While India remains a predominantly poor country, with unacceptable levels of both urban as well as rural poverty, the scale of political corruption in our land seems to know no bounds. First, there was Kalmadi and the CONgresswealth Games. Then, there was the case of the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, where apartments meant for war widows were actually taken over by top politicians and officials - including a former Army Chief - and over which the Chief Minister had to resign. And now, we have politicians from Chennai (Madras) involved in a telecom licensing scandal of immense proportions.
And as for the central State in Delhi - the G-20 summit shows clearly that the biggest scam of them all is the currency. We must put an end to fiat paper money as well as central banking. We must put end to inflationism and business cycles. These hurt the poor the hardest - and we are nation of poor people.
To me, it seems that, if we are to conceive of a bright future for all Indians, we must focus on two things.
First, we must spread awareness of the idea that our rupee is corrupt, and that gold is the only answer. We must remove The State from money, banking and credit.
Second, we must spread awareness of the fact that our future lies in free trading and self-governing cities and towns - a radical departure from the Gandhian vision of "self-sufficient village economies" run by village panchayats. This Gandhian vision must be dumped forthwith.
Further, each and every city and town must think of its own future - a future without The State. Thus, Bombay must free itself from the clutches of the government of Maharashtra - which is corrupt. Similarly, Madras must free itself from the government of Tamil Nadu, which is also corrupt. Ditto for Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore - and all the rest. In the five big "metro" cities, the inescapable truth is that they are the seats of higher levels of government - and these higher levels of government are actively engaged in ruining the cities. We need Mayors with full authority and responsibility to run each of these cities - and all our towns. Two points need to be noted in this context.
First: Since we are supposedly following the "Westminster model of democracy," we need to make ourselves aware of the fact that the City of Westminster, where Parliament sits, lies outside the limits of the Olde City of London where the Lord Mayor still rules. It is this history that reveals the true meaning of "civic independence" - for the "Bobby" of Metropolitian London is not allowed within the Olde City, which has its own police.
Further, the idea behind civic independence has always been to keep the Sovereign OUT of civic affairs. Thus, it is the Lord Mayor of London who wields the "Civic Sword" - not the King. Even today, when the King of England enters the Olde City, he is met by the Lord Mayor at its entrance, and the Lord Mayor "surrenders" the Civic Sword to the monarch, who taps its hilt in acceptance, and then enters the City. This is the carefully preserved tradition - and it reveals much. Above all, it reveals that we know nothing about the civic independence that lies at the foundation of the English (unwritten) Constitution, and that our centralised, socialist "democracy" merely apes parliamentary procedures - and, that too, quite poorly. All this parliament does is pass Legislation - and the England of old was devoid of Legislation. With these ideas, we can truly conceive of Liberty as well as civic order. There will then be a possibility that all our cities and towns will be well run by people with local knowledge, who have a stake in the betterment of the city or town.
This is also the only real cure for mass poverty of the kind we continue to suffer from. The production of wealth occurs through the "division of labour" - which is "specialization" and not "self-sufficiency" - and the extent of this division of labour is entirely dependent on the size of The Market. Since markets are bigger in cities and towns, the division of labour in these is far greater than in the villages Gandhi idealised. You cannot be a taxi-driver, receptionist, plumber, electrician or Thai chef in a sleepy village. Thus free trade and free movement of Capital are very good things - for they will result in the "international division of labour."
Our poverty-stricken villagers have been moving to cities in droves for decades now - but our The State continues with the charade of "rural development." The cities are all being ruined by mindless regulations and legislation. Around each of our cities and towns there are vast open spaces - much of it "unowned" - but roads and tramways are never built into these surrounds so that the urban space can be augmented, thereby making urban land affordable to migrants. Property is deliberately violated by insane "rent control" - and the poor migrant who cannot buy property (and can only rent) is left with only a hovel in a slum. All these evils must be done away with if the face of urban India is to blossom - and the rural poor are to attain the benefits of Civilisation.
To sum up:
1. Money must be hard private money - gold and silver. Coins, not paper. All papers must be redeemable on demand.
2. Every city and town must be run independently by their own Mayors - independent, that is, of all higher levels of government. Each Mayor wields the Civic Sword in his jurisdiction.
We need to think along these lines - and then act. I also think that this action needs to be "civic action" - outside the official "political parties."
There is no other way, to my mind, of rebuilding our shattered civilisation.
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