The Importance of Being a Redneck

If you say that someone is a redneck, you immediately think he is a gun toting, drunken, xenophobic nationalist with old world ideas and who hates everyone not from his neighborhood. I have to say you are right. 


To be precise (nowadays you have to be, you know like Wikipedia), I researched the term on Dictionary.com.
It is defined as follows:






red·neck   [red-nek]  Show IPA Informal: Often Disparaging .
noun
1.
an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.
2.
a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.


As a 'redneck' you are only concerned with your life! Period! Nobody else's. I know most of these personality traits are not to be condoned. But there is one thing I admire in the rednecks of america (other countries too) and some of these characteristics are shared by a vast majority of the American public too - that is they don't give a damn about the rest of the world. Leave aside the world, they don't care about anyone outside their state and some not even outside their county or district. This is a characteristic that I admire.


In India, I know that we have been taught to have a global view. Most Indians know the heads of all the major countries. They know the parties , they know their political inclinations and they have the mental aptitude to make even political analysis of world evens. They can even come to conclusions and make inferences if needed.


But let me ask you how much of this is useful. What good does it do for you that you know who is running for the Republican party seat in US or why Greece is in debt and or the political and economic implications of a war in the Middle East. 


Does it affect you in any way? That is the question that needs to be asked and if the answer is yes, only then is that relevant information. 


If you ask most Indians who the local Municipal chairman is or who the Panchayat president is, most likely he doesn't know. I am not saying I am any different from the rest. I too don't know. I too live in the global scene. I don't know who is responsible for the shoddy roads, the open man holes. I don't know and really wouldn't care if a bridge construction has been ongoing for the past decade. I really don't care. I am more interested in whether the IMF is reducing the interest rates or who is going to be the next UN Secretary general. I am the global citizen. Not some petty individual who only thinks about his surrounding.


This is the difference between a redneck and people like us. While they maybe xenophobes and don't understand the cultural and socio-economic importance of immigrants. They are very concerned about their district and their town. They are interested that their neighborhoods are safe and they have the necessary infrastructure facilities for a good, comfortable life.

Waste at Vilapilasalla, Kerala

An incident occurred in Kerala in the Trivandrum district in a place called Vilapillshala. This was the location of the dumping ground for the waste generated in the state. What normally happens in these waste disposal sites, is waste disposal. But in Vilapillashala for years, waste was just being dumped. Heap upon heap of garbage just lying around. Politicians and the great leaders made promises every year and none were kept. 


Finally, the residents got so fed up they collectively agitated. Irrespective of political, religious affiliations, the entire populace came out in support for removal of the waste which had made the place inhuman to live.They didn't heed to any political party nor were they discouraged or disheartened in their fight for basic human rights. So no one could fool them and prolong the issue. It was beautiful. Inspired by the events at Villapilasala, a similar kind of protest has started in a place called Laloor in Thrissur district Kerala. Read


It is time that we realize that unless we resolutely and actively take interest in our surroundings and neighborhoods, we are going to be dealing with the same problems for generations. Just imagine if each and everyone in the country takes such measures and become actively involved in their society, their neigbourhoods, their towns and districts, India is definitely going to improve. Also, the people in power have no choice but to be accountable. The whole country will improve. 


So go ahead be a redneck for your own well being. Otherwise waste is going to be dumped on you forever.