Bad news: LRC is off the airwaves – and I am getting withdrawal symptoms. Also, we have no water supply for 3 days. I think it is “hydraulic despotism,” typical of the oriental despot. Give these morons any power over any resource and they will misuse it. Good thing there is abundant groundwater – so we will dig a well, like all our neighbours already have. Private water.
No other news worth commenting about, so let us return to our discussion on good government. Today, I will focus on localism, arguing that powerful central governments are NOT good government. Uncle Sam is the bane of the USSA, as is Uncle Sham here.
For example, our nearest town is Chaudi, where we have to go today for the Saturday bazaar and our weekly shopping. Chaudi is the central market town catering to a vast area – and it is a mess. Yet, I wonder whether there is a file on Chaudi in the offices of the Planning Commission in New Delhi. Both Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi and his chhota ustad, montek, I am positive, have never heard of Chaudi. I am sure neither have heard of Jhumri Tilaiya either, a pretty town in Jharkhand where everyone is very fond of music.
A vivid illustration of the intellectual error in establishing a powerful central government (essential for central planning) occurred when Atal Behari Vajpayee was prime minister. He announced plans to build a highway “from Saurashtra to Silchar.” This would connect the west to the east, Vajpayee claimed. But Silchar is in Assam. There are three Indian states to the east of Assam: Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. Some days after Vajpayee made his grand announcement, the chief minister of Manipur rebuked him for “forgetting” about his state. Like they “forgot” about Chaudi. Actually, if Chaudi was under good local government, I am sure it would be one of the finest towns on the planet. Nature has been so kind to this area.
Of course, our Total Chacha State pays lip service to the idea of local government. But “panchyati raj” is all about villages. Max Weber wrote about the towns of Europe – so basic to western civilization. We need urban local self-government of high quality in India. I wonder how we can accomplish that. I possess little faith in democracy, having read Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s great book Democracy: The God That Failed three times already – and I look forward to reading it again.
Hülsmann reveals that Mises championed a strong central monarchy for an East European Empire centred around the Hapsburgs of Vienna. Our India is an empire too – but here we need to shift the focus away from New Delhi to the mayors of all our cities and towns – mayors we do not possess as of now. I have not yet crystallized my thoughts on how this can be accomplished. But we must get there.
Off to Chaudi now, and the weekly bazaar. These poorly functioning local governments give me the creeps. We must think of a way out.
For a start, giving state governments more power would be a way to go. However, in India secession and decentralized power creation spills over onto the streets; Telangana being the case in point. There is an argument that smaller states are more vulnerable to horse-trading and is inherently more unstable but I don't buy this argument. It might be true in the shorter term but people will wise up over time.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure of the strong Central Monarch argument. It is very similar to Plato's philosopher-king / benevolent dictator argument. It is very unclear who among the citizenry would be worthy of that job. Once they get it, why would they let it go? Ayatollah Khomeini may have a legitimate case to invoke such an argument.
Maybe direct democracy rather than participative democracy might be more tenable in future with improvements in technology and more decentralized decision making.
@Swap: I STRONGLY disagree with your idea of giving more powers to the Bhateeja State governments. They have actually destroyed panchayati raj. They have destroyed all the police forces too. What is needed, I sometimes think, is a strong central government and strong local urban governments too. But Bhateejas are a strict no-no for me. I must clarify that I think the above idea should apply for a short time - till we fix the socialist system. In the medium to long term, we should be able to inhabit a "natural order."
ReplyDeletePower distribution is all about checks and balances. I was proposing a path towards an increasingly decentralized power structure, starting with the States (call it federalism, if you will). There is a clear trend towards need for greater representation for people in all regions. No one wants mai-baaps sitting in Delhi deciding their destinies. I am all for strong local urban governments in the longer term. However, I am unclear what would a "natural order" as you see it look like?
ReplyDelete@Swap: Federalism has not worked in India. Between Chacha in New Delhi and all his Bhateejas in the provinces, all our tax money is stolen. Nothing works. Every city and town is a hell-hole. In my view, people don't need "representation." They need a system that works. Not that the current democratic system provides any "representation" anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for "natural order": it is the subject of my new book on civil government and the rule of law, which I hope will be published soon.
Incidentally, the inspiration for this book came from Hans-Hermann Hoppe's "Democracy: The God That Failed," which is sub-titled "The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order." Unfortunately, in this wonderful book, Hoppe says precious little on "natural order." I sought to plug that gap. Wait for the book.
@Swap: You can also click on the "label" on the right hand bar called "natural order", under which there are 8 posts.
ReplyDelete