Our corrupt, malfunctioning, centralized and socialist State hides behind the label “democratic.” Just as East Germany was the German Democratic Republic. So it is fortunate for us that some NGOs and think-tanks have taken the initiative to investigate the character of those who claim to be “representatives of the people.”
For example, the cover story in the latest India Today is on the declared assets of our MPs and MLAs. The editor-in-chief of the magazine, Aroon Purie, summarizing the findings made by Liberty Institute says:
“Of the 215 Rajya Sabha members for which we have data, 105 are crorepatis. Of the 522 Lok Sabha members, 135 are crorepatis.
"Members of legislative assemblies seem wealthier than many of the MPs. The top five MLAs across the 30 states are worth Rs 2,042 crore. Uttar Pradesh has the richest chief minister and 113 crorepati MLAs. One indication of how this money has been accumulated is that of 150 wealthiest MLAs, 59 don’t even have a PAN card!”
He concludes that our democracy only shows the “dubious link between money and power”: many of these representatives of the people have shown their assets to be rising by over 500 per cent in the last 5 years!"
The cover story, available here, is entitled “Assembly of the rich.” A more apt title would have been “Assembly of the corrupt.” Rich people must produce something before consuming. These corrupt representatives produce nothing but consume everything. This is very far removed from the democratic ideal.
And there is worse: Here is the story of an SMS service that has been launched that will tell you whether your sitting MP is a criminal or not.
And here is yet another story of a study that has discovered the fact that 24 per cent of sitting MPs are criminals.
Of course, the coup de grace on Indian democracy has been delivered by none other than the Speaker of the Lok Sabha himself: Shaken by unruly demonstrations within the “august house,” the Speaker cursed the MPs, saying he hoped none would ever win an election again. He added that none of them deserved the extra allowances given to them to attend parliament. He said that, according to him, parliament should be adjourned sine die. Read the full story here.
All this evidence indicates that our The Ship of State is nothing but a “pirate ship.” We must think hard as to how we can get out of the jam we are in. Elections are just months away.
In my view, we must uphold the Rule of Law. The Law must be above Democracy. The ideal: “An Empire of Laws and not of Men.” None should be above The Law. This should be the goal of liberal politics.
Unfortunately, the Times of India continues to represent the muddle-headed point of view. A front page story today says that the government’s “stimulus package” has worked, and key sectors are showing a turnaround. In reality, as Rothbard said, we are faced with “a robber who justified his theft by saying that he really helped his victims, by his spending giving a boost to retail trade.”
The editors of the ToI must be adherents of the Zimbabwe School of Economics.
And that is The Choice.
It is either Zimbabwe. Or a New India.
You decide.
Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.
ReplyDeleteCapital is money, capital is commodities. By virtue of it being value, it has acquired the occult ability to add value to itself. It brings forth living offspring, or, at the least, lays golden eggs.
ReplyDeleteCapital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.
ReplyDeleteCapitalist production, therefore, develops technology, and the combining together of various processes into a social whole, only by sapping the original sources of all wealth - the soil and the labourer.
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ReplyDeleteI have deleted some of the comments made by "comrade," who has been visiting this blog over the last few days, because they were irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteNote that labour productivity and wages depend on Capital. The "hammer and the sickle," universal symbols of the communists, are Capital goods. Would the farmer be better off without a sickle? Would the blacksmith be better off without a hammer?
Note also that the richest countries in the world, where labourers are happiest, have the most Capital. Poor labourers in poor countries have no Capital to work with, hence they are poor.
Communism is a failed ideology based on collective property. This blog stands for private property and Liberty. Communist readers are welcome, but they should refrain from taking over the discussion board. Please write one comment (not 6!) and keep it short and sweet. Otherwise, as this blog is my private property, I will take action suo moto and delete them. Be warned.
Politics is a business. The Indian voter actually knows this and over the years has become quite cynical-I read an interview of a village voter telling a journo why he will not vote for the a poor but honest candidate – what is the point of voting for someone who cannot even ‘look after’ himself? how will he ‘look after’ me- meaning he can’t corner any concessions / projects etc for his constituency- lalu showering bihar with trains it does not even need is a prime example-
ReplyDeletePrecisely, Jayram: Democracy is meant for the representation of tax payers, but what we have produced now is representation of tax parasites!
ReplyDeleteI wish the comments here had individual links, so that I could share this exchange with my friends, more conveniently. Good stuff!
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