Socialism - And the Politics of Horror

Manmohan Pyaray has written a letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra accusing him of being “too lenient” with Raj Thuggeray.

Actually, the ROOT of the problem lies in collectivist thinking – and the consequent neglect of the rights of the individual.

Note that all “politics” in India is by definition “socialist” and liberals who champion individual liberty and individual rights are barred.

This “socialist politics” is all about groups.

To be more precise, it is about doing favours to some groups at the expense of targeted individuals.

Congress politics has always been about expropriating the properties of the rich, both capitalists as well as landlords, in order to give to the poor. They call this “social justice” but it is really injustice as far as the individuals expropriated are concerned. The property rights of individual capitalists and landlords are given the go-by.

Liberals believe in “justice without an adjective.”

That is real justice, an equal justice, in which every individual is protected by Law.

Note that BJP politics is also similar. Their idea of “cultural nationalism” is all about a “collective identity.” In their Hindooo utopia, Muslims and Christians will lose their rights. Actually, they already have.

So why should the Thuggerays be any different?

They are also trying to forge a “collective identity” comprising all the marathi manooses – and they too have therefore no concern for the rights of individuals, in this case, Biharis and UP wallahs.

The root cause: Socialism and collective identities.

The basic design flaw: Contempt for the individual and his rights under law.

The only solution: A new politics based on Liberalism, Private Property, and Individualism.

It is in this context that the news that our The State has made education “free and compulsory” for all our children must be viewed with HORROR.

What utter nonsense will these collectivists teach?

Note that “free and compulsory” means double use of force: first, to tax us in order to fund this shit; and second, to compel school attendance.

HORROR!

My Beloved Teacher

I am an alumnus of St. Columba's High School, New Delhi, run by the Christian Brothers, a teaching order from Ireland. My principal was Brother J N Foley, who was also my class teacher in Class XI. We in XI- C were an exceptional class: all 45 of us passed the ISC examinations in the First Division. Three got the coveted 5 points. We all have Brother Foley to thank for that.

(And Brother Fitzpatrick too – but that's another story.)

One day, we were taken on an outing from school to see a film in Odeon theatre in Connaught Place. However, Brother Foley did not show up. It was a great film, "Where Eagles Dare," and we all loved it.

The next day I ran into Brother Foley in the hallway and politely inquired as to why he had opted out of seeing such a fantastic movie.

His reply, which I will never forget:

"I stopped seeing films after they banned smoking in cinema halls."

Yes. My beloved teacher and principal was a chain smoker. His fingers were yellow, as were his teeth, and he was always to be seen (outside the classroom) puffing away at his little roll-your-owns.

Take that, pmk ramadoss!

Now see why I stand up for the rights of smokers.

And why I myself am a teacher of the youth just like my own teacher was.

And why I never frequent movie halls.

The Real Gandoos

In a country of miserable ass-lickers, it was indeed heartening to see a photo in a daily newspaper showing the gay community of Mumbai protesting against police harassment. It takes guts to say you are gay in public. It must surely take even more guts to go out in public and protest against the Injustice System.

However, I sincerely doubt whether any gay person actually pays huftha to the local thana in order to carry on with his sex life.

Now look at our miserable ganja smoking ass-lickers who pay huftha, who get hassled day in and day out by the Injustice System – and who never protest.

Maybe it is because the "holy smoke" makes you peaceful Or "dopey." Maybe they are just a bunch of "dopes." Maybe they never heard Marley or Tosh.

And then, if ganja smokers do not protest, what about the biggest ass-lickers of them all – the tobacco smokers. They have all bowed down to kiss pmk ramadoss' ass. If our The State can ban tobacco smoking, what hope is there for the ganja guys? I say, no hope at all. Only because they are ass-lickers.

Liberty requires ass-kickers.

As Bernard Crick, a socialist, wrote:

"Liberty requires courage. Free men stick their necks out."

The gays of India have shown this courage.

While the ganja smokers and tobacco smokers have proved themselves to be just a bunch of gandoos.

Bungalows For All

There is an interesting editorial in today's New Indian Express that says the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Hyderabad are but Special Real Estate Zones.

Brings to mind what I had written when this stupid idea was first mooted: that they should just be called "Company Towns," and if they are treated such, the middle classes will benefit from better urban areas to live and work in.

Since then, I have written a longish piece on urbanization in the Indian context, entitled "Bungalows For All: A Critical Assessment of India's Human Habitat." In this I have maintained that our The State, while claiming to "protect" the habitat of The Tiger, has destroyed The Habitat of The Human Being, which is The City. Here are the first 400 words of that essay:

"There is no shortage of land in India. There is, rather, a shortage of urban land.

The country measures over 3 million square kilometers. It is a huge sub-continent. And much of this land is "unowned," in the sense that it is virgin territory. Unfortunately, the socialist Indian State is the default owner of all this unowned land. And the shortage of urban land is caused precisely by this default ownership. As Milton Friedman once said, "if you give the Sahara Desert to the government, there will be a shortage of sand in five years." Indians do not have a decent habitat because of their socialist government and the socialistic deification of collective property, especially land.

There are slums in every Indian metropolis. Even in a totally new city like New Delhi, there are over 900 slum clusters in which the poor, who constitute over half the city's population, live cheek-by-jowl. There are no toilets in these slums – not because of "poverty," for most slum-dwellers own television sets and mobile phones. There are no toilets because these are not "legal" colonies wherein sewage lines can be legally laid. Slum dwellers have no property titles to their homes. Therefore, their properties cannot be leveraged in the capital market: the "mystery of capital" continues to stupefy them. This also means that they have no postal address. In addition, there is filth and disease. Slums are a living hell.

Yet, this only proves that life in an Indian village must be much worse. As praxeologists we need only record the fact that increasing numbers of villagers are preferring urban slums to the idylls of rural life. They are "voting with their feet." This action of preferring by vast hordes can only be indicative of the truth inherent in a remark attributed to Arundhati Roy: "India does not live in her villages; India dies in her villages." Masses are fleeing the rural utopia of the central planners' romantic imagination. Why?

As Madhi Kishwar once noted, "even rag pickers in Delhi send back money to their villages." A rag picker is an urban entrepreneur. Like all entrepreneurs, he must find hidden value in what has been undervalued by the market. The rag picker is an exceptional entrepreneur who finds hidden value in waste – and this is where his profit lies. But this activity cannot be carried out in a village: there are no mounds of garbage to sift through there."

If you want to read the balance 3600 words, click here to download the document.

A Diwali Investment Advisory

Happy Diwali to you all.

On this auspicious day when we light lamps, burst crackers and gamble, all with a view of earning the blessings of the Goddess of Wealth, allow me to offer some second-hand advice on how to invest if you want to escape the financial turmoil gripping the world today.

And that is: Watch this video clip of an interview with Jim Rogers.

Here, he says – "Get out of paper assets and into real assets, including gold." Indeed, he even takes out two gold biscuits from his pocket and shows them off!

But he goes further: He says that the future lies in commodities, including agricultural commodities. As he anticipates, quite correctly in my opinion, a huge amount of inflation, investments in commodities are bound to pay off handsomely.

