on the major studios like Universal Pictures or Paramount or Warner Bros., all of whom have millions of dollars and an army of lawyers at their disposal, while you are a solitary individual working 9-5 to make ends meet!

This is where new media enters the picture. Thanks to new media and the internet, you now have a voice! You can make yourself heard! If Hollywood or the mainstream media establishment has ever ripped you off (which they do all the time to consumers and aspiring artistes alike), then you can voice your outrage online, and there's a pretty good chance that someone will give you an empathetic ear. Furthermore, thanks to new media, you now have a creative outlet independent of the media establishment. You can pursue your creative interests and, with some luck and ingenuity, perhaps even turn them into lucrative pursuits.

Not long ago, CNN news legend, Larry King, had a mock-contest with TV and film personality Ashton Kutcher to see who could make a million "friends" on Twitter first. In a mock video aired on his CNN show, Larry King taunted Kutcher with the words (more or less):

"CNN is an organization. You are just one person. You don't stand a chance. We will bury you!"

Sure, it was all in good humor—but even so, it was a telling moment. In Larry King's world—the world of traditional media—the individual does not stand a chance against the giant media organization. But what is even more telling is that Kutcher eventually did beat out CNN and won the arguable distinction of being crowned "The King of Twitter." In the world of new media, the individual can take on the giant media conglomerate and, perhaps, even win. Sure, Ashton Kutcher being crowned "King of Twitter" is, ultimately, not to be taken seriously, while Larry King's show on CNN remains the news fixture that it has been for decades—but the symbolic importance of this moment cannot be denied. Thanks to new media, the individual can take on the monolithic, faceless media organization and even come out on top.

So, in response to Andrew Keen's well-researched and brilliantly argued case against new media, my counter-argument is a simple one—that new media empowers the individual in unprecedented ways so much so that the individual voice can actually be heard even against the blaring megaphone of traditional media screaming non-stop into one's ears (metaphorically speaking).

The fact is that new media and the internet represents a cultural paradigm shift of an unprecedented, unimaginable scale. Not since the inventions of the codex and printing has there been anything close in all of history—and new media dwarfs even those cultural advances, in my opinion. The relative novelty of new media, compared to centuries of tradition accumulated by traditional media, means that the onset of new media resembles the chaos of a Tsunami. As for what the future holds, it is impossible to say. It could well stimulate the biggest surge in human creativity that we have ever seen in all of history.

When the printing press enabled literature to escape the confines of the small minority of the educated, privileged few and become universally accessible, I have no doubt that alongside the profusion of classics that achieved widespread publication was a surge of literary trash and smut that deluged the print markets. And no doubt, that age probably had its own critics who, like Andrew Keen, in a fit of negativity, decried the collapse of civilization to be brought on by the technological advancement of printing. However, ultimately, civilization won out and was enriched by the freedom of creative expression afforded by this new technology.

By the same token, I strongly believe that, in the end, human creativity and the aspiration after excellence will win out over trash and bad taste. In the end, the gambling and pornographic websites, the online anarchists and purveyors of bad taste will be washed away by the cleansing tides of history, but creative excellence will endure and civilization will be enriched in the long run.

Horizon Cybermedia aims to be at the forefront of technological trends and creative excellence. Join us in our quest as we continue to bring you creative content of the highest quality and standards in the ongoing technological revolution that is new media.

Meanwhile, check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com for the latest episodes in our ongoing film series, Exploration with Uday Gunjikar.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Rising from the Ashes

In my previous blog entry, I briefly touched on the subject of "pagan religious awe." I compared the religious awe one might experience when confronted by, say, a gigantic stone idol of Shiva, the Hindu deity of chaos and destruction, to the sort of religious awe one might experience in the face of nuclear weapons or a mushroom cloud. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the supervising scientist of the Manhattan Project, explicitly gave voice to this experience of religious awe by quoting a line from the Sanskrit text, the Bhagavad Gita, likening the experience of confronting an atomic explosion to coming face to face with the terrible wrath of Shiva.

In this blog post, however, I would like to make an about turn and celebrate Easter Sunday, instead. Easter is my absolute favorite holiday because there is no more life-affirming, joyous occasion than Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday is about hope in the face of terror and despair. It is the promise of life even in the face of devastation. The main reason I became Christian was Easter. There is no other religion that promises resurrection and the ultimate defeat of death itself.

This Easter Sunday, I can only hope that the global economy will rise from the ashes of destruction to a state of stability and recovery, so that all those who have become unwilling victims of economic instability may have their lives restored. I guess, the terrible state of affairs in the world these days: the economic collapse, nuclear terrorism, environmental catastrophes, all of which threaten to overturn our lives without a moment's notice, makes this Easter Sunday all the more meaningful and important.

One of my favorite Biblical verses, one that inspires me daily, is the following, from Isaiah 40:31:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

So, on that note:

HAPPY EASTER!!
A message from Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.

Unamerican Idols

In a recent article for Newsweek magazine, Newsweek editor and bestselling author, Jon Meacham proclaims "The End of Christian America," citing statistics that "the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades."

Coincidentally, only recently, I released, online, the first film in my Exploration film series on the Elephanta Caves, one of the significant tourist attractions off the coast of the modern Indian city of Mumbai. Featured prominently in this film, in what some might describe as "a starring role," are several massive, ancient statues (some might say "idols") of the Hindu deity, Shiva.

