Is a capitalist society a more advanced society?

This post will cover the essence of Capitalism and that manner in which it is currently being operated in India . This Post is supposedly a rejoinder to Anurag Ji's post Here and SandeepJi's post Here . Anurag has spoken comprehensively on the ill effects of India's capitalistic approach for economic growth while Sandeep has confronted him , err... a bit aggressively , but that is part and parcel of a debate having two ingeniousness on the panel !

My opinion is as follows :

Capitalism in simple words may be described as a system where in the resources in hand, work machinery , and end product are privately owned and traded in the free market. The investor is the ultimate decision making authority in the capitalistic economy. A capitalistic economy enjoys autonomy in respect to terms modus operandi , the government does not interfere with the day to day operations ( Laissez-faire ) but  influences the capitalist economy by enacting policies which safeguard the  fundamental rights of the human resources embraced by the capitalistic economy, as enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Hence, we may conclude that a capitalistic economy works with the underlining principle " Survival of the Fittest "- the idea first propounded by Charles Darwin .

Now comes the point where you must be anticipating me to either speak in favor of , or against the notion of  a capitalist economy, i ask you to judge my stance adopted, at the end of the post. 

The relationship between Capitalism and Democracy is a contentious area in theory as well as in popular political movements. I must recall that Democracy was born along side Industrial capitalism-which began with the Industrial revolution in the British empire- during the early 19th century and spread to many parts of the world, leading many scholars to believe that there exists a directly proportional relation between the two or atleast to a conclusion that one affects the other. It was only in the 20th century that with the help of empirical analysis scholars observed that a capitalist economy  also accompanied a variety of political formations quite distinct from liberal democracies including fascist regime, monarchies and single party states. Let me simplify the relation between Capitalism & democracy : Democracy promises Equality & Freedom , whereas , Capitalism provides free market and competition - Survival of the fittest , hence, we have a relation where for one to work the other must be subverted.

Does this mean that we must bring and end to capitalism to save democracy ?

The answer to the above is " Don't be ridiculous " . In India, many liberal elites, i.e self proclaimed guards of democracy like Arundhoti Roy , Medha Patkar , Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey have advocated the ill effects of capitalism and how it poses a threat to democracy. I do not say that a capitalist economy serves all individuals on a same platform , but why must it serve every one equally ? We must learn the law of the nature, to survive one must work hard and compete with the rest of its kind. 

Why don't we eat sweet food for a month , boiled in the second  and spicy in the third month instead of having a hybrid diet? The common answer would be "It doesn't work that way" , the same goes to all those who are apprehensive of Capitalism operating simultaneously with democracy ! Thus, we must function so as to feed India with a hybrid diet of democracy and capitalism .

 In the age of  globalization, where there is a stiff competition between different economies of the world to provide its people with a more dignified , comfortable & safe lifestyle , we cannot think of having disparity in operating standards between domestic and international economies. Imagine a socialist economy competing in a capitalist world ? LoL! 

It is a undisputed fact that good education provides knowledge and knowledge yields wisdom. When India competes with other world economies, it must be well prepared and well trained to understand the modus operandi of other economies de jure . For this purpose people apply for higher educational courses like MBA, where, the individuals are taught how to survive in the competent global environment. 

Capitalism deprives the countrymen of property ownership rights, this is a much debated criticism of a Capitalist economy. To this i  have a very simple answer : Don't we equate our country with our mother? If you do, then how can you wish to own her? This may sounded very melodramatic so let me rephrase it this way : How can those, who talk of social equality, now not consider equal right of all citizens on the country's land ? It is to make sure that benefits of a country's natural resources are enjoyed by all its people, that the property ownership is nullified in India, ironically this is a socialistic principle.

Many intellectuals have coined the term 'wage slavery' in protest of capitalism. No doubt that the term is innovative and credible to the context that it is used in. Capitalism sure has unleashed unprecedented competition in every nook & cranny of the world . In the consciousness of not being left behind and to fulfill their materialistic desires, people exploit themselves to a maximum where their body starts nesting diseases like high blood pressure, cervical spondilitis, joint pain , loss of eye sight &  gastric disorders , etc. 

