It's Not Democracy, Dudes - This is LAPUTA!

Now that Team Anna has lost its sheen, and their India Against Corruption Movement has come apart at the seams, what do our mainstream editors have to placate the enraged public with but tired phrases extolling the virtues of "liberal democracy" in a SOCIALIST country with a SOCIALIST Constitution. The following is from a lead editorial in the Indian Express of today:

The rupturing of Team Anna’s superficial solidarities is also a reminder of the significance of much that they run down about representative democracy and the thoughtful, liberal institutions that undergird it. For all their contempt for Parliament, it is the one arena where an entire range of beliefs is accommodated and the friction of ideas is productive, where the desires of one ideological constituency are tempered by the encounter with another. The rise and ebb of India Against Corruption has only showed up, in greater relief, the rock-solid foundations of our democratic institutions.

How glibly they use the word "liberal" - which has its root in the word "liberty" - just as socialists in the USSA do, too. Which is why people like us call ourselves "libertarian." The word "liberal" has been corrupted. And as for the word "democracy"...

In the meanwhile, the Central State Police Minister called for new legislation to control all these "socialist political parties" - which would be better called "robber gangs." Of course, he wrote this when out of office!

And the Opposition leader, LK Advani of the BJP, has raised the cry that the Centre is "undermining the federal structure of the Constitution." Actually, this is a "quasi-unitary State."

Below the level of the quasi-federal State government, nothing exists!

No municipality works.

There are no Mayors.

Every city and every town is a shambles.

And we vote for a Parliament in Dilli Door Ast (Delhi is far away).

Or for an MLA in a quasi-federal State parliament.

We do NOT vote for Mayors.

And none of the parliaments we have actually work.

There is never any meaningful debate in any parliament.

And our prime minister chacha manmohan s gandhi has never been elected!


Bureaucrats of the IAS run cities and towns - DDA, CMDA, BDA etc. These are all CORRUPT.

Call this anything, you fucked-up editors of the Express, but do NOT call this "liberal democracy." Do NOT say that all ideologies are accommodated within this system - when liberals are debarred by the Representation of People Act. Do NOT fool your readers, who are voters, and who do NOT need your propaganda.

What is this, then?

We,, this is LAPUTA - the one travel of Gulliver that children are never allowed to read. Here, the rulers live on an island that floats above the population. Rebellions are literally "crushed" with the island landing atop the rebels! 


Like sonia gandhi landing at some village in her helicopter.


Of course, in the end, the evil rulers of Laputa are overthrown.

Read all about Laputa in this wiki.

Buy the book here.

Read the chapter on Laputa - and pass it down to your children.


PS: Read this ToI edit "Cause for Cheer" on the Human Development Index. These guys have never heard of the Economic Freedom Index. We are "mostly unfree" - and this State is called LIBERAL?

The Fascist Threat Is Real - And Everywhere: Part - 2

In yesterday's post, the first of this series, I discussed Lew Rockwell's speech on the growth of fascism worldwide, and provided my reader with the 8 points he outlined as the signs of this ideology. I also said why India has turned fascist - because Gandhi and Nehru were wrong.


Today, let me begin by quoting Lew again, on why fascism is "invisible":

"It is true that fascism has no overarching theoretical apparatus. There is no grand theorist like Marx. That makes it no less real and distinct as a social, economic, and political system. Fascism also thrives as a distinct style of social and economic management. And it is as much or more of a threat to civilization than full-blown socialism.

This is because its traits are so much a part of life — and have been for so long — that they are nearly invisible to us.

If fascism is invisible to us, it is truly the silent killer. It fastens a huge, violent, lumbering state on the free market that drains its capital and productivity like a deadly parasite on a host. This is why the fascist state has been called the vampire economy. It sucks the economic life out of a nation and brings about a slow death of a once-thriving economy."

We now see why India's "Vampire State" is essentially Fascist - because it stands for NO CLEAR IDEOLOGY. It is a little Gandhian, a little "socialist," a little "capitalist" - a little bit of everything. However, when trade unions as well as syndicates of capitalists combine with the State - then this is what we call "corporatism," which is nothing but fascism. In a free market economy, there is no "producers' policy" - and the consumer is always the king.

