As a political economist, it pains me greatly to read of an entire, extremely large, province shutting down: all shops, banks, offices, highways – everything shut.
Imagine the loss of business. Imagine the plight of poor people who earn daily wages and spend these wages on their daily needs. Imagine the huge amount of human misery.
What is also astounding is that this shutting down of the entire province through the illegal use of force has been accomplished by two “students’ associations.” I wonder what these students are taught. How will they get jobs if the economy is shut down repeatedly? These “bandh” calls have been the bane of West Bengal and Kerala under the commies (who hate business) and non-commie provinces should have learnt this lesson.
I am all for political protest – but these state-wide bandhs and total shutdowns don’t hurt the politicians or the bureaucracy; they only hurt the people. In the long run, when the economy collapses, this will hurt these very students, who should be encouraged to start businesses and work at jobs rather than engage in this unruly and positively harmful politicking. The enemy is not the businessman; the enemy is The State. So hurt The State - not businessmen.
Which province am I talking about? Why, the province in which prime minister Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi is officially domiciled, from where he entered the rajya sabha via indirect election. A Congress-ruled province: Assam.
The provocation: 12 people killed by “militants” – and the State Police sitting still, not making any moves towards apprehending the culprits. The news report quotes local leaders blaming the Congress administration for the police inaction. This is a disgrace.
So let us widen the frontiers of “lawlessness” in India: Manipur, Assam, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar (where 16 people were gunned down a few days ago), Andhra Pradesh, Kashmir… the list is long, and I may have left some places out. But it is a dangerous sign. Not that there is much law in “Mumbai” either.
In the meantime, Chacha’s “politics” is all about State-sponsored doles. These politicize economic life – even more so in states where there is no economy. Just as in Kabul, where the only avenue in life open for a young man is to pick up a gun and join some predatory gang or the other, so too in all these parts of India. The solution is not doles, which mean “State politics.” The solution is Free Markets. And a politics that strongly upholds the morality of market-based earnings. A politics of Peace, both internal and external.
With Chacha and his Congress, we will never get there. All they will do is increase the fiscal deficit, print money, borrow lavishly – and spend it all on doles, not roads. A report from an investment advisory I read last night talks of India being the Elephant, and the unsustainable deficit of The Chacha State being “Elephant Doo-Doo.”
It’s a big shit we’re in, folks.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Aspects Of Our "Common Loss"
The news that Air India is to be the “official carrier” to the Commonwealth Games is hilarious. I suggest the officials concerned call this the “commonloss games.”
Of course, our brainless and predatory officialdom causes huge common losses to us all – but none more that the Customs and the Excise baboons. I have only just written about the customs department and the losses they inflict upon our society, here; today, I would like to focus on the excisewallahs. They are Evil Incarnate. It is one thing to collect a small tax on booze painlessly – and even Adam Smith suggested a malt tax – but it is quite another thing when the tax collectors get to control the entire booze market with a plethora of restrictions, rules, regulations, and licenses, all based on “subordinate legislation,” which is the lowest form of legislation, just as excisewallahs are the lowest form of human life.
This “commonloss” is most visible in New Delhi, where our blind rulers reside. Blind in the sense that “their corrupt ways have finally made them blind,” as in the Dylan song. Recall my post yesterday wherein I spoke of the fantastic Rs. 50,000 fine these excisewallahs are about to impose on anyone found “serving liquor without a valid license.” Allow me to describe the drinking scene in Delhi, on the ground.
Since bars are few and unaffordable in Delhi, most of the drinking goes on surreptitiously, in dark street corners, inside cars, in all kinds of shady places. Indeed, visit any sarkaari booze shop in Delhi and you will find, quite close to it, a private shop selling bottled water, soft drinks and plastic glasses. If you stick around the area for a while you will gather what is happening: ordinary people buy a “quarter” (180ml) bottle of some harsh grog, pick up water and a glass next door – and head for the nearest dark corner.
