On Creativity... And Destruction

Today, I'll take a re-look at what chacha manmohan said on "national strength" - that which I also commented upon yesterday:

A nation’s strength comes from the quality of its collective knowledge, the productivity of its working people, the creativity of its entrepreneurs and the dedication of its professional workforce.

In yesterday's post, I wrote about "collective knowledge" and also the "dedication" of the State's own "professional workforce" - the bureaucracy. Today, I will focus on the "creativity of entrepreneurs."

Perhaps the most "creative" industry is the entertainment industry. It is certainly more creative than advertising. We in India celebrate its existence in movies and movie music - for it is completely dead on the streets of our "cities of joy." Nighclubs, live music and dance, discotheques and the like are completely absent from our otherwise heavily blighted urban life. This is only because of State-imposed restrictions. Lots of other creative types get hurt by this - like the barman who mixes great cocktails.

But the horrendous case of the ban on the "dance clubs" of Mumbai really takes the cake. There is a lot of "creativity" in music and dance. A lot of training and practice goes into live performances. The stage, the setting, the ambience, lighting and costumes also involve creativity. This creativity was deliberate destroyed by The State. We must choose between Property and Legislation - as I wrote yesterday.

Here is news that Madonna is planning to open a nightclub in London alongwith a Malaysian entrepreneur. Such "creativity" is banned here.

The State can only destroy - it can never create. Its ultimate power is that of the hangman. The State is the Censor Board - not the creator. The State is the military - and war.

It is this that makes it essential that the powers and scope of The State be severely restricted. And also localised. It is Private Property that holds the Key to Liberty.

When will people yell for Liberty? I liked this quote from Frank Chodorov on Aristotle the Geek's blog:

When people want freedom they will get it. When the desire of the business man for “free enterprise” is so strong that he will risk bankruptcy for it, he cannot be denied. When youth prefers prison to the barracks, when a job in the bureaucracy is considered leprous, when the tax-collector is stamped a legalized thief, when handouts from the politician are contemptuously rejected, when work on a government project is considered degrading, when, in short, the State is recognized to be the enemy of society, then only will freedom come, and the citadel of Power collapse.