Now, politics without any clear ideology cannot be "democratic." A political party must be based on CLEAR IDEAS. We do not find this anywhere in the world today - and certainly not in India. In our country, the Representation of People Act says all political parties must swear by "socialism" - but are the BJP and the Shiv Sena "socialist"? All that is intended by the legislation is that pro-market parties be kept out. The voter loses choice. And "politics" is bereft of those with a clear ideology - a "world view." Their "voice" is not heard. The "battle of ideas" which is democracy does not happen - at least not in India. 

Not that there is much hope in democracy. In the USSA, which is definitely a corporatist State, what with the nationalisation of General Motors, the Republicans and the Democrats are much the same. There is not much difference between George W Bush and Barack Obama on war, on the Fed, and on foreign policy. Ron Paul sticks out like a loner - and do recall that Bastiat's biography is tiled A Man Alone. Ron Paul stands like that. All we can do is hope and pray that he wins.

Similarly, in the UK, where the "mother of all parliaments" sits, they have just announced another round of "quantitative easing" - a pseudonym for printing paper money. Disaster looms. But the last round was under Labour! Corporatism in the UK?

In my "Austrian" view, there is NO REASON why a few people should not go bankrupt. That is far better than inflating a whole nation - and then, the whole world. In a free market, no one can be insured against bankruptcy. And, anyway, that is surely NOT the "role of the State." Repudiation of the "national debt" is the Austrian solution - not "austerity."

But then, the question remains: Why is democratic politics all over the world devoid of clear ideologies, devoid of clear principles? The answer must lie in State education - which has sowed the seeds of confusion in the minds of the people, who are the voters. Yesterday, I suggested an uprising against the RBI. Today, let me suggest another against the Ministry of Education. 

Indian democracy is really peculiar in that there is NO DEBATE. Sonia is quiet, Rahul seldom speaks, chamcha manmohan is always silent, and the opposition - if we can call them that - never take up vital issues. They just play the fool - in parliament and out of it. And as for the TV channels... I would call them "yellow journalism."

In India, officially a "socialist" nation, with a democracy restricted to socialists, our biggest mistake as parents has been to agree to State Education. For twenty years, the Market has proven its efficacy - but the "ideology" of this Market, this "world view," is unable to penetrate the syllabii of schools and colleges. Under these circumstances, voters will remain as confused as the politics. All these so-called political parties will go on with this fascistic system masquerading as democracy, and as a welfare state.

Wake up and smell the Fascism, dudes!

This is a Vampire State, and a Vampire Economy. That is what inflationism is all about. This is the "Reverse Robin Hood" at work. We must wake up the masses to their plight.

Modi's "Fast" - And Indian Libertarianism

Narendra Modi's farcical "fast" has been described as a "sham and drama" by the CONgress, and as the news report says, even the NDA Convenor, Sharad Yadav of the JD (U), has distanced himself from it. Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, is from the JD (U) - and he did not allow Modi into Bihar to campaign on his platform. Thus, there are now cracks within the BJP - and cracks also within the NDA.


India deserves better "politics" than CONgress-BJP and UPA-NDA. India needs a Libertarian Front - a vanguard of libertarians calling for an end to statism. It is disheartening to note that our Representation of People Act does NOT allow non-socialists to compete in the electoral fray - and not many people are making a noise about this. Many years ago, I had suggested a dharna outside the Bombay High Court, which has held up SV Raju's PIL for over 15 years now. We need to undertake this dharna - and soon.


In the meantime, in the USSA, Ron Paul the libertarian, is a Republican Presidential Candidate - on a platform of "Gold - Freedom - Peace." 


Think: In India, he would be ILLEGAL. 


This is TYRANNY. This is NOT genuine free electoral competition. 


The system is RIGGED to favour fuckin' socialists.


And do read this New York Sun editorial titled "Ron Paul's Secret Weapon" - and it turns our to be his PRINCIPLES. The editors write:

...more than the other candidates Ron Paul gives the impression that he is animated by a clear and coherent set of principles in which he deeply believes. His sense of principle is his source of power, his secret weapon.

Socialists and statists are DEVOID OF PRINCIPLES.


And this is particularly true of the BJP communalists who want to take India back to the Hindu-Muslim riotings of 1905-1947. Shudder!


Methinks the stage is being set for a BJP takeover from chacha manmohan. India deserves much better. Or shall we say India needs libertarianism at the forefront. I still think a BIG DHARNA outside the Bombay High Court is the best idea. 


