This editorial in Mint is really worth reading. It informs the citizen of the basic philosophical differences between classical liberals like Isaiah Berlin (and libertarians like me) and the welfare school led by Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze - both of whom are very close to Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi. The concerned citizen will emerge much better informed after reading this editorial, and he will clearly see the danger of this new "welfare statism" that these old Nehruvian socialists are inflicting upon India today.
The ET editorial, on the other hand, is just repeating what The System wants you to hear. This newspaper is just a shill of the regime. It does not inform the reader of the wrongs of government policy. The Census, as I said earlier, is a Horror. None should cooperate with it. Give them only the headcount and no more information.
ET lives in cloudcuckooland if it thinks that a thorough Census with universal fingerprinting and other biometric information, with foolproof ID cards etc., will "change the way the government delivers its services." Rather, we will be ruled by a Predatory Police State that PRETENDS to be a Welfare State.
Here is another report in Mint that says that in two big States of the Union, the number of "below poverty line" households (i.e., those in need of "welfare") exceed the total number of citizens. I quote:
In the case of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the proportion of BPL card holders to total number of households in the state was 142.83% and 120.20%, respectively.
This welfarism is unsustainable.
What is more important, the philosophy behind it is dangerously wrong. It will increase tyranny - increase the number of "tax parasites" - while omitting Liberty from all political discussions. Ultimately, it is only when the Total Chacha State gets out of our way that the people can feed themselves.
Say NO to welfare.
And raise a shout for LIBERTY.
And read Mint regularly.
The main problem is that majority of people in the world continue to think that “national freedom” is more important than “individual freedom”. We tend to give more respect to the concept of the nation than to the concept of the individual. That is why there isn’t any real freedom in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn real sense of the term, a nation is simply a housing society on a much larger scale. Within the nation’s boundaries likeminded people who share certain types of values can live with peace and freedom. But to think that nation is like God, and it needs to be worshipped, or every individual needs to make sacrifices for it, is totally incorrect.
Borders are not sacrosanct. A nation that does not respect the rights of the individual has no right to exist. People have every right to rebel against a nation that refuses to respect their individual rights. Only moral nation is the one where there is absolute freedom from the government.
If we have a government that dabbles into anything more than the maintaining of law and order, then that is not a moral government. Sadly while so many people are ready to sacrifice their lives in the name of religion, in name of a dictatorship and even in the name of a mafia goon, very few are ready to raise their voice for individual rights.
I look forward to a future, which might arrive in next 20 years, when borders will cease to matter. The concept of nations will become obsolete. People will be able to move around freely and choose where they want to live by taking into account the local laws and customs.
There cannot be any true liberty in the world as long as the earth remains divided into hundreds of petty dictatorships, where looters enact laws, provide free healthcare, free 100 day employment (NREGA), education and conduct census...
anoop,i loved that statement:"a nation is simply a housing society on a much larger scale".
ReplyDeletei am gonna use that zinger while talking to so called nationalists
ToI Grp is firmly in CONgress camp. It was the biggest cheer leader of Indira Gandhi when she nationalised banks in 1969, oil / coal / whole sale grain trade in early 70's and enacted such "enligghtening" acts as FERA and changes in Compnay Act that gave unbriddled power to Ministry of CAs. Also, the so-called "architect of reform" - Fake Singh - was a top policy adviser to that regime. This man is nothing but a life-long opportunist and a loyal serf.
ReplyDeleteAn Anonymous reader has left the following comment which is not getting published because of some technical error in Blogger. I am therefore publishing it under my own name, with my own comments added:
ReplyDelete"ToI Grp is firmly in CONgress camp. It was the biggest cheer leader of Indira Gandhi when she nationalised banks in 1969, oil / coal / whole sale grain trade in early 70's and enacted such "enligghtening" acts as FERA and changes in Compnay Act that gave unbriddled power to Ministry of CAs. Also, the so-called "architect of reform" - Fake Singh - was a top policy adviser to that regime. This man is nothing but a life-long opportunist and a loyal serf. "
I would like to add that when I worked as an editor for the Economic Times (1998-2002), Sameer Jain, the owner of the paper, once told me that in the bad old days of Indira Gandhi, the Times of India was "an extension of The State." He seemed to indicate that things were different now, and his papers were "pro-market." Obviously, things have slid back to the bad old days again.