Global Prout Convention Souvenir 2009 - Articles

Inspiration: SHRII P. R. Sarkar

Editor: Acarya Siddhayogananda Avt.

CONTENTS CONTENTS

PAGE NO.

Editorial What the Scholars say about Prout The Cosmic brotherhood………………………............................... 01

Editorial Board: Acarya Ramayananda Avt. Acarya Shubhacetanananda Avt. Acarya Rasabuddhananda Avt. Acrya Paramananda Avt. Acrya Samvedananda Avt. Acarya Sainjiivananda Avt. Acarya Pranesh Brc. Srii R. D. Singh

Prout and the Socio Economic Crisis………..…............................ 05 SAMAJ - The All-round Application of Prout……………................ 12 Co-operatives …………............…………....................................... 17 Leadership in the Proutist Order…....………….............................. 20 Economic Democracy……………………………........................... 24 PROUT Vision, Concept and the Methodology…......................... 26

Published by: Acarya Nirmeghananda Avt.

List of Socio-Economic Units of the World..................................... 30

on behalf of PROUTIST UNIVERSAL JC-48 Khirki Extn. Main Road Malviya Nagar New Delhi - 110017 India.

Batra's Forecasting Record............................................................ 45

Coming Global Economic Tsunami……………….......................... 33

The US Economy........................................................................... 49 Economic Evolution....................................................................... 53 Small Business.............................................................................. 55 Society Changes........................................................................... 56

Printed and designed By: Ananda Printing Press 20B/12B Muir Rd. Allahabad 211002 PH: 0532 -2548653

News & Views................................................................................ 57 Stimulation from Prout's................................................................. 63

izmr] lekt vkUnksyu ,oa fo'o ljdkj................................... 64 ØkfUr dk vkg~oku ...................................................................... 69 ty laj{k.k ds fy, gkfnZd vihy............................................ 70

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar The Propounder of PROUT

Editorial : The Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) was first propounded by Shrii P. R. Sarkar in Jamalpur (Bihar), India in 1959. 2009 is the Golden Jubilee Year of the deliverance of the PROUT Philosophy. At the time of emergence of PROUT, the world was divided in two blocks : capitalist and communist. It was a bi-polar world. But by the end of 1989 we witnessed the downfall of communism and the world became uni-polar. The problem with marxism is the hasty conclusion of judging only two classes. Marx saw man as an economic being. He denied the existence of soul and gave little importance to the mind. Marxism thus failed to evaluate the importance of human psychology. This lack of insight or foresight is the reason for the downfall of communism. By the end of 2008 the world has witnessed the collapse of capitalism. The much appraised 'Free Market Economy' has failed to lessen the gap between poor and rich. Accumulation, mis-utilization and non-utilization of wealth have divided the society into two groups : haves and have-nots. The haves got degenerated because of plenty, while the have-nots have degraded because of poverty and scarcity. The reason for most of the sins and crimes in the world today is the lack of proper balance and harmony in the physical, mental and spiritual strata of life. The matter-centered (communism) and the self-centered (capitalism) outlooks of life are responsible for all the socio-moral forms of degeneration and the global crisis. Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of States of United States, writes in 'The Times of India', October 16th 2009, in the article 'World without Hunger' that, “People who are starving or under-nourished have no incomes and can't care for their families, they are left with feelings of hopelessness and despair. That desperation can lead to tension, conflict and even violence. When so much of man kind works hard everyday but still can't support their families, the whole world is held back.” Further : “We have spent too many years and too much money on development projects that have not yielded lasting results, but we have learned from these efforts. We know that the most effective strategies emanate from those closest to the problems, not foreign governments or institutions thousands of miles away. And we know that development works best when it is seen not as aid but as investment.” Mrs. Hillary Clinton's statement is very close to the PROUT philosophy, which advocates the policy of Decentralized Economy, Economic Democracy and Cooperatives. This 'Global PROUT Convention' will deliberate and evaluate in detail the cause of various SocioEconomic crises of the world and find out the ever lasting Proutistic solutions.

What Scholars and Activists say about PROUT: "PROUT always stands for the cause of exploited people, irrespective of race, nation, religion, etc., and always opposes all types of exploitation. But as poverty is the main problem in the world today, PROUT gives top priority to opposing economic exploitation, as this affects the livelihood and existence of the people." -- Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Founder of PROUT "Alternative visions are crucial at this moment in history. PROUT's co-operative model of economic democracy, based on cardinal human values and sharing of the planet for the welfare of everyone, deserves our serious consideration." -- Noam Chomsky, world renowned Professor, Author and Justice Activist "PROUT is the alternative to Capitalism and Communism." -- Ravi Batra, Economist and Author "PROUT is very important for grassroots groups and for all who yearn for a liberation which starts from economics and opens to the totality of personal and social human existence." -- Leonardo Boff, Founder of Liberation Theology "Sarkar's theory is far superior to Adam Smith's or to that of Karl Marx." -- Johan Galtung, Founder UN Institute of Peace Studies "P. R: Sarkar, in his own way, is more than the equal of the great historian Arnold Toynbee. Sarkar not only illuminated the growth and inevitable decline that comes from the capitalist stage in societal evolution, but offers wise counsel on what to do instead." -- Oliver W. Markley, Professor, University of Houston, and Author of "Changing Images of Mankind" PROUT is an explicit and coherent alternative to marxism and liberalism. PROUT is a synthesis Of decentralist theory, Tantra, cooperative economics, transpersonal psychology, etc." -- Mark Satin, Author of "New Age Politics", Editor of "New Options" "As PROUT advises, the best use of developmental finance is to develop cooperatives." -- Jaroslav Vanek, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and Author of "The Participatory Economy" "PROUT is an important contribution to rethinking the disastrous course of the current economic globalization." -- Hazel Henderson, Economist, Author of "Beyond Globalization" "I had no idea! I'm a Proutist!“ -- Trent Schroyer; Chairperson of “The Other Economic Summit”, upon hearing a presentation on PROUT "P.R. Sarkar was one of the greatest modern philosophers of India.” -- Giani Zail Singh, Former President of India

The Cosmic Brotherhood – Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar Spirituality is not a Utopian ideal but a practical philosophy which can be practiced and realized in day-today life, however mundane it may be. Spirituality stands for evolution and elevation, and not for superstition in action or pessimism. All fissiparous tendencies and group or clan philosophies which tend to create the shackles of narrow-mindedness are in no way connected with spirituality and should be discouraged. That which leads to broadness of vision alone should be accepted. Spiritual philosophy does not recognize any distinctions and differentiations unnaturally made between one human being and another, and stands for universal fraternity. In the present environment many fissiparous tendencies are working to divide humanity into mutually belligerent groups. Spirituality must inculcate sense in human psychology, and develop a natural affinity within this species of the creation. The approach of spirituality should be psychological and rational, and should offer a touching appeal to the deepest psychic sentiments of human beings. Human beings should appreciate their relationship with the Cosmic Entity by a rational analysis and recognize the most benevolent kindness of the most beloved Entity. Spirituality should lead human beings to the one Cosmic Truth from which they have derived their selves, and which is the ultimate destiny. That ultimate and absolute ideal is the Cosmic Ideal – an ideal beyond the scope of time, place and person. It is the Absolute, without and beyond relativity. It stands with its own lustre for all times and for every factor of the Cosmos, may it be for a human being or a less-evolved animal. The Cosmic Ideal alone can be the unifying force which shall strengthen humanity to smash the bondages and abolish all narrow domestic walls of the fissiparous tendencies. All the sentiment-provoking ideas should be firmly opposed. This does not mean an attack on those sentiments, traditions and habits which are innate to human beings and which do not hamper their cosmic development. For example, the movement for uniformity in dress for all people will be nothing but a ridiculous and irrational approach. Different selections of dress are the result of climatic factors and corporal necessities. Moreover, dissimilarity in dress is not detrimental to world fraternity. There will also be many zonal or regional differences as regards to traditions and customs. These should be appreciated and encouraged for the indigenous development of society. But under no circumstances should there be a compromise in principle or yielding to tendencies detrimental to the inculcation of a Cosmic Sentiment. The inspiration of a Cosmic Sentiment will depend upon certain objective physical problems which must be solved on a collective humanitarian basis. In the relative objective sphere, the following few fundamental problems must be attempted at [being tackled] and solved. These are: 1. Common philosophy of life; 2. Same constitutional structure; 3. Common penal code; 4. Availability (through production, supply and purchasing capacity) of the minimum essentialities of life.

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Common Philosophy of Life Conceiving a common philosophy of life demands clarity in the human mind that the development of the human personality means an evolution in all the three spheres – physical, metaphysical or mental, and spiritual. Some objective materialist thinkers have held the opinion that spirituality is a Utopian philosophy, bereft of practicalities pertaining to actual problems of life. Other thinkers conceived it as a wise and intelligent device to befool the toiling mass. But this logical analysis given above must have had also clarified to thoughtful readers that spirituality is the summum bonum of life in all its aspects. Those who think dharma to be an individual's concern have conceived it in a very narrow sense. Dharma leads to Cosmic Unity, inculcating in the individual mind Cosmic Idealism. Universal religion or spirituality, in the sense of dharma, is the unifying force in humanity. Moreover, spirituality provides a human being and humanity at large with that subtle and tremendous power with which no other power can be compared. Therefore, with spirituality as the base, a rational philosophy should be evolved to deal with the physical, psychological and sociophilosophical problems of the day. The complete rational theory dealing with all three phases - spiritual, mental and physical - of human development shall be a philosophy common to humanity in general. This will be evolving and ever progressing. Of course, small details and adjustments may vary according to the relative environment of the age. Nationalism is fast becoming out of date. Not only has national sentiment given humanity rude shocks in the world wars of the present* century, but the social and cultural blending of the present age also shows the domination of cosmopolitanism in world affairs. Vested interests, however, continue to cause certain fissiparous tendencies. There are some who fear loss of their economic or political domination and are directly responsible for these detrimental or retrograde reactions.

Same Constitutional Structure Despite these obstacles, a social blending of humanity is in progress and needs a common constitutional structure to be evolved in order to cement the solidarity of the world. A world government is also very essential for exercising full control in certain spheres; for example, there should be only one world militia. The world government should form certain autonomous units, not necessarily national (based on problems of education, food supply, flood control, public sentiment), which should look after mundane and supramundane problems. The boundaries of these units may be readjusted to suit any changes in the environment – for instance, development in techniques of communication. The development of the means of communication brings the different remote parts of the world nearer, and the world, therefore, grows smaller. With a well-developed and swifter means of communication, units with bigger areas can work smoothly and efficiently. A language shall also evolve as the lingua franca of the world. (At present English is most suitable for the purpose and no national sentiments should be encouraged against it.) But the local languages must be encouraged to help the indigenous literatures to develop and contribute towards world progress, and thereby contribute to the common brotherhood of humanity.

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Common Penal Code A common penal code must be developed. The legislation must be progressive and capable of gradual adjustments with the prevalent conditions. Any theory which does not hold a parallelism with the ever-changing conditions of time, place and person is sure to decay and become lost in oblivion. Hence, there must be a neverending effort for amendments with the view of rectification. Crimes are acts forbidden by the law of the concerned government, and virtue and vice (pun'ya and pa'pa) are the outcome of traditional customs. The sentiments of the lawmakers are very much influenced by the prevalent traditions and customs regarding the concept of virtue and vice of the locality and of the people concerned. The sense of crime, therefore, has a parallelism with the concept of virtue and vice. The idea of virtue and vice is different in different countries. The aspirants of world fraternity should try to lessen the difference and reduce the gap amongst cardinal, moral and human laws. All those actions which in general help in the growth of the spiritual, mental and physical aspects of human beings should come under the category of virtuous deeds, and those actions which go against humanity in its spiritual, mental and physical development must come under "vice". This conception of virtue and vice applies commonly to humanity as a whole.

Minimum Essentialities of Life The availability of the minimum essentialities of life plays a vital part not only in achieving world brotherhood, but also in the development of the human personality. This should be tackled on a world footing, and should be based on certain fundamental presumptions. Every human being has certain minimum requirements which he or she must have guaranteed. The guaranteed availability of food nourishment, clothing, medical assistance and housing accommodations should be arranged in such a way so that human beings may be able to utilize their surplus energy – up till now engaged in procuring the basic needs of life – in subtler pursuits. Side by side, there should also be sufficient scope for providing other amenities of the progressive age. To fulfil the above responsibilities, enough purchasing capacity should be created. If the supply of requirements is guaranteed without considering any conditions of personal skills and labour, the individual may develop the psychology of idleness. The minimum requirements of every person are the same, but diversity is also the nature of creation. Special amenities should, therefore, be provided so that diversity in skill and intelligence is fully utilized, and talent is encouraged to contribute its best towards human development. Therefore, it will be necessary to make provisions for special emoluments which can cater for special amenities of life according to the age and time. But simultaneously there should be a constant effort to reduce the gap between the amount of special compensations and the bare minimum requirements of the average individual. The guaranteed supply of minimum requirements must be liberalized by increasing the provision of special amenities pertaining to the age and, also, by concurrently bringing about a decrease in the provision of special compensations given to the few. This never-ending effort of proper economic adjustment must ceaselessly continue at all times with a view of assisting the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of human beings, and allowing humanity to develop a Cosmic Sentiment for a Cosmic Ideal and world fraternity. SOUVENIR - 2009

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In this socio-economic set-up, people are at full liberty in the spiritual and mental spheres. This is possible because the spiritual and psychic entities for which people can aspire are themselves unlimited, and the extent of possession in this sphere does not hamper the progress of others in their quests. But the supply in the physical sphere is limited, and hence any effort for disproportionate or unrestricted acquisition of physical objects has every possibility of creating a vast majority of have-nots, and thus hampering the spiritual, mental and physical growth of the larger majority. So, while dealing with the problem of individual liberty, it must be kept in view that individual liberty in the physical sphere must not be allowed to cross a limit whereat it is instrumental in hampering the development of the complete personality of human beings; and, at the same time, it must not be so drastically curtailed that the spiritual, mental and physical growth of human beings is hampered. Thus, the social philosophy of Ananda Marga advocates the development of the integrated personality of the individual, and also the establishment of a world fraternity, inculcating a Cosmic Sentiment in the human psychology . The path advocates progressive utilization of all mundane and supramundane factors of the Cosmos. The society needs a stir for life, vigor and progress, and for this Ananda Marga advocates the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), meaning thereby progressive utilization of all factors. Those who support this principle may be termed "Proutists". The principles of PROUT depend upon the following fundamental factors: 1. No individual should be allowed to accumulate any physical wealth without the clear permission or approval of the collective body. 2. There should be maximum utilization and rational distribution of all mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe. 3. There should be maximum utilization of physical, metaphysical and spiritual potentialities of unit and collective bodies of human society. 4. There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual utilizations. 5. The method of utilization should vary in accordance with changes in time, space and person, and this utilization should be of progressive nature.

__________________ * N.E.: The author refers to the past twentieth century, when the discourse was given.

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PROUT and the Socio-Economic Crisis – PROUT Research Institute (P.R.I.) On 23rd January 2008, in Geneva, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has said in its report that during the year 2008 the number of unemployed people would increase by more than 5 million all over the world – the percentage of unemployment would rise up to 6.15%. The much publicized increase of GNP, GDP and the rate of development has done very little towards increasing employment and reducing poverty. The Indian economy is developing at the average rate of 9.6, but millions of people in India gain nothing from this seemingly attractive development. This is proving to be a mirage for the poor people. According to the government’s own report, 70% of the Indian population is unable to earn more than Rs. 20 per day. Even a portion of this 70% population just manages the daily expenses with a mere Rs. 12 daily. This is an unjust, inhuman and utterly imbalanced economic development. In fact, the benefit of this prodigious and appealing development goes to a much lesser percentage of the population. The already astounding gap between the high and low income groups is ever increasing. This trend shows that there is more and more concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The wealth of the world's 200 richest people more than doubled during the last 7 years, reaching more than 1 trillion dollars. This is more than the combined income of half of the world's population. For example, in 1970, about 90% of international capital was used for trade and long-term investmentmore or less for productive things, and 10% for speculation. By 1990, those figures had reversed. Governance is increasingly in the hands of huge private institutions and their representatives. Power over investment decision, production and commerce is centralized. Participation of the local people and the community is often not allowed as a matter of principle, law and custom. There is vast unemployment and plenty of people are eager to work, but the economic system does not bring together the much needed work and the unemployed hands and engagement of the suffering people. This has created a monstrous socio-economic upheaval in our social system, resulting in the increase of crime, violence, terrorism, poverty, miseries, stress, tension, decrease in working efficiency and economic depression. The devastating effect of the global economic depression will not remain confined to the physical stratum, but will also cause psychic derangement and mental degeneration. We need to find solution of the impending devastation and dangers. Historically, both the capitalistic and communist systems have failed to solve fundamental socio-economic problems. Rather, under these systems society has become deeply entrenched in myriads of vicious cycles of decay. To help facilitate the change from both the current decadent and outdated economic systems towards a just world for the benefit of all, the renowned philosopher and thinker of 20th century Shrii P.R. Sarkar has propounded the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) in 1959. PROUT offers unprecedented insight and valuable guidance on the maximum utilization and rational distribution of all resources and potentialities – physical, mental, mundane, supramundane and spiritual. To eradicate poverty and bring about a just, equitable and humanitarian socio-economic system, a proper plan and program is needed. PROUT's concept of positive socio-economic groupification (not SOUVENIR - 2009

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compartmentalization) is designed to embrace the all-round welfare of the people in their respective areas and to bring humanity on a common and just ideological base which reflects the unity within diversity. Each community unit will become self-reliant and prosperous, and the interest of the native or local people will be guaranteed. For ensuring the ever increasing prosperity of the people, the requisite guiding principles of PROUT are as follows : l The minimum requirements of each and everyone should be guaranteed; l The surplus wealth which remains after the fulfilment of the minimum requirements should be distributed

amongst the meritorious people, whose services to society are rare and special; l There should be progressive increase in the purchasing capacity; l There must be provision of special amenities to all and a progressive increase in the provision of both minimum requirements and special amenities. The above principles foster the rational distribution and maximum utilization of all resources of the universe. For their materialization, proper planning is required. According to PROUT, the developmental planning should be decentralized, and it should not follow a top-down approach, but rather be applied through an organic bottom-up process. The smallest unit of planning in PROUT is the block level planning. The vision of a Proutistic planning is built upon the precepts of: l l l

Self-reliance; Sustainability; and Progress.

The formation of socio-economic units throughout the world will help to achieve the above mentioned vision. Several factors in a particular area should be considered while forming socio-economic units. These include : l Same economic problems; l Uniform economic potentialities; l Ethnic similarities and/or unopposing mixed ethnicity; l Sentimental legacy; l Similar geographical features.

Each socio-economic unit will have a number of blocks. The demarcation and reorganization of blocks should include factors such as topography, natural resources, the river valley composition, cultural conditions, communications, economic potentialities, and others. The planners will first collect data of all its resources and potentialities, the local demography and the population demands. While taking decisions to provide the minimum requirements with the available resources, the local people’s participation throughout the decision making process is a must. The planning must also include conditions to foment ever increasing purchasing capacity and step-by-step provision of special amenities. In this account, there should be a scheme for the maximum and appropriate utilization of all the potentialities in the area.

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In order to assure the economic empowerment of the local people, PROUT divides the industries and economic enterprises in three categories, to be managed and controlled as follows: (a) Key-industries (including the supply of strategic and large-scale energy sources, telecommunications, public transportation, mines, etc) – run by the immediate or local government; (b) Mid to Large scale industries (also including the agricultural sector and its derived industries) – run by cooperatives. (c) Small scale enterprises – run by individuals and families. In the Proutistic economic system, the cooperative sector plays a vital role in removing concentration of wealth and empowering the people economically. It must be noted that the agricultural sector must be as regarded as the industrial sector and the prices of the agricultural yield should be fixed as those of the industrial produce. All commercial banks, except federal or reserve banks, should also be managed by cooperatives. Finally, communications, trade and commerce, transportation, mining or any such major sectors of the economy which control the price indexes of consumers goods are to be treated as key-industries, and thus should be managed and controlled by either central, state or local government establishments on the basis of no profit-no loss. The system of cooperative management of mid to large scale industries will increase the purchasing capacity of the people, keep the money rolling, stop the speculative investments and keep the market vibrant and dynamic. It will also check the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and save all from the ill effects of economic depressions. This will also insure 100% local employment. To abolish the black money from the market, PROUT advises to abolish income tax. Instead, the government should levy taxes at the source of production for its administrative expenditure. Thus we can summarize the above mentioned points as follows: l Decentralization of economic planning with full local participation; l Local people's decision and 100% sustainable use of local expertise and raw materials; l Provision of minimum requirements of life special amenities and ever-increasing purchasing capacity; l Agriculture should be attended to as the industrial sector. The price of agricultural produce should be fixed

taking into consideration such factors as land, labour, capital, organization, etc.; l No raw materials should be transferred from one economic zone to another until 100% of the potential finishing or processing of goods is undertaken in the very area of extraction or harvest; l Income taxes should be abolished; l All commercial banks are to be managed by cooperatives. The underlaying criterion behind this specific system in that no individual should be allowed to accumulate wealth beyond a certain limit, particularly when it is done with the view of manipulating and influencing the consumer's prices and leaving the common people with no money or just a tiny residual of the economic activity. The root cause of all socio-economic problems in the world is the over accumulation of wealth in the hands of individuals or corporations. The government or state will simply collect the required taxes levied at the very source SOUVENIR - 2009

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of production for managing their administrative and modernization or defense expenditures. The economic power will remain with the common people through the system of cooperative management of a wide range of industries and enterprises. People will have enough purchasing capacity and the government will get sufficient income to run the administration affairs. This arrangement will maintain the proper adjustment and harmony in the physical, mental and spiritual strata of life, thus ensuring individual and collective welfare. Through the implementation of PROUT's economic system we can cure all the socio-economic problems of the world.