I joined a group of such happy drinkers in a dark corner some weeks ago. We all poured our drinks and I said “cheers” and took a small sip. All the other guys put their glasses to their mouths and did an incredible “bottoms up” – because they were too scared to hang around too long dithering over their drinks. No one wants to fall foul of the cops.
If anything, drinking in this manner is extremely uncivilized. We are expected to enjoy our drinks, sip them slowly, roll the fluid about the mouth and feel the taste. Enjoy! My companions in the dark corner did not enjoy their drinks at all. Their faces, after knocking back stiff harsh grogs in one shot, reflected great suffering rather than enjoyment. I felt sorry for them – and for their livers. And my hatred for the excisewallahs grew a lot stronger.
What is the “common loss” here?
There is something called the “hospitality trade.” If this trade was freed from the excisewallahs' grip, then, just as businessmen are selling water and plastic glasses to boozers today, businessmen would lay out chairs and tables for them, serve snacks, play music, call in some nautch-girls to perform, and allow everyone to enjoy their drinks.
I am even more certain that such bars should be allowed to flourish in the slums – where there are already many businesses flourishing, including illegal hooch. People should be encouraged to sit, enjoy, and drink slowly. And the booze should be of good quality – for which taxation must come down drastically.
This is the one reason why I was so happy in Mangalore. It is a city where drinking out is cheap. Even a poor man would sit down at a bar, have his 3 large pegs, eat some food, and go away happy. Ditto in Pondicherry, where I lived a few years once. Ditto in Goa. There are so many bars for poor people in Goa. None drink furtively in dark street corners. And the hospitality trade is flourishing. This is good for tourism.
If a systematic audit were to be conducted of the Customs and Excise departments, I am confident it would reveal that they cause more losses to the public than the revenue they collect for The Chacha State. Indeed, they represent a hidden tyranny. They must be abolished.
Of course, our brainless and predatory officialdom causes huge common losses to us all – but none more that the Customs and the Excise baboons. I have only just written about the customs department and the losses they inflict upon our society, here; today, I would like to focus on the excisewallahs. They are Evil Incarnate. It is one thing to collect a small tax on booze painlessly – and even Adam Smith suggested a malt tax – but it is quite another thing when the tax collectors get to control the entire booze market with a plethora of restrictions, rules, regulations, and licenses, all based on “subordinate legislation,” which is the lowest form of legislation, just as excisewallahs are the lowest form of human life.
This “commonloss” is most visible in New Delhi, where our blind rulers reside. Blind in the sense that “their corrupt ways have finally made them blind,” as in the Dylan song. Recall my post yesterday wherein I spoke of the fantastic Rs. 50,000 fine these excisewallahs are about to impose on anyone found “serving liquor without a valid license.” Allow me to describe the drinking scene in Delhi, on the ground.
Since bars are few and unaffordable in Delhi, most of the drinking goes on surreptitiously, in dark street corners, inside cars, in all kinds of shady places. Indeed, visit any sarkaari booze shop in Delhi and you will find, quite close to it, a private shop selling bottled water, soft drinks and plastic glasses. If you stick around the area for a while you will gather what is happening: ordinary people buy a “quarter” (180ml) bottle of some harsh grog, pick up water and a glass next door – and head for the nearest dark corner.
I joined a group of such happy drinkers in a dark corner some weeks ago. We all poured our drinks and I said “cheers” and took a small sip. All the other guys put their glasses to their mouths and did an incredible “bottoms up” – because they were too scared to hang around too long dithering over their drinks. No one wants to fall foul of the cops.
If anything, drinking in this manner is extremely uncivilized. We are expected to enjoy our drinks, sip them slowly, roll the fluid about the mouth and feel the taste. Enjoy! My companions in the dark corner did not enjoy their drinks at all. Their faces, after knocking back stiff harsh grogs in one shot, reflected great suffering rather than enjoyment. I felt sorry for them – and for their livers. And my hatred for the excisewallahs grew a lot stronger.