Let's just do it!

Liberty - From Here To Eternity

The State does NOT create wealth; rather, it destroys it. In the England of old, the King was never rich, but the merchants of the Olde City of London were fabulously wealthy. They were not selling computers, cars and the like those days. But the fishmongers, the grocers, the vinters who imported and sold wine - these were rich beyond belief. Edward II once had only 2 shillings in his treasury. And as for Henry V, when he went to battle at Agincourt, he had to pawn his jewels with the merchants of the City to raise the necessary funds. Thus, during the send-off ceremony organised for him, the Lord Mayor sat on his right - which is why, till this day, the Lord Mayor of London is second only to the King.

In India, we think the King - or The State - will create the wealth. He will make steel. He will give us "employment." This is a great delusion. This great delusion is multiplied by the fact that The State produces the money - paper notes. Today, Mamata Banerjee is running to the Centre for funds - from Pranabda. The Centre has no funds; all they will do is print more and borrow more. Similarly, here in Pondicherry, I just read that the government of this tiny city has borrowed 4,400 crore rupees (44 billion) from the Reserve Bank of India - and cannot pay it back. With so much money, the city could be built anew. Here, there is so much commerce on the streets - too much commerce, too little street. A sum of 4,400 crore rupees could have built so many miles of broad thoroughfares. Where has the money gone?

In my view, everything begins with "self-help." We must NOT look to the Centre, to Nude Elly, for its "funny money." The merchants of London gave the King his taxes; they did not seek his assistance in running their affairs, building their streets, or other civic facilities. So, each city and town must raise its own internal resources - in gold - and elect its own Mayor, an honest and honourable man, to perform the essential tasks of maintaining a city so that commerce can transpire peacefully. The purpose of a city is commerce.

There were no "political parties" in England - not until the 17th century. In India, our political parties are all gangs of anti-socials - which is what socialism is all about. The Lord Mayors of London were all wealthy merchants themselves, among the wealthiest men in the world. But if you look at chacha manmohan, sonia gandhi, beta rahul, advani, sitaram yechury - none are creators of wealth. They are all wealth destroyers. All these parties must be abolished.

There is only ONE legal principle required to obtain Liberty for all - and that is the Inviolability of Property. If Property is violated by private persons, it is either theft or trespass. Ditto for whatever local government the people set up to run their cities and towns. The local government is established to protect Property, not to violate it. If this Principle is followed, all will be well. Perfect order will prevail along with perfect Liberty. 

The Principle of Property applies even more so to money - for money must be tangible Property and not a paper note.

As far as public thoroughfares are concerned, they are "public property" and they should not be obstructed by private persons. It is the task of the local government to ensure that all thoroughfares are kept clear of obstructions. This is not happening now. Not in Nude Elly - and certainly not in Pondicherry. Every city and town mayor must focus on this issue - roads and traffic regulation. This is much more important than the RAW and IB and their "security concerns." Over 200,000 people die on our unsafe streets every year, and many times more are injured. The IPS are as much a disgrace as the IAS. Both "services" must be abolished.

Outside the cities, lies the countryside - and here, apart from roads, what matters most is the provision of clear Property Titles. This must be done by the people through their own, new agencies, using GPS technology. The patwari system is a complete failure under IAS maladministration. It must be abolished. 

Since cities are NOT self-sufficient, and all the needs of the city come from outside, it is in the interest of the city to see that outlying farmers, for instance, can easily bring their produce to market. These arrangements can be organised by collaboration between each city and its outlying villages. In this manner, real estate development will also occur in the rural areas, benefiting all. Satellite towns will also develop.

It must be noted that England till date does NOT possess a "written constitution." Such a device is totally unnecessary. A bunch of jokers crowded into a room cannot agree on anything - and the end result is disaster for a billion people. A written Constitution is required to establish and then "limit" the government set up. This has not happened anywhere in the world - including the USSA. 

All that is required is the Principle that Private Property is Inviolable by all. If this is "public opinion" then none can use force to take away either the Liberty or the Property of anyone else.

A city mayor - and some "aldermen" or "councillors" - are not rulers. They do not "make law" as legislatures do. They are just like the governing body of a club. That is all each city and town needs. They must find their own people - because everything depends on the use of "local knowledge." If it is your city, then your people must look after it. I also believe trained and experienced city administrators can be hired from abroad - and they should.