Poverty, Underdevelopment and the Developing World The end of the Cold War has brought about great changes in the development theory. Up to a few years ago, the so-called Third World countries had two, if not three distinct alternatives for national development. These options were the centrally-planned economy (Socialism), the Free Market economy (Capitalism), and in some cases a mixture of these two, the Mixed Market economy. Now, after the total collapse of communism, the centrally-planned economy is discredited and unworkable, while countries with mixed economies are busy privatizing most state enterprises. What is left predominant is only the free market model, which seems to be the only choice at the moment for developing countries. Among the different opinions regarding the 'right' developmental policies for the developing countries, the ones with the most weight are probably those of the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The World Bank puts most blame for economic backwardness in the countries with faulty government policies, claiming that if these policies are changed the economy will automatically improve. The 'right' policies according to the World Bank are freeing the local markets for international trade and investment by mostly deregulating the economy, getting macroeconomic policies right, promoting labour intensive industries and increasing social spending . But the policies of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) promoted by the IMF do not allow the promotion of labour intensive industries and increased social spending, as it is recommended by the World Bank in its developmental reports. The development strategies of the IMF and the World Bank, though well conceived and containing valuable points, have in themselves proved not to be sufficient for bringing about economic recovery and prosperity in the underdeveloped and developing world. The reason for this is that they neglect the fundamental cause of poverty, viz. that wealth in this world is usually drained from poor areas to rich areas. Any development strategy that ignores this fact cannot successfully solve the problem of poverty.

The Need Of The Day – PROUT-based reforms The World Bank policies should therefore be complemented with domestic reforms that restructure the economy towards addressing this crucial problem. For the sake of succeeding in this economic restructuring, a strong political will must exist in the leadership of a community, province or nation, which unfortunately is not always the case. Too often powerful groups that benefit from the present system make sure that real changes never take place. SOUVENIR - 2009

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To improve the conditions in the developing countries, committed and incorruptible leadership is essential. If such a leadership is in place, what policies should they pursue? The analysis of the PROUT Research Institute pinpoints the drainage of wealth from poor areas to rich ones emerging from two major aspects, viz. the drainage of primary resources from the underdeveloped world to the industrialized countries, and the drainage of wealth from rural areas to the rich urban centres. To counteract these two trends, a strategy is required based on two vital factors: The first is the local processing of raw materials. Maximum if not all raw materials should be processed locally before export, and the industrial base should be built on what is locally available, rather than on imports. This policy will prevent the drainage of primary resources from the developing countries to the rich industrialized ones, and help to pull the depleted economies out of their traditional roles as suppliers of cheap raw materials and ready markets for surplus goods. The second factor is the decentralization of economy. Economic activities should be decentralized throughout rural areas and to wherever people actually live and work. Wealth that is found in local areas should be utilized and processed there, rather than brought to the big industrialized cities. A substantial part of the profit from mineral extraction, agricultural produce and processing of raw materials should also be retained in the areas where the goods have originated and where these economic activities have been taking place. This policy would reverse the economic decline in rural areas, and prevent the continued drainage of wealth to the cities. It will also check the rural exodus of people to the cities in search of their livelihood. PROUT-based reforms tackle the fundamental causes of poverty and underdevelopment, and could, along with selected parts of the World Bank strategy and other suitable reforms, devise the basis of economic development at the poorer countries.

Decentralized Economy In order to benefit all people, economic activities have to be decentralized so as to involve the entire country, in all its areas. Communism tried this country-wise development via its central planning of the economy, in which resources were forcefully allocated from the top. They have failed terribly. A decentralized economy is also not possible, perhaps even more prominently, in capitalism. In capitalist countries there have been attempts to prevent concentration of wealth in the hands of too few individuals, such as by anti-trust laws, income taxes, banking regulations etc. Market forces which are supposed to regulate the market in a capitalist economy do not work when the economy is controlled by monopolies, and today more wealth is concentrated in fewer hands than ever before. According to PROUT there is only one way to stop economic exploitation and alleviate the plight of the common people, and that is to implement the principles of decentralizion in all sectors of the economy. But how could such a system be implemented? The Proutist approach is to reshape the political and economic framework of the countries to form viable self-sufficient socio-economic units. Contending the formation of such units, Shrii P.R. Sarkar explains, SOUVENIR - 2009

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''The justification for establishing socio-economic units through the world lies in the fact that any attempt to develop an area economically must start at the grassroots level. That is, the direction of economic development should be from the bottom-up, not from the top to the bottom. The latter is impractical and a Utopian myth". In this connection, the PROUT slogan should be : “Abolish Centralized Economy to End Exploitation: Establish a Decentralized Economy!”

Decentralized Planning A decentralized economy is not possible via centralized planning. Such attempts failed wherever they were tried. According to PROUT, there are three reasons for this failure: 1) l2) l3)

Geo-sentiment, or the sentimental preference of the planners for certain locations; Lack of detailed knowledge about the local conditions; Lack of engagement of local people in the planning process.

For these reasons, PROUT suggests a decentralization of the planning apparatus. The first step in this decentralized planning process is the demarcation of socio-economic regions, or samajas in the PROUT terminology. According to PROUT, any person who has merged his/her socio-economic interest with the interests of that socio-economic unit, is an economic member of that unit. This means that a person, regardless of race or background, who chooses to work and reinvest his/her earnings in that area, should be considered as a local inhabitant of that unit. Someone who makes money in one socio-economic unit and sends the profit outside of it should be economically considered as an "outsider", and should not be afforded the same privileges as local people. However, people are free to move from one socio-economic unit to another, and no unit (Samaj) should be allowed to dominate any other unit. The membership of a certain socio-economic unit is determined according to the criteria laid down above. In line with these decentralization policies, each socio-economic unit should prepare its own programs, considering factors such as natural resources, topography, river systems, cultural conditions, communications, industrial potential and development schemes. This policy implies that an economic plan for a certain unit should be prepared with the maximum participation of the people in that socio-economic unit, if not totally conceived by them.

The Planning Mechanism of PROUT PROUT’s planning machinery will function at the central, state, district and block levels, and also at the global level after the formation of the world government. The block level planning is today the bottommost level of planning unit in a Proutist economy. For the decentralization of economic power, the delegation of planning is a necessary precondition. For an efficient decentralized economy planning, a scientific and systematic block demarcation is essential. Blocks as they exist today are mostly demarcated on the basis of political considerations PROUT does not support such a division. So, these blocks should be reorganized depending upon the following SOUVENIR - 2009

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factors : l Physical features of the area (including river valleys, climatic conditions, topography, soil

characteristics, flora and fauna etc.); l Socio-economic requirements and problems of the people; l Physical and psychic aspirations of the people.

Block Level Planning This block level planning should consist of: 1. Intra-block planning – planning for the all-round growth of a block; 2. Inter-block planning – for problems that cannot be solved through one block alone. In PROUT’s system, each block will have its own developmental planning, adjusting with the overall planning of a particular economic zone at its various levels. A block in PROUT’s terminology is an area identified as per the previously mentioned conditions and with approximately 100,000 inhabitants.

Benefits of The Block Level Planning l It is small enough for planners to understand all major and minor problems of the area; l Local leadership is encouraged to tackle the problems according to the identified priorities; l The planning will be more practical, realistic, effective and give quick positive results; l Local cultural bodies can play an active role in mobilizing human and natural resources; l The unemployment problem will be easily solved; l The purchasing capacity of the village people will be enhanced; l A base for a balanced economy will be established.

The decentralized planning system of PROUT will be able to prevent the spatial disequilibrium caused by market forces in a capitalist developmental model, while at the same time it will eliminate all the previously discussed setbacks of centrally-planned economies. It will also further promote social harmony, in that all groups will get scope to develop according to their own interests, without one group being able to exploit another.

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Samaj – The All-round Application of PROUT – P.R.I. It is PROUT’s straightforward objective to solve all economic and social problems of human society. Samaj is one of the central features of the Proutist Econmy, as it aims to guarantee the comprehensive and multifarious liberation of humanity.

Poverty Persists in the Capitalist Economic Order Economic centralization takes place in all capitalism forms, and it ultimately leads to merciless economic exploitation of the masses. The only assured way to end this capitalist exploitation is through the decentralization of the economy. But in practice this is not possible in a capitalist system.

Opposing Economic Exploitation – PROUT's Top Priority PROUT always stands for the cause of the exploited people, irrespective of ethnicity, nation, religion, place, etc., and it opposes all types of exploitation by presenting a methodology of economic decentralization in the whole world through its program of socio-economic groupification. As poverty is the main predicament in the world today, PROUT gives top priority to opposing economic exploitation as it affects the livelihood and existence of the people.

Socio-Economic Groupifications – Nature and Goal A socio-economic groupification, popularly known as Samaj in the Proutist terminology, is both a social state of being and a process. As a state of being, it is a self-sufficient and self-reliant community living in a common territory. It is largely an autonomous socio-economic zone. As a process, samaj is a movement to oppose all forms of economic, psychic, cultural and psycho-economic exploitation. It aims to usher in a new era of progressive social growth in the history of human society by establishing largely autonomous socio-economic units throughout the world and form the basis of a world government represented by morally and spiritually developed leaders. Socio-economic groupifications deal with two sorts of assembly, viz. the social groupificaton and the economic groupification. The social groupification is decided on the basis of the socio-cultural identity of the population, and the economic groupification is formed to provide the people with a territory that can make help make them economically self-sufficient and self-reliant. The economic goal of this movement is to achieve the economic liberation of all people, while its social goal is to ensure comprehensive and unbarred expression in all different spheres of life, thus consolidating one indivisible human society. PROUT therefore advocates the formation of such units throughout the world.

The Criteria for the Formation of Socio-Economic Units (SEUs) or Zones (SEZs) PROUT’s investigation in order to determine the formation of a SEU considers factors of scientific, historical, ecological, cultural and psychological orders, therefore offering a more comprehensive and balanced set of determinants in the social arrangement and planning than previous or current concepts. These following SOUVENIR - 2009

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factors are also naturally readjusted according to changes of time, place and people: l Similar economic problem; l Uniform economic potentiality; l Ethnic similarity; l Common sentimental legacy; l Similar geographical features. Based on these criteria, Proutists have identified 44 such socio-economic units in India and 243 in the whole world (see list at the following article).

Socio-Economic Units and Decentralized Development Planning Economic decentralization is only possible with decentralized socio-economic planning. PROUT’s socioeconomic groupification provides a scientific and rational basis for the formulation of a comprehensive and decentralized developmental planning. Besides, people's effective participation in the process of planning, development and governance is actively encouraged.

Ever Enlarging Socio-Economic Boundaries Two or more adjoining units can merge to form a single larger unit if the following conditions are fulfilled: l Economic similarity or parity; l Harmonious cultural mixing; l Appropriate communication facilities; l Administrative efficiency.

Socio-Economic Units and Political States The hitherto formation of states in this planet has so far taken place in its most part through historical casualties. The boundaries of such states were decided by the might of the rulers and almost never by socioeconomic developmental considerations. Therefore, there is an urgent need today to reorganize the states and most of the countries of the world for a meaningful socio-economic development. According to PROUT if a particular unit in a federal system cannot obtain economic justice, it may agitate for a separate allocation of funds for their developmental schemes within the federal budget. If even after launching such an agitation it still fails to secure proper justice, then it will have no other alternative but to demand a separate state. However, PROUT does not favor the indiscriminate or impetuous formation of many states, because this becomes a taxing and burdensome quandary to the citizens. Rather, small states should be politically expanded into larger states once the beneficial conditions for all units involved are met. It may be added here that there can be more than one socio-economic unit in a state but under no circumstances a socio-economic unit can exist in more than one political unit.

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Polarization Program One who has identified one’s socioeconomic interest with those socioeconomic concerns of the zone one lives in is known as a local person. This concept of local people has nothing to do with physical complexion, race, caste, creed, language or birth. Those who are not local shall be considered as outsiders from the economic standpoint. No outsider should be allowed to interfere in local economic affairs or in the system of production and distribution, otherwise a floating population will develop, causing the outflow of economic wealth from the local zone. If this distinction is not clearly established, the area will become vulnerable to outside economic exploitation. In other words, an outsider is one who does not reinvest his/her profit in the zone one lives in. In order to root out exploitation and build a just and benevolent society, the following schemes should be carried out. These schemes are known as the polarization programs. l l l l l l

100% employment for the local people; Maximum industrial development; Keep importing of products from outside the zone to a minimum; Local language as the medium of instruction; Local language as the primary means of communication; Local socioeconomic demands clearly identified and prioritized.

Language, Culture and Development The total sum of human expressions is called culture, and verbal language is perhaps the most sophisticated medium so far developed to express human culture. While different socioeconomic groups should encourage the learning and use of every language, each socioeconomic unit should strongly prioritize the use of the local language to inspire self-confidence and self-respect amid the local people. Encouraging positive cultural identity is an important ingredient in the socioeconomic development of the local area and an essential factor in generating a sense of affinity and unity amongst the people. There should not be suppression and subjugation of local languages, as this invariably means the suppression of the local culture. This cultural obliteration in turn leads to psychic demoralization, inferiority complexes and to a defeatist mentality. Whenever the sentimental legacy of a group of people is undermined, they become easy prey to the economic, political and psycho-economic exploitation of vested interests. If local people develop a sublime awareness of their cultural heritage, they can readily throw off all psychic inferiority complexes which prevent them from attaining socio-economic self-reliance.

An Outline of Some Concepts in PROUT: a. Exploitation – a technique of extracting physical, mental or spiritual benefit from a population or zone without providing just compensation. b. Sentiment – a mental feeling which colours the individual's outlook and behaviour. c. Sentimental Legacy – the collection of unifying sentiments in a people's culture that are the result of persistent social, economic, political and cultural trends. SOUVENIR - 2009

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d. Dogma – any idea which places a limit on the expansion of the human mind; a bondage beyond which the human mind is not supposed to go. e. Psychic Weakness – a state of mental submission created by inferiority complexes, fear complexes or a defeatist mentality which prevent people from organizing revolt against exploitation. f. Economic Exploitation – a form of exploitation purely perpetrated for economic gain, usually by misappropriating people's productive labor without providing them with just remuneration. g. Physico-Economic Exploitation – that sort of economic exploitation where the abuse is maintained by crude physical force and regimentation of people's lives. h. Psycho-Economic Exploitation – a form of exploitation which first oppresses people economically, then divides and subjugates them by popularizing dogma and creating psychic weaknesses in their collective psychology in order to keep them oppressed. i. Anti-Exploitation Sentiment – the utilization of the forces of morality, courage and justice to oppose exploitation. j. Nationalism – comes from the Latin word "nat" – to spring from – and means the sentiment of a group of people born at the same place. The roots of a national sentiment created in the relatively short span of a life time are not so deep, and vary as per historical changes, depending ultimately on the will of the people (i.e., their collective psychology).

The Benefits of Samaj 1. Political Benefits: a. The control of Sadvipras will become a reality and society will be liberated from the grave problems derived of bad leadership. b. Politics will get immune from the clutches of all-powerful political bosses. Political power will be balanced, checked and harmonized with other social institutions. c. Humano-patriotism, and not geo-patriotism, will be the driving force in the political arena.

2. Economic Benefits: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. 1.

Decentralization of the economy. Drainage of wealth from one zone to another will be stopped. Regional imbalances will wither away; economic disparity will decrease. Maximum utilization of the physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual wealth will be possible. Unemployment will cease to exist. People will not seek jobs; rather, jobs will seek people. The standard of living will be increased – the purchasing capacity will raise. Self-sufficient economic zones will develop. The establishment of a progressive social experience will have greater potential. There will be a rapid expansion of the co-operative movement in agriculture and industry. People's participation in planning; workers participation in management. Decentralization of the economic power into the hands of people in all zones. New economic relations in international trade will develop. SOUVENIR - 2009

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m. There will be bilateral trade or exchange in money value between socioeconomic units. n. Each socioeconomic unit will be self-sufficient, either in material commodities or in the money value. With that money people will purchase their requirements.

3. Social Benefits a. Greater harmony among different linguistic groups. b. Brain-drain will stop. c. The end of economic disparity will also end the cause of poverty in the collective body: i. prostitution will be minimized ii. begging will cease iii. class discrimination and dacoity will be checked d. Economic stability will reduce social tension and mutual distrust. This will lead to unity, peace and social justice.

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Cooperatives – P.R.I. A cooperative is a socioeconomic public movement to develop the economic conditions of the masses. Without a moral, disciplined and social-service-based society, it is impossible to develop cooperatives. Hence, morality, discipline and character are to be specially developed in society, and among the members of cooperatives in particular. The true cooperative is an anti-exploitation movement. There is exploitation by the capitalist philosophy and the communist philosophy, the latter functioning as state capitalism. Both these philosophies believe in centralized economy. Hence, it is impossible to develop the economy of the people in the framework of either capitalism or communism. Cooperative are the motor of a decentralized economy. Hence,in the Proutist economy a larger number of people join cooperatives of different types, such as Agricultural Cooperatives, Dairy Cooperatives, Agro-Industrial Cooperatives, Agrico-lndustrial Cooperatives, general Industrial Cooperatives, Housing Cooperatives, Electric Supply Cooperatives, Medical and Medicaments Cooperatives, Irrigation Cooperatives, Educational Cooperatives, Publication Cooperatives, Food Cooperatives, Arts Cooperatives and so on. But all shall come under the periphery of Producers Cooperatives, Consumers Cooperatives or Service Cooperatives. Thus, the Proutist cooperative is an alternative to both capitalism and communism. Middlemen are exploiting both the producers and the consumers. If the whole production of agriculture, agro-industries, dairy, general industries, wholesale and retail marketing comes in the hands of a chain of cooperatives, neither capitalist producer nor the big or middle businessmen shall be able to exploit anyone. Rather, this healthy system will give employment to all people and the profits earned shall go to the members of cooperatives. This will increase the purchasing capacity of the people, thus raising their living standard. Let us take up the production aspect. Agricultural cooperatives should be organized for the better production of agriculture. Individual agriculturists are often unable to follow advanced or scientific agricultural methods. If there are organized agriculture cooperatives, there may probably be better planning for high yields of agricultural produces. There may be better planning for the production of paddy, beans, soya, vegetables, potatoes, fruits, legumes, etc – all can be grown in abundance. After satisfying the local needs of the people, extra agricultural produce can be sold to other countries. From mangoes, mango juice, marmalade and jams can be prepared. The same for papaya. From guava and other fruits, jellies can be prepared. From tomatoes, tomato sauce can be industrialized. From banana and potatoes, banana and potato chips can be manufactured. Mangoes, coconuts, bananas can be grown everywhere, and specially in mountainous, hilly areas. The poor aboriginals in forest areas can organize agricultural cooperatives as well as agro-industrial cooperatives, and consequently earn more money. They shall get enough employment in various departments of the agricultural and horticultural work. After some time, they shall get further specialization and employment in agro-industrial activities. There may be rice mill cooperatives for this. There may be producer cooperatives of coconut oil. There may be soya bean oil production coops. There may be cooperatives for other soya products, such as soya milk, tofu, oil, chunks, fermented soya products, etc. There may be bakery cooperatives. In Malaysia, palm oil is manufactured and sold to other countries. This is a good business for the country, although ecological measures must be in mind in order to guarantee the environmental sustainability of the SOUVENIR - 2009

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industry. But small farmers may be also encouraged to start cooperative farming for palm oil trees. Palm oil farming requires big lands. General landowners have small plots, hence, they can't grow palm oil trees in their fields. But if they join together in cooperative farming the land area shall increase and they can do cooperative farming for palm oil trees. Everywhere, the cooperative departments, federations or any social organizations should encourage the general farmers to start cooperative farming. If cooperative departments do not exist, they should be created as soon as possible. To accomplish this, the above cooperative agencies shall have to go to the villagers and talk to educated people and local leaders about the rational benefits of cooperative farming. When these referential people are convinced, then the specific agencies should hold meetings with all the villagers with the help of those villagers who are already convinced about the benefits of cooperative system of farming. The cooperative organizers from government Cooperative Departments, Cooperative Federations or non-governamental organizations should make people aware about the benefits of cooperative farming. Those leaders and educated people who have understood and accepted the cooperative system should get proper training in order to properly expose the cooperative ideas and practices and to guide the population themselves. Any pro- cooperative agency should be regularly scrutinized, transparent and accountable, and deal with the people through a straightforward and sincere approach. No superfluous or cheap psychology should be applied. If once people have understood the coop supporters are bluffers, the work is gone. By behavior and action, the cooperative organizers should convince the people that they are true and sincere well-wishers of the community. Many times, holding medical camps with good doctors creates a good impression on the people. Attracting young people through football or cricket matches, distributing prizes through important local people or some administrative officers, organizing cultural activities with appealing social messages, all these create a good impression on youngsters, who in turn support and later on become messengers of the cooperative system. In mountainous and hilly areas where green grasses are abundant, sheep rearing may be encouraged and weavers’ co-operatives may be organized. The forest department should be approached and convinced to allow the sheep of the sheep breeders to graze in the forest area. Then the poor sheep breeders will not have to spend anything on the breeding of their sheep, and they shall earn money by weaving woolen clothing, mufflers, sweaters, socks, hand gloves, blankets, coats, pants, shirts, etc. With the help of the forest department, bee keeping can easily be done in hilly or forest areas, and poor people can earn money by honey production which will then bring good income for the poor aboriginals. For creating models in some schools and colleges, "students and teachers consumers’ coop stores" can be organized, who shall then supply books, notebooks, pens, toffees, biscuits, fruits and prescribed dresses. In this way, the teachers and students can learn in practice about the cooperative system and earn money. Later on, they shall be pioneers of the cooperatives within society. In villages, towns and cities, consumers’ cooperative stores may be organized. In these consumers’ coops, supplies and utensils of daily domestic need, such as rice, sugar, edible oils, butter, soap, toothbrush and pastes, vegetables, fruits, shoes, sandals, shirts, pants, socks, biscuits, breads, papers, pens, refills, and many other grocery articles regularly required by the people – all may be kept in the cooperative stores and sold on fair prices as pure, locally produced and unadulterated goods.

