Cooperatives Catalyst For The Future

Cooperatives - catalyst for the future By Acarya Samanvayananda Avadhuta Cooperatives constitute the mode of grass-roots development. Today, while Europe is moving towards becoming a federation of nations, Asian nations face economic crisis and keep turning to Europe, the IMF and the World Bank to come to their rescue by encouraging foreign investments in the Asian region. This amounts to giving big concessions (i.e. removing national safeguards in the name of liberalizing the economy) to multinationals to set up manufacturing plants for low-tech and hightech consumer products to be then exported for consumption in developed countries. This kind of over-supply oriented industrial development reaches a saturation point and then sets off economic recession. In any case this export-oriented industrial development helps provide employment in the urban centres. It does not result in the technological development of the developing countries since this is not on the business agenda of multinationals. Most of all this type of economic colonization never remedies the rural areas where the bulk of the population resides and where poverty since liberalization is now most abject. Essentially this amounts to inviting multinationals to cheaply buy off sick industries in Asian countries. While this might supposedly sustain employment, it will result in economic colonization and crippling of indigenous entrepreneurship as well as the collapse of rural economic and cultural structure. This is especially the case in countries with extreme corruption (like India and other developing nations of Asia, Africa & South America) where all safeguards are flouted by politicians in return for bribes, (not to mention their direct theft of aid money) generating a spiraling amount of “black’ money. This is also an inherent instability associated with dependence on multinationals based industrial development. When the market demand for their products decreases due to over-saturation of the market, they lay off people in the hundreds. Also when they find exploitative regimes where labour is cheaper, they transfer their operation to the new locale without feeling any sense of responsibility or remorse. The present Pacific-Asian economic crisis is merely one example of this. The same scenario is repeated in the industrial heartland of America. The correct approach would be to use IMF, World Bank or UNDP funds and/or loans for development of rural communities and inner cities through local resource development by the local people, if needs be with the assistance of experts from outside. However it is certainly not wise to invite outside parties to come in and divert profits outside. In general, it is PROUT policy in times of difficulty to try to entirely trade on a barter basis. Our solution to this problem is grass roots development in the form of cooperatives and master units to form self-reliant communities by reaching out into and uniting the surrounding villages or microcommunities. A master unit should comprise of small farms, a seed center, primary healthcare centre, primary school, community centre (for social and spiritual functions), small-scale enterprises (such as making clothes or solar heating units). Essentially, a master unit is an implementation of what we have been describing to be the extended role of cooperatives. To this master unit we can invite representatives of the surrounding community. We can propose to them to develop agricultural & dairy cooperatives as well as processing & distribution cooperatives. It should be emphasized to them that the

cooperatives will be managed by them, and will give them financial security as well as grant them decent living, education and healthcare facilities in a spiritual environment. The master unit directors along with the community representatives can apply for a bank loan to purchase agricultural technology to augment agricultural productivity, and build a factory to make processed food products from the harvest produce. The cooperatives will be developed as detailed in previous chapters. From the revenue the agricultural and factory cooperative members as well as bank loans will be paid. The first priority in community development would be to enable people to earn a living, such as through farming (agriculture and/or cattle rearing) and agro-based industries (such as dairy). Simultaneously these cooperatives would help develop some basic community services, such as water supply, healthcare, and education. As the children of members get educated and learn trades, their acumen can be utilized in the community to further the development of industries and services such as electrical power, public health, public transport, etc. In this way education and community services can be developed in tandem and stepwise, supported by the increasing revenue generated from agriculture, dairy farming and even cottage industries. Furthermore the development of strong moralist spiritualists (through spiritual practice) can in turn cause more and more community members to join as moralist spiritual aspirants. This will cause Neo-Humanism to flower, which alone can remove the bitter ethnic and other social prejudices that have been causing so much suffering from the dawn of human society to our own, most bloody, 20th century. As we have seen in detail through the course of this book, the entire human community would be able to become established in the vital essence of cooperation – devotional service. This is the mechanism of not merely self-reliant community development. This is the way for the advancement of the human race to the spiritual realm, to cosmic humanity. Thus cooperatives are the primary path (marga) on which humanity can harmonize with this world in its quest for self-realization as Bliss (a’nanda) or the Supreme Consciousness. It aims not merely to create one Vrinda’van (village transformed by Lord Krishna’s charming presence into a sweet devotional community), but to make every village a Vrindavan; not merely to create one Vara’nasi (the first city in the world, created by Lord Shiva’s affectionate presence into an intensely powerful spiritual centre), but to make every city into a Varanasi. While some may merely hope for this, those devotees who are being blessed by the rapturously tender presence of Lord Anandamurtiji know that this human community will be blissfully transformed from a physical and psychic existence into a devotional existence – a life immersed in our Beloved, in Supreme Consciousness. “I want every human being to be guaranteed the minimum physical requirements of life; every human being to get scope for the full exploitation of his or her psychic potentiality; every human being to get equal opportunity to attain absolute truth; and endowed with all the glories and achievements of the world, to march towards the Absolute. In and through this movement, humanity should be made conscious of the purpose and meaning of life.” - Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar Copyright Proutist Universal 2000