In my last podcast we spoke of John Locke, who wrote in the year 1690 that "where there is no Property there is no Justice."
In this podcast we take the discussion one step further, to the proposition that:
Where There Is No Property There Is No Liberty.
To hear or download this podcast, click here.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
A Brute In Love Town
Coming from Goa to Delhi, it is hard to believe that we are in the same country.
I was invited to Prem Nagar last evening with the promise of a “decent smoke.” I had never visited this locality before. But I liked the name, which translates to Love Town, and so I went.
After a few big chillums indoors, the resultant “cottonmouth” demanded a beer, and my hosts arranged for a couple of cans of Foster’s lager.
We were rather cramped indoors, and the weather outside being pleasanter, it was decided that we sip our beers in the park.
We found a quiet corner and sat down. Near us were two fellows also sipping beer.
Prem Nagar is a poor locality although centrally located, and there were the usual ragpicker kids who wanted the empty cans. Smart kids.
But just then a burly cop entered the park. He went up to the other guys who were peacefully enjoying their beer just as we were – and started beating them up mercilessly.
We split.
Three points to note:
First – this would be unthinkable in Goa. Repeat: Unthinkable.
Second – where do people drink in Delhi if bars do not exist? In Delhi, The State has a monopoly on the retail trade of alcoholic beverages, but they expect you to carry your hooch indoors if you want to drink. This is tyranny. The licensing of bars must be totally liberalized. Note that there was a pakora wallah just outside the park where we were sitting. I was contemplating ordering some onion bhajjis. This man too, and the peanut vendor, would prosper if bars were delicensed.
Third – there was a perfect “natural order” in Prem Nagar. This order was disturbed by the brutal cop. I can understand police action against anyone who is drunk and disorderly. But brutalizing peaceful citizens?
I drove off with my cans of Foster’s lager – to a place I know where cops do not come. The rag pickers lost. The pakora wallah lost. I lost too.
I was invited to Prem Nagar last evening with the promise of a “decent smoke.” I had never visited this locality before. But I liked the name, which translates to Love Town, and so I went.
After a few big chillums indoors, the resultant “cottonmouth” demanded a beer, and my hosts arranged for a couple of cans of Foster’s lager.
We were rather cramped indoors, and the weather outside being pleasanter, it was decided that we sip our beers in the park.
We found a quiet corner and sat down. Near us were two fellows also sipping beer.
Prem Nagar is a poor locality although centrally located, and there were the usual ragpicker kids who wanted the empty cans. Smart kids.
But just then a burly cop entered the park. He went up to the other guys who were peacefully enjoying their beer just as we were – and started beating them up mercilessly.
We split.
Three points to note:
First – this would be unthinkable in Goa. Repeat: Unthinkable.
Second – where do people drink in Delhi if bars do not exist? In Delhi, The State has a monopoly on the retail trade of alcoholic beverages, but they expect you to carry your hooch indoors if you want to drink. This is tyranny. The licensing of bars must be totally liberalized. Note that there was a pakora wallah just outside the park where we were sitting. I was contemplating ordering some onion bhajjis. This man too, and the peanut vendor, would prosper if bars were delicensed.
Third – there was a perfect “natural order” in Prem Nagar. This order was disturbed by the brutal cop. I can understand police action against anyone who is drunk and disorderly. But brutalizing peaceful citizens?
I drove off with my cans of Foster’s lager – to a place I know where cops do not come. The rag pickers lost. The pakora wallah lost. I lost too.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Duds Inhabit The LBZ
After the book launch last evening, I had the occasion to spend some time with two of my students.
I took them on a guided tour of Lutyens' Bungalow Zone (LBZ) – the VVIP area of New Delhi, where pyaray Manmohan and all his ministers live.
As we drove around the roundabouts, I instructed my students to note the fact – fact! – that the whole of LBZ is laid out on a road system based on “hubs-and-spokes.”