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Stone cuttings and chips can be manufactured in hilly areas through cooperatives. The stone cuttings can be used on walls or floors, while stone chips can be used in the construction of houses and roads. Large and small scale industries of iron-steel, plastic, rubber products, brass and copper products, paper products, calcium, cement, sugar and rice mills, may also be organized on a cooperative basis. This enterprise will involve large numbers of people and give scope for greater income distribution. All such industries shall give employment to a large percentage of the population and raise their economic standard, thus truly developing the economy of the country. Dairy Cooperatives may be organized to produce milk powder, butter, cheese, yogurt, etc. At the foots of the hills or mountains, where green grasses are plenty, cows and buffaloes may be reared. For this, the Animal Husbandry, Veterinary and Dairy Development Departments of the government should coordinate with the cooperative organizers. At the foot of the hills, mulberry plants can be grown and silk worms may be reared on the leaves of the mulberry. Mulberry silk cloths may be woven by the local people. They shall earn a lot of money by the proper and sustainable utilization of this silk industry, which also should run on a cooperative basis. Many other industries properly utilizing the minerals, chemicals, and metals found in mountains and hills may be established. Some industrial work may be started with the help of sea and ocean products. There should be widespread research on how to utilize solar energy and other renewable sources for electricity and the works connected with it. Fishing industry can be started by cooperatives and the exceeding production can be exported to other countries, where it is required. Petrol and diesel supply can be also taken up by cooperatives. Marketing cooperatives can develop much work for the purchase and sale of goods on wholesale rates, while the retail consumers’ cooperatives can purchase goods on wholesale and sell them on reasonable retail rates.

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Leadership in the Proutist Order – R. D. Singh Change is the law of nature. Nothing is static. Every object or entity moves. This is true for the human society as well. Society moves and it has a dynamics of its own. It follows a definite pattern and moves in a cyclic order. The cycle of changes passes through four phases or eras. Each era is dominated by people with particular psychic characteristic. Based on this psychic characteristics, the human race can be classified into four personality types: labourer (shudra), warrior (ks’attriya), intellectual (vipra) and merchant (vaeshya). P.R. Sarkar defines these classes in terms of collective psychology or varna (mental colour). The flow of the social cycle is rhythmic, passing through phases of domination by each class in this order: from shudra to ks’attriya to vipra to vaeshya. And the cycle is also a spiral, repeated again and again. Each era connotes the domination of people with a particular psychic trait. In fact, human history is a history of periods of class domination. The shudra's tenure of power is the shortest, as it lacks effective leadership. The members of this class are more prone to be dictated and governed. They are docile and simple-minded. The ks’attriyas are aggressive and fighters by temperament, through which they show courage and gallantry. Struggle is in the very blood of ks’attriyas. Since shudras lack leadership quality, the ks’attriyas snatch power from them and, with this new front the ks’attriyan era sets in. In the ks’attriyan era, society seeks discipline and order. Monarchy and oligarchy emerge. As the saying goes, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The ks’attriyas gradually turn exploitative. In the beginning they are caring and protective, but as time passes, they grow dictatorial and autocratic. The weals and woes of the people create a collective psychology against the ks’attriyas. The vipras then step in to relieve the masses from the oppression of ks’attriyas. The mantle of power shifts from the hands of ks’attriyas to vipras. In the course of time, the vipran psychology degenerates from the intellectual control of society into sheer individualism, selfishness and exploitation. The vipras perpetrate the rein of exploitation through subtle strategies and cunningness. Vipran domination too loses its socio-psychic momentum. At this juncture, a new class of traders and its business community emerge, whose sole motivation consists in the acquisition and accumulation of physical wealth. Vaeshyas use every trick to make profit and accumulate wealth. They are self-centered persons. When exploitation becomes all pervasive and reaches its zenith, the cycle moves from vaeshya to shudra.

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The collective psychology led by leaders of the dominant class brings about change from one era to the next. The social cycle must always move through these four classes. This change is inevitable. The change is slow in nature, but the human intellect devises ways to accelerate the pace of change. The spirit of quest is innate to human nature. Researches in Biotechnology accelerated the pace of change in the use of plant resources. Now we have developed genetically modified seeds which give many times more yields. Medical science has radicalized human life. It has been able to slow down the natural process of ageing and overcome mass-killing diseases like plague, TB and smallpox. Similarly, the march of human spirit from crude to subtle is slow, but the science of Yoga has been invented to accelerate the speed of this transformation through refined yogic technique and intuitional practices. One can attain spiritual excellence in one's life time itself – when left to nature, one would require million of years to reach this stage. Philosophers and thinkers work in the socioeconomic sphere to enhance the quality of life and design better systems of governance. Yet, the objective of equality, dignity, fraternity and freedom from exploitation has remained a distant dream for most of the world and for human society as a whole. At present there is a profound leadership crisis. The political system has completely failed to produce credible leaders. We have leaders, but they are sectarian in outlook. Most of them are greedy, opportunists and corrupt. They are hypocrites too. There is no unity or integrity amongst their thoughts, speeches and actions. The elections come, the people vote out one regime in preference for a new one, but on the ground the situation remains mostly unchanged. In fact, the bottle changes, but the content remains the same. The constitution sets lofty goals, but the promises are not met or followed through. National leaders, religious leaders and caste leaders formulate policies mostly in favor of the nations, religions and castes from which they come from. The lack of an universal outlook resulted in the destruction of the ecological balance. Global warming is causing glacial melting. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), about 7 percent of the ice of the Himalayan glacier is melting away each year. The report predicts that these glaciers may disappear entirely by 2030. Big rivers like the Gaunga, Indus and Brahmputra may become seasonal as a consequence of the climate change reportedly intensified by human action. For the prevailing socioeconomic, political, cultural and environmental crises, the leadership is the villain and culprit. At different points in time, thinkers propounded very attractive ideologies, but in practice they have failed to achieve the stated goals. Marxism is one of these examples. Karl Marx promised a classless society. Inspired by its lofty ideals, the working class overthrew the tzar regime in Russia and handed over the power to its leaders. Soon, these leaders turned into tyrants. The very people who gave them the rein of power have revolted against them. One country after another, the communist world collapsed like a castle of cards. SOUVENIR - 2009

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The sole major representative of the communist ideology, at least in name, is China. But, in practice, it is openly pursuing a capitalist economic policy. Likewise, Adam Smith, the father of capitalism, promised peace, equality, prosperity, liberty and dignity to the people. At present, the capitalist ideology is on the verge of a crash deeper than ever. In the competitive economic environment unleashed by the market economy, there is a race to outwit others in the corner lion's share of economic growth. While a handful minority usurps the lion's share of world's wealth, the large majority has to live on a meager income. In India, despite the later and current unprecedented macroeconomic growth, 40 percent of the people don't have access to clean drinking water, and a vast number of them is illiterate. Apparently the leadership has failed, substantially. P.R. Sarkar’s hopes for the future are to develop a new force, a fifth power at the centre of this cycle that will allow these four classes, through the creation of new institutions, to rule in each one’s turn without exploiting the other classes. He has termed this new leadership as Sadvipra. The task of sadvipras is to transform this historical social cycle of workers, warriors, intellectuals and capitalists into an ascending social spiral, thus allowing power to enable progressive forms of economy, culture and polity. The task is to develop leaders that have the characteristics of all four classes, without being attached to any. The sadvipra’s main motive in society is promoting collective welfare and socio-spiritual progress. P R Sarkar defines sadvipra as one who is physically strong, mentally sound and spiritually elevated. A sadvipra has the penetrating intellect and nobility of a vipra, the courage and prowess of a ks’attriya, the pragmatic outlook and wisdom of a vaeshya, and the humility and service temperament of the shudra. The power of sadvipra flows from the recognition of the people, based on established persons, not necessarily backed by institutions. Sadvipras will be above group psychology. They always put the collective interest above any personal interests, thus dedicating their lives in the service of humanity. Residing in the hub of the social cycle, they are vigilant to ensure that no class converts its dominance into exploitation. When the dominant class begins to exploit, the sadvipras hasten to create a forward-looking antithesis. A Chinese philosopher thought of a sage king, the Taoist Sage. The Tao was not transcendent, but rather a moral and spiritual force which is present when there is justice and equality. In tyranny, it was not present. Sarkar goes a step ahead. Sarkar's concept of Sadvipra is multidimensional – these leaders have to be not only spiritualists, but laborers, warriors, intellectuals and commerciants. Instead of following the modern approach of developing an alternative government structure (checks and balances) as suggested by Gaetano Mosca, so as to mitigate the exploitative forms of these powers, Sarkar takes the classical approach and resorts to human agency. Sadvipras would emerge amongst the masses. They will be trained and nurtured to discharge the responsibilities of Sadvipras. They will be guided by the ethical and spiritual force emerged in them and acquired through intuitional practice. Sarkar says, “people will recognize the Sadvipras by their conduct, their selfless service, their dedication and their moral integrity”.

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There is some similarity between Sarkar's Sadvipras and Antonio Gramsci's thought. Gramsci says, “The more advanced intellectuals would take on a large number of indispensable ideological, cultural projects, subverting the illusion of conventional ideologies, introducing and disseminating critical views of the future.” To this notion of an organic intellectual, Sarkar adds a spiritual dimension – the leader is committed to universalism, beyond bondages of ego, family, nation and race. A Sadvipra is also a Neo-humanist, respecting the rights of plants, animals and humans. The present day leadership, by not being Neo-humanist, has caused ecologist crises, global warming and the extinction of many species of flora and fauna. A Neo-Humanist Sadvipra is not contended with liberation of the self, but works to create a congenial environment for one and all, so that no individual is left behind on the path of spiritual upliftment. Sadvipras struggle to create a society where basic needs and distributive justice are guaranteed to all members of society. Sarkar argues that one cannot expect this moral to descend from a government power functioning within a democratic structure. We must expect if from a non-political dimension. The government, be it characterized by fascism, imperialism, republicanism, dictatorship, bureaucracy or democracy, is sure to become tyrannical if there is no moral force to check the capricious activities of the leaders of the party or interests in power. Herein lies the reason why Sarkar adds the moral and spiritual dimensions as fundamental to the concept and formation of Sadvipras. Sarkar says that power without devotion is a force leading to degradation.

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Economic Democracy – P.R.I. We are familiar with two major types of democracy – Liberal Democracy and Socialist Democracy. Liberal Democracy is a gift of the capitalist system, in which the economic power is centralized in the hands of a few individuals and the political power is decentralized through adult franchise. Socialist Democracy is the outcome of the communist system, where both the economic power and the political power are centralized in the hands of ruling elites. It is more oppressive. Both systems are actually two faces of the same coin. The capitalist and the communist economic systems are based on concepts of conventional or mainstream economics. Theoretically, economics does accept the unlimited human desires, but it has not given any solution as to how to satisfy the infinite longings of human beings. It simply formulates theories for earning more and more profit and increase the accumulation of wealth. So the economic theories are based on the principle of selfish pleasure (Atma Sukha Tattva). As a result, two major classes are reinforced – the haves and the have-nots – the exploiter and the exploited. Communism did not do any better. It greatly or completely neglected the psychological and spiritual aspects of life, the finer sensibilities and deeper dimensions of being. It treated human beings as machines of serial production. Based on a matter-centered philosophy, all sentiments, urges, desires and emotions of living beings are simply seeing as chemical reactions of the brain. Certainly, there is no proper recognition for the psychic and spiritual strata of life. Consequently there are no provisions and facilities for a congenial environment for mental and spiritual fulfillment, for the attainment of supra-psychic peace and bliss. PROUT’s practical and philosophical system rejects and advances forward from the limitations of both the capitalist thesis and the communist antithesis, as it has fully accepted that our life consists of physical, metaphysical and spiritual dimensions. For the complete fulfillment of life, PROUT propounds a theory of dynamic equilibrium and equipoise, known as Prama’ in Sanskrit. In order to maintain proper harmony and balance in the physical stratum, PROUT prioritizes the guarantee of the minimum requirements of life to all. There should also be constant endeavors for the progressive increase of the purchasing capacity of the population and provision of special amenities to the meritorious people. At the same time PROUT adopts the social outlook of Neo-Humanism, which gives freedom from all sorts of dogmas, narrow-mindedness and psychic complexes. For spiritual progress, the practice of meditation should be an essential part of life. The cultivation of psycho-spiritual practices implies that the baser human tendencies – responsible for running after crude physical or sensual pleasure – can be systematically channelized towards higher achievements and the attainment of supra-psychic bliss. Now, for the fulfillment of the minimum requirements and the progressive increase of the people’s purchasing capacity, PROUT propounds a new concept of 'Economic Democracy', rejecting the defective SOUVENIR - 2009

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theories of liberal and socialist democracies. These two forms of democracy existing up to now have not fulfilled the needs and aspirations of the human society – rather, they have thrown humanity into a quagmire of poverty, starvation, deprivation, inequality, crime, violence, moral degradation, oppression, suppression and repression. Economic Democracy is the economy of the people, by the people and for the people. It is a welfareoriented and a consume-oriented economy (as distinct from consumerist). Principles of conventional economics are goaded for the earning of more and more profit and the increase of wealth. According to these principles, the increase of wealth of an individual, corporation or of the state automatically promotes the welfare of all by increasing job opportunities through the investment in various enterprises. Adam Smith simply could not understand, or did not try to understand, the simple truth that human beings generally are selfish when left to the mercy of their aloof nature. The accumulated wealth may not necessarily be invested for the production of essential goods. Rich individuals may not be guided by the motivation of welfare. Investments of more than 75% of the world’s capital go to speculative stock markets, weapon’s race and non-essential or luxurious services, while the blockage of money in the market causes economic recession, inflation and depression, bringing untold human suffering and misery. To give an ideological cover in the form of laissez-faire theory is to promote a daydream far from the ground reality. The same mistake is committed in Marxism, where again the state is not prohibited to control the wealth of a nation. It is PROUT only which says that (and explains why) the wealth should be in the hands of the people. PROUT's principle of Economic Democracy provides us with a method to empower peoples of the globe. Overaccumulation, non-utilization and misutilization of resources are the causes of all socioeconomic maladies. The principles of Economic Democracy are as follows: 1. The minimum requirements of life should be guaranteed to all; 2. There should be progressive increase of purchasing capacity – this will be the motivating force for the maximum utilization and rational distribution of all the resources of the universe; 3. Full employment must be provisioned to all people in their own localities; 4. The local people should make the economic decisions which directly affect their lives; 5. Economic outsiders should not be allowed to interfere in the local economies unless they have merged their economic interests with the local interests and thus have become local beneficiaries and contributors; 6. There should not be any indiscriminate or uncontrolled flight of capital from one region to another – particularly coming from the underdeveloped regions; 7. There should not be blockage on the circulation of money with the view of accumulation. Rather, it should be kept rolling in the market and invested in the production of essential commodities on the basis of social priorities.

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PROUT: Vision, Concept and Methodology – Ac. Siddhayogananda Avt.

A Vision for PROUT To abolish centralized economy and establish decentralized economy. To liberate humanity from all forms of exploitation. To create a congenial environment for peace and prosperity. To pave the way for unbarred psychic and spiritual progress and establish a New-Humanist society.

Concept l To materialize the aforesaid vision, Shrii P.R. Sarkar has propounded the practical philosophy of PROUT in the l l l

l

l l l l l

l l l

year 1959. In the year 2009 it is commemorated the Golden Jubilee of PROUT. As an eminent seer and philosopher of the 20th century, Shrii Sarkar accepts the very axiom of science that all expressions and movements in the physical and psychic realms are vibrational and pulsative. The movement of human society is also a flow of the collective psychology, with varying characteristics on its different phases of evolution. According to PROUT, the movement of society is of a cyclic order, passing through four phases, each dominated by the collective psychology of either the toiling class (Shudra), the warrior class (Ks’attriya), the intellectual class (Vipra) or the business class (Vaeshya). With the prolonged period of class dominance, the dominant class becomes increasingly exploitative with the motive of perpetuating power, and as a result thereof, socio-cultural and moral degeneration occurs. Due to such exploitation, social revulsion or explosion takes place, and the social cycle passes through to another phase. Thus, the social flow goes on unabated with no guarantee of progress towards a neo-humanist social order. So, to achieve its vision, PROUT places the utmost importance on spirituo-moralist leaders (Sadvipras), that inspire, guide and give logistic support for true social progress. Therefore, spirituo-moralist leaders comprise the first factor, urgently needed, to materialize the vision of PROUT. Then comes the concept of a well-knit economic policy required to check and eradicate the economic exploitation in various phases of the social cycle. The main reason of economic exploitation is the concentration of wealth or of the value of wealth. Communism is also a form of state capitalism. In both capitalism and communism, concentration of wealth is either amassed in the hands of individuals, elite groups or state exchequers. Unfortunately, most countries of the world have adopted the policy of economic centralization. In fact, the traditional economics taught today encourages us to manage wealth in order to earn more and more profit. In communism, it is talked about people's liberation, but in practice the entire economic system is controlled by the state, and the state in turn is controlled by the party. Capitalism is based on a self-centered philosophy, whereas communism is based on matter-centered philosophy. Both of them are by nature unable to progressively deliver goods to the common masses. SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 26

l The state-controlled economic system basically did not work. Hence, it was discarded by the previous Soviet

Union and its satellites in 1990. l Now, capitalism is not working. Tax payers’ money is being used to try saving the capitalist infrastructure. But for how long will this continue? It is a deceptive approach. An enormous amount of wealth is lying unutilized in mostly developing or undeveloped countries, deposited in dubious banks or in private houses. The blockage of money has paralyzed the economy of the world and has caused immense socioeconomic suffering to humanity. Governments and party leaders are mum on this issue. l So, the establishment of a Neo-humanist social order, where the rights of all living beings are secured, is not possible by following the policy of economic centralization. METHODOLOGY l PROUT has propounded an alternative system to the centralized economy. For implement the policy of economic decentralization we need to follow a decentralized economic plan. For the success of decentralized planning, the formation of socioeconomic units (Samajas) is a must. Samajas are formed on the basis of the following factors: a) b) c) d)

Same economic problems Uniform economic potentialities Ethnic similarity or harmonious mixed ethnicity Sentimental legacy (including language, tradition, cultural heritage, and so forth)

Based on the aforesaid factors, Shrii Sarkar has advised that socioeconomic zones (Samajas) should be formed all over the world. The aim of the Samaj groupification is to make all the socioeconomic units self-reliant and sustainable. For increased balance in the economic development of all regions in the world, PROUT abolishes centralized economy and is designed to establish a decentralized economy, which brings in the following benefits: 1) Removal of regional disparities, which is highly detrimental to the cause of a healthy social order. 2) The wealth is much more equally distributed everywhere. 3) People do not have to leave their homes to work in a far away industrial zone. 4) Society saves expenditures on the maintenance of the establishment. 5) It increases the employment security. 6) The industries are developed for consumption. One of PROUT's maxim is, "production for consumption, not for profiteering". 7) It ensures the social and economic liberation of human beings and the society. 8) It increases the overall standard of living. 9) Economy problems of the common people are permanently solved. 10) It alleviates the plight of common people. 11) The economic system is created for people to attain all-round welfare. 12) It guarantees balanced economic prosperity. 13) It paves the way for individual and collective psycho-spiritual progress. 14) The gap between rich and poor is greatly minimized. 15) Individual and collective welfare is greatly enhanced. SOUVENIR - 2009

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All types of economic problems can be solved when the economic structures are built on the basis of a decentralized economy. All forms of capitalism prefer a centralized production. But the centralized production is the root cause of the following symptomatic defects: 1) 2) 3) 4)

Difficulty for people to remain healthy; Scarcity of fresh fruits, vegetables and milk; Rampant immorality and corruption; Thieves, criminals, drug-addicts, alcoholics and anti-social elements easily conceal themselves and abuse of innocent people; 5) Malnutrition, air-pollution, water-pollution as well all sorts of contamination and other unhealthy factors for the environment are created.

