"You have your
ideology and I have mine."
— Khalil Gibran
(Lebanese, 1883-1931)
Word
for the day
Arithmancy (n)
Divination by the use of numbers, especially by the number of letters in
names.
Malice
towards none
Business people who abused
PM Modi for Demonetization, should not rush back to his fold.
You don't know what's coming
next!
First random
thought this morning
The recently concluded assembly elections in Goa and Manipur have
again brought to the fore the debate over the role and relevance of governor in
the state administration.
It is an undisputed fact that most governor appointments are
political in nature, and are made by the party running the central government
of the day with a view to seek favor in return, should a situation arise in the
state.
The best way out perhaps is to abolish the office of governor and
assign his constitutional duties to the Chief Justice of the High Courts of the
respective states.
The road ahead - 2
“…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”)
In the heat of 2014 general elections, PM Modi promised that if
elected to power, he will bring back all the black money stashed abroad. The
estimates of Indian black money in foreign lands, though mostly
unsubstantiated, were mind boggling. He allegedly said that this money would be
sufficient to give rs15lacs to each poor household in the country.
Though everyone appreciates that these were purely rhetorical
statements made in the heat of fierce election contest, opposition leaders have
made it a point to criticize the prime minister.
In my view, this criticism is unfair and uncalled for.
But at the same time, it cannot be denied that seven decades have
passed since India attained independence from the British rule. This period has
seen Indian economy growing to become one of the leading economies in the
world. Unfortunately, the growth has remained mostly unequal and unjust to a
large extent. The time therefore is ripe that an extensive effort is made to
minimize the economic disparities amongst people.
Conventionally the effort to bridge the economic divide is limited
to wealth redistribution through taxation and subsidies. In Indian context,
bribery has also been a major channel of wealth redistribution.
However, in Indian context, these conventional methods are least
likely to succeed in meeting the objective of economic equality, in my view.
Because (though many may like to disagree with me on this) in my view, the
structure of traditional Indian businesses and democracy itself remains
quintessentially feudal. This structure does not favor efficient wealth redistribution.
PM Modi has this challenge at hand of breaking this nexus between
feudal business and politician, to pave way for the efficient redistribution of
wealth.
Those who consider good politics as bad economics must appreciate
that an economy of Indian size and character would need 60-70% people
"Earning-Saving-Consuming-Investing" to grow on sustainable basis.
With 20-25% "Earning-Saving-Consuming-Investing", the growth cannot
be sustainable.
....to continue tomorrow.
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