Columns by Sauvik Chakraverti
Antidote
A natural social order 22
Go to any Indian bazaar, in the cities or the mofussils, and you will see
innumerable hordes exchanging goods without the presence of any policemen or
recourse to either civil or criminal law. This natural social order that
already exists is the true subject matter of any science of society. There is a
need for a science of society precisely because there is an order without
design. If the order was the product of a central planner or a central
legislature, then there would be no need for a science of society, because the
particular arrangements of the planner or the legislature would explain and
account for the order.
The reason why this natural social order exists is because the elements,
individuals like you and me, obey unwritten and even unknown rules when we go
about our lives surviving through the processes of market exchange. The true
social science, therefore, proceeds with the rule-following individual and
thereafter attempts to derive theorems applicable to the whole. A true science
of society must be based on individualism as well as subjectivism: that is, the
mind of the thinking, acting human being. Once the individual is understood,
then only can we begin to understand the big picture: society.
An example of such an approach is history. To arrive at the big picture of,
say, the industrial revolution, the good historian will study the elements
first: the politics of the age; the literature and arts; the individual
entrepreneurs and their daring ventures; the squalid conditions of the new
industrial towns etc. Thereafter, he will compose a picture of that age.
The false social science applies polylogic and conjures up conflicts between
groups, which are then used to foment strife: fascism, racism, socialism,
communism, trade unionism and Keynesianism are all examples of polylogic, false
ideas of society based on group-think and aggregation. In reality, the very
factual existence of the natural order is proof that the elements co-exist in
harmony; and that just as God has made the movements of the celestial spheres
harmonious, so also He has made the social world one in which individuals
interact harmoniously through market exchanges.
If we apply the individualistic method to our understanding of Indian society,
we are left with a sobering conclusion: that there is a great deal of hope for
us because almost all of us are rule-following animals plying their individual
boats in the great waters. We are a civilised people with a deeply ingrained
commercial culture which we do not understand, nor appreciate. This shows
that the science of society is very much in its infancy. This is precisely
because, neither in Economics, nor Political Science, nor Law, is this rule
following individual the central focus of attention. There is, instead,
something peculiarly socialistic in its conception: Sociology!
Let us now sit back and imagine ourselves all as boatman-peddlers on the Dal
Lake. For those who havent seen Srinagar, let me explain: as you idly sip
kahwa on your house-boat deck, boatman after boatman pulls along selling goods
as diverse as flowers and perfumes, leatherware and cookies. (I bought some
charas, but thats another story!) This natural social order is present as much
on the Dal Lake as anywhere else in the country, where the people follow
unwritten rules of just conduct during their market exchanges. If all of
society was composed of such people, if such a way of life was the universal
ethic and the highest moral code, then humankind would have reached its zenith
and perfection, and government would be unnecessary. Some impartial judges,
some learned lawyers and that would be all. If this is an impossible ideal,
so be it: but the true social scientist must visualise it, and direct all moral
and intellectual faculties towards its attainment.
Let us now turn our attention to the government. All the false social
scientists who apply polylogic call upon this government to solve all the ills
they believe society is possessed of. If people are poor, the government is to
act. If people are unemployed, or sick, or whatever, call in the government.
They all see the very same society all of us in our individual boats on the
Dal Lake as full of imperfections, and they see the government as composed of
perfectionists.
But who are the individuals in the government? They are ministers, bureaucrats,
policemen, generals, diplomats etc. How do they survive? They all survive
because government tax collectors extort money from us. There are, thus, on our
idyllic Dal Lake, many armed pirates who are snatching away at our honest
gains. That is the government. The true Political Science, the highest
principles of Jurisprudence, and the noblest ideals of Democracy concern
themselves principally with the limits to this coercion, and the only just
purposes for which it can be used. Those who have never considered these limits
have created a Frankenstein. Mary Shelleys monster was created by science;
ours is a creature of a very false social science. This is the predatory
state and its predations are proved by the sorry fact that we get precious
little in exchange for all the taxes we cough up. This government is not the
solution; this government is the real problem.
Our blindness to our predicament is compounded by the fact that our science of
society has been unable to distinguish clearly between a business organisation
powered by the profit motive and a political organisation powered by the vote
motive. We know what drives businessmen, but we are blind to what motives
drive the processes of politics, into which the bureaucracy is hopelessly
enmeshed. What are the motives that make people form these political groups?
Our children are taught that it is selfless service, but even they do not
believe this humbug any more. The situation is grimmer because the government
is their teacher. But, as Dylan sang, There must be some way outta here,
and Im looking for it.
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