The timing Mr.Frazer Mascarenhas, the principal of St.Xavier's college, colaba chooses to put out this appeal is just a giveaway right there. It's a sinister plot to cloud people's judgement disguised as a document wanting "to encourage debate". If debate is what he intended he would have put it out long back and given us time but this is just an effort to offer last minute ammunition to Modi bashers, fired from the "I-hold-a-big-post-in-an-reputed-institution-so-listen-to-me" gun just a day before polls. Tomorrow polls come to Mumbai and he comes out with the regular anti modi staple: "nothing great in Gujarat", "save India from communal forces".
Lets take it apart bit by bit.
He begins:
"Gujarat has had a terrible experience in the last 10 years."
Here's the list of "terrible experiences":
From The above linked article:
Begin with the accomplishments of Gujarat. No doubt, the state saw strong growth even during the 1990s, before Modi became chief minister. But growth rate during that decade fluctuated wildly from year to year. The state`s economy also suffered a massive shock from the earthquake in 2000-01, just before Modi became chief minister.
Under Modi, the Gujarat eco-nomy not only made speedy recovery from the shock, its growth rate also accelerated significantly and became much more stable in the subsequent years. The average growth rate of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) during the Modi years, 2001-02 to 2011-12, edged out those in Bihar, Haryana and Maharashtra.
"Is the growth of big business, the making of huge profits, and the achievement of high production – what we seek? Or is it the quality of life for the majority in terms of affordable basic goods and services and the freedom to take forward the cultural aspirations of our plural social groups that make up India?"
How does he plan to achieve "affordable basic goods and services", "quality of life" without high production? When "big businesses" grow and make a profit that's when jobs are created in the country. Advances in production technology has what brought the human race to where it is - for e.g. we had the nokia dabba phones in 2003 and today pretty good smart phones are available at that price, isn't this high (and effective) production and not to forget no govt gave us the smart phones, tablets, android but the "big businesses" by their R&D, drive to innovate and most importantly the wish to earn a profit and it is this profit which he scorns.
"As opposed to this, efforts like the Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act have been called “election sops”. However some of our best social scientists like Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze have supported these as necessary in the emergency economic situation the country and the world is facing. The country is grateful that committed activists like Aruna Roy and Shailesh Gandhi have worked with the Government to initiate and sustain the Right to Information Act which makes accountability possible."
Does the NREGS Cause Inflation? :
Lot has been written how all the "yojanas" are ridden with corruption, increase the fiscal deficit hence the inflation etc. Notice he very expertly calls it the "rojgar yojana" and not the actual name: "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)" because it straight away establishes the point that it's in fact an election sop tagged with the mighty "Gandhis". He tells us about sen and dreze, both are socialist economists and it's established that socialist policies like these have only helped in keeping the poor where they are and making them more dependent on the govt thus making them the biggest vote bank.
The supreme court has lauded Gujarat in the better implementation of various schemes. Aruna Roy with her NAC has caused lot of damage too which can be found on the internet and beyond the scope here.
Countries with more Economic freedom, which is a characteristic of free markets (opposite to sen and dreze's socialism) do well on literacy, infrastructure, HDI, are less corrupt and obviously have a higher std. of living. One look at the economic freedom index, corruption index and various other indexes will confirm this fact. And its worth mentioning here Gujarat is the most economically free state in India as ranked by Cato institute.
"A massive investment in health and education is sorely needed in our country of widening disparities and those who support big business and its unethical profits will never agree to such public expenditure for the masses. In fact, the worsening situation of environmental degradation and depletion, in the lunge for growth and profit, shows up the real intentions of the greedy. None can withstand this, as seen by the many clearances given in a week’s time after the recent change of guard at the Central Environment Ministry, which had earlier tried to hold the line under a different Minister."
Massive investment in health and education is what has been going on till now and the results are here for all to see. Free market economics has better solutions like education vouchers, negative income tax etc. to solve these problems. But this letter is dipped in left wing socialism, "public expenditure for the masses" is what kept congress in power because robbing peter to pay Paul ensures Paul's support. And to finance these India needs economic growth backed by a robust pvt sector which is not going to happen if Modi doesn't win this election, the market sentiments have confirmed this already.
The Vajpayee govt gave us the first real free market reforms which later propelled the economy to 8% growth rate. Vajpayee govt was voted out in 2004 and since then it's been a decade of decay. Modi offers India his free market, pro entrepreneurship vision in the form of "minimum govt, maximum governance".
"So what lessons does a reflection on the approaching elections teach us? The prospect of an alliance of corporate capital and communal forces coming to power constitutes a real threat to the future of our secular democracy. Support for people who pledge to work to take Human Development Indicators higher and who commit themselves to a pluralistic culture in diverse India – this is the hope for the future. No magic wand or divine miracles will come to the aid of the Indian people. Their reasoned choice of individuals and political parties who promise to work for a real quality of life for all, will see India prosper or flounder on the precipice. Choose well!"
The lesson here is that economic growth should be the most important issue this election and the country must shun socialist left wing policies (iterated throughout the appeal) which have kept India poor and corrupt since independence. Only free market and governance reforms, which only Modi stands for at the moment will achieve a higher standard of living for India, and as literacy, healthcare and a better life reaches the people and India moves forward becoming a middle income country communal conflicts will mitigate on their own as they always do in rich nations. Once growth is back and everyone has opportunities to a prosperous life, people are not going to sit and bother themselves with what magic their neighbors believe in.
Choose well indeed.
Lets take it apart bit by bit.