We noted that the house where Nehru lived, Teen Murti House, was built right upon a “hub.” We then took a “spoke” from this hub and landed up at another hub, which is the Race Course Road roundabout, where pyaray Manmohan now lives.
I instructed my students on why hubs-and-spokes are basic to all transport economics.
We appreciated the fact that if such a pattern of roads was built in India, treating each major city and town as a hub and building spokes from it to connect to all the outlying second and third tier towns, urban India would blossom.
We also appreciated the fact – fact! – that pyaray Manmohan and his ministers are blind.
They live in a hub-and-spoke system but see it not.
Actually, even Old Delhi was built on a hub-and-spoke roads system: the Ajmeri Gate takes you on the road to Ajmer; the Lahori Gate takes you on the road to Lahore; the Kasmiri Gate takes you on the road to Kashmir… and so on… just as “all roads lead to Rome.”
And, of course, these bozos want to teach History!
They should be history.
I took them on a guided tour of Lutyens' Bungalow Zone (LBZ) – the VVIP area of New Delhi, where pyaray Manmohan and all his ministers live.
As we drove around the roundabouts, I instructed my students to note the fact – fact! – that the whole of LBZ is laid out on a road system based on “hubs-and-spokes.”
We noted that the house where Nehru lived, Teen Murti House, was built right upon a “hub.” We then took a “spoke” from this hub and landed up at another hub, which is the Race Course Road roundabout, where pyaray Manmohan now lives.
I instructed my students on why hubs-and-spokes are basic to all transport economics.
We appreciated the fact that if such a pattern of roads was built in India, treating each major city and town as a hub and building spokes from it to connect to all the outlying second and third tier towns, urban India would blossom.
We also appreciated the fact – fact! – that pyaray Manmohan and his ministers are blind.
They live in a hub-and-spoke system but see it not.
Actually, even Old Delhi was built on a hub-and-spoke roads system: the Ajmeri Gate takes you on the road to Ajmer; the Lahori Gate takes you on the road to Lahore; the Kasmiri Gate takes you on the road to Kashmir… and so on… just as “all roads lead to Rome.”
And, of course, these bozos want to teach History!
They should be history.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Invitation To A Book Launch
I am in Delhi today for the launch of my little book on automobiles and automobilization entitled Four Wheel For All.
If you are in Delhi today, do attend the event. Pasted below is, first, the back cover text; below that is the invitation:
BACK COVER TEXT:
India has been gradually liberalising the automobile industry and opening it up to international competition. Today, the streets are awash with foreign brands, made in India. Yet, the launch of the Tata Nano has evoked horror from many environmentalists and town planners. They abhor the idea of universal car ownership in India.
In this important contribution to the debate, noted liberal scholar and author Sauvik Chakraverti challenges the readers to think of the wider impact of greater automobility, arguing for policies that will make cars affordable to all, lowering taxes and tariffs, including import of duty-free used cars.
Chakraverti looks at the issue from many angles. He places his reader between two options: as a successful individual owner of his own car, driving where he likes to go – which is self-directedness or autonomy – or being "moved in masses" at the whim of the "transport planner". And so it emerges that the car is part of the solution – the escape button every Indian needs. But the roads must be built on a war footing. And greater automobile ownership will create a political constituency in support of better roads. With greater connectivity, choices and markets will enlarge, the economy will get a boost, and freedom will reign.
This paper is firmly on the side of progress – enhanced personal mobility will greatly empower the aam admi, the euphemistic common man.
INVITATION:
Liberty Institute
&
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit
Celebrating Automobility
From Ford's Model T (1908) to Tata Nano (2008)
Murad Ali Baig
will release
Four Wheels for All
by
Sauvik Chakraverti
Panel Discussion
Kaushik Deb, TERI
Barun Mitra, Liberty Institute
Chairman: Mohit Satyanand
Venue: Conference Room 3, India International Centre Annexe, New Delhi.
Time: 6 pm.
Come one, come all – and make the event a success!
