Problem In Distribution-a Philosophical Approach

Problem in distribution: (Author : Yet another life wave) One day, I was walking inside a temple to worship. I had 3 rupees in the pocket. There were around 10 to 12 beggars. I gave 2 rupees to the beggars and kept 1 rupee as I wanted to get ghee lamp for the remaining rupee. Now, some beggars started shouting saying why only give to two of them, others were unhappy and jealous about the 2 who got money. Well, even if we assume that I gave the money to get Punya (or blessings), I would have got blessings from 2 beggars and curses from remaining 8 to 10 beggars. Even if I had gone past without giving anything, these beggars would have called me stone hearted and without pity for the rest. Did this problem arise because I owned the 2 rupees? Would it have made the situation any better if I did not own any money? Once my wife not realizing that she only had enough money to pay for a bus ticket , gave the money to a beggar and walked all the way home . Though it might appear to be stupidity on her part, it is really not for we don’t know how much of life is ahead for each of us and how much of journey we have to undergo in life and what would be the resources needed to cross the bridge of life. Is it the fear or the lack of knowledge of future that creates a problem in distribution and causes a person to follow a conservative approach ? Once, a beggar went to a king hoping that the king would give something for him. At that time, the king was praying god and requesting god to give a lot of things. Hearing this, the beggar started leaving. But the king stopped his prayer and called back the beggar and asked why he was leaving without asking anything. The beggar told that the king was also a beggar for he had more things to ask from god. It is said that what ever be the level an individual is, he cant escape telling lies (at least to keep someone peaceful), he will be a thief (what ever be the sugar coated way we call like tax, asking more for a good than it is worth for, etc), he will be a beggar . Often, we see people blaming a person to be enjoying resources that he does not seem to deserve. Is it a mistake in the individual makeup or the mistake in the system or is it a jealousy on the part of the blaming people? Kaama (desire), krodha (anger), loba (greed), moga ( lust) and matsyarya (jealousy) are present in all bounded finite systems (whether it be individual or organization). Let us say an individual earns 10 rupees. Let us not consider whether the individual deserves the 10 rupees now. Now, if he pays 3 rupees as tax for what he earned, of the remaining 7 rupees, he pays 3 rupees for his rent and of the remaining 3 rupees, he spends 3 rupees for his needs, there is really no point in entering into a fight with the remaining family members on what is the best way of spending the remaining 1 rupee. Sometimes if there are 4 people in the family, the fight becomes very severe for who should use the remaining 1 rupee. But, everyone in the family forgets that the society or the government or the organization is a bigger thief for it had already taken 9 of the 10 rupees. If 100 people are working, is it right for

someone other than these 100 to enjoy the fruit of their effort in the names of growth, he did not deserve, etc. Marginal costing, financial management, playing around with the variable cost, etc are all the language used by the thieves who want to gain maximum out of the available resources. How do we find a solution to the problem of resource distribution? • • • • • •

Each individual has the fear of the future and unknown Everyone cant escape being a thief, beggar, liar(though not always) Most of the time, people fail to do self analysis and don’t ask themselves whether they deserve what they enjoy. Each finite system (individual or organization) wants to grow by destroying or using the resources of another finite system. We fail to accept that anything that has a beginning will also have an ending. Time is the creator and destroyer and Newton’s third law is working on all planes (economics, ethics, etc) and not just physics.

Here is another story, Once there lived a king called Vemana . In his kingdom, there was a very skilled goldsmith called abhirama. Abhirama generally used to come one or 2 hours late to work . The King wanted to find out why abhirama was coming to work late. So, one day, early morning, he went in disguise and stood outside the house of Abhirama. Abhirama woke up early and started walking towards the temple of Lord Siva. After worshipping the lord, he went and stood before a sadhu who was in meditation. The sadhu told abhiramathat his time was nearing for death and asked him to come the next day morning at the same time so that he will teach him the brahma vidya as he did not want his knowledge to go undisclosed. Abhirama also agreed and the King Vemana heared all this conversation. Then abhirama went for his work. That day, the king called abhirama and asked him to make a jewellary urgently and asked him to give the next day morning. Abhirama worked all day and night and completed the work early morning next day. But, after the work, abhirama slept because of tiredness. King Vemana went and met the sadhu. The sadhu realizing what has happened laughed but told that he will teach vemana the brahma vidya. After hearing the brahma vidya, the king realized a state as if he had everything and did not want anything more. The approach of medical science and philosophy is different. Philosophy says that if a person is totally happy, then he will not feel hunger,etc. But, medical science says that it is illness . Whatever be it, when everything or everyone in the universe overcome the fear of unknown and start boldly helping others without accumulating too much for them, the distribution system becomes very efficient.