Is Gandhian Economy is relevant in present time?

Dear Members,

After 22 banks in US filed for bankruptcy, GM may file for the same, US, German, EuroZone, Singapore, Russia Iceland and many more countries are either officially in recession or heading towards recession, the question arises is whether Gandhian Economy is relevant in present time.

The essay on Understanding Gandhian Economics by Ranjit Chaudhuri, Dean of Studies, Institute of Gandhian Studies, Wardha can be found on
http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/Eco_ranjit.htm

I request members to comment / put forward their views on whether Gandhian Economy is relevant in present time ? Is it viable option?

With best regards
Hitesh

Gandhi was indeed the greatest man India has ever produced. His ideas are timeless indeed. And implementing those ideas will surely make any country self sufficient at any time. But greatest challenge in front of us is fight corruption. To defeat intentions of vested interests. Nobody talks about that openly. It is proved that communism failed because of corruption. In the US, the so called hub of free economy and free market culture, the mecca of capitalism 22 banks gone bankrupt and many corporates are following including GM. It seem capitalism is failing. India has yet to witness such catastrophe. I hope and pray that we do not see this. So far we have not seen this is because there is some Gandhian values left in us.

Dear Hitesh, The article you pointed to is indeed a great one. Thanks.

Dear ARMHM,

At present it seems that we have advantage of being late starter - in opening up our economy and relying on mixed economy to a great extent.

Now we can study limitation of Capitalism as to why problem occurred to the greatest capitalist country of the world. We can, start taking corrective action, wherever it is required and can continue our own policy where it is found to be appropriate.

As for example, for giving loans US banks were following No Job, No Income, Own Assets model / principle. Whereas, our banks are still conservative in granting loans, looks at the income of the person (instead of value of property). So in banking, we can continue our policy instead of thinking to change the same.

Likewise, we can study for all the sectors of the economy.

But You have rightly pointed out. The big problem is corruption and vested interest.

In India, if our administration would have used allocated funds properly, than we might have achieved (long back) growth rate in double digit.

Thanks for writing ARMHM.

With Warm Regards
Hitesh

Gandhi's views on economics may not be palatable to all.What ARMHM says about corruption is very much present in the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi.

He felt that economics and ethics can not be separated and must go together.Economics devoid of moral values is untrue.Such nations which adopt these kinds of theories must perish.

His ideas could be briefly summerised :-

1. No one under should suffer from want of food and clothing. In other words, everybody should be able to get sufficient work to enable him to make the two ends meet.

2. The means of production of the elementary necessaries of life remain in the control of the masses.They should not be made vehicle of traffic for the exploitation of others

3.The introduction of moral values as a factor to be considered in regulating international commerce

4.A non-violent occupation is thus that occupation, which is fundamentally free from violence and which, involves no exploitation or envy of others.The very word non-violence, a negative word, means that it is an effort to abandon the violence that is inevitable in life

5. Village economics were organized on the basis of such non-violent occupations, not on the basis of rights of man but on the duties of man. Those who engaged themselves in such occupations did earn their living, but their labour contributed to the good of the community.Body labour was at the core of these occupations and industries, and there was no large-scale machinery. For when a man is content to own only so much land as he can till with his own labour, he cannot exploit others. Handicrafts exclude exploitation and slavery.

These are the very words of Mahatma Gandhi written in Young India on different occasions.

So the modern enterprise , being exploitative in nature in the sense that it seeks to maximize the profit without regards to the Good of the Community/people, is a violent system and has no place in Gandhian economics.It is a well known fact that modern schools of business management do not teach ethics.

Modern economics teaches desire, covetousness of other's wealth and is detrimental as it results in profiteering, hoarding and shows utter disregard for moral values.

The fact is even in America , one of the wealthiest nation on earth, 5% of its population commands 90% of wealth and income. Inequitable distribution of wealth is main cause of widespread misery being faced by many nations. Poverty is only byproduct of it.

However one should not confuse with Marxist theory in the sense that Gandhian economics lays equal importance to means and not only ends.One must adopt good means to achieve a good end. It must be non violent and in tune with moral and ethical values.

Modern enterprise , beyond the needs of Man is nothing more than a Monkey business.( a story floating around in many fora.)

So if India has to truly become a developed country (not like USA or Western World) 70% of population also has to have say in economics.Their needs must be met, they must get work with dignity.India is an ancient country and it is for nothing that we survived for last five thousand years whereas many older civilizations have perished.Modern Industrial economics is nothing but few hundred years old.So in time it will get tempered with ethical values ( unlike corruption or bribery where one tries to get favour or sped up a thing or two, but the very basic foundation itself is wrong. Here we are talking of changing the basis of economics.)



pk

Revival of Village Industries

In a nutshell, of the things we use, we should restrict our purchases to the articles which villages manufacture. Their manufactures may be crude. We must try to induce them to improve their workmanship, and not dismiss them because foreign articles or even articles produced in cities, that is, big factories, are superior. In other words, we should evoke the artistic talent of the villager. In this manner shall we repay somewhat the debt we owe to them. We need not be frightened by the thought whether we shall ever succeed in such an effort. Within our own times we can recall instances where we have not been baffled by the difficulty of our tasks when we have known that they were essential for the nations progress. If, therefore, we as individuals believe that revivification of Indias villages is a necessity of our existence, if we believe that thereby only can we root out untouchability and feel one with all, no matter to what community or religion they may belong, we must mentally go back to the villages and treat them as our pattern, instead of putting the city life before them for imitation. If this is the correct attitude, then, naturally, we begin with ourselves and thus use, say, handmade paper instead of mill-made, use village reed, wherever possible, instead of the fountain pen or the penholder, ink made in the villages instead of the big factories, etc. I can multiply instances of this nature. There is hardly anything of daily use in the home which the villagers have not made before and cannot make even now. If we perform the mental trick and fix our gaze upon them, we immediately put millions of rupees into the pockets of the villagers, whereas at the present moment we are exploiting the villagers without making any return worth the name.



pk

ps: did I hear somebody laughing???

Dear PKJHA

Excellent post.. Thanks..

With best Regards
Hitesh

Whether one likes it or not, presently the Sonia Gandhian economy is running the country