'SOCIALISM '- way to social enrichment...

There is a lot to talk about India , its heritage , its poverty, its achievements, the freedom movement. The most glaring feature of this diverse country is the no of people living on the streets and their struggle to earn a day to day living. On the other hand , the people featuring on page 3 , so called party animals, ostentatious high class ' dudes ' reside in the same country. Such is the high contrast of the kind of people that amazes many and at the same time raises questions over the economic policies undertaken by the finance minister.

Sometimes I get inclined toward believing in the socialist form of a government that hardly exists in today’s world barring a few countries like China, Cuba etc. The equality is the most obvious thing to be seen which has a humanitarian basis. Every human is equal and no discrimination is done on the basis of caste , religion , sex and even the talent which may raise eyebrows of democratic people. Everybody , right from the person on the pavement to the prime minister has nearly equal gains or incomes so to speak. The income ratio of two extremes is nearly 20:1 in China. The ratio would seem too low when we look at USA or India. In USA the ratio is 200:1 and India leads with 1000:1. This important number has given rise to a new topic of debate in India , whether the salaries of CEOs should be cut down. I think the time has come to adopt socialism in India to bridge gap between the poor and the rich.

This would certainly demand a big sacrifice on the part of talented youths in the country who are money minded and are aspiring to fly to countries like USA to blossom their careers. Stay in India and work for the country would be a message for them.Today all the communists or socialists in the country are looked down upon as the people hindering the progress but no country would progress if poor get poorer and rich get richer. This would seem very cliched but afflictions of downtrodden people are understood by a very few.Begging happening in front of temples, churches, mosques , in the local trains really arouses pity for them.The conditions of the people in the slums especially in the high rain area like Mumbai , their lack of education, they getting resorted to terrorism having left with no alternative,their young ones being sold at the cheapest of prices to earn ‘ MONEY’ , addiction to drugs are paramount social issues which are left neglected. Such problems can only be addressed in socialist form of government.

‘ Our talents won’t be rewarded’ is the major concern for the people in socialist country. I had read a story of a man who had to move out of Belarus which is yet another socialist country because of lack of attention and reward given to his abilities.He and his unemployed friend were earning the same income, the man through his job and his friend through the fixed amount from the government for unemployed people.Such was the ludicrous situation which forced him to shift his base to USA.George Orwell has blasted such form of government through his satiric book ‘ Animal Farm’ but believe me that was an exaggeration. China is a prime example in front of us which needs to be looked at and learned from. It’s the least corrupted country and the most disciplined one. The large population has in fact become an asset for them as all poor people are employed and made use of .

My question is what’s the problem if everybody's at the same level and getting one’s basic needs satisfied.It is certainly better than the people dying of starvation on one side and people rejoicing and merrymaking in the revelries for no reason on the other side. I think it’s the way to go forward for us in the time of corruption and terrorism going rampant in every nook and corner of the nation.

Aditya Joshi