The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism

by Javed Jamil

cannot be pursued at the cost of the family peace. It must, in fact, include campaigns against all such practices, especially drinking, smoking and gambling and promiscuity, as are the biggest factors in the disintegration of families. It must be aimed at creating an atmosphere in families where husbands, wives and children live in permanent tranquility re­specting one another’s’ rights, needs and sentiments. Preservation of the family system must be the top priority, if future human generations are to be kept free of severe psychological stresses and social problems. It would make more sense if “Family Welfare” is transformed into “Family Building” and “Population Control” is converted into “Population Management”. People must not necessarily be encouraged to have a very small family but a balanced, healthy and peaceful one. If all the families bring up healthy children, there is proper management of the economic system, and the resources and materials are equitably distributed, Nature will surely take care of all human needs. If size of the family is made to shrink, but there is no population man­agement, disparities in income would not let humans lead a peace­ful life. Furthermore, the animal population would start rising. For example, in a country like India, even if the rate of popula­tion growth becomes zero, hardly any improvement can be expected in general conditions in the near future, unless drastic population management measures are resorted to. These must comprise not only the strategies for more equitable distribution of money, but also for the equitable distribution of population (urban and rural), the assets, the facilities (educational, medical, etc.), and the privileges. If the urban areas are becoming crowded, it is due to continuous migration from the villages to cities, and the crowd­ing will not stop till the migration is not stopped, in spite of the goals of population control having been achieved. You go a few kilometres out of any city and you will see few human beings. The whole economic system is presently aimed at directing the flow of wealth from the poor to the rich and from the rich to the rich­est which also means from the villages to the cities, and from the smaller cities to the bigger cities. And along with the flow flows the population. If we stop this unidirectional flow of wealth; the flow of population will also stabilise.

  Literacy drives are the order of the day all over the world, because the economic fundamentalists are convinced that the rise in literacy level would correspondingly boost their plans. But, literacy, bereft of moral education, would only make them better consumers, not better human beings. All literacy campaigns must include moral teaching. Even small lessons of honesty and respect for others’ rights would go a long way in making men and women sufficiently civilized.

  The non-governmental organisations have to play a pivotal role in bringing about the required changes. They must realise that by playing into the hands of some funding agencies, they are caus­ing great harm to society. Their aim must be to mobilise the people for building up pressure on the policy makers to keep the interests of the common people uppermost in their minds while formulating different plans and programmes. These organisations must also ensure cohesion among themselves so that the funding agencies may not use pressure tactics to force them to act in the way they like. The N.G.Os have the capability to bring revolution in the world, and they must endeavour in that direction so that this aim is achieved sooner than later.

  Universalization of the World

  The big business in West required for the expansion of their empire support from their governments. Initially, it was done through military interventions. But, after the second World War, indirect methods were preferred Several bodies were formed at the international level that, in practical, safeguarded only the Western interests or at the most, the interests of the big busi­ness. With the fall of Soviet empire in the 1980s, the time was ripe for attempting a rapid expansion of their economic domain. Hence, Globalisation came into sharp focus. Globalisation hardly means globalisation of economics, but de facto, it is the glob­alisation of the Western economic ideology.

  To antagonise economic fundamentalism at the international level, drastic measures have to be taken. The first, of course, must be reconstitution of the UN. The UN must be truly democratic in character; all nations must be equal in rights as well aa duties. There is no way a democratic organisation of the countries can run successfully, if some of its members have unqualified rights over the others. The growing regional powers like India, Japan and Germany must not campaign for extension of veto power to few other countries including themselves. They must openly seek abolition of veto. If the big powers do not agree to this, they must be bold enough to start the process of formation of an alternative body, and must, along with all the opponents of veto power, resign forthwith from the UN. This is the only way pressure may be mounted on the US, the Britain, France, and their allies. It must be ensured that all the constituent parts of UN concentrate on the problems of the world as a whole, and endeavour to find out the right kind of solutions -- the solutions that do not have ulterior commercial motives. The call for globalisation of the world must be changed with that of universalisation of the globe. The universalisation must be directed at opening of the world’s natural resources and know-how, wherever they exist, for the benefit of all those who need it, wherever they live on the earth. The countries holding reservoirs of natural products must seek reasonable price and must not indulge in blackmailing tactics. The UN must redefine its objectives. To ensure health, family peace, social order and a war-less world must be its basic goals. Strict action must be taken against any country violating the UN code. The office bearers of various bodies must be rota­tional.

  The human rights organisations must stop cheating the world in the name of human rights. Instead of being sympathetic to the crimi­nals, they must show concern for the masses. It is, undoubtedly, important that there should not be any political killings, the convicts should not be given punishment more in severity than their crimes, nobody must be lodged in jails without proper trial, the accused should be given proper opportunity to defend themselves, and abuse of children and women should be stopped. Still more important, however, is the guarantee that there are no murders, no rapes, no dacoities, no bribes and no suicides in society. Furthermore, it should be ensured that no woman or child is entrapped in the sex market, no human embryo is aborted in the name of reproductive rights, an environment is created where women including divorcees and widows find it easier and safer to marry, women do not have to suffer on account of the habits of drinking and gambling of their husbands or fathers, and the children develop in a peaceful family, free of tensions due to alcoholism, gambling, separations, divorce, or fights between parents due to their extramarital liaisons.

  The world bodies like the UNICEF, UNDP, UNPP, WHO, World Popula­tion Fund, etc. must base their schemes, plans and programmes not on the basis of fallacious sets of promises, articulated by theorists under the influence of the economic fundamentalists, but on the basis of objective analysis. Their policies must be result oriented; a policy that gives better result has to be better. A legal system that, drastically, reduces the crimes, a sociological pattern that remarkably lowers the social tensions, and a health policy that effectively prevents the diseases have to be preferred and put into action. Polemics are no answer to problems. Problems must be solved by all possible means; the only golden maxim that should be followed is that the solution must not produce bigger problems than the problem it seeks to solve. A lesser evil can substitute a bigger evil, and not vice versa.

  15.

  Lastly

  Economics has been defined by the great Victorian economist Alfred Marshall as “the study of mankind in everyday business of life”. What follows from the long discussions in the proceeding pages is that the chequered career of economic fundamentalism has now reached a sort of stability. The recent history of “economic growth” can as well be described as the history of exploitation of mankind, which has now reached its zenith. Before the begin­ning of the eighteenth century, the world was ruled by religion and law. The scientific and industr
ial revolutions that followed paced their courses simultaneously. By the end of the nineteenth century, science had become a virtual ruler. But Economics did not lag far behind. Since the middle of the twentieth cen­tury, Economics has taken a clear lead; and now science is only in a supportive role helping the cause of Western hegemony without trying to persuade to follow non-destructive policies.

  It is not that the economists of past have not pointed out the exploitative tendencies of the commercial giants. The earlier economists had distinct moral proclivities Adam Smith had argued that “economic successes beyond the level necessary for the satisfaction of one’s physical wants does not add to a man’s real happiness, and it is only vanity, the desire to be looked upon by one’s fellowmen with admiration and envy that motivates the incessant accumulation of personal wealth”. He strongly contra­dicted the theory of Bernard de Mandevelle that private vice was a public virtue. According to Smith, “the desire for admiration and envy is an inferior virtue derived from the great