Now before anyone (in their right mind) alleges that my film is, in any way, a contributing factor to the decline of American Christian faith, let me humbly make some clarifications.

First of all—I know Jon Meacham personally. I attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tn., where I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Physics, around the same time he did, and the last time I met Jon was, if I'm not mistaken, in the 2011 (edited from "2001") Sewanee homecoming at a college fraternity party on campus. So, to ease Jon Meacham's mind, let me assure him that I am a Christian and that my Christian faith continues to inspire me every day of my life. I was, in fact, baptized in the All Saint's Chapel in Sewanee, Tn., and though I do not frequent the church on a regular basis (unfortunately), my Christian faith continues to sustain me as I read Bible verses on a daily basis.

That said, let me continue to discuss my conversion to Christianity. Firstly, I did not convert to Christianity from Hinduism. Many westerners believe that Hinduism is a religion, much like Christianity or Judaism or Islam, in the sense of a clearly defined set of doctrines and practices. In fact, Hinduism is more like a philosophy of life articulated through the metaphorical language of (in my mind excessively) complicated mythology.

So as a converted Christian who grew up in a predominantly "Hindu" nation, let me attempt to dispel some of the myths surrounding popular (mis)conceptions about India and Hindu culture.

Before I became a Christian, I considered myself agnostic. Though I believed in a disembodied, omnipotent spiritual entity I considered to be "God," I believed that any religion was fundamentally misguided primarily because, as any child of moderate intelligence would probably agree, I saw the fundamental absurdity in the idea that any human-created religion could in any way matter to an infinitely powerful God. I figured, "if God is so darn powerful, why would he care about human beings at all? Human beings—mortals—were probably no better than ants in some anthill to God." So I concluded, at the time, that God probably didn't care and, I guess, that man had no real purpose to his life. So I guess my philosophy of life was to not really worry too much about these issues myself, which I supposed to be largely irrelevant to my day-to-day life.

My personal path of discovery that led me to an abiding personal Christian faith was a long and difficult one that involved a great deal of skepticism and soul-searching, culminating in my decision to get baptized during my college years. In no way, incidentally, was this decision an attempt to conform with an Episcopelian Southern culture as I was then, no less than I am now, a pretty notorious (I think) non-conformist. It was a decision I made for myself based on a great deal of intellectual examination, thought and reading, including a reading of the entire New Testament and of a good deal of the Old Testament.

The point here is that even before I converted to Christianity, I, like most of the citizens of modern India, did not really take Hinduism seriously. Hinduism and Hindu culture, like the Sanskrit language of its texts, is long dead—a victim of modernization and the industrial revolution. The idols of ancient India, like the idols of Greece, Rome and Polynesia, are no more than mute artifacts, the remnants of a long past civilization.

And that, in my mind, is tragic. The idols of modern India are not Shiva or Vishnu. They are Bollywood superstars or famous Cricket players. And beyond that, technology and business. No modern Indian businessman or scientist really takes Shiva or Vishnu seriously.

Ironically, though, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the supervising scientist of the Manhattan project and the architect of one of the real idols of modern civilization, the atomic bomb, thought very differently. A scholar with an abiding interest in Sanskrit literature, Oppenheimer quoted the Sanskrit Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita soon after the first test of the atomic weapon at White Sands, New Mexico:

. . . now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds . . .

referring to the Hindu deity Vishnu's transformation into Shiva, the Hindu deity of chaos and destruction.



Oppenheimer found, in Sanskrit literature, the poetic imagery to express himself in a profound way that, presumably, he could not find in some other text elsewhere. And to this day, the visual power of the sculptures at the Elephanta Caves are undeniable. If they have the power to inspire some pagan religious awe, then one can only attribute that power to the artistic imagination and skilled craftsmanship of the Hindu sculptors who created these undeniable works of art. But no one in their right mind could seriously consider that stone artifacts have any real power other than the power to inspire artistic appreciation.

One of the tragedies of modern India is that the country's real heritage has largely been forgotten in the face of rampant, uncontrolled modernization. The Elephanta Caves, the subject of my film, in spite of having been declared a national monument, lies in a state of dreadful neglect and disrepair. Few of the citizens of modern India have any time for the quaint, old-fashioned artifacts of the remote past—other than in the context of gaudy, trivialized television adaptations of Hindu myths and folklore.

So, in conclusion, to reassure Jon Meacham, if Christianity is waning (which I don't seriously believe), then Hinduism is long since dead! Modern India is a secular nation in a very real sense—as far as I know, Bollywood films and cricket are a far greater influence in Indian culture than Hindu sculptures or Sanskrit texts could ever be! And while Islam remains a religious force to be reckoned with (owing to the unbridled fanaticism of its more radical practitioners), probably the biggest threat to Christianity is general disillusionment and widespread cynicism in the face of the actions of some who call themselves "Christian"—soulless politicians who use religion to further their political agendas, left or right, and whose actions bear no remote resemblance to any principle advocated or action performed by Christ during his entire career, as documented in the Gospels.

Meanwhile, keep on the lookout for the next film in my Exploration film series on the Wine Country of Sonoma County, CA, soon to be released on my website, http://www.explorationtheseries.com.


Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.