Thoughts On "Market Day"

Saturday is “market day” for us in this Goan village. Today we drive to the nearest town, where vegetable vendors come from far-away places to sell their stuff, and buy up stock for the forthcoming week. Makes you realize why towns matter to villagers. In this village, nothing much is available.

The experience also drums in the lesson that there is a “natural order” in the market economy because everyone follows the golden rule that “possession indicates property.” Of course, they do not know that they are indeed following rules. They all act “between instinct and reason.” But there is a “natural order” here: there are no cops “maintaining order.”

But market day means that I have to hurry up with my morning post. Thankfully there is already a lot for my readers to go through: do check out the comments of the “comrade” and Aristotle The Geek’s detailed refutation here.

We are fortunate that today we also have access to a speech by Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, at the European parliament. As a representative of a nation that suffered greatly under communist rule, Havel emphasizes the concerns his countrymen have over a European Union that is getting more centralized as well as protectionist every day. Havel says that the EU should have just two functions: one, removing barriers to trade; and two, public goods that cannot be provided for by member nations acting alone or jointly. He deplores the fact that the EU is headed in the opposite direction. He says:

“… the present economic system of the EU is a system of a suppressed market, a system of a permanently strengthening centrally controlled economy.”

He also deplores the protectionism that is rife in the EU. He finds it hilarious that the EU has imposed a 66% import duty on candles from China. It is as if Bastiat’s Candlemakers’ Petition has become reality.

Do read the full speech here. This is the kind of politics we need in India. We too should put communism and socialism firmly behind us.

How do we do that?

I have often suggested a “jail bharo andolan” as a protest against the provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act that outlaws liberal political parties from contesting elections in our nation. I now have an incentive for those who will land up in jail following such protests. A news report says that high quality ganja is being sold in jails. I am a witness to the fact that the ganja available outside jails is of very poor quality. So let’s do it. Let’s fill the jails. At least we can enjoy a good smoke at the end of the day!

Boom Shankar!