He also goes over the top a bit when he predicts that farmers will be driving Maseratis in the near future, while the Wall Street types drive tractors. (I hope my farmer friend Rajesh is reading this. Baluchar has a great future!)

He is anti-Fed, for sound money, and no bailout.

I have been watching Jim Rogers speak for a long time – thanks to LRC – and he is great.

Hope you enjoy the video too.

Good luck on your investments.

And a very happy Diwali once again.

I Told You So

This article of mine was published in the Times of India on the 3rd of March, 2006, a day when George Bush was in New Delhi. In this, I had predicted the financial crisis of today:

When a bad king of yore 'debased' his currency by mixing some 'base' metal with the gold in his coins, he and the officials of his royal mint acted as counterfeiters.

The 'false' coins were then used to take over 'real' properties of his subjects, and finance his banquets, palaces and wars. The same is done with currency notes by modern-day governments, but the process is far more insidious.

A currency note is, in truth, a 'property title': The note is supposed to entitle the note-holder to obtain, from the issuer of the note, on demand, 'real' money in exchange for the note.

However, each and every central bank in the modern world issues notes that are irredeemable. Even the 'mighty' US dollar is not convertible into anything.

Thus, all the governments of the world today use 'false' money to take over 'real' resources. In effect, then, all the governments in the world are guilty of acting in the manner of counterfeiters.


All the currency notes issued in the world today are 'property titles without property'. As this false money pervades the global market, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

The immediate effect of currency debasement is that those who first get to use the 'new money' buy up resources at current prices.

First users of the 'new money' are politicians, bureaucrats, government contractors and those 'crony' businessmen who get generous loans from banks. Those who lose most are those who get to use the notes last: The poor, and those who save.

There is thus a 'transfer of wealth' from the poor to the rich, and from creditors to debtors, due to the step-by-step process of creeping monetary inflation.

The world economy is headed towards a monetary crisis as the lead counterfeiter, the US Fed, becomes unable to cope with its 'twin deficits': A huge fiscal deficit combined with a huge trade deficit.

This time, the blame should not fall on markets and speculators, the blame should fall squarely on central bankers. As we inch towards global capitalism, we need to ditch the false ideas that created central banking (and the IMF). Then only can a true capitalism arise and leftists be put permanently in their place.

To read the original article, click here.

Some Light For Rajesh

My friend Rajesh attended a seminar in Delhi on the financial crisis – and returned unimpressed.

He has raised the following questions, which the panelists at the seminar did not address. They are:

1) I am not convinced that inflation is not a problem.
2) That trade deficit is also not a problem.
3) That printing fiat money is also not a problem.
4) That only liqudity is a problem?
5) How will it affect me, if I do not get loans anyway, do not invest in stocks- basically if I live in a village, like rest of India?

I will attempt to answer these:

First, trade deficit is not a problem. Since individuals trade, each individual must balance his own account. If money is sound, trade deficits are meaningless. The idea of the trade deficit as a "problem" is based on "national economy," central banking, fiat money and mercantilism.

Second: "Liquidity" will definitely be a problem for those banks that invested in these "securities" that were not secure. They should be forced into making big losses. The injections of "liquidity" are based on fiat money and the banking cartel's ability to create credit without matching savings. These are inflationary.

Thus, we arrive at our conclusion: Fiat money is a problem. Inflation is a problem. And the common man in the village will get screwed by the "inflation tax."

Hope that helps, Rajesh.

And you owe me a kilo of Baluchar for that!

Property Is A Liberty, Not A "Right"

There is a story from Kandamahal, Orissa, where Christians are being massacred by Hindoooo evil morons, that says 42,000 conversions took place and only in 2 cases was the law followed. The law, it seems, says that the District Magistrate must receive an application for conversion and grant his approval for the same.

This raises an interesting issue in Law: That Property is not a Right; rather, Property is a Liberty.

Since all individuals are proprietors of their own souls, they must be at Liberty to do what they want with it. The District Magistrate cannot interfere – just as he cannot interfere if a tribal wants to sell his crop.

Rights only accrue is someone has a matching obligation. Thus, if I sign a lease agreement with you for renting out my basement, you have the right to occupy it because I am legally obliged to allow you to occupy the said basement.

Rights without Obligations are meaningless – like "human rights" or the "right to education." These are all part of the horrendous multiplication of useless rights that socialist democracy has created.

We need to bring back the original classical understanding that Property is a Liberty.

A good read on the subject is Anthony de Jasay's Before Resorting to Politics.

The Nutt's Trade Policy

Kashmiris are celebrating as the first trucks laden with fruits and spices head out to Azad Kashmir.

Two questions arise:

First: After selling their stuff, the Kashmiris will want to buy stuff. They will want to consume. What is the point of selling abroad and then being forced to consume only "Made In India" junk? This is the argument for Unilateral Free Trade.

Second: If Governor NN Vohra is enthusiastically celebrating the opening of the trade route from the Valley of Srinagar to Azad Kashmir, then why are all our sea ports closed to trade? A coastal location is meant for overseas trade. Why is the Governor of Goa, for instance, not opening up the port here?

This is another argument for Unilateral Free Trade.

Lessons For Kids - God Deleted

In an earlier post I had outlined 2 basic lessons in Catallactics and the Philosophy of Law that can be taught in kindergarten schools. Some readers commented that the term "gift from God" should not be used. I agree. I have therefore revised the lessons accordingly, and refined them further. Here they are:


Lesson # 1:

Dear Children,

When I asked you all to tell me what you wanted to be when you grew up, the answers I received were: Actor, Pilot, Dancer, Policeman, and so on. Not a single one of you said, "I want to grow up and be self-sufficient."

Now, this is because you are all possessed of a human mind, something that has its own unique "logical structure." You are all gifted with human minds. This is a mind that works in a certain way.

Now, the question I have to answer is: Why did none of you want to grow up and be self-sufficient?

The answer to that is: Because you can trade.

Long before you came to this school, you were happily trading toys and food amongst each other. Like "give me some of your chips and I will give you a sip of my cola." Or "give me 2 marbles and I will give you a tennis ball." None of you had to be taught how to trade. You did it because trading is something that is basic to the "logical structure of the human mind." It is not learnt. It is Man himself. You are all "little men." There is something of the adult that is already in you.

It is because you can trade that your mind's logical structure directs you to being a specialist – like actor, doctor, policeman, pilot etc. Your mind refuses to accept the idea of being "self-sufficient" as logical. And every human mind is directed by human logic. This logic is based on trade and specialization – not self-sufficiency, which is not just illogical, but also suicidal, fatal to your growth and development.

Since you are all born with the unique human mind and the ability to trade, let me end this lesson with some good news:

You Are Born To Be Rich.

Because you do have a Sixth Sense: The Sense of Gain.

Protect this sense and use it well.

And study the "science of trade" – called Catallactics. Drink deeply of this essential knowledge, basic to your very survival.

This lesson will be a shield against those who teach the "population problem" as well as all the atavistic teachings of the Gandhians.

Let us now proceed to Lesson # 2:

Dear Children,

In yesterday's class, you were taught that you have a Sixth Sense, the Sense of Gain, which comes from your inborn Ability to Trade.

I now have even better news for you.

You also have a Seventh Sense – and this is, the Sense of Justice.

