Ridding India of the socialism, corruption, and religious hatred promoted by existing parties

 

ARE YOU A LIBERAL? A checklist

It would be presumptuous for anyone to claim to be a custodian of liberalism.  There is no “perfect” Liberal as there is no perfectly liberal society.  Liberals have been continuously pushing the frontiers of liberalism over the centuries, so that what is often taken for granted today, is in reality the outcome of centuries of liberal thought and action.  

 

This checklist is a sampling of some liberal positions and is a function of our state of knowledge today. It may become completely irrelevant a hundred years from now, when many of these liberal positions would have been imbibed so deeply that they may not be worth comment. In place of these, other frontiers of liberalism would be ripe for beingbreached.

Liberal view (valuing individuals, liberty and enterprise)

Illiberal view (valuing the state, society, and social ‘norms’ more than the individual)

Evidence

Having a large population is an opportunity for India (each individual is a valued member)

Having a large population is a problem for India (individuals who are poor or   illiterate illiterate  are not valued)

The size of the population has absolutely no relationship with a country’s quality of life and wealth

A person without education is fit to vote and form a judgement regarding policy and people.

A person without education is not fit to vote.

India's democracy has largely been sustained by the uneducated voter.

The government should not be allowed to interfere in matters when it is not absolutely necessary.

 

The government should control how many children one can have, whether one can consume alcohol, and whether one can set up an industry.

It is better to have a few laws that are enforced properly than thousands set up on the whims and fancies of ‘do-gooders’.

It is in the understanding of human incentives and implementing agencies that good policy is based on. Good policy always succeeds in implementation.

Our problems are to do with bad implementation of policies rather than policies being bad in the first place.

A vast literature spanning many centuries warns us on the fallibility of human nature. Checks and balances are crucial to good policy design.

If trains run in time but freedom of expression and liberty is lost, all is lost.

The Emergency was good for India.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The atrocities of the Emergency were cast away like poison by the people.

Human beings are opportunistic but also innately ethical. When power is given to governments without checks on its misuse, corruption becomes rampant.

Corruption is caused by people being bad

Socialistic and fascist societies invariably rank very high on the corruption scale.

It is obligatory on the government to prevent mob violence, irrespective of its cause

BJP was right in supporting the demolition of the Babri Masjid/ Congress supporters were right in causing mob violence after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

This was a cynical move to polarise the society and expand vote banks.

The government has absolutely no business in doing business.

Nehru was right in demanding that the public sector enter into things like production of steel or running airlines. Do you believe that India Gandhi was right in nationalising the banks.

Existing enterprise was completely muzzled by Congress, the consequence of which was a significant bleeding of the Indian economy.

Those who paint false images of enterprise and competition hurt effectively kill and maim millions of our nameless poor.

There is a global conspiracy to keep India poor. By participating in globalisation India will become a stooge of multinationals.

Openness and competitiveness of the economy cannot be summarised by misleading labels such as globalisation.

There is never, absolutely never, any justification for slowing down the process of wealth generation and technical advancement.

Our industry (including our small industry) needs to be sheltered from competition both internally and externally. (infant industry argument)

Sheltered industry in India became a Frankenstein, devouring Indian consumers but completely helpless in the face of international competition.

The government should never support any form of personal goods or input into trade, industry for agriculture through any subsidies.

The government should support khadi

For those who are desperately poor, direct transfer of taxes is the only logical answer.

Everybody must get a fair opportunity to display their talent.

Everybody must be equal in what they earn.

The market generally rewards people in proportion to their worth to the rest of the society

A citizen has no “duty” to the nation other than a duty to pay taxes that are approved through representation, and to obey the laws that constrain liberties as mutually decided by the citizens through democratic representation.

Article 51A in the Indian Constitution on “Fundamental Duties” was introduced “to bring our Constitution in line with the constitutions of China and USSR”. This elevates the nation above the citizen, and this is absolutely crucial.

Our Constitution is perhaps the world's worst Constitution, since it freezes us in a point of time and effectively prevents the new generations from shaping the course of their nation.

It is unheard of in democratic society to declare illegal liberal views, for is these liberal views that give us democracy in the first place.

It is right for our Constitution to declare us to be a socialist country. Only those political parties who affirm their allegiance to socialism (as required by S.29 of the Representation of People Act) should be allowed to contest elections.

The actions of Congress (I) in sabotaging liberalism indicate their strongly dictatorial tendencies.

 

You must have found resonance with many liberal thoughts, since liberalism is truly intuitive to mankind. Please read and understand the arguments of the liberals since the time of Socrates, eg. Locke, Adam Smith, Jefferson, Burke, Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Gokhle, Rajaji, Friedman, and many others. To simplify matters, the basic assumptions of a liberal are posted on the main web site of IPI.

 

You are invited to proudly declare yourself a liberal.

 

C

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