The global in the local and vice-versa - some thoughts on Goa's
economic development
Some thoughtful and passionate recent posts on Goa and economic
development got me to thinking.
"Globalized" economy is a tsunami, which has its impact in every nook
and corner of the world, but at its own pace. No country or region of
the country can think or plan its economic development without the
consideration of its dynamics with the wider world. Increasingly the
old understanding of diaspora, as people who abandoned their country
for a variety of motives and thus severed their links or interest,
and stake in their home country, is fast shifting. Today's
communication and transportation technologies have re-kindled in
those long-gone-individuals a connection with their motherland.
Obviously, time away and inability of frequent communication and
visitation with their home have not severed their connection with
their mother-home; this has brought about the "almost-elimination" of
the idea of diaspora. Now they are beginning to place their stake in
the development of their home land. It is safe to say that everything
(maybe almost everything) in the final analysis is about economy (in
a very broad sense). It is the economic-person (homo economicus) in
us, who wants to organize and develop the economic order; it is this
order that determines everything else.
Today more than ever before, the global is at least mirrored, if not
entangled, in the local and vice-versa. If this interlink does not
take place, the local will be left behind. One can deliberate ad
nauseam, and to a large extent very fruitfully, the ethics of this
interlink. Nonetheless, the homo economicus wants to, not just
survive, but live well and comfortably.
Those who reside in locu obviously have some understanding of the
local realities and of their immediate needs; but may not be able to
have a comprehensive understanding or be able to see the big and long
picture of development, thus may spend a lifetime eking out a living
at a very marginal level. Those who reside away form the home
territory may not have the benefit of experiencing the local
realities, but see their "home" in a big picture connected to the
economies of global scale. Of course, there is value in "small is beautiful"
economies as well.
There is great value in thoughtful armchair discussions because they open up
possibilities for
philosophical and theoretical frameworks to address particular local
issues. Without theoretical and philosophical framework, any
development, at any level, is at best haphazard and marginal.
Investment in one's home (territory) is not quantifiable, and should
not be monetized. It is understandable that those who reside in locu
may feel a tad threatened by force majeure ("outsiders" are seen
invariably as force majeure disrupting the local familiar order)
which may play a part in establishing their economic order.
A thoughtful and respectful dialogue, preferably without the colorful
language, between those who reside in Goa and those who reside
outside Goa, will serve well for the prosperity of that cornice
called Goa
Basilio Monteiro
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