This, in brief, is all that a "constitution of liberty" is all about. Private property, private law and private money. Liberty - and perfect order. Peace. Prosperity. Of course, foreign trade should be unilaterally freed - and the cities and towns on the coast should do this on their own. It is in their own interest to do so. The Customs Department should be abolished.

I am also of the view that all the tax arms of the socialist State should be done away with. Local taxes should be raised in each city, from owners of Property - and they alone should be entitled to vote for the mayor and aldermen. Universal suffrage is a disaster. In either case, you need Liberty more than the empty vote. No one in Nude Elly can open a beer bar - but they can vote! What sense does that make?

The motto of the Olde City of London is domini dirige nos, which translates to "Let God be our Guide." That is the motto of Liberty. They did not say "let the King be our Guide" - as we stupid Indians did.

Here in Pondicherry I awoke to the sweet sound of the muezzin's call of prayer - "Allah ho Akbar." This, too, means much the same. That God is Great, that God is our Guide, that no King and no Man can order us around. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, like the Lord Mayors of London, was a merchant, as was his wife Khadija.

With this, we can rid our nation of the pernicious disease of "politics" - and those who call themselves "politicians." Like the word "democracy," all these words are meaningless these days; or their meanings have been completely distorted. These words come from Ancient Greece, and they meant other things there.

I delivered a lecture once at the YMCA in Mangalore titled "Politics: The Root of all Corruption." When we chose Socialism and Statism, we politicised everything, and thereby corrupted everything. 

Virtue comes from The Market. When markets are free and Competition is fierce - everyone tries harder and harder to keep his customers happy. Towards this end, they "study the happiness" of the public. This is something no State ever does. All the State does is give you the Big Stick - up your ass. Get rid of that stick - and you will be free. Fix your cities and towns, free your markets, and you will slowly but surely be able to rebuild this shattered civilisation - if that word can still be applied to this sub-continent. Just keep one Principle in mind - that Property must be inviolable.

There arises the question of "unowned" things - and these should be free for "homesteading" on  a first-come-first-served basis. This includes things like radio spectrum, virgin forest lands, oil and gas fields etc. The principle here is "finder's keepers" - something all schoolchildren know only too well. 

And as for me, I have no interest in the "trappings of authority." I am awaiting for the members of my reggae band - The Ganjeras - to arrive so we can start rehearsing for an album and maybe even a show. Our first number planned is "Veeru Was A Good Man" to the tune of Bob Marley's "Johnny Was A Good Man." Let the sandalwood tree be Free! 

The Haunted, Frightened Tree Of Complete Ignorance

Vaclav Klaus regaled me with the story of how some World Bank - IMF "economists" phoned him when he assumed office as President of the Czech Republic, seeking an appointment so that they could offer him "advice." He told them he knew more Economics than them, and did not need their advice. Fuck off from Prague, dudes, he told them. Return to Washington DC or wherever the fuck you came from.

Sonia Gandhi has a National Advisory Council (NAC). She needs advice. Why does she need advice? Because she is Ignorant. According to Shekhar Gupta of the Indian Express, these "darbari jholawallahs" of the NAC are "IAS dropouts and retirees." These guys have dreamt up a new scheme for promoting "rural livelihood." But markets are in crowded cities and towns - not in the vacant countryside. As Adam Smith said in the very first chapter of the Wealth of Nations, "the extent of the division of labour is limited by the size of the market." The Principle of the Division of Labour, by which we all specialise, is what Ludwig von Mises called the "principle of cosmic change and becoming." Each of us chooses to "become" someone - singer, dancer, actor, writer, whatever. We do not all sit in villages and spin yarn for our own use. We are NOT "self-sufficient." We specialise - and this requires physical marketplaces in physical cities and towns.

While Sonia Gandhi and her darbari baboons dream of a rural utopia, it is worth noting that all our cities and towns are disasters, including Nude Elly. These socialists built three cities in the past 60 years - while the Bris built 80 "hill-stations" in 50 years - and all three are State Capitals: Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, and Bhubaneshwar, where I am now located. 

I travelled around Bhubaneshwar a fair bit by auto-rickshaw yesterday, and the broad roads lined with trees are all for The State, just like Nude Elly. I asked the driver to take me to the Central Commercial District - and there was none. At least the Brits built Connaught Place, grandly designed. 

