India In Quest For Capitalism
By Nijam Gara
09 February, 2016
Countercurrents.org
Sixty nine years ago, our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru's famous tryst with destiny speech heralded the birth of Independent India after years of struggle against colonial British Empire. Even though the Indian subcontinent boasts of civilizations dating back thousands of years, the geographical idea of India itself and the concepts of democracy and governance for public good were brand new to the people. A mixed economy with a blend of socialism and capitalism, thrust on higher education and agriculture, unflinching commitment to secularism and world leadership in taking up the Non-aligned movement in the post-world war II, cold-war era formed the bedrocks of nation building. Though Nehru fell far short in taking up social issues with the same zeal, his vision for the new-born nation was unparalleled among the various nations that took birth in the post-colonial world.
Successive governments that came after Nehru's demise variously sidetracked from the broad founding principles of the nation. However, the final nail in the coffin came with economic liberalization in the post-soviet 1990s spearheaded ironically by the same Congress party that Nehru belonged to but led by P V Narasimha Rao. While liberalization was certainly an idea whose time had come, was India right in embracing capitalism with all the vigor and spineless urgency that it did? Should the country have made the transformation in a much more balanced and nuanced manner while at least paying homage to the principles of mixed economy? Answers to these questions might be evident if we examine the self-proclaimed capitalist societies around the world, especially the USA, the quintessential capitalist country.
Evidently, communism proved to be unsustainable worldwide. On the flip side, how successful has capitalism been? Did the wealth really trickle down and lift the poor people in capitalist countries out of poverty? A spate of surveys done in the USA recently show that top 0.1 percent of Americans are now worth more than the entire bottom 90 percent of the population. The wealth of the top 1 percent grew exponentially even in the years of economic recession while the savings of the middle and low income classes sunk rock-bottom. So, why the clamor for capitalism in India? While the lopsidedness of avowed capitalism is so self-evident, why are the middle-classes of India easily sold to the idea of a capitalist economy being panacea to all ills? The only answer that makes sense is that they are living in a world of "ignorance is bliss".
Capitalist USA prods countries such as India through institutions like World Bank, IMF, etc. to cut spending on welfare and stop giving 'sops' to the poor and needy of the country. Welfare schemes such as free electricity to farmers, subsidized cereals and government health care are berated by these institutes and our governments are increasingly hostile to the idea of public welfare. No wonder then our public health parameters are so dismal - 7% of Indian children die before their 5th birthday (as opposed to 0.8% of American children), 46 out of every 1000 Indian infants die (this rate is better in North Korea @ 26/1000 and 6/1000 in the USA), India ranks 139 out of 187 in death rate.
The irony I want to point out here is that the USA, despite its thrust on capitalism implements some of the largest welfare schemes in the free market world today and perhaps in history. If not for these welfare measures, the bottom 90% of Americans would have vanished by now. As successive Indian governments vie to prove themselves better than the former in withdrawing from the public sphere, washing their hands off from the public health sector and turning a blind eye to the suffering of the poor, both free-market loving republicans and self-proclaimed socially conscious democrats in the USA remain loyal to welfare measures. Let us examine a few of these mass-scale welfare measures implemented by none other than the American government itself:
Social Security - First initiated in 1920s by Franklin Roosevelt, this program has only grown exponentially through successive democratic and republican Presidencies. True to its literal meaning, this program serves the old (>65 years) and disabled American citizens. It is estimated that Social security serves pay checks to roughly 20% of the US population amounting to 1.3 trillion dollars (almost 9% of the GNP of USA). Millions of Americans sustain today only because of social security. Yet, the debate today is largely on how to keep this program alive rather than scrapping it in spite of the economic recession and other constraints. Can India ever come close to such a scheme? It would be a feat if the government now headed by pro-corporate Modi even tries to sustain the meager spending in the welfare sector without further cuts!
Medicare - Health insurance program administered by the US federal government since 1966. Again, the benefits of this program were only widened by successive governments irrespective of republican vs democrat, including most recently by George W Bush in 2003 when a massive prescription drug benefit was added. It is estimated that roughly 47% of all hospitalizations in the USA are covered by Medicare. This program accounts for about 15% of the USA federal government spending today. It virtually provides a health safety net for most uninsured Americans. Apart from this, there is also Medicaid and other state-level health insurance programs that serve the disadvantaged. That sounds more like socialism than anything else. Still, no serious politician in the USA will ever talk about cutting back on Medicare because such is the impact of this program on the welfare of American citizens.
Obamacare - The Affordable Health Care act passed under the stewardship of Obama guarantees that no American citizen can be denied healthcare by private insurance companies on the basis of pre-existing illness. In spite of its loopholes, this law has brought millions in to the fold of healthcare with the stroke of a pen. Again, perfect example of a welfare state than a capitalist monster.
In addition to these massive government spending programs that cater to the poor and needy of the capitalist states of America, the US federal and state governments provide numerous subsidies to farmers, war veterans, mentally and physically disabled citizens. Why are the American leaders implementing these measures? Perhaps they want to remain loyal to their founding principles - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to their citizens! Even Donald Trump, a flamboyant billionaire considered ‘extreme’ has not taken an ant-welfare stance and more over promised to sustain and even expand social security benefits.
Then why the mad clamor in India for an unabashed capitalist economy? Why do the middle classes and the half-baked media intellectuals frown at the very idea of state-sponsored welfare schemes geared towards the millions of Indian poor people? What good is 'governance' if it does not have the heart to respond to the suffering of the sick and impoverished? Is the role of an Indian government (state or central) only to cater to the whims and fancies of the corporate 'investors'? They are 'investing' in what? Their own profit and nothing else. For the meager jobs that they claim to create, the popularly elected heads of Indian states prostate at the feet of these corporate giants and mortgage the lands and lives of the people of the soil. Chief Ministers such as Chandrababu Naidu proudly flaunt their pro-corporate credentials while demonizing welfare schemes. Not a single leader today is bold enough to proudly take a welfare stance. They better take a leaf out of the American welfare book! Hope they realize the founding principles of this nation and stay loyal to them.
Bio: I am a liberal thinker with a progressive world view. I am from Hyderabad. A doctor by profession. Now working in the USA. Email: [email protected]