Who is a liberal and can one ever be an Adarsh Liberal?

“You like Justin Bieber?!?”

“Bas Kijiye Bahut Ho Gaya Award goes to Ram Gopal Varma.”

“Dafuq is she wearing? Fashion disaster!”

“I doubt your intelligence when you write lyk dis n think itz so kewl. Lulz.”

“What a loser! 18+ and still a virgin!”

 “My ideal partner: He should be intelligent, sophisticated, etc.”

“She should know at least how to make chai!”

“I’d never date someone who is racist, sexist, misogynist, casteist, classist, homophobe, xenophobe…”

“This movie/show hurt our sentiments. Ban, or face the music.”

“Infidel! Off with his head!”

Most of us are intolerant in some way or the other. We crack “harmless jokes” and ridicule tastes that are repulsive to the popular palette all the time – we do judge, we love to judge. We take pride in our lens: Our tastes are so cool, others’ so uncool. Our social, political and moral views are so fervent that we all exhibit a creeping intolerance to differing views.

This is amplified by social media and its comfy clubs: It feels great to see (keep checking for) how many “likes” we’ve got, it feels bad to see a comment that challenges us amid the adulation (more so when our opinions are forced, driven by the desire to be looked on as modern thinkers – a check mark to our “image”).

Being part of the mob gives us the security of numbers that can give us the fake confidence to be a bully. Whether our mobs be “rustic” bhakts or “sophisticated” liberals – we’re all basically human.

Not to say every collective outrage is about the above, and not genuine; the larger point is about how intolerance is embedded in the individual, and how it gets amplified. Based on this, I’d like to define what I think is being liberal-minded.

One is liberal-minded when one’s outlook is of academic inquiry, and one’s attitude compassionate. When one’s decisions are driven by an understanding of emotions, yes, but the decisions are not emotional.

As a result:

• A liberal doesn’t conform to any societal pressures or intellectual fashions of yesterday or today.
• There is no fossilisation of right/wrong – the most dearly-held conservative/liberal principles can be questioned. In the spirit of discussion, a liberal is deliberately provocative and seeks opinions expressed.
• The standard of debates are raised by digging further. A liberal assesses an argument from the opponent’s frame of reference instead of his/her own.
• Identities and affiliations (Left/Right/-ist) are given less importance. A liberal doesn’t indulge in one-upmanship, second-guessing intentions, ad hominems, or politicisation. It is just about questions, answers, ideas. The debate is not blurred. Rather, it gets focused on specifics and gains depth.

With the humble understating of the limitations of a single lens (which is why we need equal representation of varied perspective), the liberal mind is flexible, empathetic, and is aimed at advancing knowledge and understanding, to reach a solution.

Of course none of us is really an Adarsh Liberal, given the lofty ideals I list above. But what’s important is to be self-aware and honest with ourselves in terms of our percentage of liberalism.

The law doesn’t control our manners or emotions. Ultimately, intolerance is a choice.