In Bhubaneshwar, the streets where shops are located are all disasters - and this affects the poorest of the poor, who eke out their "livelihoods" on the streets, since they cannot afford proper shops. They sell bananas, coconuts, pakoras and what not - this is the division of labour. And you cannot sell coconuts where there is no market - which is the vacant village.

Population causes Prosperity - in cities and towns, and their markets.

While Sonia Gandhi and her darbari baboons dream of rural schemes by which huge amounts of fraudulent money will be spent by younger IAS baboons, the fact remains that poor people from villages are continuously coming to these ghastly cities and towns - and getting fucked. See the jhugggis of Nude Elly, the slums of Bombay and Calcutta, and from my train window I saw the poor of Bhubaneshwar too, trying to survive in huts by the railway track. All around is ABUNDANT UNOWNED LAND.

There is the metaphysical - and there is the physical: cities and towns are our Fixed Capital. City and Town Roads are Social Capital: they are "public thoroughfares" and hence "collective property." They are NOT investing in these because they know not what Capital is, the life blood of Capitalism. Rather, they are "consuming capital" - which is the highway to "de-civilisation." The Professor of Economics at the IAS Academy in Mussoorie is a Marxist - as I reported on the Barkha Dutt Show many years ago.

There is "authority" - and sometimes there comes about the total absence of authority, because of Ignorance. The Delhi Development "Authority" is NOT an acknowledged "authority" on anything: just check out the disaster called Vasant Kunj, built and designed by a bunch of assholes. Similarly, the National Highway "Authority" of India is NOT an "authority" on highways - which would be Gabriel Roth. Our National Highways are all "notional highways." The Traffic Police know nothing of the science and technology of traffic management. Everything about The State is marked by complete and total Ignorance. From top to bottom. And they want to teach your children!

The Science of Economics is the most important science for humanity to know and understand. I am proud to be an Independent Authority in this science.

And as for our The Corrupt & Ignorant State Devoid of all Authority - I have only pure contempt. You look at human society with the "evil eye" - the buri nazar. You desire not that each Indian youngster "becomes" what he or she wants to become. You desire only that they become your servants - that is, "government servants." So you want to employ "the masses" in your "work schemes." You are inventing work in villages - and stealing all the money through your "political and bureaucratic organisation" - while, simultaneously, you are hurting all livelihoods in cities and towns. In Bombay, girls can't dance free. In Nude Elly only The State can open booze shops. In Bhubaneshwar I saw many "musical bands" who had set up their counters on a roadside. One said "Brass Band." And one actually said "ROCK BAND." There are no bars in the city where live music is played. What is "knowledge"? And how much of it comes from schools, and books?

If the CONgress is so ignorant, the Opposition is even worse. The BJP's slogan remains the metaphysical - a God, and his Temple. As if any God can be found in temples. I smoked a chillum with a sadhu in Gangotri. He told me the people worshipping at the temple there were fools, and God is found in solitude, in peace, and in the Holy Smoke. Instead of the metaphysical Lord Ram the BJP has given us Narendra Modi at the top and Dara Singh at the bottom. They are as evil and ignorant as the CONgress; maybe worse. And then we have the Commies - the most Ignorant people ever born. Democracy is also metaphysical. The "power of the vote" is no power; and most people don't vote. So there must be someway outta here. And that lies in Liberty.

I conclude this post with two quotes Peter Bauer ended his essay on "The Disregard of Reality" with - an elegant essay penned on the disaster mainstream Economics has become, written towards the end of a long and productive life championing Liberty for the poor of the Third World. The first is from Pascal, and it goes:

"Let us labour at trying to think clearly: herein lies the source of moral conduct."

And the second is from George Orwell, a socialist hero who did see the horrors of statism:

"We have sunk to such a depth that the restatement of the obvious has become the first duty of intelligent men."

On Ombudsmen, Black Money, And The IAS

Anna Hazare & Co. want a Lok Pal - what the rest of the world calls "ombudsman" - to tackle corruption. And Baba Ramdev wants all the "black money" deposited by Indians overseas to return to India. In this post, I will prove that both these men are selling us delusions. First, ombudsmen.