What is the “common loss” here?
There is something called the “hospitality trade.” If this trade was freed from the excisewallahs' grip, then, just as businessmen are selling water and plastic glasses to boozers today, businessmen would lay out chairs and tables for them, serve snacks, play music, call in some nautch-girls to perform, and allow everyone to enjoy their drinks.
I am even more certain that such bars should be allowed to flourish in the slums – where there are already many businesses flourishing, including illegal hooch. People should be encouraged to sit, enjoy, and drink slowly. And the booze should be of good quality – for which taxation must come down drastically.
This is the one reason why I was so happy in Mangalore. It is a city where drinking out is cheap. Even a poor man would sit down at a bar, have his 3 large pegs, eat some food, and go away happy. Ditto in Pondicherry, where I lived a few years once. Ditto in Goa. There are so many bars for poor people in Goa. None drink furtively in dark street corners. And the hospitality trade is flourishing. This is good for tourism.
If a systematic audit were to be conducted of the Customs and Excise departments, I am confident it would reveal that they cause more losses to the public than the revenue they collect for The Chacha State. Indeed, they represent a hidden tyranny. They must be abolished.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Failed State, Failed City, And A Prize Chump
An editorial on the remote periphery, a story from the Capital City, and a statement by chhota ustad montek, if taken together, show what a prize bunch of chumps our The State are, and what a bigger bunch of chumps history will consider us to be if we continue to tolerate this Intolerable Tyranny.
The editorial, from the HT, is on Manipur. Yeah, the world has heard of Kashmir, and we are all tired of hearing about Maoists and Naxalites in central India, but none hear about remote Manipur, where both State and Society have completely broken down. The editorial begins with the word “rotten” to describe the province, proceeds to the “crippling problems” that plague the state, while describing the attitude of New Delhi as “utter neglect.” The first para itself talks of “total absence of law and order” and the resultant condition of “perpetual exploitation.”
Yet, there is a The State in Manipur. From 1958, this The State in Manipur has been a quasi-military dictatorship. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in force right till today – and is utterly abused. The editors mention instances of recent summary executions by police commandos. They mention the Jeevan Reddy commission report on the “grievances” of the local people with the AFSP Act. They say that the capital city, Imphal, has become a curfew town. I quote the concluding lines:
The world media should focus attention on this blighted province of socialist India. British influence entered this area only in the 1850s; and the rule was light, the British preferring to retain the traditional ruler, their King, of a long and illustrious Rajput line. This King was ranked very high in the official hierarchy, with an 11-gun salute being accorded him.
Manipur was even then considered highly cultured, possessed of classical dance, drama, and other refinements. And I am sure their King never outlawed the ganja this province is renowned for. In British India, of course, ganja was legal. The modern day tyranny of the Total State legislated all our freedoms away and, in Manipur, assumed extraordinary powers.
I suggest a Concert for Manipur.
Over to the Capital City now, good old New Delhi, where I am currently located. Here, the tax parasites of the Central Excise have announced intentions to impose a Rs. 50,000 fine for “public drinking.” And their minister, also a tax parasite, talks about how this will apply wherever “liquor is served without a license.”
Actually, these tax parasites and their evil licensing system have killed the entire retail trade of alcohol in Delhi: the shops are few, and all State-owned. The bars are fewer, and unaffordable. In my area, there are neither shops nor bars. Anywhere in the civilized world, such a city would be considered unthinkable - and, what is more, unlivable. The city is hosting the Commonwealth Games next year, but in my opinion it is a “failed city,” just as Manipur is a “failed State.”
I HATE New Delhi.
And what does chhota ustad montek, chief central planner, have to say? Yeah, he’s all worked up about “indecent salaries” in the private sector.
I have a Message for montek: Leave the private sector alone. It is you, the overpaid tax parasites of The Total State who are obscene. You guys SUCK.