If you are in Delhi today, do attend the event. Pasted below is, first, the back cover text; below that is the invitation:
BACK COVER TEXT:
India has been gradually liberalising the automobile industry and opening it up to international competition. Today, the streets are awash with foreign brands, made in India. Yet, the launch of the Tata Nano has evoked horror from many environmentalists and town planners. They abhor the idea of universal car ownership in India.
In this important contribution to the debate, noted liberal scholar and author Sauvik Chakraverti challenges the readers to think of the wider impact of greater automobility, arguing for policies that will make cars affordable to all, lowering taxes and tariffs, including import of duty-free used cars.
Chakraverti looks at the issue from many angles. He places his reader between two options: as a successful individual owner of his own car, driving where he likes to go – which is self-directedness or autonomy – or being "moved in masses" at the whim of the "transport planner". And so it emerges that the car is part of the solution – the escape button every Indian needs. But the roads must be built on a war footing. And greater automobile ownership will create a political constituency in support of better roads. With greater connectivity, choices and markets will enlarge, the economy will get a boost, and freedom will reign.
This paper is firmly on the side of progress – enhanced personal mobility will greatly empower the aam admi, the euphemistic common man.
INVITATION:
Liberty Institute
&
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit
Celebrating Automobility
From Ford's Model T (1908) to Tata Nano (2008)
Murad Ali Baig
will release
Four Wheels for All
by
Sauvik Chakraverti
Panel Discussion
Kaushik Deb, TERI
Barun Mitra, Liberty Institute
Chairman: Mohit Satyanand
Venue: Conference Room 3, India International Centre Annexe, New Delhi.
Time: 6 pm.
Come one, come all – and make the event a success!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
For One Huge SEZ Called Indyeah
Recently, the Times of India reported that the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are stuck in the quagmire of land acquisition: the total land required is 92,000 acres.
Now, the first thing worth noting is that 92,000 acres is chickenshit for a huge country like India – a land mass measuring 3 million or 30 lakh square kilometers. So let us get the math right.
50 acres is 0.2 square kilometers.
100 acres (Amarnath row) is just 0.4 square kilometers.
500 acres is 2 square kilometers.
1000 acres in Singur is just 4 square kilometers.
So the total 92,000 acres of land required for all the SEZs is less than 400 square kilometers.
The total area of India's tiniest state, Goa, is 3701 square kilometers.
Goa is divided into north and south. The north is well populated and that is where the action is – for tourists. The coastal areas of the north are all hugely urbanized. There are 10 municipalities in north Goa.
South Goa is underpopulated and largely rural. There is only one municipality here – Canacona, where I have been living for the last 3 years.
South Goa measures 1900 square kilometers.
In this total area there are over 600 square kilometers of hills, dales and forest – all technically "unowned" land.
My point is this: All the SEZs could be easily fitted into south Goa itself.
There is no shortage of land in India.
The only problem is that The State is the default owner of all unowned land.
So, as Milton Friedman remarked, "If you give the Sahara Desert to the government there will be a shortage of sand in 5 years."
There is a shortage of land in India only because The State owns it all.
Of course, the SEZ policy is economic nonsense. With unilateral free trade, the entire sub-continent could be run like one gigantic SEZ.
I am glad that the chief economic advisor to the government of India, Subhashis Gangopadhyay, has recently rubbished the idea behind SEZs. He has said that "this policy will lead to corruption and landgrabbing."
SEZs are just another form of cronyism. Note that this policy is the brainchild of the ministry of commerce, headed by none other than that wrecker of international trade, Kamal Nutt.
Away with cronyism.
Away with State ownership of all unowned land.
And let the entire sub-continent become the world's largest duty-free trading area: a huge SEZ.
Now, the first thing worth noting is that 92,000 acres is chickenshit for a huge country like India – a land mass measuring 3 million or 30 lakh square kilometers. So let us get the math right.
50 acres is 0.2 square kilometers.
100 acres (Amarnath row) is just 0.4 square kilometers.
