Acharya Prashant explains that the root cause of India's low rankings in democracy, media freedom, and corruption is the poor state of education. He argues that an uneducated democracy is very dangerous. In many places, leaders deliberately keep education underdeveloped because if the public becomes educated, they will not vote for such leaders. Democracy is not just about the right to vote; it is the state's responsibility to educate the voters so they can vote wisely. Without education, the right to vote is a fatal gift that makes people victims of those who seek their votes. The entire democratic political system is based on votes. To secure these votes, politicians resort to distributing liquor and money, and use social media for misinformation. They do not want an educated voter who would ask difficult questions. Acharya Prashant asserts that both democracy, meaning politicians and parties, and capitalism, the market, are enemies of knowledge. The market wants a customer who is, in his words, "blind in the eye but full in the pocket," meaning rich but foolish. Similarly, politicians want a voter who is blind. Knowledge tells you that you are flawed and need to examine yourself, whereas the market and politics tell you that you are perfect and the king. He points out that two unprecedented things have happened in history: mass production and the information revolution. Mass production requires mass consumption, which necessitates making people foolish. The information revolution, particularly social media, is used to spread misinformation and disinformation to control people's minds, turning them into what he calls "bonded customers." The most critical issues, like the climate crisis, are ignored because they don't translate into votes. The solution to the climate crisis is reducing consumption, which is against the interests of both the market and politicians. Acharya Prashant states that the intellectual level of the common person is deliberately being lowered to make them bonded customers. He explains that it is easier to degrade a person than to uplift them. A human is one who can make an effort in the right direction, who can discipline themselves, and who can endure hardship for the right path. An animal, on the other hand, just goes where the fodder is easy. The current system, he concludes, does not allow people to pause and think.