But, why is capitalism to be blamed ? In this context, it is clear that Capitalism has provided us with opportunities to lead a better lifestyle, we must learn to balance work with leisure and exercise control over greed to work more to earn more. Must remember that there is something known a satisfaction, that needs to be realized. If we feel exploited at any point, due to our work load, we must be upfront with the capitalist lords and inform them on the provisions of India's Constitution which ensures that we are not exploited  (Article 23 & 24) and that our freedom and life is secured (Article 19,20,21, 22) . I agree that capitalists indeed have an inclination to monetary profits over all. To confront this, the Government has also enacted laws to ensure the social security of the employees/labor  such as Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Employees State Insurance Act 1948, Workmen's Compensation Act 1923 & Maternity Benefit Act 1961 in the organized sector and laws like Aam Admi Bima Yojna & Rashtriya Bima Yojna, both implemented in 2002 for unorganized sector labors.

I very vividly remember that PSUs used to function as a non-profit organization until the economic crisis of 1991, where by it realized that in order for the inclusive development of the organisation & the country , and to maintain equal distribution of wealth, the PSUs will have to work with  securing certain amount of profit that is used  in the overall development of both the PSU & the nation.

It would be unfair if i did not bring into light the two most cruel and incurable- by current policies - ill effects of capitalism. No prize for for guessing, yes, its called Corruption & Immorality ! Corruption in government institution was born during the late 1960 during Indira Gandhi's government at the center, which enjoyed strong 'friendly' relations with all corporate houses of India. Tenders were passed by the merit of political nexus rather than the grounds of financial credibility and  work experience. We shall not discuss this further because i have no intention of landing into jail for maligning the infamous corrupt Nehru Parivaar. Immorality is again a notions that differs from person to person, what may seem wrong to me , could be your right. Hence, we need autonomous law & order machinery to keep a check on this. Also, can please empower the CAG of India to make sure that governments business as usual is not only scrutinized but the flaws, if any, can be corrected at the earliest.

To curb the corruption and immoral acts by professionals of major fields like Media, Corporate houses, Hospitals etc , the government must enact laws that 'cap' the unscrupulous wealth of people; for say the owner and an enterprise cannot draw a salary more than 10 lacs/ month, an organization that has an annual profit of more than 100 crore shall pay twice the taxes than at the moment, money laundering or Hawala must be checked.   I have just mentioned a concept , the actual law must be enacted post pragmatic analysis and free of attempts to satisfy the vested interests of petty politicians. 

Last but not the least , should we believe that a Capitalist Society is a more advanced society? The answer to this question lies in one's understanding of the word 'advanced' . 

World GDP per capita between 1500 and 1998 expressed in the 1990's international dollars. Graph is derived from data in Table B-18. (World GDP) and Table B-10. (World Population) published in The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective by Angus Maddison, OECD, Paris 2001

A 15 years old child teaching his grandparents how to use an i-phone is capitalism, watching James Cameroon's Avatar in 3D is capitalism , taking your beloved on a long drive with an excuse to have an ice-cream is capitalism and most important of all, reading this post on your laptop or mobile is capitalism ! These examples project the true essence of Capitalism. If you curse capitalism, then my friend, you have a problem with capitalists and not with capitalism! Hence, we must do our best to balance capitalism with democracy while confronting the capitalists with the help of the Fundamental rights enshrined in India's Constitution .

My point for the conclusion is that we as people must not be wary of Capitalism, because, it is just a notion, a concept , an idea to make sure that people lead lives in a more dignified & comfortable manner, but, nevertheless be cautious and vigilant of the selfish, exploitative acts of the capitalists. Today, India needs its people to lead their lives with an optimistic & moral approach, with no fear in their hearts but only a zeal to contribute in India's inclusive growth  .  

India only needs the efforts of two people to outperform its competitors , one is me and the other is you !

Jai Hind !

Akhil Rana