The editorial, from the HT, is on Manipur. Yeah, the world has heard of Kashmir, and we are all tired of hearing about Maoists and Naxalites in central India, but none hear about remote Manipur, where both State and Society have completely broken down. The editorial begins with the word “rotten” to describe the province, proceeds to the “crippling problems” that plague the state, while describing the attitude of New Delhi as “utter neglect.” The first para itself talks of “total absence of law and order” and the resultant condition of “perpetual exploitation.”
Yet, there is a The State in Manipur. From 1958, this The State in Manipur has been a quasi-military dictatorship. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in force right till today – and is utterly abused. The editors mention instances of recent summary executions by police commandos. They mention the Jeevan Reddy commission report on the “grievances” of the local people with the AFSP Act. They say that the capital city, Imphal, has become a curfew town. I quote the concluding lines:
But in a place where roads are crumbling, educational institutions are shut, people are too scared to step out of their houses or of being summarily dragged out, and where deaths occur without explanations, the Government of India owes it to the people of Manipur to rescue them from oblivion.
The world media should focus attention on this blighted province of socialist India. British influence entered this area only in the 1850s; and the rule was light, the British preferring to retain the traditional ruler, their King, of a long and illustrious Rajput line. This King was ranked very high in the official hierarchy, with an 11-gun salute being accorded him.
Manipur was even then considered highly cultured, possessed of classical dance, drama, and other refinements. And I am sure their King never outlawed the ganja this province is renowned for. In British India, of course, ganja was legal. The modern day tyranny of the Total State legislated all our freedoms away and, in Manipur, assumed extraordinary powers.
I suggest a Concert for Manipur.
Over to the Capital City now, good old New Delhi, where I am currently located. Here, the tax parasites of the Central Excise have announced intentions to impose a Rs. 50,000 fine for “public drinking.” And their minister, also a tax parasite, talks about how this will apply wherever “liquor is served without a license.”
Actually, these tax parasites and their evil licensing system have killed the entire retail trade of alcohol in Delhi: the shops are few, and all State-owned. The bars are fewer, and unaffordable. In my area, there are neither shops nor bars. Anywhere in the civilized world, such a city would be considered unthinkable - and, what is more, unlivable. The city is hosting the Commonwealth Games next year, but in my opinion it is a “failed city,” just as Manipur is a “failed State.”
I HATE New Delhi.
And what does chhota ustad montek, chief central planner, have to say? Yeah, he’s all worked up about “indecent salaries” in the private sector.
I have a Message for montek: Leave the private sector alone. It is you, the overpaid tax parasites of The Total State who are obscene. You guys SUCK.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
A Bigger IMF? Or Sound Money?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in the news: first, advising Asian nations to “continue with their stimulus packages”; and second, for seeking a bigger role for itself in world affairs, and the funds required for the purpose.
And this raises the question: Should the world economy be run by unaccountable IMF banksters and their partner central banksters? Or should money and banking be governed under Law? Which of these two options should be considered Capitalism?
Note that the IMF is tendering wrong advice – and completely evading the “sound money” debate. The global recession occurred only because central banksters – in particular, the US Fed – created a bubble. The mischief was the “boom.” Continuing with the same medicine – cheap money and credit – will only make things worse at a future date.
I have just read an India-specific economic forecast prepared by a major multinational bank – and the outlook is not good. The combined fiscal deficit of the centre and the states, if we include off-budget items like oil and fertilizer bonds, is worrying. There are asset bubbles here and there – particularly in real estate – and food price inflation has emerged. Gold has become a refuge. Should our Chacha State inflate further? Or should we at least begin to talk about sound money and legitimate banking? The rule of law instead of the rule of central banksters.
I think it would be a great thing if the financial press treated the IMF and its cousin the World Bank with scorn. These two were created by Keynes – and the man was a self-confessed “amoralist.” In Keynes’ time, the US dollar was still anchored to gold; but the banksters and The State they funded broke free of that limitation and now the entire world is on purely fiat paper masquerading as money. This is a scandal of enormous proportions. It has corrupted governments worldwide and debased democracy. It has caused permanent inflation – with all its evil de-civilizing consequences.