Notice that when you trade, you say, for example: "Give me some of YOUR chips and I will give you a sip of MY cola." This inborn recognition of what is "mine" and what is "not mine" is also part of the logical structure of the human mind, which recognizes that "Possession is Property." No animal has this sense. They are lawless. Only humans have Law because they have this Sense of Justice.

And what is Justice: It simply means that if you desire to take something from someone else, you make good his loss by giving that person something he will want in exchange. Justice is Trade. And the Law is nothing but a formal endorsement of this Seventh Sense, something that all children possess well before they come to school – and the Law in our fair land is therefore based on Private Property. This is Justice. This is The Law. Understand it, respect it, and know that this Law is your protection.

With these two lessons I do believe we can immunize all our children against the teachings of the socialists, the communists, the Marxists, the Gandhians, the Malthusians and the protectionists.

Of course, these lessons can also be taught at home.

Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone!

Schools Out For Ever!

The State Vs. Raj Thuggeray

There is good news on the Rule of Law front, with the Maharashtra governor signing an ordinance that will make those who destroy public property pay. This is a direct response to Raj Thuggeray. There is also a jail term prescribed - and the powers are vested in the district collector. This is a good step.

However, Raj and his goons have done much worse than merely damage public property. One young lad has been killed. A murder case has been filed. Will the Rule of Law triumph here as well?

We wait and watch.

In the meantime read this spoof on Raj Thuggeray, written incidentally by a marathi manoos.

On a serious note, I liked Vipin Veetil's post calling for Unilateral Free Immigration. I'll endorse that, Vipin.

Podcast: Unilateral Free Trade Part 2

In the first podcast on Unilateral Free Trade we discussed the fact that the purpose of life is consumption, that pro-producer policies are anti-national because they cause injury to all consumers. We discussed Jean Baptiste Say's Law of Markets which says that all non-competitors stand to gain if anything is sold; and we also discussed the fallacies in the "doctrine of reciprocity," by which governments, politicians and diplomats interfere in international trade – only to wreck it, as with Kamal Nutt.

Yet, there were readers who were unconvinced. And their basic fear is that unilateral free trade means a "law of the jungle" in which only the fittest will survive. It is this misconception that I will address in this podcast, entitled "Unilateral Free Trade Part 2."

Hope you enjoy it.

To download "Unilateral Free Trade Part 2" click here.

What Kids Know Before School

A bizarre piece of news on the ToI website today says that sex education is to be given to 5 year-olds!

Yet, just the other day, at a bar on Palolem Beach, I got into conversation with a Canadian elementary school teacher during which we discussed how basic Economics can be taught in pre-school.

The first lesson, I proposed, would go something like this:

"Dear children. There is something you all know that has not come from any school; that has not been taught to you by any teacher. And that is: You can trade. You exchange toys and food amongst each other. Like 'give me some of your chips and I'll give you some of my cola.' Or 'give me your GI Joe and I'll give you my Barbie doll.' This ability to trade is a gift from God. It will help you all become rich some day. So understand it and safeguard it."

The second lesson, I proposed, would go like this:

"Dear children. With the ability to trade, you are also born with an innate morality that is also a gift from God. It is a morality that precedes every book ever written. It is older than the Bible, the Koran, the Granth Sahib. And this is the morality of private property. When you say 'give me your chips in exchange for my cola' you clearly understand that the chips 'belong' to someone else; that they are his property. This is the essence of your inborn morality. No school, no teacher, no Holy Book is required to teach this to you. So stay far away from Communist literature. It is immoral. Communism and socialism go against your inborn morality, which is based on the recognition of private property."

Sounds much better than sex education @ 5, what?

On the Moon, Swami, and APJ Abdul Kalam

As India sends a rocket to the moon, my friend Manuwant's lament from Bihar, where he lives without electricity, is a sober reminder that there is much to be achieved on the ground in India before we can lay claim to being a "space power." Manuwant says:

"I look forward to the Poornima full moon because my home does not have electricity even after 60 years since India's independence – and, at least for a night, I do not need to think about the governments electricity department. My home, my garden, everything is awash with light.

And I wonder why the earth has just a single moon.

For Bihar I wished the earth had 30 moons which would in turn light up the earth each and every night."

Read the full post here.

If after all this mooning around we really want to crash land into hard reality, the news of Raj Thackeray's release after one night in prison is another sober reminder of how the Rule of Law does not exist here. An arrest is nothing. The man, and his men, should be prosecuted, tried, convicted and punished. One Bihari examinee died. This is murder – as the RJD is saying. And murder is certainly not a "political sport."

Next: The Economic Times website reports that Swaminathan Aiyar's article, "Who Murdered the Financial System," is on the "most read" list. However, I cannot agree less with my former editor's views. He finds everyone guilty – except the central banking system! He says such bubbles, these booms-and-busts, must forever continue because "everyone loves a boom." I would have liked to give a point-by-point rebuttal, but Vipin Veetil has already beaten me to it. Good show, Vipin.

Finally, thanks to Chandra, I found Atanu Dey's post on Lee Kwan Yew's views against our former president APJ Abdul Kalam's much-hyped idea of PURA: Putting Urban Amenities in Rural Areas. Lee says the idea cannot work. We must urbanize, urbanize and urbanize. He says Singapore does not have any villages left. I totally agree with Lee on this. Kalam's PURA is just a romantic idea, completely out of tune with the basic laws of Catallactics – like the fact that the "division of labour" is maximized in cities and towns because of the bigger markets there. You cannot be a taxi driver, security guard, receptionist, plumber or electrician in a sleepy village. This understanding is older than Adam Smith. Kalam is a scientist – but he knows nothing of "social science." Indeed, India has been producing excellent scientists, doctors and engineers for over 200 years. And we have failed precisely in the area of "social science." I am therefore extremely glad that someone of Lee Kwan Yew's stature has demolished Kalam. Read Atanu Dey's blog post here.

And have a great day!

On Our Malfunctioning Parliament

In continuation to the previous post, which found no "politics" in this "democracy," let us now proceed to the institution of Parliament, which is central to our mode of government.

News has it that our Parliament had only 32 sittings this year. This is a "record low."

Also note that whenever Parliament does meet, all that seems to happen are "noisy walkouts."

This is indeed what happened yesterday, as per this news report.

To understand what went wrong, let us turn to feudal England, when parliament was born.

Iqbal Z. Quadir has contributed an excellent article to Mint today, wherein he talks of how giving money to governments is a bad idea. He writes in the context of the United Nation's much hyped "millennium development goals" – and concludes that these goals can never be met because the chosen strategy of the UN is to fund governments. He recommends keeping governments starved of funds, thereby allowing private entrepreneurs to keep their capital and invest it. He looks back at medieval England as a historical instance during which this strategy worked. He says:

"A look at the history of England explains why outside aid to governments is damaging. In the 13th century, after the advent of property rights, the monarch was forced to convene a group of citizens as a tax legitimizing device. That group’s name? Parliament. Over several centuries, Parliament capitalized on the monarch’s chronic need for money and, indeed, made sure the crown did not gain financial independence. Every time a monarch came to pass a new tax Bill, Parliament obliged, but only after exacting more liberty from the crown. Over time, Parliament emerged as the more powerful branch of government. In hindsight, the two keys to the successful economic and democratic growth of England were (a) the monarch’s shortage of money, not its adequacy; and (b) the lack of external aid."

