Creating wealth…Not so evil.
India is a mixed economy. We have a flourishing public sector where everything is subsidized and an equally thriving private sector. We had the socialistic model up until the 1990’s supposedly after which the market was opened up for foreign investors and along with that our economy opened up too. The new policies made it easier for investors and businesses began to thrive.
Now I do not grasp the nitty gritty of economics, I just try and understand whatever I can. Socialism always sounded right on principle growing up. A world where there is equitable distribution of wealth and people are neither too rich nor too poor. Or maybe I felt that way because my dad is slightly left leaning and that is sort of his ideology. Capitalism was always portrayed as the evil money minded brother.
The more I sat and contemplated, the more I felt that it was wrong to demonize wealth creation. We as a society tend to diss the wealthy simply because we perceive that their wealth is ill gotten and hence evil. ‘Compassionate capitalism’ was the phrase I recently imbibed when I heard a certain corporate founder talk about his journey as an entrepreneur, in a podcast. I think that is what capitalism should look like.
That is why I stress on ‘Wealth Creation’ and not ‘Wealth hoarding’. The profits that are made are supposed to trickle down to the grass root level employees too. That is how the per capita income improves. Capitalist’s hoarding wealth are no better than Socialist’s hoarding both wealth and power. When people are critical about certain sectors like the movie industry or the beauty industry, I only look at it like an other industry that generates wealth and employment through creative pursuits. Why not?
Also why diss consumerism even? If money has to roll and percolate from one strata of society to another, consumerism is perhaps one of the effective ways to do it. When I purchase something, I am helping a sector thrive which in turn increases the buying capacity of their employees which will give them a better standard of living and the chain reaction thus continues.
Another way to do the same thing passively would be to buy goods and pass it on (what people label as charity). I frankly prefer the former. Teach a man to fish rather than give him a fish. Socialism and capitalism both exploit their employees at times, but I would bet Socialism does it more so. When there is too much of government control and power over how an enterprise should function and a cap on how much compensation one must get, there is more scope for exploitation. Also, as I mentioned earlier altruism isn’t very motivating for most.
I personally do not enjoy ostentatious displays of wealth, but I respect wealth creation through fair means along with the employment and the opportunities that it provides to millions. I personally feel that there isn’t any need to buy yet another luxury car in the market or that yacht or private jet. To each his own. However, for me wealth creation isn’t about possessing the next luxury that money can buy, but about making sure you serve your purpose using it.
Whether it is Musk using it to advance science and technology or others using it to make the IT sector thrive and in turn giving employment to bright minds that can innovate or even the Small and Medium Scale Businesses in our country doing well for themselves, wealth creation in all it’s forms is indeed to be appreciated. If everybody has the employee mindset, there is only so much we will prosper.