There are already 13 Lok Ayuktas (ombudsmen) in the states. Some years ago, The Economic Times conducted a "special survey" on them, with 13 bureaus reporting, and concluded that "states nurse toothless tiger." These Lok Ayuktas have not been able to address the vast amount of corruption so deeply entrenched in our socialist, welfarist, inflationist and interventionist system. This includes Karnataka, whose Lok Ayukta, Justice Santosh Hegde, is one of the leading supporters of Anna Hazare. I myself appealed to the Karnataka Lok Ayukta for justice once, complaining of police harassment - and got nothing. Indeed, the Lok Ayukta of Karnataka was entirely staffed by policemen! Kiran Bedi, a policewoman, is all for Anna Hazare and the Lok Pal. She was also the chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau, a sworn enemy of all smokers of the Noble Herb like me.

What do ombudsmen do in other countries?

The word "ombudsman" comes from Sweden, where the office of Justitieombudsman (or JO) dates back to 1713. In this tiny nation, this long-established office exists to grant redress to any citizen who suffers an act of maladministration. Thus, even prisoners who are badly treated can send a postcard addressed to "JO" (with no address) and expect to receive redress. 

In other words, the ombudsman exists not to tackle corruption, but to address maladministration. Over the last few decades, many nations have copied the Swedish ombudsman: Denmark, 1955; Norway, 1962; 4 US states - Hawaii, Iowa, Alaska and Nebraska between 1969-75; and 8 provinces of Canada around the same time. The British too have ombudsmen now - but their Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) can only deal with complaints routed through an MP.

There is another model available for administrative justice - the French model, designed by Napoleon himself, based on a Conseil D’État or "Council of State" -   which is staffed by an elite corps of administrative jurists. Any citizen can apply for redress against any act of maladministration he has suffered from. Mitterand added lower rungs in the districts. And the EU Court in Luxembourg is modeled after the Conseil D’État.

Jurists have long been arguing the merits and demerits of both these systems of providing administrative justice. AV Dicey, for example, thought the French system to be anti-thetical to English "common law." And there is also a disagreement between Bruno Leoni and Friedrich Hayek on the subject.

But even if we set these disagreements aside, the fact remains that ombudsmen come under the rubric of Administrative Justice - and not anti-corruption per se, which is a different matter. We in India suffer grievously from maladministration - and never is there any redress, or "accountability." And as for corruption, we have the Vigilance Commissioner, we have Vigilance Directors in all PSUs, and we have the CBI and a Prevention of Corruption Act. We also have 13 Lok Ayuktas - but nothing works. Thus, I do not believe anything will come out of the proposed Lok Pal. Maladministration will continue. And so will corruption.

In my view, what is needed is an entirely new Constitution: one that puts an end to Socialism and Statism, ends Interventionism and Inflationism, and guarantees Liberty by proclaiming Private Property to be Inviolable by all - including the State. This New Constitution should prescribe administrative duties for mayors and other elected officials, and power should be decentralised to the level of city and town. Thereafter, I will side with Leoni and advocate the Napoleonic system of administrative courts. India is too large a country for one Swedish-type JO to handle everything. After all, Napoleon was trying to administer an empire and not a little nation.

Let us now turn our attention to "black money" - which fires the fury of Baba Ramdev. In my view, it is impossible for our The State to "bring back" money stashed in foreign banks. But, since we do need Capital, the better approach would be to attract the black money of other nations to us. We could also have bank secrecy - something the Swiss no longer possess. We could shift to the Gold Standard, in which case even "white money" - the savings of foreigners - would come into our banks. If we open up our markets to foreign investment, we could attract more Capital than all the black money Indians have stashed away abroad. Note that this does not require strong State action. On the contrary, it requires cutting down the State.

Thus, Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are selling us delusions. They are basically political lightweights - and ignoramuses to boot. Their supporters claim to be "civil society" - but they desire to enter "political society"! The State is toying with them, trying to defuse the public discontent caused by all the recent corruption scandals.

All this goes to show the venality of the baboos of the Indian Administrative Service, who control "education"; including education in the critical subject of Public Administration. The National Academy of Administration as well as the Indian Institute of Public Administration are both headed by IAS baboons.

And you want The State to educate your children!

