Our way of life is usually perceived by thru the lens of “black” and white”, “yes” and “no” and “haves vs “have-nots”. Unfortunately, things are usually not binary but are more along a  continuum , a spectrum.

In the context of a “liberal” vs a “conservative”, different people or cultures appropriate these labels in a different context. They usually do not mean what the dictionary says. A liberal in India may support big government spending like a liberal in the west but would also  accept discrimination on the basis of religion or caste which a western liberal may not. An Indian conservative also supports big government spending, but western conservative does not. I can go on and on.

The contradiction is we usually split our hair over extreme differences in opinion, but in real life people in power do not go in either extreme direction. They prefer living somewhere in the center or the middle path or in reality “left” or “right” of the center. In other words, they prefer to be in gray, rather than black or white, different shades of gray to be specific.

If the government likes to live in shades of gray, why do people fight for the extreme viewpoints? Why do some conservatives living overseas think its OK for him or her to live ,work and contribute in another country or to another society, but loathe the same for setup back home (read my mind: I meant migrants in their homeland)

Despite some of them starting from  ground up on support and largesse from communities and local administration where they moved to, why are they against the same support for socially weaker sections back home? (read reservations!).

Why do some of us expect treatment on par with everyone else when they move to other countries for work and cry wolf when they are “discriminated” (read liberty!), but criticize , ridicule and chide systems supporting similar treatment for their own countrymen back home?

I do not wish to write an essay listing down my grievances and provide solutions right away, but I will do that over time. My purpose is to just pose these questions