Yet, our Parliament represents those who live off taxes!

And they never ask for more liberties in lieu of taxes.

Here is another story of a parliamentary committee recommending that the government's powers to take over our properties be increased without limit!

So we have "democracy" without "politics" and without a "parliament" (correctly understood) either.

What a mess our great nation is in.

And the makers of this mess want to teach!

And all our great Editors think this is the best idea ever!

Ignorance rules, dudes.

Politics - From Athens to Mumbai

Raj Thackeray of the MNS party has been arrested. His party cadres had assaulted north Indians appearing for a railway recruitment examination. The idea: all recruitment should be of locals only – the marathi manoos.

My question: Is this "politics"? This is a word born in ancient Greece. It has been transposed to fit into a hundred different "political cultures," including our own. Yet, I doubt whether Aristotle, who wrote a book praising Athenian "politics," would agree to use the same word to describe the goondaism of the MNS.

Why not just call this "hoodlumism"?

Politics is a noble activity, if correctly understood. Unfortunately, we do not understand it. Every "political party" in India practises hoodlumism, including the Congress – remember 1984?

We have "democracy" – or should I say "socialist democracy" because liberal parties are barred – but there is little "good politics": the kind that Aristotle praised.

Every "politician" is actually the leader of a criminal gang.

And the prime minister is not a "politician"!

What kind of "democracy" is this?

Think about it.

And, to help you in the task, here is a thoughtful story on how there is zero faith in elections in Kashmir today.

I predict that, if things continue the way they are, there will be zero faith in elections all over Indian in a few years from now.

Wanna bet?

Alive And Kicking, Dude

Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of the Slate group, has pronounced that the current economic crisis means "the end of libertarianism." (Thanks to Nimit Kathuria.)

His article begins with these words:

"A source of mild entertainment amid the financial carnage has been watching libertarians scurrying to explain how the global financial crisis is the result of too much government intervention rather than too little."

In reality, it is governments, politicians and their agents in the academia and the press who are "scurrying around." They are all saying that this crisis has not been caused by them, their central bankers, and their manipulation (not regulation) of interest rates and credit markets. And this is not a source of mild entertainment; rather, it is a source of horror – to see how low those on high can fall.

Take, for example, the British prime minister Gordon Brown. He says:

"The first financial crisis of the global age has now laid bare the weaknesses of unbridled free markets."

This statement smells of a nasty kind of mendacity. It reflects a deliberate intent to misguide the public into believing that: first, that financial markets are in fact "unbridled"; and second, that further and tighter bridles are the cure.

Of course, there cannot be a genuinely free market when the most important regulator of the economy, money, is just worthless paper supplied monopolistically by governments. There is a crisis today because of this government monetary system. The crisis has occurred not because businessmen are greedy. It has occurred because governments are greedier.

To Gordon Brown's credit, he also added: "… what is happening around the world is raising quite fundamental questions for the new global age about the right relationships between markets and governments."

These "fundamental questions" are being raised ONLY by libertarians the world over. In the USA, they are being raised by Ron Paul's grassroots Campaign for Liberty. I think Jacob Weisberg is intent on misleading public opinion by pronouncing the "end of libertarianism." In actual fact, more and more people, all around the world, including especially America, are coming around to understanding and appreciating the libertarian point of view. Libertarianism is not dying; it is growing. By leaps and bounds.

The libertarian demand is not for an "unbridled market." Of course, we are not for "regulation" – which is bureaucratic and hence affected by politics. The libertarian wants markets to function under the "Rule of Law" – a Law that is above democracy, above politics.

This means "sound money" – so the central banker's "promise" on a paper note is a valid contract that must be enforced. Along with sound money there must be "legitimate banking" – so that private bankers cannot create credit out of thin air: and this is what they do under the fraudulent "fractional reserve system" that central banks control. All this lending of money that does not exist must stop.

Thus, libertarians are not "intellectually immature, frozen in the worldview many of them absorbed from reading Ayn Rand novels in high school" – as Jacob Weisberg concludes. Theirs is a world-view based on much more than Ayn Rand. Libertarians have also studied Law and Economics – especially the great Austrians.

Indeed, this is The Moment for all libertarians. We are not dead. It is the Keynesians who are dying in droves. Libertarians are all alive and kicking. And kicking real hard, if I may add. So ignore Weisberg, dear reader.

On Siachen... And Gordon Brown

There are two interesting news reports today worth commenting on.

The first is about a US army general visiting Siachen – or, more precisely, the Siachen Base Camp. No VIP goes to the glacier proper, the "world's highest battlefield," where the Indian and Pakistani armies have been fighting a pointless war for over 25 years. It used to cost 2 crore rupees a day in the 80s, when I visited the area. An army colonel told me it costs over 60 crore rupees a day now.

I knew this colonel when he was just an NDA recruit, when he was a Captain, and when he was a Major. He was one of the toughest commandos I have ever met. He spent 6 months on the Siachen Glacier and is now a skeleton of a man, his health ruined permanently. That is, of course, what happens to those who "follow orders" without thinking.

There is also no Economics in this high altitude war. The glacier is worth nothing. If it was auctioned, no bidders would turn up. No tourist can survive there.

The news report ends with these words:

"The objection to Gen Casey's Siachen visit is seen here as part of a series of confused responses from the out-of-kilter Pakistani establishment that seems to be working at cross purposes. While Pakistan's newly elected president Asif Ali Zardari has been pushing for peace with New Delhi, going to the extent of saying India has never been a threat to Pakistan, the military establishment, whose budgets depend on a confrontational posture with India, had been chafing at the bit."

I would say that in India too, the Defence Ministry is only interested in the Siachen War Budget. There is no other point to this "war."

The second interesting story I found today is the British prime minister Gordon Brown's comments on markets. He is quoted here as saying:

"…we do not live by markets alone. I have long understood that markets rely on values that they cannot generate themselves. Values as important as treating people fairly, acting responsibly, co-operating for the benefit of all."

Actually, we do live by markets alone. All our needs are supplied by markets – from pizzas to potatoes to plasma TVs.

As far as the "values" Brown talks about, these are propagated by churches, by religions, by philanthropists. It would be ridiculous to expect markets to generate these "values."

Markets are impersonal and competitive. The results have nothing to do with "fairness." Rather, they have a lot to do with luck. Countless entrepreneurs fail. Yet, civilized society cannot exist without the market.

At a time when the USA has totally lost its leadership over the idea of free markets, it is a further tragedy that the UK has lost it too. It is hard to believe that this is the same country that gave rise to the Manchesterites, to Cobden and Bright, and to Gladstonian liberalism. Our collective understanding of markets was better then. British socialism, championed by Brown's Labour Party, killed British liberalism – but that's another story, for another post.

Dump Communism Too

There is a very interesting piece of news today that says that the Maoists of Nepal are going to drop the Mao tag.

This comes just two months after Prachanda, the Maoist supremo, paid homage at Mao's mausoleum in Beijing.

This is very good news.

There are many Maoist insurgent groups in India as well. They should learn from this – and the fact that Maoism was abandoned in China way back in 1978.

