The Economy of Permanence: A Quest for a Social Order Based on Non-violence (स्थायी अर्थतन्त्र)

Economy of Permanence
bank uses its power for strengthening its own position as an institution, and if
the position of its customers deteriorates as a consequence, such a bank cannot
be said to fulfill its purpose in the economic organization. This is as regards
money as a medium of exchange.
Money as Storage of Purchasing Power:
Again, as regards its comparative imperishability, the right use of this quality in
money is to afford storage of purchasing power to the people. A farmer
cultivates his fields and disposes of his produce after harvest. He realises a
certain amount in money. This money has to last him till the next harvest. That
is, he should be able to exchange it for other commodities of like value over a
period of twelve months. If in this period the purchasing power is altered, the
position of the farmer also fluctuates in the same way. Therefore, an
unalterable storage of purchasing power is a prime necessity in an agricultural
country like ours. In this function, multi-purpose co-operative societies can
help by restricting the spread of money economy, thus limiting the chances of
fluctuation and speculation and by rendering reasonable banking services based
on the security of commodities as will prevent the farmer having to dispose of
his whole stock at a time.
Co-operation: This brings us to the second function of co-operation. Co-
operation implies the elimination of competition and working in a kind of
partnership resulting in advantages to all. Its basic requirement is an identity of
interest of parties to the enterprise. There can be no exploitation in co-
operation. Therefore there can be no co-operation with an exploiter at one end
and his victim at the other end. Foreigners come to sell their goods to us. That
is their only interest in us. It is for that, they hold others in political bondage.
If co-operative societies help hand- loom weavers to obtain American yarn they
are linking up in- compatibles and therefore are not functioning in the true
spirit of co-operation. Their legitimate sphere would be to bring local village
spinners and weavers into a living touch with one another. They have to bring
about co-operation all along the line-raw material produced with artisan and
www.mkgandhi.org Page 118