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

Economy of Permanence
love and devotion. The children are well-looked after in body and in mind and
they will grow up to be sturdy citizens. A nurse or a house-keeper, however
efficient, cannot replace a mother in the home.
In the same manner, the true function of work cannot be performed by the
mere bait of money wage. Just as mother-love cannot be bought or sold, the
professional interest in work loses much by commercialization.
A physician, who takes an interest both in the patient and the disease, and
studies every case diligently, will gain much more experience and knowledge
than one who attends on his patient for the fees he gets. The former works
because he loves the work, the latter practices because of his desire for
wealth. The first is strictly a professional man while the second is but a trader
in medicine and so far as he prescribes patent medicines he becomes a
salesman of the manufacturers. A man may be dying but in a money-based
economy, if he has not the money to pay the fees of a good physician he will
not be given any attention. Another man may be just fussy, but if he has a fat
purse, all the medical profession will be at his beck and call.
In the same way, a lawyer who takes a moral interest in his case and deals with
it on that level is a professional man, while another who takes his case for the
fees he is paid, is only commercializing law. There is many a man rotting
behind bars today just because he is not able to produce the wherewithal to
satisfy the voracious appetite of his lawyer.
Unfortunately, every walk of life has been brought down into the market place
and is held firmly under the grip of money economy, so much so that it is hardly
possible to meet with professional persons with a human outlook.
In all these cases we have examined, the emphasis has shifted from work to
wages, and as there is no creative factor in wages, progress is absent. People
deplore that the science of medicine in our country has not produced any
research-worker worthy of notice. The reason is not far to seek. The profession
is being practised on the level of the 'Parasitic Economy' or that of 'Predation
Few indeed reach that of the 'Economy of Enterprise'. The rare ones in the
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