Ultimately, we urgently need to revamp our civilian administration - which has turned socialist and interventionist. And has thus become corrupt. These socialist administrators must be turned into accountable civil servants with constitutionally mandated duties. We suffer not only from corruption - we suffer even more because of the fact that our cities and towns have collapsed, thereby making all our lives miserable. We suffer electricity failures daily. Transportation sucks. Roads are terrible and travel slow, uncomfortable and dangerous. So much needs to be done in so many areas - leaving aside all the corruption. In the countryside, land records do not exist. In the cities, the vast majority lives in slums - without property titles.  

In short - we need a Constitution of Liberty. Nothing less will do.  

The Central State Is "Fast" Sinking

After all the Anna Hazare nonsense, we now have the Baba Ramdev bull. I'd love to see these jokers try a "thirst strike."

Anyway, all through this tamasha, two people have been completely silent - chacha manmohan and his boss, sonia. They are silent because neither of them is a politician. Indeed, political power has been transferred, in these difficult times, to completely unelected groups: one, the Anna Hazare-Baba Ramdev-Lokpal lot; and two, the National Advisory Committee (NAC) that instructs madam soniaji.

Why is no one talking of Irom Sharmila from Manipur? The "wiki" on her begins thus:

Irom Chanu Sharmila (born March 14, 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Menghaobi" ("the fair one") is a civil rights activist, political activist, journalist and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. Since 2 November 2000, she has been on hunger strike to demand that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), which she blames for violence in Manipur and other parts of India's northeast. Having refused food and water for more than ten years, she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker".

Let us end Tyranny - and Corruption will end automatically. Let us end State Power. Let us begin with Manipur - and get the Army into their barracks and Manipuri ganja into our chillums.

Why is the corporate media so hung up on Baba Ramdev? Why is no one mentioning Irom Sharmila?

However, from the corporate media, one voice has definitely, and finally, defected - and that is Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of the Indian Express. His column today says the UPA-2 government is "politically vanquished." He writes:

...never in India’s history has a government with a genuine majority and a strong political core surrendered the state’s sovereign constitutional authority and responsibility as this one has. What is even more dangerous, they have ceded this to just about five characters in fancy dress, in shades of white to saffron, representing Left, Right and the Centre.

Gupta mentions the NAC as an unconstitutional body. And his description of these welfarist jokers as "darbari jholawalas" is apt. He demolishes the NAC with these words on the latest legislation they have drafted, on "communal violence":

This is not a team of modern-day Ambedkars, but mostly of IAS drop-outs and retirees who approach law-making with the “wisdom” of sincere undergrads. You have any doubts, take a look at the draft of the incredibly stupid Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill 2011 (www.nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb_amended.pdf). A Modi or Togadia can see in a minute the wonderful opportunity it presents them. It is totally violative of the states’ rights, is subversive of the Constitution, and will never pass parliamentary or judicial scrutiny. But it will polarise people on a communal basis just when they seem to be getting over that sad past. This bill will not pass. But if the UPA continues to push it, it is guaranteed to polarise the Hindu vote and give the BJP a shot at power that any appeals to Ram Lalla cannot in 2014. This could indeed become Sonia Gandhi’s Shah Bano moment.

Such clowns cannot govern this vast country. On their "welfarism," there is another column in the Express worth reading, this time by the noted economist Surjit Bhalla, which begins thus:

The expansion of poverty programmes in India has been spearheaded by Sonia Gandhi and her National Advisory Council (NAC). She cannot ignore the fact that by expanding old-fashioned anti-poverty schemes, she is also increasing old-fashioned “in the name of the poor” corruption.

Indeed, not just corruption, the NAC's welfarism is the root cause of the high inflation we are currently suffering from. As Ludwig von Mises noted:

The Welfare State with its methods of easy money, credit expansion and undisguised inflation continually takes bites out of all claims payable in units of the nation's legal tender. 

The darbari jholawalas of the NAC and the Anna-Hazare, Baba Ramdev & Co. hunger strikers are not going to do India any good. The country needs a new political direction - and that is Capitalism. Socialism, welfarism and interventionism all have to go. To get there requires nothing less than a New Constitution. The time has come for all patriotic Indians to call for a Second Republic.

And will all those who are reading this please raise a very loud shout for Irom Sharmila and Manipur.

Bengal - As A "Nation Of Shopkeepers"

While some have concluded, quite correctly, that the West Bengal elections were won and lost on the issue of Private Property, this blog took the point further and argued that, for the new regime, road-construction must be a top priority, because roads automatically increase the value of lands they link to. Oddly enough, the news has it that the Mamata Banerjee government has 35 ministers - but no mention is made of a roads minister!

