Thought for the day
“If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence
everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take
their own and depart.”
-Socrates (Greek,
469-399BC)
Word for the day
Portent (n)
An indication or omen of something about to happen.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
Delhi HC says that it is the scheme of the Constitution
that every rupee flowing into the consolidated fund of India should be audited
by CAG. By this logic all those who pay tax, license fee and royalty etc. to the
government could be subject to CAG audit.
Are we headed towards “mob-rule”?
“…democracy ruins itself by excess-of democracy. Its
basic principle is the equal right of all to hold office and determine
public policy. This is at first glance a delightful arrangement;
it becomes disastrous because the people are not properly equipped by education
to select the best rulers and the wisest courses”.
"As to the people they have no understanding, and only repeat
what their rulers are pleased to tell them";
“to get a doctrine accepted or rejected it is only necessary to
have it praised or ridiculed in a popular play. Mob-rule
is
a rough sea for the ship of state to ride; every wind of oratory
stirs up the waters and deflects the course. The upshot of
such a democracy is tyranny or autocracy; the crowd so
loves flattery, it is so hungry for honey, that at last the wiliest
and most unscrupulous flatterer, calling himself the ‘protector
of the people’ rises to supreme power.” (Plato as quoted by Will Durant in “The
Story of Philosophy”)
Evolution of a free democratic society occurs broadly in three
phases – empowerment of people, enablement of people and engagement of people.
In the empowerment phase people are empowered with
constitutional and legal rights so that they could construct the social and
economic organizations they would want to live in. The political organization
is largely derived from the socio-economic organization of choice. In modern
world, parliamentary democracy is the most popular political organization for
societies choosing to organize themselves in a free and capitalist economy.
The transition from an aristocracy or oligarchy to parliamentary
democracy is often a chaotic process because the people might not be properly
equipped by education to select the best rulers and the wisest courses.
In the second, enablement phase of evolution the so empowered
people are enabled through a mix of variety of endeavor so that they could
pursue the socio-economic path of their choice. Social equality, economic
equality and gender equality are some key desired outcome in this phase. Wealth
redistribution through taxation, welfare schemes and legislative provisions
(like land ceiling, currency elimination, restrictions on business and asset
ownership etc.), inclusion of economically poor, socially oppressed and women
in government and economic activities are some of the major efforts seen in
this phase.
The conflict between the wealthy & powerful (landlord) and
the poor & oppressed during enablement phase often causes civil unrest. The
inadequacy and inefficiencies of institutional framework to supervise the
wealth redistribution process invariably leads to rise in instances of
corruption in public life.
Unfortunately, in many cases it is also seen that some intended
beneficiaries become too powerful and appropriate power and resources meant for
their peers. This creates division and mistrust in the society and elongates
the process of enablement.
In the last phase of the
evolution, the empowered and enables people take part in the building of strong
economic institutions and free market by engaging themselves in the growth and
development process. This is usually the golden period for any democratic
society that has chosen free market economy as their preferred socio-economic
organizational setup. In this phase a large part of the population participates
in the virtuous cycle of higher earnings – consuming – saving – investing –
earning leading to sustainably higher consumption and investment demand.
In Indian context, our constitutional framework envisaged a
democratic social organization with free market economy. The people were
constitutionally and legally empowered from day one of constitution coming into
effect on 26 January 1950. (Interestingly, the United States of America took
almost 200years to give full and equal rights to all its citizens through The
Voting Rights Act of 1965).
However, in practice the empowerment process was delayed by at
least three decades. Firstly, the Indian National Congress (INC) which was the
primary vehicle for freedom movement transformed itself into a political party.
The transformation ensured that the Congress Party which was dominated by the
feudal lords and elite class at the top became overwhelmingly dominating political
force in the country leaving little for the dissent or competition. The policy
making thus focused on retaining control of most resources and activities with
the government (by proxy with Congress party) and providing for just the
elementary necessities to the common man.
All the voices who spoke for social justice, empowerment and
enablement were forced either to fall in line with top echelons of the party or
quit. The opposition to the Congress thus mostly came from communist/socialist
forces which mostly survived on parochial support base amongst some caste,
community or region. The empowerment and enablement processes were thus
hindered to a great extent.
It was in 1980’s when first time a nationwide movement took
shape to seek empowerment and enablement for common people of the country. The
enablement process started a decade later with government slowly giving up
control over resources and economic activities.
Given that the process of enablement has so far mostly been
involuntarily and heavily influenced by electoral considerations rather than
social-economic reality, it has been marred by large scale irregularities,
corruption, and inefficiencies.
The socialist movement in the country has gained tremendous
momentum in past 3 decades. These forces rule many states and often play a
critical role in formation and running of the federal government. However, for
the lack of a credible and wise leadership, these forces are often seen
degenerating into hands of a few vested interests at regional level.
We should analyze the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in
light of the failure of the likes of Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Mulayam Singh
Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) led by Mayawati etc., and continued domination of Congress by feudal
forces.
…to continue tomorrow
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