"He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals
much, but with less power."
—Plato (Greek, 427-347BC)
Word
for the day
Festschrift (n)
A volume of articles, essays, etc., contributed by many authors in honor
of a colleague, usually published on the occasion of retirement, an important
anniversary, or the like.
Malice
towards none
The rise in currency demand
in the economy in past 25years is not exclusively due to rise in corruption and
other illegal activities.
It is also outcome of rise
in trade and commerce without matching growth in banking infrastructure and
financial literacy.
There were obviously better
ways to achieve the objectives of HDN abolition.
First random
thought this morning
After 35days, I wonder this morning - How currency notes could be
the cause of naxalism, terrorism, drug trade, corruption and other vices in the
society. Hoard of currency at best is the outcome of loot, plunder and illicit
trade. In many cases it could be tool of execution. But seldom it is the cause
of such activities. Are we ready for material rise in crime that the abolition
of old currency may entail?
As a businessman in Bihar tells me - with no currency to feed
their army of misguided youth, the mafia dons will accelerate their activities.
Get ready for 3x the number of kidnapping and extortion cases and much larger
amount of ransom per case!!
I seriously wish the government had invoked Article 352 of the
constitution and revived MISA before taking this step.
In search of solutions - 7
It was a beautiful afternoon.
Spring had just handed the baton out to summer. Farmers fresh from celebrating
their harvest were preparing the fields for sowing the next crop. Everything
seemed perfect.
A young man was lying idle
under a banyan tree when a wise man passed by. He wondered why such a young man
is wasting precious time when everyone else is working in the fields.
He approached the young man and
queried “why are you sitting idle?” The young man countered with an assuring
grin on his face “what am I supposed to do?” “Do not waste time. Go, find yourself
some productive work”, the wise man suggested. “Why should I do that?” the
young man asked nonchalantly. Taken aback a little, the wise man continued “you
could earn some money, buy means of comfort and luxury, feel comfortable, be
happy and rest peacefully”. “That is exactly what I was doing before you came
here”, the young man answered exasperatedly and dozed off again.
Stated above is an old bedtime
story. Various people derive different inference from it. My conclusion is that
each individual or group of individuals have different social, psychological
and physical needs and therefore respond differently to similar economic
conditions.
For some, money beyond a point
becomes a passion. For some other, it completely ceases to be a motivator
beyond the same point. Yet for some others, it becomes a negative stimulus
beyond the very same point.
From my experience gained through
my extensive travels through hinterlands of India, I understand that many
Indians, due to a variety of religious, social, cultural, historical,
traditional, behavioral and/or economic reasons are akin to the young man in
our story. Most of these are hard working, intelligent, and complacent. For
many accumulating “excess” wealth is a sin. Passion for money is mostly an
urban upper and upper middle class phenomenon.
When asked “why don't you expand
your business?” many SME owners, traders and shop owners, responded “what will
I do with more money?”
The roots of this detachment with
money, in my view, could be traced to agrarian culture and traditions of India.
All our religions proscribe accumulation of excess money as sin and strongly
advocate sharing of wealth with society.
The agrarian mindset makes most of
us work hard and pray to God for rains; wish only for a good crop so that we
get enough food and seeds for next crop. We consider growing good healthy crop
as our pious duty. We treat the land on which crop is grown, river and clouds
that irrigates the land, and mountains and woods that make the conditions
conducive for cultivation as sacred deities. Altruism, socialism, austerity,
and concern for environment are at the core of Indian society.
However, it cannot be denied that
a there are significant number of youth, especially those who were born in late
80s or later and have not seen long queues for kerosene, cement, food, two
wheelers, telephone connection, LPG etc.; who could get forex easily to travel
and study abroad; and who have worked in developed countries as engineer,
manager, banker and not as construction labor, driver and nurse.
These young people have a mindset
different from the traditional agrarian mindset. These are easily able to think
in terms of billion dollars, global businesses and comfortable factoring
"high leverage", "failure", "bankruptcy" and
"default on repayment obligation" in their business plans.
Some of these young people have
done well for themselves. But since the most follow business models & ideas
which are poor copies of the existing businesses in the developed countries,
and lack originality and innovation - I am hesitant in accepting it as a
sustainable trend as yet.
In my view, any economic model
that violates the core principles of the Indian society is bound to fail.
The Industrial development model
adopted post independence era, which is mostly an extension of the exploitive
colonial model used by British Empire, has promoted inequalities, injustice and
unsustainability. And that is the economic problem we need to address first and
foremost.
...to continue tomorrow
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