The news mentions that the impetus came when party ideologue (and JNU alumnus) Dr Baburam Bhattarai attended the IMF-World Bank meet in Washington DC, where the international community "expressed concern" at his party's Maoist tag.

Indeed, why just express concern at the Maoist tag: why not express concern at the Communist tag as well.

In the real world, communism cannot work. Without several private property the world we live in cannot function. If all property was declared to be held in common, civilization would break down.

Read my old "Devil's Advocate" column from the ToI entitled "Ban Communism."

And for more on what is actually happening in Kathmandu, that too in Thamel, the main market, read Jug Suraiya's recent travelogue. He talks about how nightclubs there have found a new kind of entertainment to offer tourists: pretty girls dancing under showers!

In such a country neither Maoism nor Communism can work.

And that is good news on a bright Saturday morning.

PS: Serious students will find "The Decline And Fall of Gorbachev and the Soviet State" very interesting.

Make Jet Fuel Tax Free

There is trouble brewing in India's civil aviation industry. With many private players, including a host of low-cost ones, this was one shining success story of liberalization and privatization in India.

Things started to go awry about a year ago. Deccan, a pioneer in the low-cost segment, merged with Kingfisher. And now Jet has done the same. Further, Jet has sacked 1900 employees – only to take them back a few days later.

(My advice to all workers: Don't work for a losing firm. This also means don't ask politicos to force losing firms to keep you on the payroll. You'd be better off looking for a job in a profit-making company.)

What ails the civil aviation industry in India? After all, this is a huge country. Roads and railways are terrible. Why should civil aviation fail?

I found the answer in this extract from a news report in Mint:

"Jet fuel, or aviation turbine fuel, accounts for 45% of the operational costs of Indian carriers and is 70% more expensive than in foreign markets because of multiple taxes, including one levied by the states."

This must be true. My Delhi-Goa ticket mentioned the fare as 2000 rupees. An additional 2900 rupees was listed as "fuel surcharge" – which went to the government. The government is, of course, running the railways (into the ground!) – and this is one sure way of keeping the railways alive. Because of this fuel surcharge on a flight ticket, more and more people are switching back to the unsafe railways. This is not progress. Our nation's growth is being retarded. Retards are in charge of policy – especially taxation policy.

My view: All taxation in India is theft. These taxes on jet fuel even more so. All these taxes should be rolled back in the interest of better, faster and safer travel. Air travel should be allowed to come within the reach of all. That would be PROGRESS.

Why Keynesianism Sucks

The science of Economics has often got it wrong – and Gandhi, Marx and Keynes are the best examples. All three have had "influence" on government policy, with devastating effect. But none more than Keynes and the Keynesians.

Keynes propounded the thesis that government spending was the way out of a depression. The idea is that this money would circulate in the economy and boost consumption, that too with a "multiplier effect" – which is the way out of a depression, during which goods are lying unsold and labour is sitting around unemployed. Government over-spending would fix this, or so the Keynesians believe.

Because of Keynesian theories the US Fed is pumping US$ 700 billion into the system. The Europeans are doing likewise. And even our Reserve Bank of India has stepped in with a "liquidity injection" of Rs. 1,45,000 crores. All the world's central banks are acting like a cartel led by the US Fed.

The question to ask is: "Who will first get to spend this new money?" The answer to that is politicians, bureaucrats, bankers and those cronies who get loans.

The second question is: "Who will get to spend this money last?" And the answer to this is ordinary people like you and me.

We must then analyze what will happen in the intervening period. The analysis, developed by the Austrians, is compelling: In the real economy there will be a redistribution of real goods. Wealth will be redistributed from those who get to spend the new money last to those who get to spend the new money first. This is because of the inevitable inflation that accompanies massive injections of money. Gold was US$ 35 an ounce in Keynes' times; it is touching US$ 1300 an ounce now.

Of course, in the present case, the entire world will face inflation. All currencies will depreciate in real terms. Purchasing power of all paper currencies will decline. The poor will pay the "inflation tax." And those who control the levers of the economy will gain anyway. This is why Keynesianism continues: Not because all gain, but because the personnel of The State gain anyway. The dumb masses lose. The idea of boosting government spending through deficits is thus totally corrupt.

What do Austrians recommend in a crisis such as this present one? Very simple: Lower the prices of those goods that lie unsold. Lower the wages of those workers who sit around unemployed. The real estate lying unsold in the US can definitely be sold at lower prices. Even if there are losses, the economy will slowly recover. Once the first worker accepts a job with lower pay, there will be a "natural multiplier" that will come into effect as he uses his salary to demand wage goods.

The greatest harm done by Keynesians is not in Economics. Rather, the greatest harm is done in Politics, which is totally corrupted. The classical liberals believed in "limited government." The government was limited by constitutional laws; and the government's ability to tax was limited by democracy. Keynesians turned the entire edifice upside down. Democracy became meaningless when government got the power to issue limitless paper money. Governments became omnipotent. Which is to say that politicians became omnipotent. The very idea of "limited government" became meaningless.

It is noteworthy that Paul Krugman, the Keynesian who won this year's Nobel prize in Economics is a card-carrying member of the Democratic party. This is the party of the "welfare state." This is therefore the party that believes that governments can spend as they like, as much as they like; that the government has unlimited resources. It is this ugly fiction that is destroying our world – and impoverishing the poor too. Welfare based on paper money is a fraud on the poor.

The Austrians have the solution to this political corruption too: Sound Money backed by Gold. This will lead to "limited government" as no politician will be able to issue money as per his whims. Austrians also believe in "legitimate banking" governed by Law. They stridently oppose the corrupt banking model centered around central banks issuing inconvertible paper notes – the Keynesian model that is behind the crisis of today.

"Krugman Is Not An Economist"

Bill Anderson's column entitled "Krugman and the Nobel Fraud" is arguably the best piece written on this year's Economics prize. (Thanks to Chandra.)

He says that just as the Al Gore's Nobel prize for Peace went to a political hack, so too with the Krugman prize, which has gone to another political hack - that too, one who cannot be called an economist.

Anderson says: "The prize was for Krugman’s semi-discombobulated trade theories, not his incoherent, Keynesian columns that he writes for the Democratic Party, er, the editorial page of the New York Times."

Do read the column, which also makes a khichhri out of Krugman's latest NYT column on the bailout. The Nobel prize in Economics seems to have lost its sheen.

On Paul Krugman's Nobel

Paul Krugman, winner of this year's Nobel prize in Economics, is a Keynesian. He therefore believes in central banking, counterfeit money, and government sponsored consumption boosts as a way to beat recessions. He thinks the Austrian school of Economics is a "religion." He ridicules the Austrian theory of the trade cycle.

Yet, this prize, which is awarded by the Swedish central bank, comes at a time when public confidence in central banking is on the wane – especially in America, where Ron Paul keeps rolling on. His is a grassroots political movement against the Fed, against the bailout, all based on Austrian economics.

As a believer in Austrian economics myself, all I can say about this year's Nobel prize in Economics is that it represents a last ditch effort to bolster Keynesianism and central banking. This is a time when all the world's governments are busy pumping new money into national economies, India included. The cartel of central bankers, led by the US Fed, thinks they can keep the inevitable depression at bay using such methods – and Krugman is a supporter of the 700 billion dollar "bailout." Yet, we Austrians know that all they can accomplish is only a mere postponement of a deep depression that will surely combine with hyperinflation when all the paper money becomes worthless.