Principles, Preconditions and Effects on a Decentralized Economy a) All the resources in a socioeconomic unit should be controlled by the local people. b) Production should be based and goaded on consumption, and not on profit. c) Production and distribution should be organized mostly through co-operatives. d) Local people must have employment guarantee in local enterprises. e) Commodities which are not locally produced should be removed from the local markets as much as possible, especially when potential conditions for a healthy local production of the same goods exists. f) Economic centralization is one of the principal reasons for the past failures of the cooperative movement. g) It is extremely difficult for co-operatives to succeed in an economic environment of rampant greediness, exploitation, corruption and materialism. h) So, people have not been able to accept the cooperative movement wholeheartedly. I) Cooperatives are forced to compete with capitalist monopoly for local markets. j) The right of the local people over available raw materials is not recognized. Such circumstances have undermined the success of the cooperative movements in many countries of the world, whereas a decentralized economy ensures the success of the cooperative system. In a decentralized economy: l Availability of local raw materials will guarantee the constant supply to cooperative enterprises. l The co-operatively produced goods can be easily sold in the local markets. l Economic certainty will create increasing interest and involvement among the cooperative members. l The local people will be confident over their economic security. l This will bring in the wholehearted acceptance of the cooperative system. l As far as possible, agriculture-related industries and trade should be managed through cooperatives. l In these sectors, private ownership should be abolished through stages. l The distribution of commodities should be done through cooperatives. l Cooperatives will provide employment of local people and also ensure that the skills and expertise of the local

people are fully utilized. SOUVENIR - 2009

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l Cooperatives will train unskilled rural people to develop the agricultural sector. l All types of agro-industries and agrico-industries should be managed as cooperatives. l The members of cooperatives should decide the policies concerning agricultural production, price fixation and

sales of agricultural commodities. l Local governments must support and assist the economic development of cooperatives. l Industries of higher technical requirements should be also managed through cooperatives, but not guided by a monopolist and profit-motivated production. In the Proutist economy, the cooperative sector is the main sector. Cooperatives are the best means to organize the local people independently, to guarantee their livelihood and to enable them to control their own economic welfare. PROUT's maxim is,

"Production for consumption, and not for profiteering.” Our slogan is,

"Abolish Centralized Economies to End with Exploitation: Establish a Decentralized Economy!"

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List of Socio-Economic Units of the World Delhi Sector 1. Amra Bangali 2. Boro 3. Lapcha 4. Bhutia 5. Onagahi 6. Angika 7. Bhojpuri 8. Maethili 9. Nagpuri 10. Koshal 11. Utkal 12. Vraja 13. Avadhi 14. Hariyanvi 15. Garhvali 16. Kumayuni 17. Pahari 18. Kinnari 19. Dogri 20. Karhani 21. Assi Punjabi 22. Laddhaki 23. Vidarbha 24. Sahyabri 25. Chattisgarhi 26. Bundel Khandi 27. Bagheli 28. Malve 29. Kachi 30. Katfiwadi 31. Gujjar 32. Marwadi 33. Marwari 34. Harawati 35. Kannada 36. Tamil 37. Malayalam 38. Konkan SOUVENIR - 2009

39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 44

Sarkar Telengana Rayal Seema Tulu Singhali Assamese Samajas

Hong Kong Sector 1. Shin-Nippon 2. Okinawan 3. Taiwanese 4. Korean (Hangul) 5. Hong Kong 6. Macao 7. Kazakh 8. Tadzikh 9. Uzbekh 10. Turkmen 11. Sibir 12. Mongol 13. Mang Chu 14. Chabarovsk 15. Sinkiang 16. Mandarin 17. Cantonese 18. Min (Fukien) 19. Wu 20. Yunan 21. Chengdu 22. Chang 22 Samajas Manila Sector 1. Aklan 2. Bali 3. Bicolano 4. Capiz 5. Cebuano 6. Ilongo

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 22

Java Kampampangen Malaya Mindanao Sabahan Sumatran Tagalog Sarawak Central Thai Northern Thai Eastern Thai Kampuchean Thailand East-Malaysia Chinese-Malay Indian-Malay Samajas

Suva Sector 1. Papua 2. Aboriginal 3. Melanesia 4. Micronesia 5. Polynesia 6. Aotearoa 7. Australian 8. New Zealand 9. New Caledonia 10. Fiji 10 Samajas New York Sector 1. Appalachian 2. Bahamas 3. Belize 4. Central America 5. Cuban 6. Delta 7. Dominican Republic 8. Eastern Industrial PROUT | 30

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 24

Haiti Jamaica Maritime Mayan Mexamerica Mexico Midwest Miskito New England North Woods Northwest Ozark Puerto Rican Quebec South Western Mountain Samajas

Georgetown Sector 1. Brazilian 2. Colombian 3. Venezuelan 4. Argentinian 5. Quechua 6. Guarani 7. Uruguayan 8. Chilean 9. Guyana (French) 10. Guyana (British) 10 Samajas Berlin Sector 1. Algerian 2. Moroccan 3. Canarian 4. Dutch 5. Flemish 6. Wollonian 7. Lakemburgian 8. German SOUVENIR - 2009

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

Casfillian Andalcian Catawcian Basque Portuguese Irish Scotfish Welsh Russian U Krainian Latvian Lithaqnian Estonian Armenidn Azerbadzhanian Geargian Moldaviar White Russuan Norwegian Danish Icelandic Greenlandic Lappish French Breton Corsican Polish Hungarian Romanian Bulgarian Czech Slovakian Italian Venetian Sicilian Sardenian South Tiralian Swedish Finnish Gypsy

49. Swiss 50. Austrian 51. 52. 52 Samajas Qahira Sector 1. Hellenic 2. Turkish 3. Serbian 4. Croatian 5. Slovene 6. Macedonian 7. Albanian 8. Hebrew 9. Maltese 10. Cypriot 11. Tunesian 12. Lybian-Arab 13. Egyptian-Arab 14. Arabic 15. Sudanese 16. Kurdish 17. Azerbaijani 18. Persian 19. Pashto 20. Turkmen 21. Uzbek 22. Dari 23. Baluchi 24. Punjabi 25. Sindhi 26. Beja 27. Nubian 28. Matakfur 29. Equatoria 30. Bahr-Ghazal 31. Upper Nile 31 Samajas

PROUT | 31

Nairobi Sector 1. Ibo 2. Yoruba 3. Edo 4. Ga 5. Hausa 6. Ewe 7. Twi Akan 8. Dioula 9. Beta 10. Bacula 11. Mossi 12. Sengales 13. Criolo 14. Mende 15. Temna 16. Pigmy 17. Landa 18. Hottentot 19. Zulu 20. Dinshi 21. Baganda 22. Bushman 23. Homa 24. Lozi 25. Nyanza 26. Swahili 27. Amharic 28. Eomo 28 Samajas

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Coming Global Economic Tsunami and PROUT Susmit Kumar, Ph.D. [email protected] Dr. Susmit Kumar has a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, US. Before coming to the US, he was selected to join the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He is the author of book "The Modernization of Islam and the Creation of a Multipolar World Order" (2008). His forthcoming book is "Casino Capitalism and the Collapse of US Economy - Its World-Wide Political Consequences" (early 2010). A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY Until 700 to 800 years ago, the various continents exhibited little difference in wealth and poverty. The industrial revolution in Europe, however, created vast differences in wealth between rich and poor countries due to the fact that the colonies were deprived of the use of the “new technologies.” As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the economies of Third World countries like India, China, and Brazil were comparable to those of what are now the developed countries until 1750, but due to exploitation of their resources and trade restrictions their economies Table 1: Total Industrial Potential (U.K in 1900 = 100) declined. (Triennial Annual Av erages, except for 1913) 1750

1800

1830

1860

1880

1900

1913

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES Europe Belgium France Germany Italy Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland Great Britain Outside Europe Canada U.S. Japan

34.4

47.4

72.9

143.3

253.1

481.2

863.0

29.6 0.4 5.0 3.7 3.1 6.4 1.6 0.3 0.2 2.4 4.9 0.1 4.8

41.2 0.7 6.2 5.2 3.7 8.3 2.1 0.5 0.4 6.2 6.2 1.1 5.1

63.0 1.3 9.5 6.5 4.2 10.3 2.7 0.6 0.8 17.5 9.9 0.1 4.6 5.2

120.3 3.1 17.9 11.1 5.7 15.8 4.0 1.4 1.6 45.0 22.9 0.6 16.2 5.8

196.2 5.7 25.1 27.4 8.1 24.5 5.8 2.6 2.6 73.3 56.9 1.4 46.9 7.6

335.4 9.2 36.8 71.2 13.6 47.5 8.5 5.0 5.4 100.0 145.9 3.2 127.8 13.0

527.8 16.3 57.3 137.7 22.5 76.6 11.0 9.0 8.0 127.2 335.2 8.7 298.1 25.1

THIRD WORLD China India Brazil Mexico

92.9 41.7 31.2 -

99.4 48.8 29.0 -

111.5 54.9 32.5 -

82.7 44.1 19.4 0.9 0.9

67.0 39.9 8.8 0.9 0.8

59.6 33.5 9.3 2.1 1.7

69.5 33.3 13.1 4.3 2.7

127.3

146.9

184.4

225.9

320.1

540.8

932.5

WORLD

Source: Bairoch, P., "International Industrialization levels from 1750 to 1980," Journal of European Economic History 11 (fall 1982). p. 292.

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Table 2: Shares of “New Technology” Industries in the Total Manufacturing Output by Regions (in percent) Developed Countries (excluding Japan) UK Other Total Countries

Third World (excluding Japan)

World (including Japan)

1750

0-1

0

(a)

0

(a)

1800

6-10

1-3

2-4

(a)

1-2

1830

32-40

6-10

12-17

0-1

4-6

1860

60-70

18-24

29-36

0-1

17-23

1880

62-74

30-38

40-48

1-3

30-28

1900

68-78

49-57

52-61

4-9

49-56

1913

72-80

55-65

60-65

10-19

54-62

(a) Less than 0.5 percent. Source: Bairoch, P., "International Industrialization levels from 1750 to 1980," Journal of European Economic History 11 (fall 1982). p. 288.

During the 18th century, for example, the British imposed trade restrictions on Indian textile exports, which were better than British machine-manufactured textiles, to safeguard its own textile industry. India experienced zero per capita growth from 1600 to 1870, the period of growing British influence. Per capita economic growth from 1870 to independence in 1947 was a meager 0.2 percent per year, compared with 1 percent in the UK. The U.K. and other European countries achieved tremendous economic growth in the 1800s at the expense of the economic growth of their colonies until the two world wars ended this scheme. The U.S. then took over economic leadership when European nations had to take American war loans and due to the boost these wars gave American industry. The U.S. supplied billions of dollars' worth of munitions and foodstuffs to the Allies during two World Wars, and the Allies had to borrow money on the New York and Chicago money markets to pay for them. By the late 1940s, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was almost half of the world's GDP, and American companies were working at full capacity. This contrasts dramatically with post-war Europe, most of whose factories had been completely destroyed. In addition, technological advances in both ocean and air transport during the war made the transportation of goods cheap, integrating the American economy into the world economy. The war also caused the demise of the world's two main colonial powers, Britain and France. Britain's SOUVENIR - 2009

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national debt was about 250 percent of its GDP in 1946. This forced them to grant independence to most of their colonies, which were too expensive to keep within the colonial fold. World War II also saw the emergence of the U.S.S.R., which initially demonstrated tremendous economic growth. Soviet rulers claimed that they would surpass the economic might of the West, but after a few decades the Soviet economic miracle fizzled out once the drawbacks of communism, including inefficiency and relatively poor productivity, crept into the Soviet economy. This finally led to the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991. Due to the Korean War, the Japanese and South Korean economies were rebuilt on the ruins of World War II. After the oil price increases in the late 1970s and subsequent inflation, U.S. industries started shifting their production to East Asia, creating the four “Asian Tigers,” namely, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Since these four countries were too small to produce all the manufactured goods needed for the U.S. consumer market, Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore invested in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, where the Chinese origin people had a monopoly on industry. This finally led to the rise of China. The losers were American workers, who were laid off on a large scale. The advent of information technology in the mid-1990s created jobs in the U.S., but to satisfy the profit demands of Wall Street investors, CEO's had to send information technology jobs to countries like India, Ireland, and Philippines. COLLAPSE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC TSUNAMI The debt crisis started by the Reagan administration is becoming unsustainable. Although the Clinton administration was able to balance the budget, and even had budget surpluses its last two years, it was unable to rein in the balance of payment (BPO) deficit, which has increased from $140 billion in 1997 to $738 billion in 2007. Figure 1 shows the U.S. debt from 1960 to 2007. The chart clearly shows that the debt rose at a faster rate during republican administrations. The curve is concave during the Clinton administration, when the increase in the debt was the slowest. The Bush administration, to compound the difficulty, has increased U.S. fiscal debt from $5.6 trillion to $9 trillion because of tax breaks and increasing defense expenditures. Taking advantage of the fact that the dollar is the global currency, the Fed prints money whenever it feels necessary in order to fund the two deficits we now havethe trade deficit and the budget deficit. However, these large, accumulating sums are not sustainable. Figure 2 shows the U.S. BOP as a percent of GDP from 1930 to 2007, and Figure 3 shows the BOP in billions of dollars from 1990 to 2007. The BOP has deteriorated very fast since 2000, with the beginning of the Bush administration, and is now in uncharted territory. In terms of percent of GDP, this is the first time the BOP has been allowed to drop to this level in American history. During the mid-1980s when it started going into what was then also uncharted territory, the U.S. had to sign the 1985 Plaza Accord (shown as the vertical line in Figure 2) and cooperated in a controlled depreciation of the dollar in order to increase its exports. At that time, all the main players in the global economyJapan, West Germany, France, and the U.K.were dependent on the U.S. for their security and so helped it in this endeavor. China and Russia are the world's largest and third largest FOREX holders now, however, and most of their FOREX is in dollars; they may not do what the U.S. wants. They have seen the fate of the “bubble economy” of the late 1980s and 1990s in Japan due to the Plaza Accord, and will likely hesitate to sign a similar accord. They may even prefer to see the U.S. economy collapse rather than protect it. SOUVENIR - 2009

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Figure 1 U.S. Debt 10000

Bush, Jr.

Billions of US Dollars_

8000 Clinton

6000

Bush, Sr.

4000

Reagan 2000

0 1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Figure 2 U.S. Balance of Payment 4 1985 Plaza Accord

Percent of GDP

2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 1930

1950

1970

1990

2010

Data Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce (Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Figure 3 U.S. Balance of Payment Billions of US Dollars_

0 -200 -400 -600 -800 -1000 1990

1994

1998

2002

2006

2010

Data Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce (Bureau of Economic Analysis)

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Table 3a: World Export Market Shares of Goods and Services of Selected Countries (1970-1999) (percent for total for world) U.S. Japan Germany U.K. France Italy Canada China Russia India Brazil Mexico

1970-79 12.4 6.3 10.3 6.0 7.0 4.4 4.0 0.7 2.5 NA 0.9 0.6

1980-89 12.2 7.9 9.7 5.6 6.6 4.4 3.7 1.1 2.7 NA 1.0 1.0

1990-94 1995 1996 13.1 12.6 13.0 8.1 7.9 7.2 10.3 9.8 9.4 5.3 5.0 5.2 6.4 5.9 5.5 4.9 4.8 5.0 3.4 3.4 3.6 1.7 2.4 2.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 NA NA 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.2

1997 13.7 7.1 8.7 5.4 5.2 4.2 3.6 3.1 1.5 0.7 NA NA

1998 13.8 6.5 9.3 5.6 5.7 4.8 3.6 3.1 1.3 0.7 NA NA

1999 14.0 6.7 9.0 5.4 5.5 4.4 4.0 3.1 1.3 0.7 NA NA

Source: World Economic Outlook , IMF, 1997-2001; NA – Data Not Available.

Table 3b: World Export Market Shares of Goods and Services of Selected Countries (2000-2008) (percent for total for world) U.S. Japan Germany U.K. France Italy Canada China Russia India Brazil Mexico

2000 14.2 7.0 8.4 5.1 5.0 3.9 4.2 3.7 1.5 0.8 NA NA

2001 13.6 6.0 8.7 5.1 5.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 1.5 0.9 NA NA

2002 12.4 5.8 9.1 5.1 5.1 4.0 3.8 4.6 1.5 0.9 NA NA

2003 2004 2005 11.1 10.3 10.1 5.7 5.7 5.3 9.5 9.5 8.9 4.9 4.8 5.3 5.0 4.8 4.4 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.4 5.3 5.9 6.6 1.7 1.8 2.1 0.9 1.1 1.2 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.2

2006 9.8 5.0 8.9 4.6 4.1 3.5 3.1 7.2 2.3 1.3 1.1 1.8

2007 9.6 4.7 9.2 4.3 4.0 3.6 2.9 7.8 2.3 1.4 1.1 1.7

2008 9.3 4.5 8.7 3.9 3.8 3.4 2.7 8.4 2.7 1.4 1.2 1.6

Source: World Economic Outlook , IMF, 2002-2009; NA – Data Not Available.

Tables 3a and 3b show the world export market shares of goods and services of selected countries. Up to the 1990s, the U.S. was increasing its world export market shares of goods and services nearly every year, but thereafter during the eight years of the Bush administration it was losing its share every year. China is the main beneficiary as it has increased its world export market shares of goods and services from 3.1 percent in 1997 to 8.4 percent in 2008. Although India is being touted as an emerging economic super-power like China, it has long way to go as it has only 1.4 percent of the world export market shares of goods and services. Due to its massive population and underdeveloped economy in several states, India will eke out significant amount of growth rate each year and its economy may even become third or fourth (in terms of GDP) in the world in next three-four decades, but India needs to strengthen its manufacturing base if it wants to become a global economic power, otherwise it is fast becoming a consumer country like the US and will be always at the mercy of foreign investors. Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations, China is clearly the leader right now. In last twenty SOUVENIR - 2009

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years, Japan has lost almost half of its share of the world export market shares of goods and services, and this explains the reason why Japan's trade surplus is shrinking every year.

Billions of US Dollars_

Figures 4 and 5 show the BOP's of selected countries. All countries except U.K. and India have positive BOPs in the past several years. The main reason behind the negative BOP of India is the import of gasoline. India needs to follow in the footsteps of Brazil and find a substitute for petrol as soon as possible, otherwise it may face an economic crisis because it is the only country in BRIC that has a negative BOP. India has the second highest arable land after the U.S. and hence it can produce a sufficient amount of ethanol as well as food grains to feed its population by employing modern agriculture equipments and technique. In Brazil, no small vehicles run on pure 200 gasoline; instead they use ethanol-mixed gasoline, which is available all over the country. 150

Japan Germany

100 50

Euro Area 0 UK

-50 -100 1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Figure 5 Balance of Payment

Billions of US Dollars_

250

China

200 Russia

150 100

Brazil

50 0 India

-50 1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Data Source: World Economic Outlook , IMF, May 1998, p. 182; April 2007, pp. 248-251.

