Background
Communism as an economic model was tried in various parts of the world such as Russia and Eastern European countries, however it failed. Under communist economies the common people became even more impoverished than they were prior to communism. Communism is symbolized by state ownership and public enterprise. In essence, it is state capitalism. Capitalism is the economic model in vogue today in most countries of the world. The United States is the bastion of capitalism. In fact, many scholars and historians refer to it as the American Empire, which has replaced the British Empire of the 19th and 20th centuries. Capitalism is symbolized by individual ownership and private enterprise. We have today not merely capitalism but global capitalism, also referred to as globalization. In all these economic systems, i.e., communism, capitalism and global capitalism, the economic system is centralized with control being in the hands of a few persons. The question begs to be asked as to whether the common people have fared well in centralized economies, and whether they have been guaranteed an improved standard of living based on increasing purchasing capacity. According to economist Prabhat Sarkar, in a centralized economy exploitation cannot be eradicated nor can the poverty of the common people be removed. In the above economic paradigms, economic policies are formulated by a handful of men for the benefit of those men who are generally indifferent to the plight of the masses.
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"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |