Pages
Stay In Touch
More
© 2012 Sanjeev Sabhlok's revolutionary blog
The abysmal collapse of governance in India has a silver lining. It is making Indians self-reliant. In many ways India is fast becoming a libertarian anarchy. After being an experimental laboratory to prove unambiguously the intellectual poverty of socialism, India is now a laboratory in libertarian anarchy!
The government simply does not work in India, or works so badly that citizens scrupulously avoid it. But in a convoluted and unexpected way, India's misgovernance is becoming a blessing in disguise – forcing Indians to rely on themselves and their own ingenuity.
Education
Government schools don't work (they can't work in any system, anyway). So parents in India send their children to private schools. Even those who can't afford private schools (which are really cheap, and all of them "English medium") at least try to send their children to a private 'refresher' school after school hours, a place which teaches some kind of English and IT skills. A variety of "polishing" and "finishing" schools are sprouting everywhere and flourishing – so huge is the demand for education of children.
Health
Not only are Indians forced to buy your own education but they have to buy their own health care. Except for a few most government hospitals are defunct. You are more likely to catch disease if you go to one of them than to get cured. So private hospitals of international standard have sprung up everywhere and even private clinics are relatively cheap. Self-insurance is the only way people can survive in India. There is no better lesson in free markets than that.
Security
Nozick speculated that private protection associations will arise in the libertarian anarchy. That is quite implausible (as I show in DOF), but what is happening in India is that people are paying for their own security. Private security guard businesses are flourishing. For those who can't afford private security, payments are made to the local goonda and police constable. Far from ideal (security, I believe firmly, is the job of the state), but at least people are coping.
Municipal Services
Municipalities in India are centralised behemoths that simply can't work the way they are designed. They are dead as a dodo. They can't clean up their own backyard, leave alone the streets. Hence Indians have organised private garbage removal services. That these garbage removal services dump the garbage into the nearest river or pond is a separate matter (where the state should come in), but at least their garbage gets cleared from their house.
True, Indians can't buy infrastructure (like roads) through the private sector, nor can they get clean drinking water. But that is the price Indians are paying for themselves voting – repeatedly – the most corrupt governments of the world into power. A country always gets the government it deserves.
The lessons Indians are drawing from this anarchy
The lessons that Indians are learning now will hold them in good stead in the future. These lessons include:
a) Don't rely on the government!
b) Look after yourself for there is no one else who will look after you!
c) Stand up on your own feet for there is no welfare state to pamper you!
As these lessons are internalised, the results will be very good. India is already showing signs of becoming one of the world's most competitive societies: cut-throat competitive, not merely competitive. Super-competitive. Agile. Fighting fit.
Anyone who can provide even the remotest semblance of quality at a decent price in India can now become a multi-millionaire in just two to three years. That's all it takes now, in this vast market – which is continuously looking for better quality at a lower price – to become super-wealthy. This MASSIVE competitiveness will one day redeem India, and also, indirectly help to demolish the fat welfare states of the West that are now simply too complacent because countries like India and China have not yet got their acts together. But one day they will. And the signs for India are excellent.
Examples abound today everywhere in India of the astonishing advances Indians are making. From manufacturing to services, the country is a bubbling cauldron of energy. Things are changing rapidly through intense competition. The telecom revolution is an indicator, but there are hundreds others examples well documented in books like Gurcharan's outstanding books, and those by Khanna (Billions of Indians) and Kamdar's Planet India. Tens of other books discuss this phenomenon in detail. Most importantly, management books have drawn valuable lessons from this energy.
From this great experiment in libertarian anarchy, hundreds of brilliant lessons can now be easily drawn by economists worldwide. Many books have already been written, as I noted above, exploring the market-based revolutions of India. But much more has to be done to study the lessons from these experiments. The people are too busy to document their fantastic energy.
Role for a liberal political party: to provide good governance
This huge surge towards wealth in India can be dramatically speeded up if good governance can be made available to Indians. Unfortunately, NONE of India's existing political parties is capable of providing anything close to good governance. There are systemic reasons why that can't be done. It can only be done if a strong liberal political party is voted to power but there is none at the moment! That gap is what FTI aims to address (some initial work has started on the Freedom Party of India website).
The task of reform has unfortunately been hamstrung because Indians have been so smitten with either socialism or Hindutva that they are no longer able to straight and logically (no matter how intelligent they may be!).
The day when just 1500 outstanding leaders assemble on a liberal platform, India will be well on the way to becoming the world leader in EVERYTHING. I have no doubt about that.
If you found this post useful, then consider subscribing to my blog by email:
Join the Freedom Team of India or become a Freedom Partner.
Related posts:
- There is only way to increase wealth: free the market
- Educating our children: A free market in schools
- Dear Arvind, the only path to corruption-free India is through policies of liberty
- Free markets and free men – by Milton Friedman
- The Characteristics of the Market Economy
- Shenoy demanded a free economy in 1962. But the fools who governed India refused to listen
- Despite Obama’s socialist deathwish, USA is still more free than India
- FTI’s unique selling proposition and target ‘market’
- Americans are fed up with America. How about making India free and offering them Indian citizenship?
- My review of Michael Shermer’s The Mind of the Market
To spread the message of liberty and critical thinking, please share this post
Nice one Sanjeev!
