Ending this confusion about Nehru and socialism

[Sanjeev Sabhlok <sabhlok@almaak.usc.edu>]

a) Prof. Subroto Roy is one of the very few Indian economists ever to be
published by the Institute for Economic Affairs (and to give a lecture
there), London. In 1984 when he was a little boy (just 28 years ago, I
believe?) he wrote the Occasional Paper No. 69 published by that
Institute. It is entitled, "Pricing, Planning and Politics." I got hold
of this paper about 4 hours ago; glanced thro' it, wanted to get Prof.
Roy's permission to publish it, and now, in less than 2 hours since the
idea came to get it published, I have his consent. Praised be the Lord
of the Internet for this completely ananticipated bonus to mankind, of
instantaneous communication... This makes me convinced that if all the
well-wishers of India come together and talk to the people directly,
instead of writing in abstruse journals, we will change India rather
quickly. In fact, I am working on a paper which deals with making
economists the managers of economic change.

Well, I will OCR Prof. Roy's paper and publish it on the IPI's web site
in the coming weeks (it is a rather longish paper).

b) In the meanwhile, for those who have offered rather unanticipated
views on the meaning of socialism (such is its promoting liberty!), let
me quote Nehru (as cited in Roy's paper above) on socialism:

Socialism meant to Nehru (in his own words):

"... the ending of private property, except in a restricted sense, and
the replacement of the private profit system by a higher idea of
co-operative service. It means ultimately a change in our instincts and
habits and desires. In short, it means a new civilization, radically
different from the present capitalist order. Some glimpse we can have of
this new civilization in the territories of the USSR. Much has happened
there which has pained me greatly and with which I disagree, but I look
upon that great and fascinating unfolding of a new order and a new
civilization as the most promising feature of our dismal age. If the
future is full of hope it is largely because of Soviet Russia and what
it has done, and I am convinced that, if some world catastrophe does not
intervene, this new civilization will spread to other lands and put and
end to wars and conflicts on which capitalism feeds."

I will put this along with the def. of socialism, since for us, as
Indians, it is Nehru's perspective which has the greatest meaning.

All I request is that we NEVER forget the goal of fabian socialists to
achieve what Marx had set out to achieve: the changing of human nature.
Today, I honestly and sincerely and boldly claim that the most degraded
people in India, in terms of integrity, are socialists of all types. I
have seen these socialists stoop to theft of public property at all
times at the slightest pretext. Socialism has been exposed across the
world, but in India we still have a misunderstanding that socialism is
something different from communism.

Rajaji split from Nehru on the Avadi resolution. It is time that we
split from Nehru completely. I am SURE that Nehru would have split from
socialism completely too. His is an intellect that I have always highly
admire. He would have realized his unwitting but enormous error of
thinking.

It was perhaps too early for him to have made up his own mind on
economic issues; Keynes was on the upswing then, Hayek was an unknown.
The growth of SE Asian nations had not begun. Empirical evidence on
human behavior had not started pouring in yet. Modern economics, public
choice theory, etc., had not yet taken proper shape.

We can excuse Nehru since he was a truly great soul and a great son of
India. Everyone is entitled to mistakes. But today if we make the
mistake of following Nehru, our future generations will not excuse us.

Time to wake up folks! Do not repeat Nehru's mistakes for the sake of
love of him. He was enormously lovable and admirable and pure, as a
person. But he propped up a system that has completely sapped India of
her energy and power on the world stage.

Sanjeev







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