Finally, it must be noted that our Chacha State is very much a bankster state – a pirate ship. Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi headed the central bank once. And his chhota ustad, Montek, the central planner, is an IMF man. Their real racket is the funny money and the creation of credit. This is happening because of the amoral ideas of their guru, John Maynard, Lord Keynes, founder of the IMF.
This evil racket must be ended.
And this raises the question: Should the world economy be run by unaccountable IMF banksters and their partner central banksters? Or should money and banking be governed under Law? Which of these two options should be considered Capitalism?
Note that the IMF is tendering wrong advice – and completely evading the “sound money” debate. The global recession occurred only because central banksters – in particular, the US Fed – created a bubble. The mischief was the “boom.” Continuing with the same medicine – cheap money and credit – will only make things worse at a future date.
I have just read an India-specific economic forecast prepared by a major multinational bank – and the outlook is not good. The combined fiscal deficit of the centre and the states, if we include off-budget items like oil and fertilizer bonds, is worrying. There are asset bubbles here and there – particularly in real estate – and food price inflation has emerged. Gold has become a refuge. Should our Chacha State inflate further? Or should we at least begin to talk about sound money and legitimate banking? The rule of law instead of the rule of central banksters.
I think it would be a great thing if the financial press treated the IMF and its cousin the World Bank with scorn. These two were created by Keynes – and the man was a self-confessed “amoralist.” In Keynes’ time, the US dollar was still anchored to gold; but the banksters and The State they funded broke free of that limitation and now the entire world is on purely fiat paper masquerading as money. This is a scandal of enormous proportions. It has corrupted governments worldwide and debased democracy. It has caused permanent inflation – with all its evil de-civilizing consequences.
Finally, it must be noted that our Chacha State is very much a bankster state – a pirate ship. Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi headed the central bank once. And his chhota ustad, Montek, the central planner, is an IMF man. Their real racket is the funny money and the creation of credit. This is happening because of the amoral ideas of their guru, John Maynard, Lord Keynes, founder of the IMF.
This evil racket must be ended.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
On Ganja... And Socialism
There is great news on the ganja front from California. After allowing “medical marijuana” for long, the sunshine state is now moving towards full legalization by adopting a novel procedure: “nullification.”
Nullification is defined as follows:
Come November 2010, and citizens of California will vote to nullify federal marijuana legislation. Thereafter, anyone above 21 in California can possess or grow cannabliss; and local governments will decide on regulation and taxation.
Imagine the same scene in India – when the state governments of Manipur, Kerala, Orissa, Goa, Himachal and Uttaranchal vote to nullify the central government’s draconian NDPS Act.
That will be the day.
Of course, the day could come sooner if district administrators simply refused to implement this nasty legislation. There is a precedent here: Philip Mason’s The Men Who Ruled India tells the tale of one such district officer who, when faced with government legislation he disagreed with, wrote on the file “This legislation will not apply to my district” and returned the file to where it came from.
Such independence on the part of crucial administrators is needed today, if only to uphold the ideals of the “rule of law.” There is no law that is flouted more openly throughout India than cannabliss law. Indeed, this makes a mockery of the law and the police, and gives the administration a bad name. They are seen as corrupt, as being hand-in-glove with various anti-social mafia gangs who sell the stuff, usually third-rate, or even adulterated, as in New Delhi.
Yeah, we too could do with some “nullification” of stupid law.
And speaking of nullification, Meghnad, Lord Desai’s Sunday column in the Express speaks of the end of socialism in Europe. He concludes thus:
Yippee! Socialism has been nullified.
Excuse me while I light my spliff.
Nullification is defined as follows:
When a state ‘nullifies’ a federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and inoperative, or ‘non-effective,’ within the boundaries of that state; or, in other words, not a law as far as that state is concerned.