Hi Dr.Sabhlok, great clarity of thought and consistency of message. Your's has become one of my fave blogs. I think your blog is a great platform to reach people, and clearly state the "Freedom" or "liberal" perspective on various issues. In DoF you go into great depth on the philosophy of Freedom, but your blog posts are translating the message for the common man.
Sir,
I think you are ultimate optimist to think "The abysmal collapse of governance in India has a silver lining. " I feel that the politicians of this country are slowly and deliberately weakening the framework of Governance. So that the system works on their instructions.
You advice that
Don't rely on the government!
b) Look after yourself for there is no one else who will look after you!
c) Stand up on your own feet for there is no welfare state to pamper you!
is not going to happen for most of the Indians, they will rely on their local Godfathers who run the system. This is happening in many spheres of public life the Governance is so poor that the sand mafia attack the govt. servant a Tehsildar who tries to stop them.The fear of law is diminishing day by day and that is alarming. i can't find any silver lining to the black clouds.
Dear Satish,
You are of course right – at least partially, Re: "The fear of law is diminishing day by day and that is alarming. "
That has happened because if any police officer tries to enforce the law, he soon finds the politicians are consorting with the criminal (there is now literally no difference between political leaders and crime leaders), and he is shunted out into a remote position such as Inspector General of Pens. I've experienced similar things in the IAS so I speak from experience.
That is why I compare India to an anarchy, not a liberal state. Now it is "Everyone on your own and the Devil take the hindmost!" Hence the popularity of people like Baba Ramdev who want to simply hang all corrupt people (an impossibility to implement, but that will add to anarchy and lawlessness).
The libertarians argue that such anarchies are somehow viable. I disagree very strongly with them. A strong state is mandatory. Hence the liberal state we need.
The problem is that in this chaos people aren't able to think straight. They want quick solutions and so are looking up to socialists, Hindutva groups, and now Baba Ramdev, in turn. None can provide them with the governance they want.
Yes, India will become rich, but its governance will further deteriorate, and its capital (including human capital) will once again flee for safer shores – UNLESS IT GETS ITS ACT TOGETHER.
Solutions to get its act together are available in BFN, but it is not the most popular book in India. It should be but people are confused and looking for shortcuts.
Let me repeat. FTI is the ONLY hope for India. All other solutions are guaranteed to fail. Let that message go out loud and clear.
Regards
Sanjeev
Dear Sanjeev,
What you said could be correct in a homogeneous society but in a society where are too many differences to manage effectively, this anarchy is playing havoc.
As all of us are aware that human beings act as social groups and look after well being of the members of their own group. Every social group whether caste or linguistic group are essentially work to secure maximum advantage for themselves. I am not talking about reservations but there are many fields beyond reservations like job prospects in private enterprises and business opportunities. In these areas there are rampant abuse of merit based opportunities which is creating lot of frustrations.
If my readings are accurate all of us will be seeing lot of correctional developments originating out of Maharashtra because there is tremendous latent anger which is looking for outlet here.
Dear Milind
I didn't say things are fine. I oppose liberatarian anarchy.
You are right, "Every social group whether caste or linguistic group are essentially work to secure maximum advantage for themselves."
That is only partly true. But it is a rational response in an anarchy. When institutions of the free society don't work, then people will revert to tribal institutions.
Regards
Sanjeev
India: the world’s free market laboratory http://sabhlokcity.com/2010/08/india-the-worlds-free-market-laboratory/
Nice article, glad to have stumbled up on it. I liked what I read but tend to differ on the view that the security of the individual is the sole responsibility of the State.
The Right to Life and Liberty under Article 21 (Indian Constitution) is a negative right of every individual and a negative obligation of the State. So,the State cannot be held legally accountable for "not protecting" any individual, neither does the State posses "sole" responsibility to "secure and protect" any/every individual. Individual self defense/protection is the sole responsibility of every individual and State intervention cannot be sought or desired as its not legally binding on the State.
This is not just for India but for several countries.
regards,
Shiva
Shiva, thanks. However, I’m talking from first principles – and indeed, the reason why a state exists is to ensure common defence, first, and then justice (which includes some level of internal security)
Thanks for your response Sanjeev,I do agree with your 'raison d'etre of the State comment pertaining to common defence and justice.
However, I was talking about individual defence as opposed to 'common defense'. Ideally from real life experiences, I have seen that its unrealistic to expect speedy and effective State intervention during security issues pertaining to everyday crime on an individual level.
And I believe its extremely difficult if not entirely impossible for the State to be omnipresent/omnipotent like God (and I am an Agnostic, so the God Argument wouldn't stick :D ) and preempt or resolve all such issues.
What we have now is too many laws and too little justice for everything pertaining to Governance, Commercial Law,Arms Act….the list is endless. I tried getting in with the Anna Crowd in my city and tried discussing the fact that one more law added to the existing bunch wont solve anything, but there weren't many takers among the magic pill crowd. Sorry for hijacking this thread,I will take up my observations elsewhere on relevant threads.
Agreed on both points, Shiva.
The state is not omnipresent. However, it has been established primarily for defence, security and justice. Use of force for immediate self-defence is permissible under the Indian law. Even guns are issued to those people under the Arms Act if they fear for their own safety for valid reasons.
And yes, we don’t need more laws. Fewer but well designed and well-enforced is much better.
Thanks for responding.
I agree with the viewpoint: "Fewer but well designed and well-enforced is much better. "