Wanted! A new economic model PDF Print E-mail
PROUT
Written by Mangal Bihari   

Both Capitalism and Communism have failed to deliver to the masses. They made big promises but could not fulfil them. Instead, their followers have exploited humanity in all possible ways, always justifying their act. What the world wants today is an alternative economic system, which can correct the past mistakes and bring about a bright future.

One of the necessary factors in the development of a healthy society is a proper socio-economic theory. In any age, people have to come to grips with the question as to how the resources of the country are to be utilised and allocated. In addition, society needs to arrange a system of Government, which can meet the needs and aspirations of all its people.

Prevailing Systems

Today there are two major theories which shape the world’s approach to economics and politics i.e. Marxism and Capitalism. The model of capitalist development says that the state should lend all support and encouragement to owners of capital in establishing factories. The factory owners should be allowed to hire workers and determine wage rate, make and accumulate profits, multiply investments and hire more workers. All this will contribute to a rise in employment and growth of national income. With no state interference & low taxes, their profits will increase year after year and the national economy will accordingly grow faster. The distribution of income may not be just and equal, but according to the proponents of Capitalism, that is a small price to be paid for the overall growth of the economy.

The model of the Communist development, on the other hand, vests the ownership of all land & factories in the State, which performs the task of producing, saving, investing and price & wage determination. This model calls for abolition of all private interests and has to become oppressive and authoritarian to extract maximum work in exchange for minimum standards of living. It must continue to trample all the fundamental human rights in the name of a distant & never accessible utopia of a stateless society.

Both these systems are offshoots of the same philosophy, i.e. materialism. They consider matter and physical side of man as the ultimate truth as well as the main aim of life. Morality has no place in their priorities. The Capitalists propagate morality only to contain the boiling & bursting dissatisfaction among the impoverished masses & sometimes to distribute charities not for the service of suffering humanity but to blunt its wrath against them. The Communists talk of universal humanism in order to hide their callousness towards all human values including basic freedoms.

Politically, both the systems have been facing internal fissures & external traumas. The weaknesses of the communist system are now clearly visible to all and the capitalist system has made a mockery of the principles of liberty, equality & fraternity.

Economically also, both the systems have not only reached a dead-end but have proved to be thoroughly inefficient. Centralised state planning and abolition of all incentives for higher production, except fear & repression, have spread widespread corruption, mismanagement and waste of resources in communist economies. There is now almost a negative rate of growth in these countries. In the so-called free economies, recessions and depressions have become common due to excessive concentration of wealth in fewer & fewer hands. Besides, reckless utilisation and criminal waste of scarce natural resources is creating unmanageable problems of pollution, poverty and irreparable loss to the ecosphere & biosphere.

In countries like India, the so-called third world, we have a hap hazard or ad-hoc mixture of the above two systems, which is neither rational, nor practical & only bestows upon us the combined evils of both without any palliatives whatsoever. We are groaning under heavy debts, low growth rates, and gross inequalities of distribution. So much so, that many have already surrendered their soul to one or the other of the imperialistic super powers.

Now, the need of the hour is an alternative socio-economic system.

PROUT – Prout is an acronym for Progressive Utilisation Theory. Before I mention the salient concepts of this socio-economic philosophy, let me define some of the terms for the sake of correct and clear communication.

PROGRESS – In common parlance, progress means technical and scientific advancement, which results in higher production or more comfort. But, according to the philosophy of PROUT, the physical and the intellectual spheres are in the realm of vibrations and dualities. With every so-called progress in these spheres, there is a counter-balancing disadvantage and resulting adverse reaction either in the form of pollution or increasing the danger to life. In the intellectual sphere also, acquisition of knowledge increases the sensitivity & imaginative qualities of the mind, which leads to emotional imbalance and neuroses. Real progress, therefore, is only possible in the spiritual sphere, where there are no reactions or adverse effects of advancement as that field is infinite.

But, this does not mean negation of the advancement of science & technology or reduction in the intellectual activity. It only means that the present direction of technology, which is made to subserve the vested interests of the exploiting groups should change. Technologies should not be adopted in haste for growth or profit without minimising their harmful effects such as pollution, ecological damage or health hazards for the workers, the consumers and others.

In fact, the Proutist concept of progress is such a vast subject that it requires separate and detailed treatment.

UTILISATION : This has to be emphasised in the context of the present race for possessions. People possess so much that they can never utilise it fully or even partially. The emphasis has to shift on how best to use rather than how much to possess.

Resources : In the context of PROUT, resources are not only stock of capital, labour, land and its mineral wealth etc. but also all human resources – their level of education, and technology. Prout distinguishes between resources available to an individual and those available to the society. At present, only air & light are considered as common resources for the whole society, but Prout envisages that individuals & society have full right to utilise all mundane, supra-mundane, physical & spiritual potentialities of the universe.

Spiritualism : Spiritual activity, very briefly means, that which enables the mind to move closer to its own witnessing entity. Witnessing entity is that which supports mental action by being witness to that action. The witnessing counterpart of the mind is called the spirit, or soul or Atman. The sum total of all these souls is God or Parmatman.

Spirituality is neither religion, nor a bundle of rituals nor a set of dogmas. It never contradicts logic, although some of its aspects transcend and are beyond logic.