Come November 2010, and citizens of California will vote to nullify federal marijuana legislation. Thereafter, anyone above 21 in California can possess or grow cannabliss; and local governments will decide on regulation and taxation.
Imagine the same scene in India – when the state governments of Manipur, Kerala, Orissa, Goa, Himachal and Uttaranchal vote to nullify the central government’s draconian NDPS Act.
That will be the day.
Of course, the day could come sooner if district administrators simply refused to implement this nasty legislation. There is a precedent here: Philip Mason’s The Men Who Ruled India tells the tale of one such district officer who, when faced with government legislation he disagreed with, wrote on the file “This legislation will not apply to my district” and returned the file to where it came from.
Such independence on the part of crucial administrators is needed today, if only to uphold the ideals of the “rule of law.” There is no law that is flouted more openly throughout India than cannabliss law. Indeed, this makes a mockery of the law and the police, and gives the administration a bad name. They are seen as corrupt, as being hand-in-glove with various anti-social mafia gangs who sell the stuff, usually third-rate, or even adulterated, as in New Delhi.
Yeah, we too could do with some “nullification” of stupid law.
And speaking of nullification, Meghnad, Lord Desai’s Sunday column in the Express speaks of the end of socialism in Europe. He concludes thus:
There has been no cry for a fundamental rejection or reform of capitalism. The cry is to get it back on its feet as soon as possible and then think of getting it into a better shape. The IMF has abandoned its previous insistence on balanced budgets and wishes the fiscal boost to continue while putting off the problem of paying off the debts. We are Keynesians—sort of—and wish the recent past to come back somewhat whitewashed and better looking but not too different from what it was like.
This has meant a real crisis for Socialists. In Europe, they are losing ground. Germany rejected the oldest Socialist party in Europe and chose the conservative party of Angela Merkel. In France Sarkozy rules and the Socialists are on the way out. In UK the Labour Party just finished its conference but we all know the future is bleak. Capitalism has its problems but Socialism does not seem to be the answer. Indeed, the 20th century had a surfeit of Socialism and found it a failure. It is a big hole in politics and how it will be filled will be the big question of the 21st century. There are many aspirations the Socialists had—for equality, humanity in capitalism—but as of now the world is not turning to Socialism for an answer. What we do about this will determine how the world begins to adjust the changing balance of economic power.
Yippee! Socialism has been nullified.
Excuse me while I light my spliff.
Friday, October 2, 2009
On A Porsche, Wine, And Protectionism
The Customs Department is at it again. The Porsche Panamera is to cost 2 crores because of customs duties. Without the tariff, it would cost just a crore. Because of the tax, less Indians will be able to afford a Panamera and India will be poorer. Because of the tax, Porsche will sell fewer cars, and Germany will be poorer. Germans will then import less from India… and the circle will continue endlessly until the world has been beggared, or until war breaks out.
What applies to the Panamera applies equally to wine. For some strange reason, our Chacha State has imposed stiff import duties on wine. Because of this, as one gourmet restaurant owner told me, $5 wines sell here for $30.
Again, the same circle of poverty ensues: Indians consume less wine and are poorer; and the wine producers of the world become poorer too. They import less from India… and so on.
In the case of the Panamera, we are “protecting” no one, for no Indian can compete in this segment, not for another 100 years at least. Ditto for wine, where there are just one or two Indian brands on offer. Indeed, there are more wine importers in India than wine producers. So who is being protected by the Chacha State?
Remember, when Kamal D Nutt sabotaged the WTO, much of the fuss was about our import duties on wine. Kamal D Nutt remained firm on this issue to the last. And I read somewhere that his Congress party gets lots of cash from the “liquor lobby” – that is, the purveyors of ugh IMFL harsh grogs. These are the guys being “protected.”
The Old Monkey lobby is killing our wine.
So, India remains a country where the people drink the worst booze in the world, because of “protection.” Pretty ugly, huh?
