An Economist called Gandhi

If after two and a half decades of adopting the so called reforms as the growth mantra India needs a food security bill to provide immunity against hunger to 80 percent of its population, it is time to think anew. Interestingly, such thinking has already started in the US, the land from where these so called reforms originated. As a broad coalition of organizations and individuals plan New Economy Week during October 12 to 18, 2013, to answer what their economy should look like, we must sit up, listen and contemplate. With imperfections of both capitalism and communism becoming painfully evident, there is reason to look elsewhere for solutions. Can Gandhiism be considered? Many would fret and most would doubt having already dismissed it as an unworkable proposition. Moreover, the big question is finding out what this Gandhiism is all about when Gandhi himself had proclaimed that there is nothing like Gandhiism. The Mahatma had said ‘I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as hills’. But the answer perhaps lies here – in truth and non-violence. Problems of economies arise less due to economics and more due to psychology. Gandhi was not trained in economics and that was his strength. He could think out of the box, that is, pragmatically. Fixation to ideas have perhaps done the greatest disservice to economic thought.

It is against this backdrop that we need to understand Gandhiism, the Gandhian way of life. The anecdote that follows may offer some valuable insights into Gandhian economics.

Just after independence a school was planned at Wardha by K.T. Shah. Gandhi ji was invited to the place with many other eminent people. K.T. Shah asked Gandhi ji what kind of education should be imparted to children so that country can progress in the right direction. Initially, Gandhi was reluctant but when asked persistently he said that his view of education was different. Thus, if he asks the students that suppose he buys an apple for 25 paise and sells it for one rupee what will he get and if in answer to this he is told that he will get jail, this is the kind of education that should be imparted. And rightly so. There is no justification for seeking an unreasonable profit of 75 percent. But that is the problem –Unbridled Profiteering. Greed to the extent of lust. This is the reason behind the economic crises we have been facing post reforms. When value of goods rise abnormally, economy sinks. Gandhian economics doesn’t draw a distinction between economics and ethics. Economics that hurts the moral well being of a nation is immoral and subsequently unviable. According to Gandhi consumer appetite is animal appetite and feeds on meaningless consumption. It is this basic reality that has to be understood. We need to realize that economic woes are less policy driven and more character driven.

Gandhi advocated spiritual development and harmony with a reflection of materialism. According to him, the value of an industry should be gauged not by the dividends it pays to shareholders but its effect on the bodies, souls and the spirits of the people employed in it. Supreme consideration needs to be given to men rather than money.

The Gandhian idea of trusteeship was advocated much before the so called western intellectuals coined expressions like Inclusive Growth and Corporate Social Responsibility. And Gandhi had followers among industrialists, too. People like Ghanshyam Das Birla, Jamnalal Bajaj, and JRD Tata were all practitioners of Gandhi’s Trusteeship concept. Gandhi’s view of harmony with nature and absence of class conflict is manifested in the modern day idea of the triple P (Planet, People, Profit) bottom line. As we grapple with Current Account Deficit And Forex Crisis let us look back at the Swadeshi Movement initiated by Gandhi at the turn of 20^th century. Though the idea was political, the objective was primarily economic. It holds the answer to present day economic crisis also, particularly the falling rupee. We must understand that economics, politics, and psychology are all interrelated and must be seen in totality.

We had enough of trial and error with the so called reforms. It is time to ask whether they are actually reforms. It was not without reason that Michel Camdessus, the then IMF chief and an applied economist himself had advocated Gandhian economics as an alternative model for poverty alleviation. A refocusing of priorities is in order as the market determined theories worked out from luxurious offices of Washington are faltering on the ground.

A reappraisal of Gandhian philosophy is what we need today. Gandhi was never doggedly opposed to industrialization.  For him the problem was chronic unemployment in the villages and he suggested revitalizing the vast country side as an engine of change. He was not opposed to machines and technology but wanted that they should generate employment. He was against technological determinism that would sharpen distortions in the society.  As his forebodings are proving right  one after another, be it unemployment,  environment  degradation or growing poverty, we need to revisit Gandhiism. The direction for policy makers lie in Gandhi’s now forgotten injunction – “Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away.”

The swelling numbers of the underclass do not need the hollow promises of  bright future through substitution of one generation of reforms by another. They need to see that a liberal economy generates jobs too. The statistics of growth rate or per capita income or even rising numbers of billionaires are hardly reassuring when food, shelter, education and healthcare are getting out of reach of the common man. Experiments with reforms  had their share of trials, it is time for the experiments with  truth. 

 

The author is a professor in Management at Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com.