Of course, time will tell who is right and who is wrong. Krugman will use his increased prestige to advocate more socialism in the US. He is a Democrat and will probably make it to high office under Obama, who is likely to win. In any case, as Lew Rockwell writes, he will be "a loyal propagandist for endless currency depreciation."

Those who believe in "sound money" based on gold will have to watch from the sidelines as worthless government papers lose value with every passing day. They will have to watch propagandists like Krugman enjoy fame and glory as the poorest of the poor are robbed by the inflationists.

This is not a good day for the science of Economics. A propagandist whose columns show outright political partisanship has won the Nobel. But then, this is a prize given by a central bank. What else should we expect?

"An Illiterate Bar"

The other day there was an electrifying panel discussion on the implications of Singur at the IIC in New Delhi. Among the panelists was a supreme court lawyer whose views were so utterly ridiculous that it prompted another panelist to make a scathing comment. He said: "One of the biggest problems in India today is that the Bar is illiterate."

I believe that the problem goes much deeper than that. The legal community is a "self-regulating profession." Only lawyers become judges; and only lawyers teach law. With public ignorance of legal principles – the "civics" taught in schools is pure bullshit – this self-regulating profession is in a position to exploit its monopoly power. They have a vested interest in increasing litigation.

And of course, they are "illiterate" – especially in areas where "law and economics" is concerned. The interaction of these two important subjects is not taught to any student of law in India.

What is noteworthy is that an eminent professor of law, Upendra Baxi, has also echoed this sentiment. In this incisive article on constitutional principles, Baxi says:

"...paradoxically, the [Keshavananda Bharati] Case is likely to create an illiterate Bar in the country. A decision which runs into over seven hundred closely printed pages is unlikely to be read by the majority of the Bar ; and if read only once is unlikely to be fully understood. But a legal profession which misses out on the liberal and legal reading of this decision is thus likely to commit a mayhem upon itself, and thereby upon the future development of the constitutional jurisprudence in this country. As always, the illiteracy of the literate is more pernicious for development than that of the illiterate."

Ignorance rules. And we pay the "education tax"!

Dont' Encourage These Despots

Our Reichwing press has encouraged pmk ramadoss by supporting the smoking ban.

The joker is now talking about total prohibition on alcohol!

This is the precise danger of not standing up for Liberty - including the liberty of those you might disagree with or disapprove of, like smokers.

But there is worse news.

The bjp leader rajnath singh says that the massacre of Christians and the acts of arson on their places of worship are not because of the sangh parivar's perverted politics of hate and chauvinism. They are the result of "Hindu anger on forced conversions."

He is quoted as saying:

"Hindu anger and resentment against large-scale forcible conversions is the root cause of anti-Christian riots in both the states," he said. He was convinced it could end only if strong measures were put in place to "stop forcible, or by allurement, conversions of Hindus by Christian missionaries".

He wants a license raj on the natural right to choose one's religion.

The report says:

rajnath singh said every conversion should be verified to ensure that missionaries have not forced a person or offered any sort of allurement to convert a Hindu to Christianity.

"The government should look into finding a way to verify this. Whenever a Hindu converts to Christianity, there should be verification by district authorities to the state that the conversion is not by force or after extension of any allurement such as promise of money or food.

"There should be a verification document with the person who has been converted. If such a system is put in place, there will be no opportunity for this sort of violence."


These guys are more dangerous than ramadoss can ever be.

We must not encourage them.

The country will become a Living Hell is these rascals who exploit faith are not put down by the mainstream press.

I hope every editor will rise to the challenge. If they don't, the country will be destroyed.

Reserve Banking - A Hilarious Spoof

Check out this hilarious video on reserve banking.

Good thing is that even comedians are discovering what a farce it is.
(Thanks to LRC.)

Medical Marijuana: The Prisoner's Last Smoke

In the USA, everyone talks of "medical marijuana."

Of course, cannabis has medicinal properties, known to ayurveds for millennia.

It is good for improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

It is good for treating glaucoma too.

But why can't normal healthy people enjoy a "decent smoke"?

Why should cannabis be legalized only for sick people?

I look at the issue like this: You are not allowed to smoke marijuana because you are healthy. You smoke tobacco instead. You get cancer. So when you are dying, they let you have your last wish - a decent smoke.

Medical marijuana is thus like granting a prisoner headed for the gallows his last smoke.

It is as absurd as all other American attitudes to ganja.

Like their former president saying "I smoked marijuana but I did not inhale."

So I repeat my very Indian attitude (thanks to some good Jamaicans):

Legalize It: I'll Advertise It."

Boom Shankar!

Putting Safety First, Sincerely

There are two stories in the ToI today worth commenting upon.

The first says that the number of road deaths in India now stands at 1,30,000 per year, the highest in the world. Higher even that China, where this figure has been going down every year for more than a decade.

Note that the government wallahs quoted in the news report do not say anything about better roads and traffic management systems.

They are talking about making airbags and ABS compulsory on cars; and "speed governors" mandatory on trucks and buses.

They are putting the blame on others. Actually, the fault lies in their lousy road systems.

In the meantime, the other story has it that there is a flourishing racket in fake drivers' licenses.

This job can easily be taken over by insurance companies, which have a direct financial interest in road safety.

Indeed, we would be safer if the Ministry of Transport was closed down and roads, traffic management and road safety were all entirely taken over by insurance companies.

Just shows that the pmk ramadoss smoking ban is just a smokescreen hiding the real issues in "public health and safety."

We are dying on our streets. They own these potholed streets. They should fix them, not attack smokers - all of whom pay taxes.

Legalise It, I'll Advertise It

Since I am a regular reader of the Lew Rockwell blog, and an admirer of the man who supports the Ron Paul Revolution, I was extremely disappointed to read a post in which Rockwell says that, while he is firmly opposed to the "war on drugs," he will not endorse the Free Marijuana Church set up by Bernard Von Nothaus. Is this not contradictory, overly conservative, and hypocritical?

How will there ever be a Revolution if we don't endorse marijuana?

I endorse ganja wholeheartedly. It should not be called "the weed." Rather, it should be The Crop – the greatest cash crop for our poor farmers.

Perhaps Rockwell's antipathy towards ganja has to do with white culture, which is entirely centred around alcohol.

In India, we do not have a word for "cheers" in any major language. But we have a thousand salutations to the Lord Shiva when lighting a chillum. Our culture is about ganja, not alcohol. Read this old article of mine from the ToI archives which points out, through a travelogue, how in the "holy cities" of India, like Haridwar and Rishikesh, you are perfectly free to smoke ganja and charas, but alcohol is taboo.

In India, cannabis must be legalized. On this, I am happy to entirely disagree with Lew Rockwell. As Peter Tosh sang, "Legalize It, I'll Advertise It."

And Boom Shankar to all my readers.

Politics Above Law, Beyond Justice

The news that the cabinet is hemming-and-hawing over banning the Bajrang Dal and throwing out the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa is depressing – because the "Rule of Law" is being subverted by petty politics.