I was prompted to write this post on wine after reading a report this morning in Mint that said the Indian wine market is down from 200,000 cases annually to 175,000 cases, because of high taxes imposed by state governments. At the end of the report, one analyst says that the potential of the market is 200 million cases. In other words, we are operating at less than one-tenth of 1 percent of potential. What would I suggest?
First, zero taxes on wine and beer – to wean our people away from strong booze.
Second: duty-free importation of wine – so that our people can quickly develop a taste for wine, something they do not possess right now.
Third: encourage the setting up of vineyards and wineries in every part of India where the soil and climate are suitable – Nashik, the western ghats, Hyderabad, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, the north-east etc. These local wineries will succeed only when the market for wine has been primed by imports. It is futile to “protect” the market now.
Onwards to our consuming 200 million cases of good wine annually.
Cheers, folks. Hic.
What applies to the Panamera applies equally to wine. For some strange reason, our Chacha State has imposed stiff import duties on wine. Because of this, as one gourmet restaurant owner told me, $5 wines sell here for $30.
Again, the same circle of poverty ensues: Indians consume less wine and are poorer; and the wine producers of the world become poorer too. They import less from India… and so on.
In the case of the Panamera, we are “protecting” no one, for no Indian can compete in this segment, not for another 100 years at least. Ditto for wine, where there are just one or two Indian brands on offer. Indeed, there are more wine importers in India than wine producers. So who is being protected by the Chacha State?
Remember, when Kamal D Nutt sabotaged the WTO, much of the fuss was about our import duties on wine. Kamal D Nutt remained firm on this issue to the last. And I read somewhere that his Congress party gets lots of cash from the “liquor lobby” – that is, the purveyors of ugh IMFL harsh grogs. These are the guys being “protected.”
The Old Monkey lobby is killing our wine.
So, India remains a country where the people drink the worst booze in the world, because of “protection.” Pretty ugly, huh?
I was prompted to write this post on wine after reading a report this morning in Mint that said the Indian wine market is down from 200,000 cases annually to 175,000 cases, because of high taxes imposed by state governments. At the end of the report, one analyst says that the potential of the market is 200 million cases. In other words, we are operating at less than one-tenth of 1 percent of potential. What would I suggest?
First, zero taxes on wine and beer – to wean our people away from strong booze.
Second: duty-free importation of wine – so that our people can quickly develop a taste for wine, something they do not possess right now.
Third: encourage the setting up of vineyards and wineries in every part of India where the soil and climate are suitable – Nashik, the western ghats, Hyderabad, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, the north-east etc. These local wineries will succeed only when the market for wine has been primed by imports. It is futile to “protect” the market now.
Onwards to our consuming 200 million cases of good wine annually.
Cheers, folks. Hic.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Against The Mahatma
Dunno about you, but in my case, the sudden remembrance of Gandhi’s birthday being today occurred last evening – and I rushed to my nearest booze shop. It was crowded. The sign outside said today was to be a “dry day.”
This dry day is enforced by State Violence.
So much for Gandhi, who studied in England, practiced English law, but never got to appreciate something so quintessentially English as The Pub. And so much for his “non-violence.”
Surfing through the morning papers, I found that our supreme leader, Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi, has thought of a magnificent way by which “the nation” can honour the mahatma’s memory; and that is – you guessed it! – the greatest swindle on earth is to be named after the mahatma.
Yes, the NREGS is to become the MGNREGS Read all about it here.
Then, read about the huge amount of embezzlement by tax parasites that is going on under this “scheme.”
And don’t forget – the mahatma’s photo is on the rupee note too.
Oh! How many swindles and how much violence your followers inflict upon our society in your name, dear mahatma. Why are your followers such monsters? Or were your teachings all wrong?
