Gina Rinehart, one of the world's richest women, said that mining in Australia is becoming too costly and Africans are ready to work for 2 dollars a day. This shows the attitude of capital, it is only concerned about its profits and not about the well being of its workers or the country of the owners origin, let alone the country in which they work. All the management techniques that speak about employee motivation and satisfaction come to nothing because labour is essentially cheap and so workers can simply quit or are fired if not satisfied and hence not working to the satisfaction of supervisors, since there is always more labour available.
The only thing capital chases is profits which can be obtained through cheap labour, cheap resources like land, water, power, lower taxes and maximum subsidies and prices for its products. The flight of capital into the BRIC countries was simply because of the growth in economy of these nations, not out of any interest in developing these nations and we now know that this growth was boosted through free transfer of resources like coal, land, water and airwaves. Once the free lunch ran out, capital is also flooding out of these countries and according to international rating agencies, the guiding angels of capital, unless these countries resort to more reforms which transfer more resources to the hands of private profit makers, they will pull their capital out. This is the scenario we are witnessing now.
To these corporates, a country consists only of consumers who will shell out money for their products and then natural resources which can be used to make products that can be pushed down the throats of millions which will become billions in profit. India is becoming a fantasy land for such investors and it is not just foreign investors who are to blame. The only change from License-Permit Raj is Crony Capitalism and a middle class emerging on the back of those exploited for less than $2 a day, driven out of their homes to gain access to coal, bauxite and to establish SEZs and swanky super highways.
It is a win-win game for the parties involved. International investors spend money in profit making enterprises or set up their own organisations- banks, subsidiaries and retail chains. They are assured of profits by the powers that be who in turn receive their sustenance through these international locusts for favours done. They can also highlight various growth rates, increase in spending for public purposes- most of these projects again go to crony capitalists who corner resources or through the new panacea for all governmental shortcomings "Public Private Partnerships".
What can be done against such institutionalised exploitation which is the basis of the modern world? Our entire economy depends on preventing access to those without money from the essentials of life- only those with money can buy goods and services, essential services like health and education are being privatised and controlled by profit motives. We do have strong laws in India, but it remains only on paper. The fact that laws are observed only in their breach is not news, but what is surprising is framing rules and policies to favour exploitation and crony capitalism- what else can explain the post-bid benefits provided to certain corporates in the DIAL and Coal scam, what else can explain the interest corporates are now showing in opening up mines that were allocatted to them more than 5 years ago?
The more I learn about these, the more I realise that things will always remain the way the are. We have mountains of reports- on reforms in administration and defence, on starvation and malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, exploitation of poor and poor defence preparedness, commissions on accidents and disasters- but nothing being done about them. It will take time, effort and intelligence to make a change or perhaps a change that is beyond the control of everyone, perhaps a violent shaking down of things.
There is not doubt that we need to change, but how it will come I do not know. Are we too powerless to do anything about? Perhaps we can be the change, change ourselves slowly and just be good, responsible, responsive citizens and cast-off the regular attitude of cynicism and I have better things to do. One question I always hear what will I get out of discussing and knowing about all this, well you might just get better roads, better hospitals, schools and an environment to live in or if you want to just leave the country, better airports, flight services and a faster and better way to get your passport. I still do not know how it will happen, but it will happen if enough of us can try or atleast want to change.
The only thing capital chases is profits which can be obtained through cheap labour, cheap resources like land, water, power, lower taxes and maximum subsidies and prices for its products. The flight of capital into the BRIC countries was simply because of the growth in economy of these nations, not out of any interest in developing these nations and we now know that this growth was boosted through free transfer of resources like coal, land, water and airwaves. Once the free lunch ran out, capital is also flooding out of these countries and according to international rating agencies, the guiding angels of capital, unless these countries resort to more reforms which transfer more resources to the hands of private profit makers, they will pull their capital out. This is the scenario we are witnessing now.
To these corporates, a country consists only of consumers who will shell out money for their products and then natural resources which can be used to make products that can be pushed down the throats of millions which will become billions in profit. India is becoming a fantasy land for such investors and it is not just foreign investors who are to blame. The only change from License-Permit Raj is Crony Capitalism and a middle class emerging on the back of those exploited for less than $2 a day, driven out of their homes to gain access to coal, bauxite and to establish SEZs and swanky super highways.
It is a win-win game for the parties involved. International investors spend money in profit making enterprises or set up their own organisations- banks, subsidiaries and retail chains. They are assured of profits by the powers that be who in turn receive their sustenance through these international locusts for favours done. They can also highlight various growth rates, increase in spending for public purposes- most of these projects again go to crony capitalists who corner resources or through the new panacea for all governmental shortcomings "Public Private Partnerships".
What can be done against such institutionalised exploitation which is the basis of the modern world? Our entire economy depends on preventing access to those without money from the essentials of life- only those with money can buy goods and services, essential services like health and education are being privatised and controlled by profit motives. We do have strong laws in India, but it remains only on paper. The fact that laws are observed only in their breach is not news, but what is surprising is framing rules and policies to favour exploitation and crony capitalism- what else can explain the post-bid benefits provided to certain corporates in the DIAL and Coal scam, what else can explain the interest corporates are now showing in opening up mines that were allocatted to them more than 5 years ago?
The more I learn about these, the more I realise that things will always remain the way the are. We have mountains of reports- on reforms in administration and defence, on starvation and malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, exploitation of poor and poor defence preparedness, commissions on accidents and disasters- but nothing being done about them. It will take time, effort and intelligence to make a change or perhaps a change that is beyond the control of everyone, perhaps a violent shaking down of things.
There is not doubt that we need to change, but how it will come I do not know. Are we too powerless to do anything about? Perhaps we can be the change, change ourselves slowly and just be good, responsible, responsive citizens and cast-off the regular attitude of cynicism and I have better things to do. One question I always hear what will I get out of discussing and knowing about all this, well you might just get better roads, better hospitals, schools and an environment to live in or if you want to just leave the country, better airports, flight services and a faster and better way to get your passport. I still do not know how it will happen, but it will happen if enough of us can try or atleast want to change.
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