The ideal of the rule of law is that The Law is above all else. If the highest in the land violate the law, they must face the consequences. The law is above politics. Indeed, in old England, where the idea of the rule of law originated, the law was even above the King. The English said that "the King is under God and the Law." This is also the idea behind "constitutional government," which means that those in public office must follow the rules of the constitution.

We still see glimpses of this in the west: Jemma Bush, the daughter of the US president, got into trouble over teenage drinking and was made to serve community labour. Tony Blair's son landed up in trouble with the police after a barroom brawl and his daddy did not interfere to save him. Lord Jeffery Archer served a term in prison.

In India, some big names have been hauled up – like Sanjay Dutt the film star or Sanjeev Nanda in the BMW case – but by and large it is quite apparent that politicians and their children (as in the Jessica Lal murder case) are above the law. And as events in Orissa and Karnataka indicate, political hate crimes are also above the law.

All this shows that we as a nation have got our priorities totally mixed up. We value "democracy." We do not value the rule of law. In reality, there is no need for the union cabinet to ponder over law & order issues. Policing and law & order are a state subject. The jurisdiction is local. The local police should act without fear or favour against any and every violator of the law. If they don't, the state home minister should act. If he doesn't, the union home minister should do the needful. After all, he has "independent charge." It is a mockery of law that the entire cabinet should meet to discuss such simple matters of law enforcement – which should be strict. This is total politicization of law & order.

Do read the news report on the cabinet meet here – and I am sorry if it depresses you. But Happy Dussehra anyway. The festivities are all about Good triumphing over Evil. But the stark reality is that, in this Land of Faith – even blind faith – things are the other way around. We urgently need to reform out government.

The IAS... And Their "Original Sin"

Do read my latest column in Mint - on who are actually to blame for the property rights mess in socialist India.

I lay the blame squarely on the Indian Administrative Service.

I also talk about how they are teaching nonsense in their IAS Academy in Mussoorie.

This is vital evidence against state education.

The news has it that the Right to Education Bill is ready for passage by parliament.

This will be a "right to miseducation." Millions of bright young minds will be destroyed.

Our socialist The State must be booted out of anything and everything to do with education. They are teaching socialist propaganda. And this "generalised" education is useless in the market economy. Even after 12 years of school, the student cannot find a niche in the market. This is a waste of youth. It is what the old rock band, The Who, called "teenage wasteland."

To read my column click here.

On Mythili's Mythology

Mythili Bhusnurmath of the Economic Times, affectionately known as “Myth,” has published her opinion on the US Crash. (Thanks to Chandra.)

Yet, I find myself in total disagreement with her views.

Myth’s article is entitled “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and accordingly she lists out what is “good” about the crisis first.

She says: “The good thing is that the world will have to seriously think of an alternate international reserve currency.”

In reality, this word “reserve” as used by central bankers – and Myth is a central banker – is just one big lie. Central bankers actually have no “real reserves” to back their paper notes. And they hold notes of other central banks like the US Fed in a pyramid. This pyramid is collapsing. What should be done? Is Myth seriously suggesting that another central bank take over the task of inflating the world with another fiat paper currency?

Yes, I agree that the US dollar is in free fall. This is the end of US imperialism. Good. Very good. But to me this should signal the end of Keynesianism, Monetarism and Central Banking. If we truly want the world economy to grow in a stable manner, thereby lifting the masses out of poverty, we need to usher in “sound money.” Myth’s article does not contain this vital term. Like Keynes, she probably thinks gold is a “barbarous relic.”

Myth then goes on to say that the “best thing” about this Crash is “it will be a while before the US (not to forget the IMF and the World Bank) lectures developing countries about giving markets free rein or about the folly of government bailouts.” Here she shows her statist bent: say no to free markets; say yes to state intervention.

According to me, it is a tragedy that economists from developing countries need lectures on free markets. If Myth was not caught up in the mythology of central banking, she would see reality differently. Her perceptions, based on her theories, are in serious error.

Myth then lists out “The Bad”: the fact that the world will suffer along with the US. Further, that it will take a while for “confidence to return in financial markets.” Confidence in what? I ask. Confidence in paper notes? Or confidence in gold? Or confidence in “legitimate banking”?

She then proceeds to “The Ugly.”

She says, “The ugliest aspect, however, is the possibility the world will once again seek band-aid solutions rather than address the root cause of our present problems: the pivotal role of the dollar as reserve currency that gives the US the ability to privatise the gains and socialise the losses.”

She then proceeds to champion precisely these “band aid solutions” – she calls for “all-out rescue efforts of central banks (flooding markets with liquidity) and governments (bailing out institutions with exposure to toxic US assets) all over the world.” Here too, she uses terms that reflect the mythology of central banking. They do not “flood markets with liquidity”: rather, they flood markets with paper money. And the US assets she refers to are not “toxic”: they are worthless. They are the result of the US central bank's artificial boom of the recent past. It is central banking that is “toxic.”

Myth concludes with pure double-speak: “Today, the situation is too critical for the world to baulk at bailing out the US. But once the crisis is over we need to focus on the moral hazards of bailing out the US. Desultory talk of the need for a new ‘Bretton Woods’ will not do.”

We must bail out the US now and then think of moral hazards later! What is the right word for this – “mendacity”?

Is there nothing called Truth any more?

If there isn’t, we will all sink.

As Ludwig von Mises said: "No one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hang on the result."

On Smoking... And My Club

It was great dropping in at my club, the Delhi Gymkhana, last evening, with that very bright young man, Vipin Veetil, who now writes editorials for Mint. He also blogs here.

I took him to the air-conditioned West Bar and we drank some fine wine. But soon after our first glass we had to leave, because of the smoking ban. We then went to the outdoors bar. I smoked. It was hot, and the fans weren’t working too good.

But it was great meeting all the old barmen – Ram Avdesh, Naresh and Hari – who know me for over 30 years now. You see, I am a Very Old Member of the Gymkhana, and since my memory still works, despite all the ganja, allow me to relate the story of how the club handled the smoking issue. That too, a long time ago.

In the 70s the West Bar was small and crowded – and on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when we danced, it was extremely smoky. In 1982, the club therefore opened a new East Bar. It was small, and it was a non-smoking bar. Yet it remained largely vacant. Even non-smokers preferred the West Bar, despite the smoke, because that was where the action was.

A few years ago, the West Bar was entirely refurbished. It is now three or four times bigger – and quite swanky; more like a plush hotel than a colonial club. Non-smokers still had the East Bar, but, as I said, everyone preferred to be in the West Bar, because of all the action, especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Then the Delhi government passed an order by which half the West Bar was reserved for non-smokers. The club implemented the order faithfully. Non-smokers now had half the West Bar in addition to the East Bar. This was a needless piece of government intervention into the internal affairs of an extremely exclusive private club.

Now, with pmk ramadoss’ ban, smokers have to sit on the lawns and drink. No music. And certainly no dancing.

But a club is private property. Indeed, the DGC is extremely exclusive private property. It takes much more than money or political power – even in Delhi – to become a member.

And the club, being “democratic” (we have elections), had already solved the smoking problem. That too, over a quarter of a century ago.

There were other smokers at the outdoors bar last evening. I held forth on private property. I trust that the virus I let loose will spread in the club's fertile and democratic environs.