500 acres is 2 square kilometers.
1000 acres in Singur is just 4 square kilometers.
So the total 92,000 acres of land required for all the SEZs is less than 400 square kilometers.
The total area of India's tiniest state, Goa, is 3701 square kilometers.
Goa is divided into north and south. The north is well populated and that is where the action is – for tourists. The coastal areas of the north are all hugely urbanized. There are 10 municipalities in north Goa.
South Goa is underpopulated and largely rural. There is only one municipality here – Canacona, where I have been living for the last 3 years.
South Goa measures 1900 square kilometers.
In this total area there are over 600 square kilometers of hills, dales and forest – all technically "unowned" land.
My point is this: All the SEZs could be easily fitted into south Goa itself.
There is no shortage of land in India.
The only problem is that The State is the default owner of all unowned land.
So, as Milton Friedman remarked, "If you give the Sahara Desert to the government there will be a shortage of sand in 5 years."
There is a shortage of land in India only because The State owns it all.
Of course, the SEZ policy is economic nonsense. With unilateral free trade, the entire sub-continent could be run like one gigantic SEZ.
I am glad that the chief economic advisor to the government of India, Subhashis Gangopadhyay, has recently rubbished the idea behind SEZs. He has said that "this policy will lead to corruption and landgrabbing."
SEZs are just another form of cronyism. Note that this policy is the brainchild of the ministry of commerce, headed by none other than that wrecker of international trade, Kamal Nutt.
Away with cronyism.
Away with State ownership of all unowned land.
And let the entire sub-continent become the world's largest duty-free trading area: a huge SEZ.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Against Our Health Dictator
I get the feeling that The State can do nothing useful or in the common interest. It is a sign of the total failure of our political leadership – what leadership? – that this joker ramadoss of the virtually unknown PMK party of Tamil Nadu is given free rein to bully the entire nation.
This time, the Health Dictator is going to impose a blanket ban on smoking indoors. This is a gross violation of the property rights of the owners. These decisions should be taken in the private sphere. In my book, this intrusion into private spaces should be struck down by the processes of judicial review.
The last Nizam of Hyderabad chain smoked locally made cheroots as an encouragement to his tobacco farmers. A recent report in The Economic Times says that business is booming for India's tobacco growers. All the increased demand in coming from China. There seems to be much more Liberty in communist China than socialist India. And for good reason too – for all the taxes on tobacco are funding the brand new superhighways the Chinese are building.
In India, the masses smoke beedis – and there is zero revenue. If taxes on cigarettes were lowered, many beedi smokers would switch to cigarettes – and revenues would soar. Then, there would be enough money to build highways all over the country – not just the much-touted Golden Quadrilateral. We could have superhighways coming out of our ears if The State governed sensibly instead of just tyrannizing the citizenry. Note that if the highways were built out of tobacco (and ganja) taxes, our lives would be better protected. Over 1 lakh people die on our pot-holed roads every year. Millions more are seriously injured. This is because of State Failure: The State owns the roads. In China, the number of road fatalities are coming down every year. The Chinese know what is the proper role of The State.
Enough of this state-sponsored violence against smokers. And jigger tobacco: I want ganja legalized.
I suggest a Smokers' Rally in New Delhi.
Let us all march to the Health Dictator's office smoking cigarettes, spliffs, chillums, beedis, hookahs, bongs… the lot.
And tell the joker to bugger off.
This time, the Health Dictator is going to impose a blanket ban on smoking indoors. This is a gross violation of the property rights of the owners. These decisions should be taken in the private sphere. In my book, this intrusion into private spaces should be struck down by the processes of judicial review.
The last Nizam of Hyderabad chain smoked locally made cheroots as an encouragement to his tobacco farmers. A recent report in The Economic Times says that business is booming for India's tobacco growers. All the increased demand in coming from China. There seems to be much more Liberty in communist China than socialist India. And for good reason too – for all the taxes on tobacco are funding the brand new superhighways the Chinese are building.