Table 4 shows the major holders of U.S. treasury securities. By the end of 2008, China had surpassed Japan as the largest holder of the U.S. treasury securities. U.K. and Oil Exporting countries are the third and fourth largest holders of the U.S. treasury securities. Caribbean Banking Centers (Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles and Panama) and Brazil are the fifth and sixth largest holders of the U.S. treasury securities and are not shown in Table 2.8. Russia and Hong Kong are seventh and eighth largest holders of the U.S. treasury securities. Holding of significant amount of treasury securities by China, Russia and Oil Exporting countries does not bode well for the country because if they start to dump these treasuries, the interest rates will increase drastically which will drag the entire US economy down. Apart from the U.S. treasury bonds, the foreigners hold significant amount of U.S. corporate bonds also. It is worth noting that Third World countries like China, Russia, Oil exporting countries, Brazil and India, are funding the luxuries of the US. SOUVENIR - 2009

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Table 4: Major Holders of U.S. Treasury Securities (in billions of U.S. dollars) (At the end of year, unless specified)

Japan

China

U.K.

Oil Exporting Countries1

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 June 2009

317.7 317.9 378.1 550.8 289.9 670.0 622.9 581.2 626.0 711.6

60.3 78.6 118.4 159.0 222.9 310.0 396.9 477.6 727.4 776.4

50.2 45.0 80.8 82.2 95.8 146.0 92.3 158.1 130.9 214.0

47.7 46.8 49.6 42.6 62.1 78.2 110.2 137.9 186.2 191.0

Grand Russia Hong Kong Total

NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 32.7 116.4 119.9

38.6 47.7 47.5 50.0 45.1 40.3 54.0 51.2 77.2 99.8

1015.2 1040.1 1235.6 1523.1 1849.3 2033.9 2103.1 2353.2 3076.9 3382.4

1

Oil exporters include Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya and Nigeria. NA – Data Not Available India - $38.5 billion (14 th largest holder), $32.5 billion (Jan. 2009), $20.2 billion (Aug. 2008). Source: U.S. Department of Treasury .

Due to the economic downturn, the US trade deficit is expected to reduce. In 2007, the U.S. BOP reduced to $738 billion from $811 billion in 2006. According to April 2008 IMF estimates, the U.S. BOP deficit would have continued to be above $600 billion for the next five years - $614 billion in 2008, $605 billion in 2009 and $676 billion in 2013. But due to the sudden 2008 economic downturn and subsequent loss of purchasing power of the American consumers, the IMF revised its estimates. Now according to IMF estimates, the U.S. BOP will continue to be above $450 billion for next five years. But on the other hand, as shown in Figure 6 its two main adversaries will continue to amass FOREX (Foreign Exchange Reserves) at alarming rates - China ($1.5 trillion, $2.1 trillion, $2.6 trillion and $3.1 trillion at the end of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively) and Russia ($467 billion, $421 billion, $333 billion and $320 billion at the end of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively). It is worth noting that China and Russia had only $168.9 billion and $24.8 billion FOREX, respectively, in 2000. In Figure 6, FOREX for 2009 and 2010 are estimates.

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Figure 6 FOREX Reserve

3200

Billions of US Dollars

China

2400

1600 Russia Brazil

800

India

0 2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

Data Source: World Economic Outlook , IMF, April 2009

Let us do some simple calculations. Even though the American consumers may start to save more and spend less, the BOP deficit will not go down because the consumer items, sold in stores like Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot and Lowe's, will not be manufactured inside the country as the stores will make more profit by getting them manufactured overseas than within the country. As per April 2009 IMF estimate, the BOP deficit will be around $450 billion per year for next several years. It is worth noting that this IMF estimate was published when the 2008 economic downturn was at its peak. Therefore in next five years, the additional accumulated BOP deficits will be $2.25 trillions. In next ten years, this amount will be $4.5 trillions. Apart from this, the country will have significant amount of budget deficit every year. In 2009, the U.S. budget was a record $1.4 trillion. The country needs to attract significant amount of foreign investment to fund these two deficits in order to keep the interest rate low. This is not sustainable in the long run. Despite having a negative savings rate, the US economy is booming because it is getting savings from other countries. According to economist Allan H. Meltzer at Carnegie Mellon University, “We [US] get cheap goods in exchange for pieces of paper, which we can print at a great rate.” However, the mountain of U.S. bonds foreigners are accumulating means the country is going deeper into debt to fund its import binge. According to William R. Cline, a scholar at the Institute for International Economics, “Sooner or later, the rest of the world will decide that the U.S. is no longer a safe bet for lending more money.” According to Brad Setser, an economist with Roubini Global Economics, LLC, in New York, in order to pay for its imports the U.S. needs to attract foreign capital at the rate of about $20 billion a week [i.e. to finance $1 trillion dollar twin deficit a year, consisting of $700 billion trade deficit and $300 billion budget deficit]. This is equal to selling three companies the size of the maritime firm supposed to be purchased by Dubai Ports World. “We are basically selling off the furniture to pay for Thanksgiving dinner,” says Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's business school in College Park. According SOUVENIR - 2009

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to him, foreigners could own within the next decade more than a fifth of the nation's total $35 trillion or so in assets of every kind corporations, businesses and real estate. Therefore it is wrong to claim that capitalism is successful in the US. If a person needs $3 billion every day to run his family, then he can not claim himself to be a successful businessman. Regardless of what economic experts are saying, capitalism is already dead. On the other hand, China's FOREX is increasing at the rate of $500 billion each year. Despite the severe 2008 global economic downturn, China surpassed the pre-2008 global economic downturn IMF estimate of its 2008 year-end FOREX. According to April 2008 IMF estimate, China should have had $1.91 trillion FOREX at the end of 2008 whereas it ended up with $2.13 trillion whereas Russia ended up with a lower amount as Russia had to spend its FOREX to support its currency and banks because of the 2008 economic downturn (the corresponding numbers for Russia FOREX were $583.0 billion and $421.3 billion, respectively). Russia's FOREX mainly depends on crude oil price which is its mail export. Like Russia, other two BRIC nations, India and Brazil, also ended up with lower amounts at the end of 2008 as compared to the pre-2008 economic downturn IMF estimates. According to the April 2008 IMF estimates, India and Brazil should have had $287 billion and $220 billion, respectively, of FOREXes at the end of 2008 whereas they ended up with only $272 billion and $193 billion, respectively. Among the BRIC nations only India's FOREX is on a shaky ground as it is mainly based on foreign investments and remittances by NRIs (non-resident Indians), and not on its BOP which is in negative territory for last several years. Due to nearly double-digit growth rate every year and low debts, China is the prime destination for the foreign investors. According to IMF estimates, China will have $3.1 trillion FOREX at the end of 2010. Therefore after five years, it will have $5.6 trillion FOREX. With this much amount of FOREX, China will have a virtual control over the U.S. currency. As discussed previously, China has seen the fate of the “bubble economy” of the late 1980s and 1990s in Japan due to the Plaza Accord, and will likely hesitate to sign a similar accord. China is not just going to accumulate this much of paper of a country, i.e. U.S. dollars. According to Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP, which analyzes Treasury financing trends, “While the current market for [US] Treasuries is booming, it's unclear whether demand for debt can be sustained. There's a time bomb somewhere, but we don't know exactly where on the calendar it's planted.” In a similar situation, the US and German banks did not help Gorbachev in the late 1980s that led to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. After record-breaking prices in the early 1980s, oil prices plummeted in the second half of the decade. Oil was the main export and source of hard currency for the U.S.S.R. Insufficient investment and lack of modern technology needed to harness hard-to-reach oil fields prevented her from expanding production, however, and in fact Soviet oil production began to decline. The government was also borrowing heavily to modernize its economy. These two factors led to a rise in Soviet external debt. In 1985, oil earnings and net debt were $22 billion and $18 billion, respectively; by 1989, these numbers had become $13 billion and $44 billion, respectively. By 1991, when external debt was $57 billion, creditors (many of whom were major German banks) stopped making loans and started demanding repayments, causing the Soviet economy to collapse. Therefore at some point of time, the U.S. dollar has to collapse. The collapse of US economy will lead to a SOUVENIR - 2009

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global economic tsunami that will dwarf the 1930s Great Depression as the global economy is right now revolving around the US economy and also it is much more integrated than in 1930s. Countries like India are also becoming like the U.S., i.e. consumer countries and their fates are also going to be like that of the U.S. Right now, India's trade deficit with China is increasing every year and it is exporting minerals to China and importing finished products. One can use the US dollar anywhere in the world and hence the US is being able to fund its deficits by printing its currency. But countries like India can not do the same. Therefore in the long run this situation is going to lead the global economy to a chaos as within a decade or two major consumer countries will have to declare bankruptcy to China. Hence the current global economy model (of cheap goods [or services] being manufactured in China or Third World countries and then sold in other countries) is bound to fail and the 2008 economic downturn was a symptom of its failure. When India had BOP of worth two weeks of import only in 1991 and had to go to IMF for getting a loan, it had to open its economy and to sell several of its government-owned profitable firms at throw-away prices to the US firms under the IMF dictates as the IMF is run by the U.S. treasury department. India needs to strengthen its manufacturing sector as well as to find the substitute of oil as it should avoid a repeat of the 1991 BOP crisis because in future instead of the US, it will be China who will be enforcing its dictates. It is worth mentioning that India fought a war with China in 1962 and has still border issues with China. China accuses India of possessing 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory mostly in Arunachal Pradesh, a northeast state of India as well as a large section in Jammu & Kashmir. Since 2009, China is giving visa on a separate piece of paper rather than on India's passport of a Jammu & Kashmir citizen of India, claiming it to be a disputed territory. If a senior central minister, like prime minister, visits Arunachal Pradesh, then China lodges protest with the Indian government. In May 2007, India had to cancel the visit of a 107-member-strong delegation of its Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to China when China gave visas to 106 of them and refused a visa to an IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh state, which borders Chinese territory, claiming that as a “resident of China” no visa was needed. Some years ago, China denied a visa on the same grounds to the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2009, China tried to block a $2.9 billion Asian Development Bank loan to India on the grounds that part of the loan was going to be used for water projects in Arunachal Pradesh. Hence it is in the best interest of India to balance its foreign trade by strengthening its manufacturing base and find a substitute for oil as soon as possible. As discussed in my book, The Modernization Islam and the Creation of A Multipolar World Order, the 1930s Great Depression resulted in the rise of Hitler, who tried to establish a thousand years of Third Reich, but instead paved the way for thriving democracies in most of Europe and decolonization in Asia and Europe. Similarly, the coming Great Depression will result in the collapse of capitalism, a secular and democratic Middle East, and enduring peace for the entire humanity. Two seemingly unrelated facts also suggest inherent deficiencies in capitalism. First, in the latest high school textbooks in Shanghai, China, Mao Zedong, the former communist dictator responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese, is mentioned only oncein a chapter on etiquette. The new standard world history text has eliminated wars, dynasties, and communist revolutions in favor of colorful tutorials on economics, technology, social customs, and globalization. J.P. Morgan, Bill Gates, the New York Stock Exchange, the space shuttle, and SOUVENIR - 2009

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Japan's bullet train are all highlighted. The book even includes a lesson on how neckties became fashionable. The French and Bolshevik Revolutions, once seen as turning points in world history, now get far less attention. Mao, the Long March, the colonial oppression of China, and the Rape of Nanjing are taught only in a compressed history curriculum in junior high. Second, the percentage of workers in the American agricultural sector was reduced from 40 percent of the total workforce in 1900 to only three percent in 1999. The percentage of manufacturing workers was reduced from 35 percent of the workforce in 1953 to 14 percent in 1999. With automation and the increase in productivity that it brings, the number of workers required in the manufacturing sector as well as the service sector decreases. The first fact tells us that China has accepted the death of communism and a future in capitalism. The second tells us that because over time a nation's manufacturing sector requires fewer hands, capitalism will in the long run fail in China because of its large population. China has too many people to employ to be able to overcome the unemployment resulting from the capital-, as opposed to labor-, intensive techniques demanded by capitalism's profit motive and ethic of competition. Although the economies of both China and India are booming now, they will face large-scale unemployment once rural workers try to migrate to urban areas in order to escape declining rural economies. The majority of the Chinese and Indian populations are rural and largein the hundreds of millionsand work will not be available for a large portion of them. In advanced countries like the U.S. and Japan, people talk about getting the latest gadgets like flat panel televisions, iPods, iPhones, etc. It is true that the quality-of-living standard of developed countries has increased tremendously in the last couple of decades, but poor people around the globe still struggle just to survive. The World Bank uses an income of one dollar per person per day, measured at purchasing power parity, to determine the numbers of extreme poor, and income between one and two dollars per day to indicate moderate poverty. According to a 2004 World Bank study done by economists Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion, roughly 1.1 billion people were living in extreme poverty in 2001, down from 1.5 billion in 1981. The overwhelming share of the world's extreme poor, 93 percent in 2001, live in three regions: East Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1981, the numbers of extreme poor have risen in Sub-Saharan Africa, but have fallen in East Asia and South Asia. Almost half of Africa's population is deemed to live in extreme poverty, and that proportion had risen slightly over the period. The proportion of extreme poor in East Asia has plummeted, from 58 percent in 1981 to 15 percent in 2001; in South Asia progress has also been marked, although slightly less dramatic, from 52 percent to 31 percent. Latin America's extreme poverty rate is around 10 percent, and relatively stuck; Eastern Europe's rose from a negligible level in 1981 to around 4 percent in 2001, the result of upheavals from the communist collapse and economic transition to a market economy. East Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa have about 87 percent of the world's 1.6 billion moderately poor. According to philosopher Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, Nature has been kind enough to provide abundant natural resources to all regions of the world, but she has not given any guidelines on how to distribute these resources among the members of society. This duty has been left to the discretion and intelligence of human beings. In light of how many people suffered under communism and still suffer under capitalism, it would appear that these two systems represent less than the best in discretion and intelligence, and so he developed the SOUVENIR - 2009

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Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout). Prout's focus is on economic decentralization and on the optimum utilization of local resources to generate full employment for local people, something that can be achieved without investing a significant amount of money. It aims at increasing the individual's purchasing power rather than increasing the gross national product (GNP). According to the Progressive Utilization Theory, a country should be divided into socio-economics zones, each of which will have enough natural resources for its population to become economically self-sufficient. In order to realize the goal of self-sufficiency, local people will hold economic power, enabling local raw materials to be used to promote their economic prosperity. The raw materials of one socio-economic unit will not be exported to another unit, as they often are in the free market system, but rather, industrial centers will be built up wherever raw materials are available. Following this policy will create industries based on locally available resources and provide full employment for local inhabitants. Goods essential to local life like basic food items and clothing will not be targeted for export, either to other zones or to other countries, but rather primarily satisfy local demand. Trade, rather than being the centerpiece of economic policy as it is under neoliberal globalization ideology, will focus more on demi-essential items (non-basic food items, antiseptic soap, etc., that are not luxury items) and nonessential, refined wares (luxury items). Guaranteed employment and productivity improvements will increase the purchasing capacity of all residents, ensuring rising standards of living, the goal of any economic philosophy that plans systematically, not haphazardly, for the welfare of all people, not just a few. World Economic Outlook, IMF, April 2008, p. 258, and p. 266. Blustein, Paul, “U.S. Trade Deficit Hangs In a Delicate Imbalance,” Washington Post, November 19, 2005. Blustein, Paul, “Mideast Investment up in U.S.,” The Washington Post, March 7, 2006. Fracis, David R., “The U.S. is for Sale and Foreign Investors are Buying,” The Christian Science Monitor, June 9, 2008. Montgomery, Lori, “U.S. Debt Expected To Soar This Year,” Washington Post, January 3, 2009. Sachs, Jeffrey D., The End Of Poverty, The Penguin Press, New York, 2005, p. 132. Kahn, Joseph, “Where's Mao? Chinese Revise History Books,” The New York Times, September 1, 2006. Cox, Michael W. and Alm, Richard, Myths of Rich and Poor: Why We're Better Off Than We Think, Basic Books, New York, p. 128. Ibid., p. 129. Sachs, Jeffrey D., op. cit., pp. 20-21.

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Batra's Forecasting Record (from Ch 4, The Crash of the Millennium) In 1978, to the laughter of many and the applause of a few, I wrote a book on world history and titled it The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism, predicting that both systems would collapse by or around the year 2000. Thus began for me a new career, riddled with land mines and booby traps, fraught with risks as well as acclamation, of a Batra's Forecasting Record (from Ch 4, The Crash of the Millennium) In 1978, to the laughter of many and the applause of a few, I wrote a book on world history and titled it The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism, predicting that both systems would collapse by or around the year 2000. Thus began for me a new career, riddled with land mines and booby traps, fraught with risks as well as acclamation, of a forecaster. In spite of its manifold hazards, I have continued to remain in that profession, and the current work is no exception. I have persisted with the business of predictions and written many more books since 1978. Some prophecies have been general and some specific. Here's a menu of the forecasts I have made in recent years: Forecasts Made in 1978 1. Soviet but not Chinese communism will collapse around the millennium. 2. A revolution will occur in Iran in 1979 and the priesthood will take over. 3. Starting in 1980, there will be a seven-year long war between Iran and Iraq. 4. The rule of money, or monopoly capitalism, will come to an end in the United States around the year 2000. 5. Army commanders would become famous before the fall of monopoly capitalism. 6. Prnography, promiscuity, crime, and divorce will climb until the dominion of money ends in politics. 7. Income and wealth disparities will skyrocket. 8. Women would play increasingly active roles in business and politics. 9. Family values and spirituality will take a back seat. 10. The rule of money will give way to a global golden age. Forecasts Made Between 1980 and 1983 11. The American economy will prosper for seven years between 1983 through 1989. 12. Inflation will gradually subside in the 1980s. 13. Interest rates will fall in the 1980s. 14. Share prices will break records every year between 1983 and 1989. 15. Farm and oil prices will plummet in the 1980s. 16. Bond values will soar in the 1980s. 17. Industrial mergers will surge around the globe. 18. European countries such as Britain, Germany and France will suffer a serious slump in 1986, facing post-war peaks of joblessness. 19. In 1989/1990 share prices will crash all over the world, leading to a seven-year-long depression. SOUVENIR - 2009

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20. Traditional values will make a comeback soon after the end of the rule of wealth in society. Forecasts Made in 1988 for the 1990s 21. The US dollar will crash by the end of 1994. 22. Inflation and interest rates will tumble again in the 1990s. 23. Real estate values will plummet in many areas of the United States. Forecasts Made in 1991 24. Every year of the 1990s will be a year of drama, marked by unprecedented change in government, economy or religion somewhere in the world. 25. President Bush will be defeated by a Democrat. 26. A third political party will start in the United States. 27. Japan will suffer great political instability. Forecast Made in 1992 28. NAFTA will depress the Mexican economy and U.S. real incomes. Forecasts Made in 1996/1997 29. Stock markets will start crashing by the end of 1997. 30. The global speculative bubble will burst by August 1998. 31. The major battle between the bulls and bears will come in the summer of 1998. 32. The Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will lower interest rates when share markets begin their fall in the United States. 33. Even as share markets crash in Asia and Latin America, the US domino will sustain itself and be the last to fall. The First Ten Forecasts Of the 33 forecasts listed in Table 4.1, if I am permitted to say so, only two have been partially or totally wrong. Contrary to my prophecy, the Dow Jones Index as well as the over-the-counter Nasdaq index were at alltime highs in January 1999; and the 1930s style great depression has not yet materialized. The table also includes predictions for which some time remains. Other than the two just mentioned, all the remaining prophecies have materialized in virtually the way I had foreseen. I will shortly return to this matter and argue that even my forecasting errors seem to dovetail with the pattern of those that have come true, and now appear to be on their way. My forecasts have mostly relied on the premise that history follows a discernible pattern. I am not the first one to propound this view. I have august company from the likes of Arnold Toynbee, Oswald Spengler, Karl Marx, St. Augustine, and among others. These are the celebrated historians, and even though their ideas have been denounced by many others, their erudition dwarfs the scholarship of their critics. Their breadth of vision far outshines that of their detractors. The accuracy of most of my prophecies indicates that there must be something right about the ideas underlying them; there must be some validity to the philosophy of historical determinism that history follows a natural or providential design. SOUVENIR - 2009

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Let's examine the first ten forecasts listed in the table above. Most of them appeared in Downfall. The Soviet empire has disintegrated right before your eyes; some critics say Chinese communism still stands, but my forecast excluded the Chinese variety, which is likely to persist for a while. The priesthood dominates Iran and has been doing so since 1979. Starting in September 1980, the country fought an eight-year war with Iraq. Thanks to the Gulf War, army generals such as Colin Powell and Norman Schwartzkopf have become celebrities. Similarly, women are more active than ever before, while income and wealth disparities have skyrocketed. Few worry about family values and personal integrity, even as crime, pornography and divorce have become rampant. Of course, the fall of monopoly capitalism and the golden age have not materialized, but their time has yet to come. The Next Ten Forecasts Let's now proceed to the next batch of ten forecasts, from 11 to 20, which were made in my other book, The Great Depression of 1990. Following a severe recession in the early eighties, the seven years between 1983 and 1989 were apparently prosperous, while inflation, interest rates, and oil and farm prices tumbled from their levels in the previous decade. Share prices broke records every year between 1983 and 1987, but then plunged in a stunning crash, which was anticipated in the second edition of Great Depression. Both bond prices and mergers jumped in the eighties. In 1986, France, Britain, and Germany suffered rising unemployment, which has yet to fall. All these forecasts were one way or another linked to the three-decade cycles of money and inflation examined in the preceding chapter. The Next Eight Forecasts We now turn to the next eight predictions, from 21 to 28. In 1994, thanks to the devaluation of the Mexican peso, the dollar collapsed although not until the month of December; thus this forecast barely came true. In April 1995, the dollar went on to hit an all-time low of 80 yen. Inflation and interest rates have been tumbling since 1990 and by 1998 were the lowest since the 1950s. In many large states, such as New York, California and Florida, real estate values crashed in the early 1990s. As regards my forecast about NAFTA, the devaluation of the peso in December 1994 catapulted Mexico into a deep depression. Real wages and GDP both plummeted in a hurry. Even in 1999 Mexican real earnings were below their pre-NAFTA levels. At the same time U.S. real incomes began to fall after rising slightly in 1993. As soon as NAFTA was adopted in January 1994, real wages in both Mexico and the United States responded in the way I had foreseen a year earlier. Every year of the 1990s so far until April 1999 has been full of drama and intrigue. The drama commenced with the stock market crash in Tokyo on the first trading day in 1990, followed by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August; barely two months later, East and West Germany were united as a by product of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. In January 1991, came the unprecedented Gulf War in which the puny army of Iraq was pitted against not just the US military might but the whole world. An overwhelming victory in the conflict took President George Bush to the height of his popularity, his public approval rating at better than 80%. Barely six months after the war, an abortive military coup in the Soviet Union started the breakup of its empire and accelerated the fall of communism. Soon after this, a third party movement, led by Ross Perot, emerged in the United States in 1992. He won an unprecedented 19 percent of the vote in the presidential election and contributed to Bill Clinton's unexpected victory at the expense of the once invincible George Bush.

