Two Columns... And A March

My column in Mint has been published today. It demolishes the concept of “social justice” so beloved of étatists like Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze and their good friend Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi. Read it here. If this link does not work, try here.

Let us revert to the idea of an “equal justice,” so beloved of all classical liberals, including the early Whigs. Recall that British civil government in India was based on this idea of an “equal justice” – where there are no special favours shown on anyone; all are equal before The Law.

So there is another problem classical liberals and modern libertarians have with the Constitution of India, for the Preamble mentions “social justice.”

Perhaps there is no solution other than a Second Republic.

Moving on, the most interesting – and disturbing – read I encountered this morning was this article on LRC on the USSA using “mercenary soldiers” in its foreign wars. This quote is telling:

“The increasing use of contractors, private forces, or, as some would say, ‘mercenaries’ makes wars easier to begin and to fight – it just takes money and not the citizenry,” said Michael Ratner, of New York’s Center for Constitutional Rights. “To the extent a population is called upon to go to war, there is resistance, a necessary resistance to prevent wars of self-aggrandizement, foolish wars, and, in the case of the United States, hegemonic imperialist wars.”

I am confident that the world – especially our part of the world – would be a much better, safer and prosperous place if the USSA ended all its wars, including, most importantly, its “war on drugs.”

Which reminds me: Here in Delhi we have now established the Dhooan Club (“dhooan” means "smoke" in Hindi) and we are fast progressing towards organizing a Ganja March.

However, since stoned people don’t enjoy long marches – like Mao’s or Gandhi’s – our march is going to be very short: from the CR Park #1 Market to the Shiva Temple – barely 200 yards. We will smoke in the Market, we will smoke during the March, and we will smoke in the Temple – and then disperse peacefully. The idea is to drum home the point that what is allowed in the Temple is not allowed in the Market.

We have not yet finalized a date, but stay tuned and you will get the news as soon as everything crystallizes.

Onwards, patriotic ganja warriors!

Let us fight for freedom.