The Indian Civilisation - And The West

A chance conversation over some terrible ganja brought out from me why I personally prefer India to the West - and that is, we in India are more naturally "anarchistic" than the West, which is rule-bound for only one reason: They simply love rules, and everything in their "democracies" is rigidified and regimented - they are "overgoverned" because they like things that way. They like making rules.

I gave the example of cricket - and its rules, which keep changing, and the game with it. But you can see this everywhere - in all "sports," which are almost entirely from the West. Our fellows play cricket without too many rules, with rubber balls and often without umpires. For the rest, they just watch cricket on TV - they never play. It is like the Roman Emperors diverting public attention from their misdeeds by giving the people games to enjoy at the circuses.

In India, wherever you go, unlettered people exhibit a "natural order" - and wherever this order is disturbed, as in Bastar today, it is our The State that is upsetting it, not the people. 

I also gave the example of the Hindu "religion" - which is completely anarchistic, with many gods and goddesses, many holy books - which the vast majority have never read, not knowing how to, but know all the tales. Among Hindus, priests are on The Market, temples compete for attention as well as donations. There is no Hindu Pope or Imam.

While there are many who hate the word "anarchy" because they confuse it with "chaos," let me point out at least one area where complete anarchy MUST prevail - and that is The Market. For this is what laissez faire means - that The State, with its force, must stay out of all business affairs. After all, policemen, judges, jailors and hangmen cannot run business affairs. Hence, competition must be completely free - and never forget Bastiat's golden words:

Competition is Liberty - and the Absence of Competition is Tyranny.

To me, Kingfisher beer and Amul butter and cheese are tyrannies. And there are so many more. Free and open competition among all producers, including especially foreigners, is in our best interests as consumers. We can either have policies that favour producers, or those that favour consumers. Since our The State chose to favour producers, this is another instance of "misuse of force," which is nothing but Tyranny. To end this, we must unilaterally free international trade. No more Kamal D Nutts and their diplomats fooling around at the WTO - which they have deliberately wrecked.

In what other areas of our life do we need State-produced rules and regulations - especially if we do not want to be like the regimented and rule-bound West?

Functional zebra crossings, for one, which we do not have anywhere in this vast sub-continent, and all are forced to scamper dangerously around. Over 200,000 people, mainly pedestrians and cyclists, die on our anarchistic roads every year - many times more than get killed in a small war like Kargil. And these "representatives of the people" prefer spending on "national defence" - which is just another nationalistic myth.

What else do we need from the force of The State?

Zoning rules? Building bye-laws?

Actually, if torts are relied upon, everyone who constructs buildings for others will be doubly careful about the quality of his construction than any government bureau can ever be.

Sometimes, do travel around the countryside and see for yourself how much "natural order" prevails. So, don't fear the word "anarchy" or confuse it with "chaos." Anarchy means "no ruler"; it does NOT mean "no rules."

The FACT is that even all the unlettered are "rule-following" - and the basic rule they all follow is the Inviolability of Property. The goods arrayed before a vendor are always treated as his Property - and anyone who violates this is called a thief and roundly thrashed. 

And look at our The State - which violates Property every single day. This is not even a "right" in our sacred Constitution!

All the chaos that exists in our society is because of this Predatory State - and not the simple, rule-following people, who display both "natural honesty" as well as "natural religion."

I leave you with these words from Ludwig von Mises' Omnipotent Government to mull over:

The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men. The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.

Solution? Why I provided you with that long ago: A New Magna Carta.