Why Do We Keep Making the Wrong Choices? A Mirror to Our Society

 

In a remote village in Bihar during the 2020 Assembly Elections, political workers knocked on a widow’s door with a promise: “Vote for us, and you’ll get a free gas cylinder and ₹1500 cash.” Her kitchen had been running on firewood for months, and the promise of even a single cylinder felt like relief from smoke and tears. She asked no questions. She voted. So did thousands of others like her.

That election saw not just cylinders, but sarees, smartphones, even goats being offered in exchange for votes. The Election Commission seized over ₹1000 crore in cash and material freebies across India that year. In Bihar alone, more than ₹100 crore worth of liquor, gold, cash, and food items were confiscated before polling day. It wasn’t an exception. It was a pattern.

This is the ground reality of Indian democracy: freebies work because hunger is real. Political parties know it, and so do the people. That’s why despite our growing awareness, voters repeatedly choose corrupt leaders and short-term benefits over long-term reforms. The problem is not just poverty. The problem is deeper.

We all criticize the system. We say we want clean cities, honest governance, and dignity for all. Yet, we litter plastic on the streets, bribe an officer when it suits us, and justify unethical leaders if they offer us a quick gain. In India, over 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated every year, and only about 30 percent is recycled. Most of us blame the system. Rarely do we ask, “What am I doing?”

Corruption is not just in the corridors of power. It is in the choices we make, in the excuses we give. We say we are helpless, but we reward the very machinery that exploits us. In 2021, a Lokniti-CSDS survey found that nearly 40 percent of voters in Uttar Pradesh based their vote on welfare benefits received, not on governance or ethics. This shows how fragile the boundary is between need and manipulation.

So, is poverty the real culprit? Not entirely. Poverty makes people vulnerable, but what worsens the situation is the lack of education, lack of awareness, and complete disconnection from civic responsibility. India ranks 112 out of 130 countries in education quality. Over 228 million Indians still live in multidimensional poverty. Around 60 percent of the population depends on agriculture, but with falling incomes, rising debts, and increasing climate stress. These hardships don’t just shape lives they shape votes.

But there’s a bigger question we must ask now: Where should we be investing our national budget instead of drowning it in freebies?

The answer is simple. In education that teaches critical thinking and civic responsibility. In healthcare that prevents people from choosing medicine over food. In rural employment that gives dignity without dependence. In better public transport, digital infrastructure, and transparent governance systems that actually reduce the cost of living.

Free cylinders can’t build futures. Free data packages can’t replace skill-building. And free cash, however tempting, can never buy long-term justice.

We also need electoral reforms that create real accountability, and not just token punishments. We need leaders who earn trust through action, not handouts. But most importantly, we need citizens who are ready to ask harder questions  of politicians, and of themselves.

Until we begin to see pollution, poverty, and politics not as someone else’s problem but as our own collective failure, we will keep choosing the wrong path. Change does not come with five-year promises. Change begins in the daily, difficult choices we make. Whether we throw a plastic bottle on the road, or whether we sell our vote  these are the decisions that shape our nation.

So, the next time we hear a promise of a freebie, we must ask: What is it really costing us?