There is a thoughtful column I found today on the Adivasis, the original inhabitants of the jungles of Central India, who have now turned to Maoism. The author concludes: "What the tribals need is not hand-outs. They need honour and dignity. Give them this and the pool of discontent in which the Maoists swim will dry up."
Honour and dignity are big words. What I had said in an earlier post is that "Private Property Is The Only Solution."
Let us not forget that the white people we love to admire so much today for their modernity, technical know-how, music, art, culture and political institutions were but tribesmen not so long ago. Why did the Anglo-Saxon tribes advance so far ahead of the rest of humanity? Once upon a time, racial superiority was considered to be the only reason, but this explanation is found wanting today when several non-white nations have also advanced - the Japanese, for example. What could be the real reason for the white man's superiority?
The Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto has offered one answer: It was their laws that deserve the credit. These laws were based on the morality of Private Property and, further, these white people developed the system of "property titles" that were "representative" of real Property. Because of these property titles, land could be bought and sold, or mortgaged, and this is how De Soto says the white man solved the "mystery of capital."
There is more, of course, for their laws also protected foreign creditors in their loans. This is how Capitalism kicked in - long before the so-called "industrial revolution." Indeed, the East India Company came to India in the early 1600s - when the industrial revolution was still far away. But Capitalism had arrived in London long ago.
The conclusion: The rapid rise of the Anglo-Saxon tribes has everything to do with their laws, which respected Private Property, and nothing whatsoever to do with race. Thus, our own tribes can progress in precisely the same way, if they adopt the best rules of the game; rules that the Anglo-Saxons accidentally stumbled upon.
Do read the chapter in my Natural Order: Essays Exploring Civil Government & The Rule of Law (free E-book here) where I discuss the "origins of the common law." It is clearly established therein that Private Property is the key. It is therefore highly regrettable that the Adivasis are turning towards Maoism and "collective property" - ideas that will get them nowhere, and ideas that the Total Chacha State cannot fight.
Note that the Founding Fathers of the Republic did not see this. They took the "latest ideas" of the West - socialism, democracy and Keynesianism. They did not look at their ancient heritage. They adopted the worst ideas of the West.
It is also worth noting that it is these modern ideas that are bringing down Western civilization - just as Ludwig von Mises had predicted they would. Since the 1900s, Britain, USA, France, Germany - all these nations have gone the way of socialism and interventionism: what Mises calls the "hampered market economy." These are the very ideas that have brought them down.
There are many great lessons in the history of the West - lessons that backward societies ought to imbibe. If they do so, why the Adivasis, the whole of India could live with "dignity and honour," instead of being considered, by the West, as the world's most poverty-stricken and charity-needing nation.
Government is not the only entity that can rob an individual of his freedom. Social forces can do it too. A case in point is the tribal way of life. This is the most primitive way of life. A tribal way of life is the ultimate form of socialism, because it treats society like a big ant colony, where each human being has a pre-designated role to play. There is no concept of the individual in a tribal way of life. Everyone must play the role that tradition and the tribal elders have decided for him or her.
ReplyDeleteA tribal dance is probably the most boring form of dance in the history of humanity. This form of dance does not allow any ingenuity or variety. Each and every participant must go through the same sort of motions that tradition has decided thousands of years ago. My point is why should any human being be subservient to tradition! Being subservient to tradition is as pernicious as being subservient to a dictator. What the tribal areas need is a breath of fresh air in the form of modern philosophy and modern science.
The White Guys in Europe were able to progress, because they were able to break free from the stranglehold of a tribal way of life. The tribes in Europe and in America ceased to exist about 500 to 200 years ago, and that paved way for the emergence of the “solitary individual”, the Modern Man who is not subservient to any tradition and is ready to exist for the satisfaction of his own selfish needs. The way of life in Indian cities has already changed in a very significant manner. The villages and the tribal areas are the next battleground of ideas.
The blazing guns are just a silly sideshow; the most important element in this war is the philosophical issue of tradition versus modernity. Weather someone likes it or not, a change in way of life is necessary for the entire country to progress. Honour and dignity are not automatic. These are things that have to be earned in the market….
@anoop.
ReplyDeletei actually am not worried about collective action -as long as it is voluntary. i am not sure if you have read Elinor Ostrom(the recent economics Nobel winner).she has collected evidence that voluntary co-operation on a collective scale can work. individualism for the its own sake is of no use.a capitalist,property-rights respecting tribe can exist.thats what she demonstrates.
libertarian ideas should be about non-agression or voluntary action.whether it takes the form of collective or individual action doesnt matter,IMO
@ Dsylexic, At the core of any tribe, or group, there lies the idea of “compromise”. Any entity based on a system of compromise, cannot function unless it uses some kind of “coercion”. A tribe is like a government committee where the members compromise to reach an agreement. A tribal way of life will never lead to modernity.
ReplyDeleteEven urban areas behave in tribal fashion. We have tribes of millionaires and billionaires who unite to form pressure groups and keep competition at bay. There are the trade unions, which can also be seen as tribes of some kind. There can be tribes of middle class people. So this has nothing to do with caste, religion or anything else.
Politicians love tribes, because it is easier to brainwash a mob. A lone individual who can think for himself if far less likely to be brainwashed. There is no place for a tribal way of life in modern society. The best way is reform. More jobs need to be created through private investments, so that people can be weaned away from unhealthy groupings.