In India, the masses smoke beedis – and there is zero revenue. If taxes on cigarettes were lowered, many beedi smokers would switch to cigarettes – and revenues would soar. Then, there would be enough money to build highways all over the country – not just the much-touted Golden Quadrilateral. We could have superhighways coming out of our ears if The State governed sensibly instead of just tyrannizing the citizenry. Note that if the highways were built out of tobacco (and ganja) taxes, our lives would be better protected. Over 1 lakh people die on our pot-holed roads every year. Millions more are seriously injured. This is because of State Failure: The State owns the roads. In China, the number of road fatalities are coming down every year. The Chinese know what is the proper role of The State.
Enough of this state-sponsored violence against smokers. And jigger tobacco: I want ganja legalized.
I suggest a Smokers' Rally in New Delhi.
Let us all march to the Health Dictator's office smoking cigarettes, spliffs, chillums, beedis, hookahs, bongs… the lot.
And tell the joker to bugger off.
Monday, September 1, 2008
On Markets, Cities - And Dalits
There is an interesting story here about a Dalit entrepreneur, Chandra Bhan Prasad, who is a champion of liberalism, the free market, cities and urbanization – and globalization.
As a Dalit, he has witnessed a sea change in not only his own fortunes, but those of his entire caste group, since Indian began "liberalization" in the 1990s. Indeed, he adds that the rise of Dalit politics and politicians reflects this improvement in the living standards of Dalits.
The story reveals that most Dalits now hire cars for their marriage ceremonies. During the socialist era, they were denied even horses.
I have absolutely no doubt that Chandra Bhan Prasad is completely right in his views. Caste oppression is a totally rural phenomenon: India's cities are marked by caste anonymity. And since markets are urban, the future of India's Dalits, as market-based individuals in cities and towns, will be devoid of the label of caste. The market will destroy caste oppression.
There is an economic reason for this. In the urban economy discrimination has a private cost. If you do not serve customers because they belong to a particular faith or caste, you will have to bear the loss for your prejudice. Thus, caste and faith become irrelevant to the urban catallaxy. We all survive, in cities, by serving strangers, and are served by strangers in turn. The city is therefore the harbinger of civilization and civilized behaviour. Conditions in the rural areas are barbaric. It has been well said that "India does not live in her villages; India dies in her villages." The future must be urban – especially for Dalits.
I myself noted this on my first day in the western world, when I came to London as a student in 1989. And the brief article I wrote on the experience has been on the website of the Ambedkar Society for many years now. This is the link – but you will have to put my name in the search box and find it.
As a Dalit, he has witnessed a sea change in not only his own fortunes, but those of his entire caste group, since Indian began "liberalization" in the 1990s. Indeed, he adds that the rise of Dalit politics and politicians reflects this improvement in the living standards of Dalits.
The story reveals that most Dalits now hire cars for their marriage ceremonies. During the socialist era, they were denied even horses.
I have absolutely no doubt that Chandra Bhan Prasad is completely right in his views. Caste oppression is a totally rural phenomenon: India's cities are marked by caste anonymity. And since markets are urban, the future of India's Dalits, as market-based individuals in cities and towns, will be devoid of the label of caste. The market will destroy caste oppression.
There is an economic reason for this. In the urban economy discrimination has a private cost. If you do not serve customers because they belong to a particular faith or caste, you will have to bear the loss for your prejudice. Thus, caste and faith become irrelevant to the urban catallaxy. We all survive, in cities, by serving strangers, and are served by strangers in turn. The city is therefore the harbinger of civilization and civilized behaviour. Conditions in the rural areas are barbaric. It has been well said that "India does not live in her villages; India dies in her villages." The future must be urban – especially for Dalits.
I myself noted this on my first day in the western world, when I came to London as a student in 1989. And the brief article I wrote on the experience has been on the website of the Ambedkar Society for many years now. This is the link – but you will have to put my name in the search box and find it.
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