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PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF A �GREAT MEN� FROM THE DEVELOPING WORLD Part -1 By Bijon B. Sarma INTRODUCTION: In the current article, by �Great men� I want to mean persons whom we now consider �great� because they have been adjudged great by the westerners. A person awarded Nobel Prize for Economics by the westerners is no doubt �great�. If the person hails from the west, he does not have any problem, but prospects, because he has already proved the cause of his greatness. But when this hails from the developing world, he faces problems if the cause of his greatness in not proved in this region. This is exactly what has happened with Professor Amartya Kumar Sen. After the award of such an honor from alien hands Prof. Sen has got lots of works to do for his own country. We are to keep in mind that his motherland could not yet decide, why this person is to be considered great. Why ? Because they know, the honor Prof. Sen was awarded by the west was �due to fulfilling the criteria set by them�. This is the great problem that lies before Professor Amartya Kumar Sen, the 1998 Nobel laureate in Economics. In this article I shall discuss some of the problems, this great man still have to encounter. AMARTYA SEN AND HIS WORKS: The developing countries enable a person to have only limited access to Prof. Sen�s works. In these works we have seen Prof. Sen�s comments, views and explanations which mostly go in the interest of the governments of the capitalistic countries. We do not wonder, because we know that was and is the essential precondition of a person to be honored by them. For example, Prof. Sen opined against those who are against Globalization, opined that democracy does nor work under socialist or military rulers, maximum welfare of the common people can be ensured under democratic system etc. While there cannot be any dispute in the last one, it is time for Prof. Sen to rethink the two others entirely from a different angle. In this article I shall discuss the issues on Globalization only. �GLOBALIZATION�, THE WRONGLY USED TERM: I have seen Prof. Sen�s comments advocating that �globalization is a natural process and no cool brain should think anything against it�. We are aware lots of people in the developed and developing countries are at present engaged in fights against globalization. When a world-renowned economist like Prof. Sen opines like that the capitalist countries feel safe. I do not blame the common men, for using the wrong term, it is natural for them to fail to understand the difference between globalization and the thing they are fighting against. I do not blame the capitalist countries also who appreciate the use of the wrong term. Definitely they become benefited due to such �wrong-use�. (I even feel tempted to believe that that the capitalists themselves have encouraged to use the wrong term, such that the real enemy may hide behind a harmless word). But we do not expect a world famous economist like Prof. Sen to abstain from clarifying the points. They call it �Globalization�. Let me continue using the same term till I can clarify the point. The poor and working men from the developed countries shout against �globalization� because they say, it takes away jobs from their hands either by taking away their working stations from their country or (ii) by importing cheap labors from abroad. Similarly the industrial workers from the developing countries cry against �globalization� because, they say it stops their job opportunities by closing their industries. The environmentalists in various countries raise voices against �globalization� because they say, it spoils their environment. WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN : It is interesting to note that all these people use the wrong term (i.e. �globalization� ) to mean the right thing, which in this case is their greatest enemy. Let us now investigate what these people indicate or really mean by �globalization�.
When the savage society with adult males and females and ample opportunities of sex could not find peace, men invented marriage and family. Families wanted a secure place to live, work and raise children. Rural community, towns, cities etc. were the results of this endeavor. Later, however, a state or country with its extents in terms of land, resources and population was found to be the practical solution. Like a family devised its own system of income, expenditure, security arrangement and administration, individual countries also devised such means. What happens if the robust young man of one family wants to enjoy the women, snatch the income and interfere the administration of another family ? the answer is, �complete turmoil�. The same thing is now going to take place in the community of countries when few capitalist countries have chalked out a program to take the benefit of �everything that is good and enjoyable� in the weaker countries. And they intend to do the same due to the provisions allowed in the �open market economy�. This �open market economy� also had been devised by them for ensuring the interest of the capitalistic and powerful countries. It is correct that no person with a normal and cool brain should ever say anything against the �globalization� which is quite natural. In fact any war waged against this innocent thing seems to have been a foolish act, isn�t it ? That is the reason why the ventures of the sufferers of the developing and developed countries and that of the environmentalists could not still reach the targets. What these people want to fight against is in fact �certain provisions kept in the open market economy�. It is so easy for any student of economics to understand. Naturally it hurts me to see that a great man like Prof. Sen does not reveal to the �facts� to the sufferers, and continue using the wrong term (i.e.�globalization�). If �open market economy� be allowed to continue with its present provisions, it would result in numerous silent murders, where poor and working people in the developed and developing countries would lose jobs, resulting in early death, less marriage and inability to propagate. Also the same would result in open murder when the environmental pollutions created by multi-national companies would kill innocent people living around. BLESSINGS: One blessing of open market might be �less sale of war weapons to the states�. Battalion of armed forces, however, would have to be maintained by the capitalistic companies to safeguard their properties. Since the countries would have practically no control over import and export, movement of currency and people, there won�t be any tussle or fight between countries. The war weapon producers would definitely loose market. By this time probably they have calculated their loss from this business and have discovered that the income they can have from their �open market economy� is going to exceed the loss. OUTCOME : Believe it or not, in case open market economy is allowed to continue in its present form, the current system of sovereign states and their administrative governments would practically vanish. What would remain in their place would be the estates and territories controlled and administered by capitalistic lords by their own muscle men. The world has once witnessed the curse of Feudalism. Open market economy is going to generate Feudalism in another form in which the kings or emperors are going to be replaced by the capitalists through their multi-national companies, in which the exploitation of the common people in their interests shall remain in their hands, where as the administration and taking care of the common people would be in the hands of the government. They would rightly use the governments as their slaves, because they would bear their costs. MORE CURSES FROM THE CAPITALISTS: In their own interests, the capitalists would bring new provisions in future under various names. Even if part of those come to the interest of the common men that would be just coincidental. Never in the past the capitalists considered it as their noble duty or obligation to solve the problems of the common people, nor they would ever do. One such policy that is already in vision is �collapse of multi-national companies�. A number of such companies have already collapsed. It is because of tremendous complexities in their financial managements and systems (please note, they have devised those systems ensuring their own interests. Their governments endorse those because they have the money to purchase the governments� decision) it is not readily known who loose their money and how. But you can be sure, the persons who win are the capitalists. Even though at times they may be seen behind the bars, they have carefully calculated and discovered that a say, �five year jail term� would ensure them physical rest along with �tremendous income� (several times of what they could earn by usual business during this period). So, whatever might happen to the workers, share-holders, bankers or other financiers of these collapsed companies, more and more such companies would face willful �collapse� in the coming days. I request Prof. Sen to take a project to find out the facts behind the collapse of such companies and to forewarn the probable victims. CONCLUSION: It is our great pleasure and honour that Prof. Sen has brought the rare honor of Nobel Prize for himself and for all of us in India and Bangladesh. By achieving this honour he has achieved such an elevated position that whatever he now speaks, all in the east and the west have to hear his voice. I have mentioned that Prof. Sen�s target to achieve such an honor by fulfilling the criteria set by them is over. It is useless for him to go for another Nobel prize, by ignoring the interest of his own people. In case he can forget another prize from them, Prof. Sen can look at things un-biasedly, or with a bias towards the welfare of his own country. Prof. Sen is our pride, we want to be more proud with his future works, even though we know we can�t give him any prize. But we can adore him as �our great man�. Bijon B. Sarma, Associate Professor, Architecture Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh. Go to: Part2
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