My essential point was that pmk ramadoss is unlikely to ever be inducted into our club, which is more or less exclusively for officers and gentlemen. Politicos are shunned here.

I hope bonafide members who want to drink and smoke (and dance!) in air-conditioned comfort will now fight for their rights to their own, exclusive property.

On the False Friends of Liberalism

I use the word “libertarian” to describe this blog’s intellectual position because the word “liberal” is used by almost anyone and everyone – and these are almost entirely false friends.

Take the case of Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) of the Lok Satta Party (LSP). He was the centre of attention at the “liberal symposium” in Delhi last week – and the news today has it that the LSP, under his leadership, is spearheading a campaign to shut down 1,50,000 “illegal” liquor shops in Andhra Pradesh. This is not liberalism at all. And do note that these “illegal” liquor shops must be giving the “legal” liquor shops stiff competition. A truly “liberal” public policy position would be to make the issuance of liquor shop licenses free and easy. Then all liquor shops would be “legal” and they would be equal under Law. The Law would prevail. We are forced to conclude, therefore, that JP’s LSP is illiberal.

Why does liberalism have so many false friends? The answer lies in an “attitude” that infects politics in India: the idea that there is something wrong with “the people” and that The Politician must step in to correct this wrong. The people are smoking. Terrible. The people are drinking. Even worse. They visit dance bars. They smoke ganja and charas. They gamble. They patronize prostitutes. Horrible! The politician therefore masquerades as a social reformer and steps in with State action. It is here that illiberalism begins.

To the libertarian, society is imperfect and doomed to remain so. The role of The State and The Law is not to alter society towards perfection. On the contrary. The role of The State and The Law is to allow society to continue to do what it is doing – but under equal legal protection for all. This is Liberty Under Law. Thus, if you sell spurious liquor or nakli ganja you are guilty of a tort. The illiberal would pervert this idea of Law and force all these legitimate businesses underground.

Of course, there are some spineless and brainless commentators like Mihir S Sharma who welcome illiberal dictators because they force him to stop smoking. Here is this dud actually thanking ramadoss. It is well said that the worst tyranny is that which comes under the guise of “this is for your own good.” If Mihir wanted to stop smoking, he should have done so himself, demonstrating his own will power. Now, he is actually condoning dictatorship on other smokers.

The true “liberal” in India must veer towards the libertarian label if he wants to preserve his freedom. There are too many false friends under the liberal banner.

For Sincerity on Public Health

Actually, there are major public health issues in India that are being overlooked – thanks to the anti-smoking hysteria of pmk ramadoss.

The first is alcohol.

Indians drink hard liquor. This is because low alcohol beverages like beer and wine are intentionally overtaxed. Throughout India, a bottle of beer costs just as much as a quarter of rum – so most people drink rum: more bang for your buck. Rum is made from sugarcane. And the sugar lobby is strong. The IMFL “Old Monkey” brigade is the biggest contributor to the coffers of the Congress party. So no health minister will take up the issue of making beer tax-free, so as to encourage tipplers to shift to this healthy drink.

If I had my way I would actively promote beer. I would encourage micro-breweries selling mugs of draught beer to poor people at less than the price of a sugary cola. This is one sure way of promoting better public health.

On tobacco, the fact is that most Indians smoke beedis. Zero taxes on unfiltered cigarettes would encourage poor smokers to shift up from beedis – and this would be an improvement in their consumption. But the beedi lobby is also strong in the government: Praful Patel, the current civil aviation minister, is a beedi king. And his boss Sharad Pawar is big on both beedis as well as IMFL. He is a "co-operative" sugar baron.

In my book, the foremost task before the public health authorities is to eradicate mosquitoes and flies. They should also ensure that public health facilities provided by The State to the poor are well run. Pmk ramadoss’ anti-smoking campaign is actually a smoke-screen that hides the real failures of public policies on public health.

So let us all, the long-suffering people, unitedly campaign for tax-free beer and wine, for tax-free unfiltered cigarettes, and the complete annihilation of mosquitoes and flies.

Let us see through this minister’s – and this government’s – insincerity and deception.

If I Were A Lawyer...

Let us assume that I am the owner of a bar. I have a sign outside saying “Rights of admission reserved.” After the pmk-ramadoss ban on smoking, I alter this sign to read as follows:

“Rights of admission reserved. Non-smokers are not welcome here.”

All my staff are smokers. They do not have a “right to a smoke-free workplace” because I do not have an “obligation” to provide it to them.

How can our The State interfere?

Note that, for smokers, a cigarette is a must with alcohol. As Luis Bunuel recorded in his memoirs (and he lived till 83!) “if alcohol is queen, then tobacco is her consort.” Read my old post on Bunuel here.

There is a medical reason for this: When you drink, alcohol enters your bloodstream and thus the nicotine level goes down. To keep it up, a smoker must smoke. It is a form of torture to deny a smoker a cigarette while he is enjoying a drink.

I am rather disappointed that, apart from the Mint editorial cited in yesterday’s post, our Reichwing press has passively succumbed to ramadoss’ bullying. This has encouraged the bully. He is now talking of banning all tobacco products!

They say “eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty.” But the press is almost entirely Reichwing. They have not been vigilant. They have not risen to the defence of the rights of the people. As for our lawyers and judges (and only lawyers become judges) the less said the better. Thanks to 61 years of socialism they have lost all knowledge of Liberty.

Ban Day Mataram

I must thank my good friend Manuwant for the title of this post. His blog post on "A Freedom Song Gone Wrong" can be read here.

Today is Bapu's 139th birthday - but there is NO PARTY!

Today is a DRY DAY!

Reminds me of when I was a student in London. It was a bright sunny morning and I was walking along the Thames when the thirst hit and I trooped into a pub.

The bartender did not wait for my order.

On seeing me he immediately handed over a pint of beer, saying, "This is on the house."

I quickly took a sip - and then asked what the occasion was.

He said it was the Queen Mum's birthday.

And the whole country was partying.

It is true, what Manuwant writes:

OUR FREEDOM SONG HAS GONE TERRIBLY WRONG!

We must fight for freedom again.

Freedom from these party poopers.

On Gay Rights... And Ganja

With the ban on smoking tobacco, the prospects of marijuana legalization have receded.

What is interesting is that the Indian Express, in its lead editorial of today, has championed gay rights. For them, PMK ramadoss, architect of the smoking ban, is a hero for upholding gay rights.

Even the Delhi high court has spoken in favour of gay rights, according to this story from the ToI.

It is indeed sad that gays fear prosecution in India.

I believe this is a violation of one’s property rights over one’s own body.

But the biggest victims of police excesses and “selective enforcement” are not gays in India.

The biggest victims are actually cannabis smokers, cannabis farmers and cannabis dealers.

The “crime” is non-bailable and the minimum sentence is 10 years.

I hope that the Indian Express, which is upholding gay rights, will also champion the rights of ganja smokers – like me.

We ganja smokers are indeed the largest group victimized by The State.

In the meantime, at least one sensible editorial has been published against the smoking ban. This is from the new pink paper, Mint. Great edit.

Watch this cartoon - and show it to your kids

This is the link to an excellent cartoon film on the evils of monetary inflationism.

See it - and show it to your kids.

(Thanks to Lew Rockwell.)