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

Economy of Permanence
automatically rise. Such a natural formation of a standard will proclaim the
culture and genius of the people, and will be permanent being rooted in the
life of the people.
The British gardener's standard of living was strictly individualistic in that it was
not correlated to the life of the people around him. It was confined to the four
walls of his house. It is said "An Englishman's house is his castle" Yes, it
effectively shuts out the world however much of material creature comforts it
may provide for those inside. Such isolation from the life currents around them
is caused in our country also by those who follow western modes of life.
The norm we seek for is not for a single family or even a class or group but for
the local population as a whole. This means the norm will interlink the life of
everyone. In a way, our ancient village organization attempted something on
these lines when it tried to assure every inhabitant his subsistence by allocating
an annual share to each from out of the total produce of the village, in the
form of 'Baluta', 'Padi' etc., to its members who serve as barbers, chamars,
mochis. This system recognized that they all formed one corporate whole. But
what we want, is not merely provision for bodily existence, but a provision also
for opportunities of development of the higher creative faculties of man.
To refer again to our Dewan, when he wants a leather case for his papers, he
would call in the mochi, specify the quality of leather he requires, and the
shape, size and accommodation needed. The mochi, in his turn may get the
chamar to tan the required quality leather. All this will present several
problems which will have to be solved. This provides scope for ingenuity and
resourcefulness. Thus the Dewan's demand opens up opportunity for the
exercise of the creative faculty of those around him. If instead, the Dewan
walked into a British store and bought a readymade article, such a brief case
may not be exactly what he wants as he had only to choose out of the ready
stock. Besides, he may not even have exercised his mind as to what he wants.
The thinking would have been done in advance for him by the manufacturers,
not for him in particular, but as a general preposition. When he orders a thing
locally he himself thinks of the various details and decides the kind of article
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