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

Economy of Permanence
and by setting up fashion favourable to his business. On the other hand, if it is
left to society alone, the individual citizen may be crushed and turned into an
unquestioning automaton. Such is the fate of the common man today under
Capitalism, Imperialism, Fascism, Nazism and State Socialism. The world is
largely under the heels of the producer who calls the tune and sets the pace.
This has led to chaos as even these interested parties have no agreed plan or
rule of life to guide them. Each manufacturer freely follows his own whims. As
a result there is widespread confusion in the methods of living.
It is difficult even to understand what people mean when they talk of a
standard of living. It is a delightfully vague term. Hence it becomes convenient
to bandy these words about without fear of committing oneself to anything
definite. Each person may have his own notion of a standard of living and as to
what it comprises. To one a radio set and a motor car may fall within the
barest minimum. To another two meals a day may be a rare luxury. Therefore,
it is necessary to work out an objective standard taking into consideration the
conditions obtaining in our land. Should this standard have an economic basis or
follow cultural considerations or social needs? What is meant by 'high' or Mow
standards? By the former standard is meant full satisfaction of a wide range of
material wants and by the latter a very limited enjoyment of worldly goods?
In previous chapters we have discussed the many ways of looking at life and
their respective scales of values. We have come to the conclusion that life is
not to be valued purely on a monetary basis nor by what looms large in the
immediate present, but that a well-balanced economy leading to permanence
and nonviolence calls for a comprehensive consideration of various factors
making life broad-based. In such an economy money is of the least importance.
"Man does not live by bread alone" but by everything that affords him
opportunities for the free expression of the whole man-his body, mind and
spirit-for all that will make him approach perfection.
The standard of life in England is generally spoken of as being high. There a
gardener may live in a two storeyed-cottage with three or four bedrooms
upstairs, with a flush lavatory and a bathroom. Downstairs there may be a living
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