He begins:
"Gujarat has had a terrible experience in the last 10 years."
Here's the list of "terrible experiences":
- 24 hour power to the vast majority of people for the first time in the history of Gujarat,
- the provision of piped gas to many including rural households,
- changing a considerably drought prone state into a water surplus state for all practical purposes
- Consistently high agricultural growth,
- consistently high private investment after Modi took over,
- consistently high manufacturing growth
From The above linked article:
Begin with the accomplishments of Gujarat. No doubt, the state saw strong growth even during the 1990s, before Modi became chief minister. But growth rate during that decade fluctuated wildly from year to year. The state`s economy also suffered a massive shock from the earthquake in 2000-01, just before Modi became chief minister.
Under Modi, the Gujarat eco-nomy not only made speedy recovery from the shock, its growth rate also accelerated significantly and became much more stable in the subsequent years. The average growth rate of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) during the Modi years, 2001-02 to 2011-12, edged out those in Bihar, Haryana and Maharashtra.
______________
"Is the growth of big business, the making of huge profits, and the achievement of high production – what we seek? Or is it the quality of life for the majority in terms of affordable basic goods and services and the freedom to take forward the cultural aspirations of our plural social groups that make up India?"
How does he plan to achieve "affordable basic goods and services", "quality of life" without high production? When "big businesses" grow and make a profit that's when jobs are created in the country. Advances in production technology has what brought the human race to where it is - for e.g. we had the nokia dabba phones in 2003 and today pretty good smart phones are available at that price, isn't this high (and effective) production and not to forget no govt gave us the smart phones, tablets, android but the "big businesses" by their R&D, drive to innovate and most importantly the wish to earn a profit and it is this profit which he scorns.
"As opposed to this, efforts like the Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act have been called “election sops”. However some of our best social scientists like Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze have supported these as necessary in the emergency economic situation the country and the world is facing. The country is grateful that committed activists like Aruna Roy and Shailesh Gandhi have worked with the Government to initiate and sustain the Right to Information Act which makes accountability possible."
Does the NREGS Cause Inflation? :
So what is the NREGS doing? If it is merely printing money and handing it to unemployed people (who are not producing anything), then it leads to inflation. This inflation reduces the real incomes of people who are producing something. So in this case, it is a pure income redistribution scheme. Drèze knows this as he knows basic economics. But he cannot admit the truth because his job depends on being economical with the truth.
Lot has been written how all the "yojanas" are ridden with corruption, increase the fiscal deficit hence the inflation etc. Notice he very expertly calls it the "rojgar yojana" and not the actual name: "Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)" because it straight away establishes the point that it's in fact an election sop tagged with the mighty "Gandhis". He tells us about sen and dreze, both are socialist economists and it's established that socialist policies like these have only helped in keeping the poor where they are and making them more dependent on the govt thus making them the biggest vote bank.
The supreme court has lauded Gujarat in the better implementation of various schemes. Aruna Roy with her NAC has caused lot of damage too which can be found on the internet and beyond the scope here.
Countries with more Economic freedom, which is a characteristic of free markets (opposite to sen and dreze's socialism) do well on literacy, infrastructure, HDI, are less corrupt and obviously have a higher std. of living. One look at the economic freedom index, corruption index and various other indexes will confirm this fact. And its worth mentioning here Gujarat is the most economically free state in India as ranked by Cato institute.
"A massive investment in health and education is sorely needed in our country of widening disparities and those who support big business and its unethical profits will never agree to such public expenditure for the masses. In fact, the worsening situation of environmental degradation and depletion, in the lunge for growth and profit, shows up the real intentions of the greedy. None can withstand this, as seen by the many clearances given in a week’s time after the recent change of guard at the Central Environment Ministry, which had earlier tried to hold the line under a different Minister."
Massive investment in health and education is what has been going on till now and the results are here for all to see. Free market economics has better solutions like education vouchers, negative income tax etc. to solve these problems. But this letter is dipped in left wing socialism, "public expenditure for the masses" is what kept congress in power because robbing peter to pay Paul ensures Paul's support. And to finance these India needs economic growth backed by a robust pvt sector which is not going to happen if Modi doesn't win this election, the market sentiments have confirmed this already.
The Vajpayee govt gave us the first real free market reforms which later propelled the economy to 8% growth rate. Vajpayee govt was voted out in 2004 and since then it's been a decade of decay. Modi offers India his free market, pro entrepreneurship vision in the form of "minimum govt, maximum governance".
"So what lessons does a reflection on the approaching elections teach us? The prospect of an alliance of corporate capital and communal forces coming to power constitutes a real threat to the future of our secular democracy. Support for people who pledge to work to take Human Development Indicators higher and who commit themselves to a pluralistic culture in diverse India – this is the hope for the future. No magic wand or divine miracles will come to the aid of the Indian people. Their reasoned choice of individuals and political parties who promise to work for a real quality of life for all, will see India prosper or flounder on the precipice. Choose well!"
The lesson here is that economic growth should be the most important issue this election and the country must shun socialist left wing policies (iterated throughout the appeal) which have kept India poor and corrupt since independence. Only free market and governance reforms, which only Modi stands for at the moment will achieve a higher standard of living for India, and as literacy, healthcare and a better life reaches the people and India moves forward becoming a middle income country communal conflicts will mitigate on their own as they always do in rich nations. Once growth is back and everyone has opportunities to a prosperous life, people are not going to sit and bother themselves with what magic their neighbors believe in.
Choose well indeed.