Today, there is another piece of news from Calcutta that suggests roads must be top priority. Referring to Calcutta's street hawkers, this news report concludes with the following paragraph:

The Chief Minister said she had been holding discussions with officials concerned for improving the traffic system that would entail, among other things, widening of some roads without evicting hawkers on the pavements.

Why are there so many street hawkers in Calcutta? Two reasons: First, Calcutta is the only Big City - and so it attracts migrants like a magnet; and second, these migrants cannot afford to buy shops. How will roads help?

With roads into the surrounds, satellite towns would develop, and more and more commercial property would be built, bringing down the cost of shops. In time, more and more of these hawkers would become regular shop-owners. That is the direction in which Bengal must proceed - build roads so as to urbanise aggressively; and put an end to zoning rules so that commercial property grows without any legal restrictions.

The West was also like this. I recall visiting the ancient City of Cologne in Germany some years back, and walking about its markets with a local journalist who told me that, in the olden days, one of the legal responsibilities of the City Mayor was to oversee the smooth conduct of all business on the streets: that is, business conducted by street hawkers and vendors. 

My guide told me that in ancient times, poor people from afar would travel to Cologne to sell their wares in its markets - and the Mayor had to look after their interests. But now, said my guide, everyone owns a shop - and this legal responsibility has recently been deleted from the duties of the City Mayor. The same can happen in West Bengal - a state that has many big cities and towns apart from Calcutta. Economic progress ought to mean that street-hawkers become shopkeepers.

Of course, western cities still have informal markets and street hawkers can still be found - as in Amsterdam - but these are run by quite prosperous folk, and they rake in bigger profits than regular shopkeepers because tourists prefer to shop in such informal markets. And overhead costs in informal markets are quite low.

It is also my opinion that aiming for a Bengal that is a "nation of shopkeepers" would totally destroy the appeal of Communism, which has held the average Bengali in its thrall for decades - and encouraged him to become a government clerk: a baboo. Indeed, the very word is Bengali. 

Bengal was the first province in India to be ruled by by the British - and it was Napoleon who ridiculed the British by calling them "a nation of shopkeepers." Napoleon preferred France to be "a nation of patriotic soldiers" - but it was Britain and not France that emerged victorious. It was the nation of shopkeepers that ruled the world. Mises says something noteworthy about these shopkeepers - and the civilisation they begat:

The much abused shopkeepers have abolished slavery and serfdom, made woman the companion of man with equal rights, proclaimed equality before the law and freedom of thought and opinion, declared war on war, abolished torture, and mitigated the cruelty of punishment. What cultural force can boast of similar achievements?

The Brits built all the great markets of Calcutta - the very old "New Market" was built by Sir Stuart Hogg - and a section of it is still named after him.

Bengal has voted for poriborton - or "change." Let that change first emerge in ideology. Let Capitalism replace Communism.  The common people of West Bengal, the peasants and the workers, swallowed all the commie propaganda - and lost. Lost badly. For them, I have another noteworthy quote from Mises:

There is but one way toward an increase of real wage rates for all those eager to earn wages: the progressive accumulation of new capital and the improvement of technical methods of production which the new capital brings about. The true interests of labor coincide with those of business.

So, it not only Private Property that matters for Bengal's future. It is the entire Capitalist prescription that needs to be implemented - beginning with Free Trade, so that all the swanking new shops will have shelves overflowing with the best goods from all over the world. Calcutta Port must become a very busy port. Since this is a river port, some deep water sea ports must also be found.

And add Sound Money to the list - for the same news report quoted above talks about Mamata Banerjee's "rice for 2 rupees a kg" scheme for the poor in Jangalmahal: the area where Maoism / Naxalism is rife. This may be necessary now, for where there is no peace there can be no market. Peace is another prescription for Bengal - if she wants Capitalism.  But so long as this cheap rice is paid for by printed paper rupees, it makes no sense - for the cost of everything else rises: inflation.

Thus, the poriborton that Bengal needs is just this: 

Communism must be replaced by Capitalism.

No more a "nation of baboos."

From now on, let Bengal be a Nation of Shopkeepers!


PS: Part 2 of this post can be read here.