Samanth Subramanian has investigated the latter question in a feature article published in Mint today. It seems this year marks the centenary of the mahatma’s great vision for India – his book Hind Swaraj. The article begins by pointing out Gandhi’s fundamental Luddism, his hatred of machinery:
Defending Gandhi is a prof from the State-owned Delhi School of Economics – and it is interesting that this dude criticizes Gandhi for not being radical enough, for not taking a firm stand against the private ownership of machines and factories – the “means of production,” to use the Marxist term.
We can imagine the happy scenario. First, they ban machines. So there are no factories. And then they take over all these machine-less factories. Wah, Ustad!
Let us now proceed to the next step of Hind Swaraj: Economic Autarky. Gandhi opposed free international trade:
This vision of “swaraj” was also to be achieved by State Violence – the guns of the Customs Department.
At the close of the article the good prof from the DSE makes noises about John Rawls, welfare economics, and ethics.
These ideas encourage tax parasites – like the MGNREGS baboos – while condemning the rest of us to tax slavery; and taxation is collected using State Violence.
And that is the crux of the fatal flaw in the Gandhian vision: the misuse of State Violence.
We missed the bus to Liberty and Prosperity. A hundred years have passed since the publication of this fatal vision. It is time to dump the mahatma, my fellow citizens.
Cheers! Prost! Skol! Kampai! Etc.
This dry day is enforced by State Violence.
So much for Gandhi, who studied in England, practiced English law, but never got to appreciate something so quintessentially English as The Pub. And so much for his “non-violence.”
Surfing through the morning papers, I found that our supreme leader, Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi, has thought of a magnificent way by which “the nation” can honour the mahatma’s memory; and that is – you guessed it! – the greatest swindle on earth is to be named after the mahatma.
Yes, the NREGS is to become the MGNREGS Read all about it here.
Then, read about the huge amount of embezzlement by tax parasites that is going on under this “scheme.”
And don’t forget – the mahatma’s photo is on the rupee note too.
Oh! How many swindles and how much violence your followers inflict upon our society in your name, dear mahatma. Why are your followers such monsters? Or were your teachings all wrong?
Samanth Subramanian has investigated the latter question in a feature article published in Mint today. It seems this year marks the centenary of the mahatma’s great vision for India – his book Hind Swaraj. The article begins by pointing out Gandhi’s fundamental Luddism, his hatred of machinery:
Most notably to our 21st-century eyes, Hind Swaraj inveighs against machinery—not with any caveats, but absolutely and bluntly, as if the further development of the idea could come later. “It is necessary to realize that machinery is bad,” Gandhi wrote. “We shall then be able gradually to do away with it.” On the subject of railways, in particular, he was withering: “Railways accentuate the evil nature of man.”
Defending Gandhi is a prof from the State-owned Delhi School of Economics – and it is interesting that this dude criticizes Gandhi for not being radical enough, for not taking a firm stand against the private ownership of machines and factories – the “means of production,” to use the Marxist term.
We can imagine the happy scenario. First, they ban machines. So there are no factories. And then they take over all these machine-less factories. Wah, Ustad!
Let us now proceed to the next step of Hind Swaraj: Economic Autarky. Gandhi opposed free international trade:
Hind Swaraj is also dismissive of that other great linchpin of the modern economy, international trade, and its allied model of competitive advantage. Scoffing at the need to import machine-made pins, Gandhi wrote: “As long as we cannot make pins without machinery so long will we do without them.” So, also for glassware and machine-made cloth.
This vision of “swaraj” was also to be achieved by State Violence – the guns of the Customs Department.
Let no pins enter India!
At the close of the article the good prof from the DSE makes noises about John Rawls, welfare economics, and ethics.
These ideas encourage tax parasites – like the MGNREGS baboos – while condemning the rest of us to tax slavery; and taxation is collected using State Violence.
And that is the crux of the fatal flaw in the Gandhian vision: the misuse of State Violence.
We missed the bus to Liberty and Prosperity. A hundred years have passed since the publication of this fatal vision. It is time to dump the mahatma, my fellow citizens.
Cheers! Prost! Skol! Kampai! Etc.
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