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In Japan, the LDP government, ruling the country since 1950, collapsed in 1993 and paved the way for subsequent economic and political turmoil. In 1994, Nelson Mandela put an end to apartheid in South Africa and became its president. The same year witnessed the signing of peace treaties between implacable and ancient foes, the Jews and Palestinians, with slow but steady progress in coming years. This was followed by the Republican control of the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. In April 1995, the dollar, as stated above, sank to its all-time low; the year also saw the start of a depression in Mexico and the longest U.S. government shutdowns lasting from November 1995 all the way to January 1996. All this and what immediately follows demonstrate that each year of the 1990s turned out to be a dramatic year. The Final Batch of Forecasts Let's now focus on my predictions made since 1996. In July 1997 started the currency meltdown in Thailand and quickly spread to all the Asian Tigers encompassing eight countries; stock markets crashed, and overnight some countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea slipped into a devastating recession. Then came the turn of Japan, which had been struggling ever since its share price crash in January 1990. Japan sank even deeper into the slump in 1997 and 1998. Share price crashes continued around the world at the start of 1998, while the US economy and stock markets continued to flourish. However, when August came, the Dow Jones Index fell about 19% in one month, whereas the Nasdaq index tumbled as much as 25%. Many of the small cap stocks lost more than 50% of their value from their peak reached in July. Thus the global speculative bubble burst open in the month of August 1998, as predicted. In September and October, the financial world was in a panic. Just as Asia was reeling, Russia defaulted on its international debt, and Brazil was expected to follow suit. It is at that point, my 32nd forecast came true, and the Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan engineered a series of cuts in the rate of interest. Once that happened, my last and 33rd prediction came to pass, and that is where we have been ever since. Nearly half of the world was in recession by April 1999, and Europe was beginning to slow down, but the US juggernaut continued its steady march. The American economic pace in fact accelerated in the last quarter of 1998, as GDP climbed at 5.6% annual rate. Thus the American economy continues to be an oasis of prosperity in the midst of an increasingly depressed world. Epoch-making events normally occur once in a century, but ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the world has witnessed a series of them. The crash of the Wall itself was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Many more such events are likely in the near future. Thus you see virtually all the predictions I made over the two decades between 1978 to 1997 have already come true. The only forecast that did not fully materialize is No. 19, because share prices crashed in Japan that year but not in the United States, and the world faced only a recession, not a depression. An interesting question now presents itself: When someone makes a great many prophecies, and almost all come true, then what happened in the one case where the accuracy was only partial. In other words, what happened to the great depression of 1990, the title of my work first published in 1985?

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The US Economy: 1990-1998 According to official figures a recession started in the United States in June 1990 and ended 9 months later in March the following year. The nation's output fell by a tiny fraction, less than 1%. Thus government figures display only a minor damage to the economy from the slump of 1990. But then you wonder why President George Bush, with an all-time high public approval rating of 84% in March 1991, lost in an electoral college landslide to Bill Clinton barely 20 months later. Our economists view recession as a decline in the nation's output over two consecutive quarters. In this view, the recession was over in March 1991, the same month that produced the highest approval rating for the president, because the output began to rise. Now this is interesting. The president won accolades from his handling of the Gulf War, and the economy began to recover at the same time, yet he lost to a virtually unknown governor of a small state, Arkansas. The truth is that the slump of 1990, though not a full fledged depression of the type in the 1930s, was much more serious than revealed by official figures on output. The public said so at the ballot box and threw a once untouchable president out of office. If we apply the conventional concept of recession to the 1930s, as the output began to rise the depression was over by the end of 1933, a year when the unemployment rate hit 25% of the labor force, compared to just 7.5% in 1992. How ridiculous does that sound? Even in 1939, the jobless rate was over 15%. The point of this discussion is that the state of the economy is not just gauged by output figures alone. You have to examine the trends in many areas including joblessness, real wages and the climate of panic in society. Take a look at how some others described the 1990 downturn. Harvard Professor Galbraith called it a recession cum depression; economist David Levy characterized it as a "contained depression." Lawrence Hunter, deputy chief economist for the US chamber of commerce, dubbed it as a "never-ending recession." Peter Peterson, Commerce Secretary in the 1970s, called it a "middle class meltdown," and Wallace Peterson , a distinguished professor at the University of Nebraska, titled it the silent depression. Even Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, not a critic of Bill Clinton, described it as "quiet depression" as late as 1996. According to output figures the US economy started humming in early 1991; then why did so many luminaries take issue with that characterization? Why did some well known economists vehemently disagree with the government's assertions? In a poignant commentary on the state of the economy, Time magazine openly wondered in January 1992, "Well, why are Americans so gloomy, fearful and even panicked about the current economic slump?" The answer came from the state of the real family income in America coupled with all the downsizing that had occurred in the early 1990s. Since 1970, an increasing number of women have joined the labor force, so that the real family income has been rising in spite of stagnant real wages for individuals. According to the Economic Report of the President (ERP), median family income was $43,290 in 1989, just a year before the slump. In 1990, it fell to $42,400, and in 1996 stood at $42,300, not only below the 1989 level but also below the 1990 figure. Even five years after the recovery is supposed to have begun, median family income had not caught up with the pre-slump figure. This is SOUVENIR - 2009

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exactly why Pat Buchanan defeated the front runner Bob Dole in the early 1996 Republican primary. Hear what journalist Jason DeParle, a staff writer for the New York Times magazine, said on that occasion: "Call it what you will, but class anger is back. Who could have imagined that a win in New Hampshire would come to a man who called the stock market un-American?" Or that Bob Dole would pose, even fleetingly, as a critic of corporate America." The output figures told one story, but family income told another. Mark Twain used to say, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. It is clear now that the official spin on the state of the economy has masked its true character, created an impression of growing prosperity and made figures tell damn lies. This, however, is only a speck of the distorted picture. As a result of the damn lies persisting with clock-work regularity since 1996, the world economy is now perched atop a precipice. Even the seemingly invincible US behemoth is extremely shaky, hanging onto the cliff by one fingernail. Why else would a Time cover page in February 1999 raise the specter of a global meltdown? The magazine brags about its "inside story" of how a global financial calamity was averted in August 1998. Let me give you an inside story of what actually brought about the seemingly unprecedented US prosperity in the 1990s. After Japan suffered a stock market crash in January 1990, it responded to the crisis by slashing interest rates. The idea was that low borrowing costs would encourage businesses to expand their investments, households to purchase new homes, and cushion the banks from tons of bad debt, so that the effects of the share price debacle would be minimized. However, for a variety of reasons, which we will discuss later, the medicine failed and the country's economy continued to sink at a slow but unmistakable pace. Most of the Japanese banks survived as their deposit costs tumbled, but, in a nation shell-shocked by the debacle, there was little business and consumer demand for their loans. So they turned to other countries to expand their lending business or find lucrative investments. Despite a faltering home economy, they had plenty of funds to lend or invest, because the Japanese are among the biggest savers in the world. A part of their money went to the Asian Tigers in the neighborhood, but a substantial part came to the United States, which had a huge appetite for foreign funds to finance its gargantuan budget deficit. In addition to Japan, funds also poured into America from many other nations that had a bulging hoard of dollars acquired from their trade surplus. China alone had a $34 billion surplus in its US trade in 1995. From 1990 to 1995, the federal red ink amounted to $1.5 trillion, of which about a fourth, some $400 billion, was financed by foreign funds. An equal amount went into other American assets such as stocks, factories and real estate. Thus about $800 billion of foreign money poured into the United States during the first half of the 1990s, and all the country could show for it was a declining median in family income. A median household is in the middle of all the families. A decline in median income meant that half of American households had suffered a loss of earnings. True, stock and bond prices had skyrocketed because of the foreign inflow, but a vast number of Americans had suffered lower incomes. With Japan continuing to sink into the abyss and the world awash in dollars, the inflow of foreign funds accelerated after 1996. The US trade deficit had already become a blessing in disguise, and now it turned economic recovery SOUVENIR - 2009

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into a full-blown boom. Normally, a country with a growing trade shortfall has to raise interest rates to attract foreign funds that in turn finance that shortfall. As a result, the economy and financial markets go into a slump, imports shrivel and foreign commerce moves into balance. This has been the experience of all countries all through recorded history. This was also the case during the 1980s, when high federal deficits sharply raised American interest rates, which in turn attracted funds from abroad and paid for the trade shortfall. But in the 1990s, the laws of nature turned on their head. The US economy and financial markets actually benefited from the trade deficit. As the deficit zoomed, so did American prosperity. A rising deficit meant an ever increasing hoard of dollars in international hands; people abroad didn't know what to do with all that foreign currency. Foreign governments or central banks ploughed the dollars right back into American assets, US interest rates fell again, and a virtuous circle, sparked by the 1990 crash in Japan, turned into a gusher. In 1997, Asian currencies went into a tailspin, spurring a big rise in America's already enduring and large trade deficit. But that only helped the United States, because a larger inflow of external capital meant even lower interest rates. The Asian crisis affected the US economy in two ways, one positive and the other negative. The negative effect came from surging imports of manufactured goods that generated further downsizing in major industries. The positive impact sprang from falling interest rates that continued to fuel a housing boom, especially as people moved into ever larger homes. When a person buys a residence he also likes to purchase many other thingsappliances, furniture, paintings, rugs and so on. Thus a housing boom is the best thing that can happen to an economy. This way the salutary effect of the Asian crisis far outweighed the negative impact, so that the US economy and financial markets kept humming even as other nations took a bath. On April 1, 1998, the United States orchestrated major financial deregulation in Japan ostensibly to cure the Japanese crisis. But its effect were the same as those of the Asian turmoil. Deregulation permitted the Japanese people and insurance companies to invest money abroad, a privilege heretofore available only to their banking institutions. Uncle Sam, no longer rich but in desperate need of incoming largesse, has become the largest debtor in the world, but since the debt is not in foreign currency, its ill effects would take time to erupt. Foreign debt has already destroyed seemingly strong economiesThailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, and Brazil among others, whereas obvious laggards such as Mexico and Russia are simply gasping for breath. The United States is still standing tall despite its mountain of debt, but since its liabilities are not in terms of a foreign currency, it will be the last domino to fall. The country doesn't need to raise interest rates to attract foreign exchange, which is what is killing the other debtors. This is the inside story of America's sizzling prosperity in the late 1990s, even as the rest of the world crumbles. As the federal deficit ballooned in 1990 and thereafter, the slump of that year could have turned into a full-fledged depression, but the inflow of Japanese money brought interest rates down and saved the day. In spite of that inflow, there was a good deal of suffering for six long years until 1996. After that, as the foreign inflow accelerated, a tepid recovery turned into a full-blooded boom. Is this a real boom or a mere postponement of the day of reckoning into something worse? With billions of dollars in loans even a pauper can become a tycoon and gloat about his riches. But one day the loans come due with interest, something that has already bedeviled many SOUVENIR - 2009

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parts of the world. The US hour of judgement is almost here, and then the great depression, postponed in 1990, could make a ferocious comeback. Some Comments on Ravi Batra's Work. "Ravi Batra has made an outstanding reputation in the United States as an international economic theorists in the best Western tradition." Leonard Silk, New York Times "The forecasting record of this widely respected Southern Methodist University economist has won glowing praise from many pragmatic investment masters." Tom Peters, Chicago Tribune "Dr. Batra writes about his subject as clearly as if he were telling bedtime stories." Christopher Lehmann Haupt, New York Times "The good professor has a formidable academic reputation and, from what I know, his forecasting record is impressive." Barton Biggs, Morgan Stanley "Batra [is] a scholar who has earned a considerable reputation as an expert on trade." Albert Crenshaw,Washington Post "His predictions in the early 1980s of low inflation, falling oil prices and a wave of mergersmocked for yearshave proved close to the mark." Thomas C. Hayes, New York Times Ravi Batra was used to making tumultuous global forecasts and having nobody listenthen predictions started to come true." Chip Brown, Associated Press

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Economic Evolution Progressive Utilisation Theory visualizes an end to capitalism. JAMES THOMPSON Dada Vimal Ananda isn't your typical monk. When he and his colleagues at Proutist Universal Inc. in Washington, D.C. aren't busy organizing disaster relief and nongovernmental activities in underdeveloped countriestheir motto is “self-realization and service to humanity” they are leading a New Age spiritual movement called Progressive Utilisation Theory or, simply, Prout. This hybrid of capitalism and communismperhaps with a little meditation and yoga thrown infounded four decades ago by the late Indian philosopher Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (and praised by the likes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and noted linguist Noam Chomsky) stresses economic democracy, with government ownership of key industries like energy, transportation and communication; cooperative ownership of agriculture and other large industries; a small private sector, andhere's one for all you Libertariansno income tax. Ananda, who was Sarkar's protégé and the one who took the first written notation of the economic guru's theory, spoke at CSU earlier this month. He says Sarkar was the first, in 1979, to predict that the Berlin Wall, the literal and figurative divider between the two ideologies, would be torn down. Rocky Mountain Bullhorn: So do spirituality and the Prout philosophy go hand in hand? Dada Vimal Ananda: Yes, very much so. As I was explaining in my talk, one of the main works of nature is to cause evolution, so humans are also evolving, and as they are evolving, they are becoming more contemplative. So they need something to add in their lifestyle so they can enjoy that natural urge which is coming in the mind of the new generations, and also the need to change their social institutions [to] accommodate their individual aspirations. RMB: Do you call it “Proutism”? DVA: We don't call it “-ism”, because ism is limited to time, place and person. These ideas are not based on time, place and person factors; these values are universal values that we want to promote. RMB: It seems that Prout works on the assumption that capitalism has failed. Do you think capitalism has been given a chance yet to work itself out? DVA: [Laughs.] It's not that I am saying that; everyone is discussing that capitalism has become dysfunctional. What's happening in capitalism is that we are buying time, we are buying a chance to survive a few more years. It's always like crisis management going on. So if you are in crisis management year after year after year, you're actually not functioning well. RMB: The theory is quite involved. Where do you come up with the numbers, and have they been run by the economists? DVA: There are some economists involved with this, but the idea is that we should have a balanced economy, SOUVENIR - 2009

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because the planet is small and we have 6 billion people, and the concept of economy is to see that the resources can sustain this huge population for the longest period of time. That should be the purpose of economy. The purpose of economy should not be to use and abuse the resources and die out soon. RMB: What about the human factors, like greed and dishonesty? How do you account for those in Prout? DVA: Well, greed and these things come from outside pressure. You have scarcity created artificially, and this is where you start thinking to hold a lot of things, and you start becoming greedy. If it is natural, then you will not be greedy. Greed satisfies one aspect of your mind, one corner of your mind. If that corner of mind could be satisfied by some higher value, then you will not be turning toward greed. This greed is not in any other animal, this greed is not in the plant, this greed factor is not in the rural population. This greed is in the 20 percent of population which is trapped in our capitalistic dream world. RMB: You say that the Prout society will be governed by leaders, not by politicians. What's the difference to you? DVA: We have a classic example: Mohatma Gandhi was a leader. Nelson Mandela was a leader, not a politician, see? But what comes after the leader, the politician starts capitalizing on the achievements of the leader. Politicians polarize the society, whereas the leaders unify the society. RMB: What is it about Prout that can be appealing to many divergent cultures? DVA: Because Prout knows that there are some factors of unity amongst diversity. We stand on those universal factors. Unity and diversity factors are in each area of life. … In our understanding, all human beings only have one culture, but its expressions are different. The spirit of the culture is the same. The spirit of the culture is to move from imperfection to perfection. RMB: How do you propose we implement Prout and overcome the resistance that you'll no doubt encounter, especially from people who are really attached to capitalism? DVA: No, there's no resistance. What's happening in our theory is that capitalism has really gone through a crisis. And this is a situation where everyone is looking for a face-saving situation, especially capitalism. Prout is a very good way out for capitalism, too. Because what is the sense of five people losing $5 billion rather than 5,000 people protecting the $5 billion investment? RMB: How far are you from successfully implementing it in the rest of the world? It looks like you have a long way to go. DVA: Well, any theory is like that. But now, the situation is very interesting. Prout stands on some fundamental truths, and Prout has been able to predict things and it happened. P.R. Sarkar was the first one to predict that Marxism, communism, would die a premature death. … Likewise, he said capitalism will also die, but it will die a mature death. It cannot sustain itself, and the time, perhaps, is coming closer, that capitalism is slowly transforming into something noncapitalistic. So I'm saying to you that nature is bringing humanity toward a synthesis of far left and far right together, and Prout is the only ideology which combines the two extremes. In Prout you will find the prosperity of capitalism, and in Prout you will find the social justice of Marxism. So Prout is a natural outcome of the evolutionary process.