Neo-Humanism : This concept includes the animal world and the plant world as part and parcel of humanity. Human welfare, therefore, cannot be contradictory to the welfare of the rest of the creation. Everything in this universe has an existential value, though its utilitarian value may not be known.

Secondly the geo-sentiment or socio-sentiment or any other narrow concept should not be allowed to prevail over the concept of one integrated universe. It is the wholistic view of the universe, which accepts all divisions, national or otherwise.

Social Cycles : It means that the leadership of society passes into the hands of people of different mentalities in a cyclic form. Broadly, these can be classified into four---the warriors, the intellectuals, the acquisitors and the unskilled labour. This historical determinism can only be controlled by bringing spiritually developed people, who transcend all class characteristics into the nucleus of the social cycle.

HISTORY OF PROUT

The Progressive Utilisation theory was first propounded by the seer Philosopher Shri Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar in 1959 in his Sanskrit work “Anand Sutram” and thereafter elaborated by him in a series of lectures in English, Bangla & Hindi. Now, there are more than thirty works on the subject. There are two dailies, several periodicals & magazines published in India & abroad. Several universities in America & Europe have included PROUT in their curriculum and at home, like, Utkal University in Orissa is establishing a chair on PROUT. Inspired by the principles of Prout, many authors have writen path-braking and world famous books – like “The Great Depression of 1990” by Ravi Batra of Dallas, USA and “The living economy : A New Economics in the making” by Paul Ekins of the University of Bradford, UK. I am informed that the London School of Economics is also considering a special study of the subject.

Its Philosophy :

The economic system and the political theory of Prout are parts of its integrated philosophy, which emphasises spiritualism as the only goal of human existence. It, however, does not neglect the intellectual and the physical aspects of life and recommends development and adoption of the latest technology for all round universal welfare. Morality is considered as an essential base for all progress. In brief, Prout is applied spiritualism, in the sense as to how a society dominated by the spiritual ideals should organise its worldly affairs in a most efficient and creative manner.
The definitions given above provide a glimps into its neo-humanistic progressive philosophy.

Proutist Economy :

Proutist economy strikes a balance between individual needs and the welfare of the society. It guarantees minimum necessities of life for all human beings. It restricts ownership of private property and advocates rational distribution of all mundane, supra-mundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe. It recommends block-level planning to remove all forms of totalitarianism, economic exploitation and mismanagement. It stands for a balanced economy with proper adjustment between agriculture, industry, commerce and the services sectors. Regional economic disparities should be removed in order to solve the problem of surplus & deficit labour areas and to encourage local control & initiative in the matter of economic growth.

Prout stands for three-tiered industrial system – small-scale industries in the private sector, co-operative ventures in the consumer and medium sector and lastly key industries to be developed as public utilities, with no profit, no loss principle, under autonomous managements.

All forms of speculation & other exploitative practices have to be stopped forthwith. Currency should also be printed only on the basis of support of bullion available with the Govt. Money should be kept rolling.

There should be full utilisation of human resources also. This will ensure full employment & avoid exploitation in the form of uncongenial work which destroyes human talents.

New technology & mechanisation are welcome provided their side-effects are dealt with. The workers rendered surplus in the process should preferably be retained in the industry with reduced working hours, so that they can develop intellectually, culturally & spirituality by making good use of leisure so obtained.

Political System : Every socio-economic theory has to be backed by an appropriate political system. In Capitalism, social sanction for everyone to enrich himself almost to an unlimited extent is backed by a political system where power rests in the hands of the rich & the owners of property. They, with the help of intellectuals sanctify capitalistic greed in the garb of liberty, justice & human rights. Democracy, in the capitalistic system, only throws up candidates who are supporters or representatives of the monopolists & big business.

In the communist system, the masses, as opposed to their comrade in power, are denied all fruit of leisure and property. The state and its selected leaders have it all. Hence, what we see is a totalitarian system, which chokes all human freedoms & incentives. That is why there are ugly dictatorships in the name of proletarian welfare.

Prout believes that since the beginning of civilisation, humanity has been brutally exploited by one class after another. There are short interludes of benevolence, when a new class just captures power, but ultimately everything sinks into selfish brutality.

Prout is based on spirituality & morality and therefore recommends that Boards of Sadvipras should control government at every level. Sadvipras are those who are spiritually enlightened, intellectually advanced and physically fit. They broaden their outlook through spiritual practices and therefore, transcend all class mentalities. They are selfless and have no vested interests or links. This collective body of Sadvipras will not directly run the administration but will act as Ombudsmen & have power to remove ministers & bureaucrats after due enquiry. Normal day-to-day functioning of Govt will be in the hands of the elected people. The election system and the electorates will vary from country to country according to various circumstances. One more aspect needs to be mentioned here. The present states & regions are historical remnants and not carved out on scientific basis. It will, therefore, be necessary to organise regions on the basis of uniform economic potentialities & problems taking also into account the cultural similarities and sentimental legacy of the local people. Such regions will obviate linguistic imperialism or cultural and economic exploitation.

To sum up, Prout advocates the re-organisation of the socio-economic and political system on the basis of spiritual values & morality so as to create cooperative, decentralised, humanitarian socio-economic system.