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Small Business: Not Too Big To Fail, Too Small To Succeed By Marc Friedland Not Too Big To Fail, Too Small To Succeed: this is the plight of small businesses in an economic downturn. Many people understand that small businesses are a vital part of any community, and the recent economic downturn has made them conspicuous by their absence. The failure of small businesses can cause more long term harm to the economy than the high profile failures in the financial sector. If we want to see small businesses succeed, our communities need to give them support. “A rising tide floats all boats” applies very well to a growing economy. When the economy is booming, it's easy to do business. For small businesses, the key to success is more related to cash flow than profit. The numbers are simple. A business buys goods on credit and pays for them with future sales. When sales go up, there is more money to pay the bills. It's easy to grow the business. When the economy goes into recession, a falling tide leaves those in shallow water on dry land. Here the numbers get reversed. If a business has declining sales, it's got less money to pay the bills incurred previously. This decline eats up cash in the bank on a weekly basis and is cumulative. A small business with typically low cash reserves can run out of cash long before it runs out of customers. Many small business owners have gambled their financial lives on their business. When the business fails, it's one of our neighbors that get hurt. Additionally, the employees of that business are out of work. Keep in mind that the largest source of jobs in this country is small business. In 2007 small businesses accounted for 78.9% of all new jobs. But, when the recession hit, the government bailed out the banks and large corporations not small businesses. What can local government do to assist this situation? Most small business owners don't start a business to get rich. They have an idea they feel can contribute to the neighborhood. However, in many cases, new entrepreneurs lack the skills to run a business, which is why their endeavors often fail in just the first year. To gird up the structures of small businesses, local governments need to set up small business incubators, staffed by experienced people with a small business background to guide these fledgling entrepreneurs. Covering the rocky road of starting a business and maintaining it in times of difficulty would be the focus of the small business incubator. There are many retired small business owners in every community who could ably assist with such a project. Why not leave this to the US Small Business Administration? Because the SBA is a federal program, and each community needs to take control over what matters the most to it. In addition, with all the federal money being thrown out to businesses “too big to fail,” small businesses have received almost nothing. Why wait around for the national economic recovery? Let's create our own recovery. Marc Friedland was the founder and owner of Talley's Green Grocery, the first natural foods supermarket in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1991 to 2008. SOUVENIR - 2009

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Society Changes By Acarya Vimaleshananda Avadhuta As it happens for human growth the changes might be negligible in the short run but along the year's a child becomes an adult and an adult becomes an aged person. Living in a capitalistic society, we may have noticed that changes are happening. Yet we are not able to give a name to the "something else" that is gradually taking shape due to the pressure of the economic downturn. In a transitional time where material security is waning and economic uncertainty is becoming a common place, new forms of economy are taking shape, which are less dependent on the market value of commodities. Capitalistic economy is very well acquainted with the categories of buying, selling, cost and profit. In a transitional period where the purchasing capacity is lowering there is another emerging category that we can call use or utilization. Suppose that you do not have the money to buy a non-perishable commodity. What other options do you have? Rent, take a loan, use the credit card, exchange,.... what else? You can borrow on a condition of trust. You use a commodity and you return it in the same state after a period of time. This is relatively something common for public Ebraries where you can borrow books, CD, videos with a library card on the condition of returning them in good state before a certain time. Can the same concept be extended to other commodities, for example, tools, bikes, jewelry, paintings and musical instruments? In Iowa City the public library carries not only books, CDs and videos for use and return, but also paintings that can furnish a home for three months and keep rotating among users of the library. In Philadelphia there is a tool library where it is possible to use and return work tools like chain saw, skill saw, etc. In some countries of Europe bikes can be used and returned free of charge at the train station. There is nothing new in the concept of borrowing and returning. What can be innovative is to have a membership card that allows to use multiple commodities in different locations and potentially in any country. We are used to debit, credit and discount merchant cards. Can we envision a "share card" that is only for the use of commodities without having to purchase anything besides a membership? It means that with a yearly fee of $50, for example, you are allowed to borrow, wear and return jewelry worm of thousands of dollars if purchased. It seems incredible but jewelry is actually one of the most durable commodities. Thus, it can be used by multiple people by rotation on a condition of trust. Renting and sharing are two different categories. In renting no membership condition is required. In sharing, membership is essential. For example, several companies are offering car renting opportunities and also a whole new sector of economy is developing as car sharing. The main difference between renting and sharing is the mind set In renting you are still a consumer with no interest in maintaining the good state of the commodities besides the penalties you might incur. In sharing there is a cooperative use recognized in the form of membership and potentially rewarded within the same frame. Envisioning the share card as a economic way to use commodities at large we may consider that producers might recover an interest towards the durability of their goods. They can develop lines of products only for use and not for sale, with higher quality standards. The "use and throw" mentality may get gradually replaced by a more conscious "use and share" way of life. Prout, the Progressive Utilization Theory, in its fifth principle, states, "The method of utilization should vary according to time, place and person, and the utilization should be of a progressive nature." Is the "share card" a bridge from Capitalism to a Proutist Society?

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NEWS & VIEWS The Parting of the iron Curtain There are occasions when a leader takes a decision without fully anticipating its impact. One of the best instances of this is Mikhail Gorbachev's announcement of the policies of glasnost (opening up) and prestroika (reconstruction) soon after becoming general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985. In 1987, Gorbachev proposed multi-candidate elections and the appointment of non-party members to government positions. He then introduced measures for greater freedom of speech and radical economic reform by allowing private ownership of businesses coupled with reduction of the role of the party in the government. A presidential system was also proposed. Though Gorbachev was elected the first executive president of the Soviet Union in 1990, he had by then unleashed forces that began pulling the country apart. Nationalism reared its head in all corners of the Soviet Union. By 1991, several republics, including Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, were ready to declare independence. The situation quickly worsened and there was an attempted coup against Gorbachev in August 1991. He even spent three days under house arrest. When he was released, the Soviet Union had already begun disintegrating with several states formally declaring independence. The forces unleashed by Gorbachev in 1985 would culminate in the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 17, 1991. With that the curtain came down on one of the greatest experiments of the 20th Century. Six million 'will be on state benefits' Six Million working-age adults will soon be claiming benefits, a think tank has predicted. Policy Exchange has forecasted that official figures to be published later this month will put the total number of benefits claimants over 6 million for the first time. The group's projections were based on Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) data. The last official figures, issued in February, showed that the total was 5.8 million. There were 1.4 million people on Job Seekers' Allowance and 2.6 million on Employment Support formerly incapacity benefit. The total also included people claiming benefits as lone parents, carers and due to disability. In 2009-10, the Treasury is expecting to take in $ 140.5 billion in gross income tax receipts. Social security benefits are projected to be $164.7 billion. The DWP disputed the Policy Exchange prediction. A spokesperson said : "This is simply not true and doesn't reflect the increased help and support people are getting ... last month alone we helped over 330,000 SOUVENIR - 2009

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people move off unemployment benefits." Think tank says 'masters of universe' need controlling A left leaning think tank has called for a "high pay commission" to review top pay rates and consider measures to curb what it argues are excessive remuneration levels that undermine economic stability. Amid a growing debate about the level of City remuneration Compass said the "greed of those at the top (had) impacted directly on those at the bottom", and a high pay commission - its title a play on the Low Pay Commission established by the Government in 1998 - would deliver a fairer and more stable economy. "The unjust rewards of a few hundred 'masters of the universe' exacerbated the risks we were all exposed to many times over," Compass said, adding that the proposed commission should consider proposals such as maximum wage ratios and bonus taxation. A number of leading politicians have called for curbs on City pay in recent days. However Alistair Darling, the Chancellor brushed aside the call, saying he was "not persuaded", despite a string of Labour MPs, including influential backbencher Jon Cruddas, backing the campaign. "I think the best way of deciding pay is between employers and employees," Mr Darling said, "They have to decide what they can afford, what is the going rate for the job." The Compass campaign - also backed by Vince Cable, treasury spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, and a raft of other prominent figures in education, politics and the union movement - came as research was published showing that most blue chip companies did not lift boardroom pay in the past year. A report by Hewitt New Bridge Street found that 60pc of companies had maintained pay rates. The median salary of the highest-paid directors in FTSE 100 companies was L 800,000 and bonuses earned had fallen from an average 110 pc of salary to 90pc. The median potential bonus for the highest-paid directors of FTSE 100 companies was 150pc, the report found. David Tankel, principal consultant at the firm, said that while the recession had an impact on bonus payments, they "remained relatively high." This is how the world votes Plurality system ('First-past-the-post)' or Westminster system) The aim! To create a "manufactured majority," that is to exaggerate the share of seats for the leading party in order to produce an effective parliamentary majority for the government, while simultaneously penalising minor parties. How it Works : The country is divided into territorial single-member constituencies and voters within each constituency cast a single ballot for one candidate. The candidate with the largest share of vote in each seat is returned to office and the party with an overall majority of seats forms the government.

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Drawback : In "winner-takes-all," the leading party boosts its legislative base while the trailing parties get meagre rewards. It ignores the candidate who may have got just one vote less. Countries it is practised in : India/UK/US/Canada and many Commonwealth states. Second Ballot Majority runoff system The aim : The consolidate support behind the victor and encourage board cross-party coalition building and aliances in the final stage of the campaign. How it works : A run-off election is held between the two top vote-getters to ensure that the winner obtains a majority of votes cast. Candidates obtaining an absolute majority of votes (50 per cent +) in the first round and declared elected. If this doesn't happen, a second round is held between the two candidates who get the highest number of votes. Countries it is practised in : In 15 out of the 25 countries with direct presidential elections including France/Australia/Columbia/Finland and Russia. A majority-runoff is also used in legislative elections in Mali and Ukraine and a plurality-runoff in the French National Assembly. Alternative vote How it works : Voters indicate an order of preference among candidates. If no candidate obtains a majority outright, the last-place candidate is removed and the associated second-choice votes are added to the total of the remaining candidates. The process is repeated till a candidate secures a majority. Countries it is practised in : Australian House of Representatives and in Ireland for presidential elections. Semi-Proportional System Preference voting or single transferable vote The aim : In this system, every vote counts and very few votes are wasted. Voters can vote for their favourite candidate(s), knowing that if that candidate doesn't receive enough votes, they will be "transferred" to their next preference. Ideal for non-partisan elections like city councils. How it works : The voter simply ranks candidates in order of preference (1,2,3...) Once a voter's first choice is elected or eliminated, excess votes are "transferred" to subsequent preferences until all positions are filled. Countries it is practised in : Legislative elections in Ireland and Malta and the Australian Senate. Proportional System List System How it works : Seats in a constituency are divided according to the number of votes cast for party lists. There are many variations in how this is implemented in different systems. Party lists may be open as in Norway, Finland, the SOUVENIR - 2009

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Netherlands and Italy, where voters can express preferences for particular candidates within the list. Or, they may be closed as in Israel, Portugal, Spain and Germany, where voters can only select the party and the political party determines the ranking of candidates. Mixed System Mixed member system How it works : This proportional representation hybrid elects half the legislature from single-seat, 'winner-takesall' districts and the other half by the List System. The aim : To combine geographic, ideological and proportional representation. Countries it is practised in : Mostly in post-Communist Europe, where nine states currently use this Russia/Ukraine/Lithuania/Armenia/Georgia/Azerbaijan/Hungary/Macedonia and Albania.

Proutist Universal National Conference The National Conference on Spirituality and the New Economy, a Proutist Universal event, took place over Saturday and Sunday, on the weekend of April 4th and 5th in Dallas, Texas. It was organized by a veteran Proutist and journalist Dada Acharya Shubhacetanananda. Mr. Dada Acharya is known in practically every college and university in the Dallas region for his expertise in Yoga, meditation and his social service efforts. Unknown to most in the Dallas community, he is also the primary leader, the Chief Secretary, of the international service and education organization, Proutist Universal of New York Sector, with its head office in Washington, DC. The website for the event is www.prout.org/ Texas. Acharya had the assistance of the community of Proutist Universal members in the area to put together and to manage the event. It was held at the Funasia Convention Center in Richardson, Texas and was promoted nicely on the radio for weeks in advance by the Funasia Radio station. Additionally, Mr. Acharya arranged the live web-streaming of the event on the web through the partnership and services of desiplazza.com. There were many reports from around the country that viewers were able to enjoy the activities of the event and presenters remotely as it happened. Each day the program started with a Yoga Asana class and a guided Meditation session. These sessions, led by Acharya Shubhacetanananda, were helpful for the hundred or more attendees to learn the simple and effective practices and to give them a chance to experience the benefits immediately. Dada was helped by a two Proutist youths who demonstrated every single move while he provided guidance. Additionally, each day, the attendees were provided a quality Indian-style vegetarian lunch. From the beginning of the program to the end, the participants were nourished with nutrition, good personal practices and informative presentations. On Sunday, there was a wonderful cultural program performed by the Proutist youth, singing beautiful songs and dancing based on Prabhata Samgiita. This was organised by Onkamath Pandey. Everyone was touched by the grace of the performers. Each artist and child present was awarded with a small gift of appreciation SOUVENIR - 2009

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by Moody of Funasia Radio. The keynote speaker at the Dallas event was Dr. Ravi Batra (noted economist and author of "The Great Depression of 1990", "Greenspan's Fraud" and "The New Golden Age"). Dr. Batra displayed his remarkable ability to take something very complex and make it seem remarkably simple. Dr. Batra stated that a coming depression is inevitable. He further offered some suggestions as to how the effects of the depression could be minimized, but he said that now it was too late to avoid a depression. In the future, there should be a new economic model based on PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) using economic democracy to keep wages and demand increasing with productivity. Interestingly, Batra's response to the question: How to survive the coming depression? Take shelter of the Supreme and meditate. Batra says the coming changes will be very difficult for everyone and he recommends the practice of yoga meditation to help maintain mental balance during times of change. He also said that meditation helps develop a spiritual outlook on life which gives the courage to fight against corruption. Marc Friedland of Charlotte, North Carolina gave a talk about Spirituality and the New Economy. He stated that the old economy was based on greed as the prime motivator and it has been the unchecked greed of monopoly capitalism that has lead to the current economic collapse. This greed is nothing other than a misplaced desire for happiness, for when the source of happiness is material wealth, and then the capacity for acquisition becomes endless. Friedland went on to clarify, that the new economy needs to support a concept where people can find happiness within themselves so the economy can be based on efliics and rationality. To do this will require spiritual personalities to become leaders in the society. Those leaders will not come by magic but instead will develop through personal disciplines and practices designed to promote spiritual awareness. Friedland encouraged participants to become the solution that they seek as one way to solve our economic problems. Clark Forden of Washington, DC, the Executive Director of Proutist Universal New York Sector, presented the subject of Neo-Humanism- A New Outlook for the New Economy. Mr. Forden clarified that this innovative and refreshing way of framing the world and our relationship with it was conceived by Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, the founder of the Progressive Utilization Theory. Forden stated that Neo-Humanism is a simple, philosophical bridge connecting ourselves with one another and with the practical world in a manner that is uplifting and devotional in both spirit and in practice. He said that this devotion that we all have experienced in our lives needs to be infused in every aspect of life and be expressed to all, not just human beings. He explained that this devotional expression should include the earth and physical life around us and also to all other living animals and plants, big and minute. A pond of water gets stagnant if the water in it slows down its movement and becomes shallow. Similarly the basic philosophies of life stagnate and become detrimental if they do not provide vital and practical improvements to life functions, physical and psychic in nature. Neo-humanism asserts that humans are mostly psychic as compared to animals who are mostly physical in nature. So, philosophies must remain dynamic and relevant, enhancing the mental and refined qualities, or they will be rejected by society. Dogmatic approaches and their resulting degeneration should not and will not be SOUVENIR - 2009

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tolerated in the long run as they bury the innate devotional and expansive qualities of the mind and of society. Forden described the various sentiments that limit society - geo-sentiments, socio-sentiments. And, he went into the universal sentiment, the healing salve that can pervade all relationships, institutional life and every transaction to create a glorious future. The universal sentiment sees the Home in everyone sees the Oneness in everything and then allows each of us the opportunity to approach every challenge with that subjective wealth, adjusting objectively to give the final and most appropriate action. I^orden went on to say, this Oneness, this Home, this Ek, this Eco can be seen as being in and around everyone and everything. When we get home and we rest for the night, we can visually imagine that we rest our mind in this ultimate Home or the Lap of the Divine that we share with everyone. With this spirit of Neo-Humanism, as we all tried the path together towards our collective Home, we do not let anyone fall to the wayside. We stop and make sure everyone is moving together in the true purpose of society. Mr. Forden concluded with one example of how Neo-Humanism can be simply, yet powerfully, put into practice. In every future governing constitution, there should be amendment guaranteeing prosperity for every citizen, and if anyone dies of hunger or poverty, then the elected President should be recalled and a new election organized. The final program at the National Conference on Spirituality and the New Economy was a panel presentation "The Practical Application of PROUT to Current Economic Problems". Panelists were Acharya Subhacetanananda, Marc Friedland, Jyoti Friedland, and Clark Forden. Each panelist gave a short presentation on how PROUT could be applied in a practical manneraddressing many of the core issues and problems that had been raised by the attendees over the weekend. The audience then plied them with a number of questions. Many of the responses were specifically related to what could be done from a Proutist point of view to create a healthy economic future for the Dallas area and Texas. It appeared that a good and informative time was appreciated by all at the National Conference on Spirituality and the New Economy in Dallas.

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Stimulation from PROUT's 50th Anniversary Seminar As a new Margii (member of Ananda Marga) with a bachelors degree in Economics, working on my Masters in Business Administration, it was difficult for me to digest the PROUT philosophy in the beginning. I have tried to remain open and keep my patience through my initial studies of PROUT, which contradicted with many of the ideas I've been learning in the University. After a few months I began to open my mind and image how a PROUT world would be. However, the compassion of the PROUT philosophy did not seem practical in today's world. There are so many realities to overcome no matter what economic system we follow. And I still am not confident to say that I completely comprehend PROUT. It so happened that Ravi Barta was speaking at a seminar held for PROUT's 50th anniversary in 2009. This came at the time that the world was facing a deep economic crisis during the past year. The goal of this seminar was to review the course of the crisis: past, present and especially the near future. Do we have solutions to deal with it? Do we have a chance to put PROUT ideas into these solutions? The participants divided into three main groups: Expert professors in each field, NGO's, and the public. The course of the seminar was divided into two main sections. The first section was a conversation with economist Dr. Ravi Batra involving subjects relevant to the current economic crisis. In the second section the three groups discussed all kinds of current local economic issues and phenomenon, relating PROUT ideas to the situation. Predictably a big clash generated while explaining and further discussing the meaning of PROUT. We argued about the definition and individual interpretations every time PROUT was mentioned. However, the seminar ended in a good flow and most participants agreed with the main points of PROUT. We made friends who were new to the ideas of PROUT, but wanted to work to promote the PROUT ideas to the public. Some of them were still disheartened about the tremendous, ugly beasts created by capitalism and have little confidence in winning against them. Still they believe it is their duty to fight for what is right, even though it seems an impossible task. My belief is that we anticipate and create the world we envision and we enjoy and suffer at the same time. It has now been three months from the time I attended the seminar. However, I still remember the flow of that day. I wonder whether this economic crisis has given people a chance to review the way we make money and the insecure, out of control money markets we have created. From what I observe, probably not so much. People still use the same ways to grasp all the money and security they can. No persuasive economic solution has arisen to convince people that our economy will improve. Even so, I still believe the most important goal of the seminar is to grow PROUT seeds in each and every participant and hope that those seeds will sprout sooner or latter. I believe we'll see more and more people working for the ideals of PROUT in this world. After all, we do rely on the collective social flow to realize PROUT. In time it will raise the human spirit to an even higher standard.

SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 63

izmr] lekt vkUnksyu ,oa fo'o ljdkj vkpk;Z fl);ksxkuUn vo/kwr ekuo lekt mu lc yksxksa dh fefyr xfr gS tks uSfrdrk ds izFke LQqju ,oa fo'o cU/kqRo esa izfRk"Bk dh [kkbZ dks feykuk pkgrs gSaA fo'o cU/kqRo dk fodk'k rHkh lEHko gS tc Hkwek Hkkouk dks iuius dk izksRlkgu feysA uSfrdrk ds vk/kkj ds fcuk Hkwek Hkkouk ;k fo'o cU/kqRo lEHko ugh gSA uSfrdrk D;k djuk ,oa D;k ugh djuk dk ,d vkpj.k lafgrk gS] tks eu dks uO; ekuorkokn dh lkoZHkkSe n`f"Vdks.k dh vksj izsfjr ,oa fn'kk funZs"k djrk gSA ifj.kke Lo:i ikS/kk] i'kq ,oa ekuo txr ds chp lqUnj ,oa izxfr'khy lkeUtL; LFkkfir djrs gq, euq"; lHkh ds dY;k.k ds fy, ,d lkFk feydj dke djrs gSA ,d lkFk feydj lHkh ds dY;k.k djus dh izps"Bk esa gh fo'o cU/kqRo dk lgh :i izfrQfyr gksrk gS&;gh izmr dk lkekftd n`f"Vdsk.k gSA fo'o cU/kqRo dh ;gh lkekftd n`f"Vdsk.k dh miyfC/k ds fy, izmr fo'o ljdkj dk fuekZ.k pkgrk gSA fo'o ljdkj dh lQyrk fuEufyf[kr rRoksa ij fuHkZj djrh gSA 1 ,d thou n'kZu 2 ,d vkpkj lafgrk 3 thou dh U;wure vko';drkvksa dh miyfC/k 4 ,d laoS/kkfud lajpuk lkFk gh lkFk fo'o ljdkj dks viuh lsuk gksuh pkfg,A fo'o ljdkj dh jktuSfrd lajpuk fo'o cU/kqRo ds lkekftd n`f"Vdsk.k dks fodf'kr gksus es enn djsxhA rHkh lgh ekuo lekt dh LFkkiuk gks ldsxhA fuEufyf[kr vkSj nwljs rRo gS tsk fo'o cU/kqRo dks vkxs c<+kus esa enn djrk gSA 1 fo'o lkfgR; 2 oSf'od lkaLd`frd la"ys'ku 3 fopkjksa ds vkilh vknku&iznku ds fy, ,d fo'o Hkk"kkA 4 oSf'od foÙkh; uhfr 5 oSf'od O;kikj [k.M {ks=okn fo'o ljdkj ,oa fo'o cU/kqRo ds fuekZ.k esa lcls cM+k ck/kd gSA {ks+=okn D;k gS\ fdlh [kkl {ks= ;k jkT; ls yxko gh {ks=okn dgykrk gSA {ks=okn ml ns'k esa cM+h rsth ls iuirk gS] tgk¡ ij fuEufyf[kr =qfV;k¡ ik;h tkrh gSA 1 'kklu 'kfDr dk vR;f/kd dsUnzhdj.k 2 jktuSfrd 'kfDr dk vR;f/kd dsUnzhdj.k SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 64

3 4 5 6

lHkh leqnk; ;k yksxksa ij fdlh [kkl Hkk"kk ;k lkaLd`frd uewuk dks FkksiukA vkfFkZd fodkl esa {ksf=; vlekurk leku vkn'kZ dk vHkko lHkh izdkj dh ladh.kZ Hkkouk;sa tSls HkkSxksfyd ;k lkekftd HkkoukRed yxkoA

{ks=okn ,d ladh.kZ] foHkktd ,oa fo?kVudkjh rkdr gS tks euq"; lekt ds iru dk dkj.k gSA {ks=okn dh ;gh ladh.kZ Hkkouk vuojr xjhch] lkekftd&jktuhfrd ruko] vkfFkZd fiNM+kiu] lkeqnkf;d ,oa tkrh;la/k”lkaLd`frd iru ,oa ekufld&vkfFkZd 'ksk"k.k dk dkj.k gSA lekt vkUnksyu izmr n'kZu dk O;ogkfjd igyw gS tks /khjs&/khjs gj izdkj dh ladhZ.krk dh [kkbZ;ksa dks Hkjrk tk;sxk vkSj fo'o cU/kqRo dh LFkkiuk esa vkus okyh {ks=okn lfgr lHkh izdkj dh ladh.kZrk dh ck/kkvksa dks nwj djsxkA lHkh izdkj ds 'ksk"k.k ds fo:) laxzke ij vk/kkfjr O;f"V ,oa lef"V ds mUeqä vfHkO;fDRk dk lqvolj iznku djus ds fy, lekt ,d vkUnksyu gSA lekt vkUnksyu fo'o cU/kqRo ,oa fo'o ljdkj ds fuekZ.k esa ck/kk mRiUu djus okyh lHkh dfe;ksa dks izR;sd lkekftd&vkfFkZd bdkbZ ¼lekt½ dks i`Fkd&i`Fkd foØsfUnzr ;kstuk ds }kjk le:i fodk'k ls nwj djus dh ;kstuk gSA vr% O;ogkfjd i{k eas lekt vkUnksyu dk mn~ns'; lHkh {ks= dk le:i fodk'k djuk gS tks vUrrksxRok fo'o cU/kqRo ,oa fo'o ljdkj ds fuekZ.k ds jkLrs dks iz'kLr djrk gSA fuEufyf[kr rRoksa ds vk/kkj ij iwjs fo'o esa lkekftd&vkfFkZd bdkbZ dk fuekZ.k ,oa fo"ys'k.kA ¼v½ leku vkfFkZd leL;k;sa % fdlh [kkl {ks= esa vke yksx ,d gh rjg dh vkfFkZd leL;kvksa dk lkeuk dj jgs gksaA tSls] LFkkuh; mRikfnr lkeku ds fy;s cktkj dk vHkko] vfrfjDr ;k de etnwj dh leL;k] lapkj ,oa ;krk;kr dh ijs'kkuh vkSj flapkbZ ty dh dehA ¼c½ le:i vkfFkZd lEHkkouk;ssa % ,d txg ls nwljs txg dh izkd`frd fofHkUurkvksa ds ckctwn lHkh yksx leku vkfFkZd lEiUurk dk vkuUn mBk ldsaA ¼l½ uLy dh lekurk % lHkh uLy leqnkvksa dks vfHkO;fDr ,oa fodk'k gsrw leqfpr lqvolj feyuk pkfg;sA fofHkUu ekuo leqnk; tc LorU= ,oa cjkcjh dh voLFkk ls ,d nwljs ls feysaxs rHkh lekt dks foHkkftr djusokyh ladh.kZ ,oa foHkktd eukso`fr lekIr gksxhA ¼n½ HkkoukRed /kjksgj % Hkk"kk] ,sfrgkfld ijEijk] lkfgR;] leku lkekftd O;ogfjrk ,oa lkaLd`frd vfHkO;fDr;ksa vkfn] feydj HkkoukRed /kjksgj dk fuekZ.k djrh gSA SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 65

mijksDr rÙoksa ij vk/kkfjr iquxZfBr {ks=ksa dks izmr n'kZu esa lkekftd vkfFkZd bdkbZ ;k lekt ds uke ls tkuk tkrk gSA fodsUnzhd`r fodk'k ;kstuk dks cukus ,oa ykxw djus ds fy, lekftd&vkfFkZd bdkbZ dk fuekZ.k vfr vko';d gSA izmr dh fodsUnzhd`r fodkl ;kstuk dk y{; gS& vkfFkZd iztkrU=] lgdkfjrk] fodk'k ,oa vRefuHkZjrkA vfrfjDr etnwj dh leL;k ,oa mudk ,d {ks= ls nwljs {ks= esa iyk;u dk lek/kku] lHkh {ks=ksa ds leku fodk'k ds }kjk gh laHko gSA mijksDr fcUnqvksa dks /;ku esa j[krs gq;s izmr n'kZu ds vk/kkj ij Hkkjr dks fuEufyf[kr 44 lkekftd vkfFkZd bdkbZ;ksa esa foHkDr fd;k x;k gSA vkejk caxkyh] vafxdk] eSfFkyh] exgh] Hkkstiqjh] ukxiqfj;k] mRdy] dkS'ky] HkqfV;k] oksMks] vklkfe;k] ysIpk] vo/kh] czt] gfj;kuoh] x<+okyh] dqek;w¡] vLlh iatkch] fljekSjh] igkM+h] fdUukSjh] Mksxjh] dk'ehjh] yn~nk[kh] ekjokM+h] esokM+h] gM+kSrh dPNh] dfB;kokM+h] xqtZj] fonHkZ] lg~;kfnz] ekyok] cqUnsy[k.Mh] c?ksyh] NÙkhlx<+h] rsyaxkuk] ljdkj] jkW;ylhek] rfey] ey;kye] dUuM+] rqyq] dksad.k lektA ,d lekt dh lhek vxj ,d ls vf/kd jktuSfrd bdkb;ksa esa QSyh gqbZ gS] ogk¡ ij ml lekt dk ,d vyx jktuSfrd bdkbZ esa iquZxfBr djuk csgrj gksxkA D;kasfd lekt ds Rofjr fodk'k ,oa fodsfUnd'r ;kstuk dks ykxw djus ds fy;s gh lekftd&vkfFkZd bdkbZ dk fuekZ.k fd;k x;k gSA vr% ,d ls vf/kd jktuSfrd bdkbZ esa lekt ds foHkDr jgus ij fodk'k ;kstuk dks cukus ,oa ykxw djus esa dkQh vlqfo/kk dk lkeuk djuk iMs+xkA NÙkhlx<+] mÙkjkapy] >kj[k.M bR;kfn NksVh&NksVh jktuSfrd bdkb;ksa dks cuk nsus ek= ls gh u rks fodk'k lEHko gS vkSj u rks vkfFkZd lkekftd leL;kvksa dk lek/kkuA lekt dks vkRe fuHkZj ,oa iks"kdh; (Sustainable) cukus ds fy;s fuEufyf[kr ckrksa ij /;ku nsuk gksxkA ¼d½ ,d lekt dk dPpkeky nwljs lekt esa fu;kZr ugha gksuk pkfg,A ¼[k½ jkstxkj dh lEHkkoukvkssa dks c<+kus ,oa ,d lekt ls nwljs lekt esa /ku dks iyk;u jksdus ds fy;s lekt esa mRikfnr dPpk eky ds vk/kkj ij lHkh izdkj dk m|ksx mlh lekt esa yxuk pkfg;sA mnkgj.k Lo:i ¼,xzks] ,xzhdks] ,oa uu,xzhdks½A ¼x½ thou dh U;wure vko';drkvksa dh iwfrZ gksus ds ckn gh ,d lekt ls nwljs lekt esa rS;kj eky dk fu;kZr gksuk pkfg;sA ¼?k½ ,d lekt ls nwljs lekt esa /ku dk iyk;u ugha gksuk pkfg;sA ¼³½ ewY; dk fu;a=.k djus ds fy;s] [kkldj mu lkekuksa dk tks thou dh U;wure vko';drkvksa dks iwjk djus ds fy;s vfr vko';d gS] dk vf/kd ls vf/kd mRiknu gksuk pkfg;sA vko';d oLrqvksa dk vf/kd ls vf/kd mRiknu] Ø; 'kfDr dks c<+krk gS ,oa thou Lrj dks Å¡pk djrk gSA ¼p½ e¡gxkbZ dks jksdus ds fy;s ljdkj dks fcuk cqfy;u ¼lksuk½ dks vk/kkj cuk;s ^uksV* ugha Nkiuk pkfg;sA fdlh Hkh ljdkj dks ,slk dk;Z xSj ftEesnjkuk] vU;k;iw.kZ ,oa 'kks"k.k gSA e¡gxkbZ ls cpus ds fy;s] tgk¡ rd gks lds ,d lekt dh nwljs lekt ds lkFk oLrq&fofu;e ds vk/kkj ij O;kikj djuk pkfg;sA ¼N½ lekt dks vkRe fuHkZj cukus ds fy, ml lekt ds lHkh lEink dk vf/kdre mi;ksx gksuk pkfg;sA SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 66

¼t½ lHkh o`gr m|ksx lgdkfjrk ij pyk;k tkuk pkfg;sA izmr m|ksx dks rhu Jsf.k;ksa esa foHkDr fd;k gSA ¼1½ ewy m|ksx % ÅtkZ] [kfut] lHkh izdkj ds lapkj ,oa ;krk;kr bR;kfn ewy m|ksx esa vkrk gSaA ewy m|ksx uQk ,oa uqdlku jfgr LFkkuh; ;k dsfUnz; ljdkj ds }kjk lapkfyr gksuk pkfg;sA fdlh Hkh ifjfLFkfr esa ewy m|ksx fuft {ks= esa ugha tkuk pkfg;sA fuft {ks= dk dkjksckj dk vk/kkj vf/kdre equkQk dekuk ,oa /ku laxzg djuk gSA vf/kd ls vf/kd miHkksDrk ds lkekuksa ds ewY; esa o`f) gksrh gS vke vkneh ds Ø;'kfDr ,oa thou Lrj esa fxjkoV vkrh gS equkQk dekus ds fy;s futh {ks= ewy m|ksx ls mRikfnr lkekuksa dk fder c<+k nsxsaA ¼2½ o`gr m|ksx % ;g lgdkfjrk ij pysxk ,oa equkQk j[ksxk ijUrq ;g equkQk lgdkfjrk esa Hkkxhnkjksa ,oa etnwjksa ds ikl tk;sxkA bl rjg /ku dk laxzg jksdk tk;sxkA iSls cktkj esa vke ykskxksa ds gkFkksa esa ?kqers jgsxsaA blls gekjh vFkZO;oLFkk cM+h gh etcwr ,oa xfr 'khy gksxhA vkfFkZd eanh ,oa eagxkbZ bR;kfn vkfFkZd leL;k;sa lekIr gks tk;sxh ,oa vke vkneh ds Ø; 'kfDr esa o`f) gksxhA ¼3½ y?kq ;k NksVk m|ksx % fuft {ks= esa lapkfyr gksxk pwafd bl {ks= esa equkQk cgqr cM+k ugh gksxk vr% lEifÙk dk vok/k ,oa vR;f/kd laxzg dh leL;k lekIr gks tk;sxhA vxj Hkkjr ds lHkh lekftd&vkfFkZd bdkbZ;ksa ¼lekt½ dk leku fodkl gks rks vfrfjDr ;k de etnwj dh leL;k lekIr gks tk;sxhA vkfFkZd iztkrU= ds fuEufyf[kr ewyHkwr fl)kUr gSa & 1thou ds fuEure vko';drk;sa] lHkh yksxksa dks miyC/k gksuh pkfg,sA 2Ø; 'kfDr esa mRjksÙkj o`f) gksuh pkfg,A 3thou dks izHkkfor djus okys lHkh vkfFkZd igywvksa ij LFkkuh; yksxksa dks fu.kZ; djus dk vf/kdkj gksuk pkfg,A 4ckgjh yksxks eas LFkkuh; vFkZO;oLFkk dks gLr{ksi ugh djuh pkfg,A LFkkuh; yksxk dkSu\ os lHkh yksx LFkkuh; ekus tk;sxsa tks viuh vkfFkZd fgr dks] lekt dh vkfFkZd fgr esa feyk fn;k gksA lekt vo/kkj.kk ds ihNs izmr n'kZu dk y{; 1 2 3 4

iwjh nqfu;k esa vkRe fuHkZj] iks"kdh; (Sustainable),oa izxfr'khy lkekftd vkfFkZd bdkbZ;ksa dh LFkkiuk gS A fo'o ds lHkh yksxksa dks ekufld&vkfFkZd 'kks"k.k ls eqfDRk lHkh O;fDRk;ksa dks mUeqä ,oa lokZxha.k vfHkO;fDr dk lqvolj iznku djukA lkaLd`frd iquZqRFkku] fodk'k ,oa la"ys'kuA lekt vkUnksyu lHkh yksxksa ds thou dh U;wure vko';drkvksa dks iznku djus fy, opuc) gS] lkFk gh lkFk Ø; SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 67

'kfDr ,oa fo'ks"k lqfo/kkvksa ds fy;s izxfr'khy mRjksÙkj o`f) dh O;oLFkk djrk gSA bl rjg HkkSfrd Lrj es xfr'khy HkkjlkE; ,oa lUrqyu ¼izek½ LFkkfir djrs gq;s lekt vkUnksyu HkkoukRed /kjksgj dh j{kk djrk gS ,oa lkaLd`frd iquZjksRFkku fodk'k ,oa la"ys'ku dks izksRlkgu nsrk gSA lEiw.kZ ekuo tkfr dks lHkh izdkj dh ladh.kZ Hkkoukvksa ,oa Hkko tM+rk ls eqDr djrs gq, ekufLkd Lrj esa Hkh larqyu LFkkfir djrk gSA izFke Lrj ij lekt iwjs fo'o esa yksdfiz; vkUnksyu djsxkA ijUrq lkekftd vkfFkZd bdkbZ dk nk;jk yxkrkj c<+rk tk;sxkA NksVh bdkbZ cM+h bdkbZ esa LoHkkfod :i ls cjkcjh ds voLFkk ls ,d nwljs es fey tk;sxhA ,d ,slk le; Hkh vk;sxk tc fuEufyf[kr vk/kkjksa ij iqjk nf{k.k iwoZ ,f'k;k ,d lekt cu tk;sxkA 1vkfFkZd fo"kerk ds de gksus ijA 2lkaLd`frd la"ys'kuA 3foKku ,oa lapkj dk fodklA 4'kklu ra= esa mRd`"Vrk ,oa xfr'khyrkA vUrks xRok iwjk fo'o ,d 'kklu ra= esa vk tk;sxkA rc nwljs Lrj ij vkn'kZxr vkUnksyu fd;k tk;sxk tks gesa fo'ocU/kqrRo esa izf"Br djsxk D;ksafd bldk O;ogkfjd ,oa vknZ'kxr nksuksa i{k HkwekHkko ij vk/kkfjr gksxkA bl rjg yksx fiz; ,oa vknZ'kxr vkUnksyu ds ek/;e ls ge ,d u;s Lo.khZe ;qx esa inkZiu dj ldsaxs ,oa jksrh gqbZ ekuork dh vk¡[kksa dk vkJq ikasN ldsaxsA

tc /kjk ds ’okl esa ÅQku gksrk gSa] rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gSA SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 68

ØkfUr dk vkg~oku tokgjyky oekZ% fnO;akl ekuoh mRFkku dk dksbZ Hkh tc lwjr u gks] rksM+rh ne lH;rk opus dk dksbZ gy u gks] tc lnk fo{qkC/k tu leqnk; gksrk gSA rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gSA nkuoksa dh nkSM+ esa ekuo fiNM+rk tk jgk gzkl ekuork dk gh fnujkr gksrk tk jgk] tc iru ds xrZ dk ,glkl gksrk gS] rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gSA tgka pkWanh ds ’kgj esa fo}tu ne rksM+rk gks] /kjk dks vejRo nsus ds fy, Hkq[kk ejrk gksA fo}rk dk tku dHkh vieku gksrk] gSaA rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkgkdkj gksrk] cqf}thoh dl dej [kkyks dle bl ns’k dh tqYe dh tathj rksMs+ cru ds ca/ku lHkh ?kqVu dks lguk Hkh tc vijk/k gksrk gS] rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gSA flldrs leqnk; ij dksbZ jge djrk u gks] ,d ?kj pkWanh dk gks okdh dks NIij Hkh u gks fc"kerk dk n`'.k tc fodjky gksrk gS rc /kjk ij ØkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gSA /kksj i'kqrk dk tgkWa uXu reklk Bu x;k gksA nsork dk Hkh tgWak vc cksy ckyk fNu x;k gksA tc neu vkSj tqYe i'kq dk jkt gksrk gSA rc /kjk ij dzkfUr dk vkg~oku gksrk gS A gesa ladYi Hkh ysuk gksxk% lnfoiz vc ladYi yks nq'eu ls yM+uk gS gesa] pkgs vaxkjks is ;k dVksa ij pyuk gks gesa] nkuoksa dk neu dj nsoRo ykuk gS gesa] ekuoh mRFkku lH; lekt jpuk gS gesa] lnfoiz dk ladYi tc lkdkj gksrk gSA rc /kjk ij uoy lqizHkkr gksrk gSA

SOUVENIR - 2009

PROUT | 69

ty laj{k.k ds fy, gkfnZd vihy ty lEiw.kZ izk.khek= ds fy, gha ugh cfYd lEiw.kZ ouLifr ds fy, Hkh vko’;d gSA ijUrq vkt lEiw.kZ fo’o esa ty dk ladV fnuksa fnu xgjkrk tk jgk gSA xaxk] ;equk dk ikuh vR;Ur iznwf"kr gks pqdk gS vkSj ihus ;ksX; ugha jgkA Hkq&ty] rkykcksa] ufn;ksa dk ty Lrj fxjrk tk jgk gS vkSj dbZ ufn;kW vkSj tyk’k; lqq[krs tk jgs gSaA,slh fLFkfr es vxj fdlh Hkkx esa ,d lky rd o"kkZ ugh gqbZ rks lEiw.kZ tu&thou vLr&O;Lr gks tk;sxhA loZizFke lw{e&tho tUrq dk fouk’k gks tk;sxkA ckn esa ekuo tkfr dk fouk’k gks tk;sxkA i`Foh ohjku gks tk,xhA ikuh dk Hk;adj ladV iSnk gks tk;sxkA vc ,d ek= lek/kku o"kkZ dk gh ty gSA izmr iz.ksrk Jh izHkkrjatu ljdkj us ty laj{k.k ds fy, o"kksZ iwoZ dqN vge~ o izeq[k lq>ko fn;s gSaA

l

ge yksxksa dks o"kkZ ds mijh ty ogkWa lap; djuk pkfg, tgkWa o"kkZ gksrh gSA

l

oSKkfud fof/k;ksa cukoVh ckny leqnz o egkleqnz ds ek/;e ls tehu ij o"kkZ djk;k tk;A

l

NksVs&NksVs rkykc] ugjksa dk vf/kd ls vf/kd ’kh?kzrk fuekZ.k fd;k tk;A

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ufn;ksa & ugjksa ,oa rkykcksa ds fdukjs rst c<+us okys o`{k yxkuk pkfg, % ftlls o"kkZ Hkh gks rFkk i;kZoj.k dh j{kk Hkh ?kus ,oa foLr`r ou yxkus dk dk;Z foLr`r :i ls fd;k tk;A lcls vPNk gksxk fd rst c<+us okys o`{k vkSj /khjs c<+us o`{k lkFk&lkFk yxk;k tk;A

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Hkkjrh; xqykc dk isM+ o"kkZ c<+krk gS vkSj vius tM+ esa ikuh dk lap; Hkh djrk gSA

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odQwy cgqr rst c<+rk gS vkSj o"kkZ dks Hkh vkdf"kZr djrk gS vkSj nwljs o`{k dks Hkh c<+us esa enn Hkh djrk gSA

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oSKkfud
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Qy nsus okys o`{kksa dk vf/kd ls vf/kd jksi.k gksuk pkfg, D;ksafd ;g o`{k ty dk lap; vf/kd ek=k esa djrs gSaA

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ty L=ksrkas o /kku dh [ksrh ds ikl ,sls o`{k yxk;sa tk;WaA

Jh izHkkr jatu ljdkj }kjk crk;s x;s dk;Zdze dks fdz;kfUor djus ls ty ladV nwj gksxkA i;kZoj.k dh j{kk Hkh gksxh rFkk Xykscy okfeZx dks de djus esa enn feysxhA

SOUVENIR - 2009

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