Dead theories
Namaskar,
In His teachings from His discourse on Social Justice in Human Society part 1, Baba explains that in the past, while fighting against capitalism or dishonest capitalists, the common people adopted one of three main avenues:
Three flawed approaches
1. Appealing to human sentiment like Gandhism;
2. Applying brute force like communism;
3. Stealing and pillaging from the rich and giving to the poor like Robin Hoods.
But the aforementioned avenues do not work; such approaches were impotent and unable to prevail against the immoral capitalists.
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Why Gandhism died
Those appealing to Gandhism do not get success because those greedy dishonest capitalists are notoriously callous and remain unmoved by those Gandhian humanistic appeals.
For instance:
(a) When those adherents of Gandhism plead, "Do not collect huge wealth which you cannot use", then those immoral capitalists simply pay a deaf ear.
(b) When those Gandhi enthusiasts proclaim, "Share your wealth and feed the poor", then those dishonest capitalists merely look the other way.
(c) When those proponents of Gandhism say, "Build sheds for the homeless", then big corporate executives nod their head and then continue counting their net worth.
(d) When the followers of Gandhi demand, "Donate a few pennies for hungry", then the immoral capitalists remain unmoved and continue to hoard huge wealth and extravagant personal amenities.
In short, dishonest capitalists simply ignore the humanistic appeals made by Gandhian activists. Such vaeshyas do not mend their ways.
Prout philosophy states, "No matter how much importance was given to the benevolence of the human mind by the Gandhian and Bhu’da’n movements, or how saintly their propounders may have been, selfish and mean-minded people [dishonest capitalists] will never accept their principles." (1)
The Gandhian theory can only be effective in some far-off dreamland, not in the hard realities of the world. Gandhism died while Gandhi was still alive; now only hypocrisy remains.
Prout philosophy states, "The philosophy of Gandhi died before India got independence – it died long before Gandhi died." (2)
Gap: rich and poor increasing
Thus we see that the wealth disparity is only growing. Poverty and slums are spreading fast across this earth as capitalists exponentially grow their wealth. There are more billionaires now than ever before, and it is for this reason that large populations of people are homeless or living in the slums and shanty towns.
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Communism is state capitalism
Those resorting to the brute force of communism do not get success with those immoral capitalists either because they are unable to root out the seed of capitalism—they are unable to goad the mind in a proper moral or spiritual manner. Theirs is also a materialistic approach and the result is either the greed of individual or state capitalism.
Prout philosophy states, "Those who aspire to establish communistic systems either through legal methods or at bayonet point without changing the hearts of the people, without implementing development programmes and without introducing moral and ideological education to reform people’s bad habits, are also bound to fail." (3)
The communist leaders themselves are very wealthy. Actually there is not much difference—from an economic perspective—between communism and capitalism.
Prout philosophy states, "Capitalism and communism are fruits of the same variety." (4)
Communism is merely state capitalism where the government hoards all the money and the people are very poor; and capitalism means private ownership that creates a huge disparity of wealth between the economically elite and the common people. Thus, both harbor the safe defective mind-set: I.e. materialism.
Nowadays, we see that communism has basically failed.
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Safety net is not the way
Some of the top capitalist exploited countries are India, China, and Russia. In such places there is very little safety net. Those without jobs, food, housing and medical care are basically left to struggle on their own or die. Yet in those same places the number of billionaires is increasing everyday.
In places like the US and Europe there is a bit of a safety net. The laborers fight dishonest capitalists, and, in turn, there are governmental services and subsidies for the poor etc. But in China and India where the common people have no such unity or power, capitalism is swallowing all.
Even then, it has to be admitted that the mere pittance given to the poor in the US is not enough to right the wrongs or quell the situation. So that also is not the answer. This just leads to a society of beggars where the poor have barely enough to survive and the rich continue to hoard huge wealth without restrictions. This leads to a static society based on indolence and inertness. What is needed is the development of cooperatives where the wealth is rationally distributed among all members.
Here below is the response to the US and other countries that set-up social programs that offer small monies to the poor, thus ensuring they remain impoverished.
Prout teachings guide us, "It is true that in Great Britain some of the minimum requirements of life are being provided to the people, but how great the difference is between rich and poor! Clearly their social system is capitalistic. The exploited and disgruntled people are given a small amount of sympathy to appease them. They are given a small taste of the dainties and delicacies, but their stomachs are never full." (5)
So the safety-net set-up by capitalistic nations does not solve the problem. And with regards to communism, we can conclude that communism failed to change the psychic pablum of the people and leaders. Instead of fighting or correcting capitalism, they themselves became dishonest capitalists.
Always Robin Hoods get killed
This brings us to the third and final defective methodology outlined in this letter: Robin Hoods. For those not aware—in a phrase—Robin Hood is a legendary character who loots from the rich and gives to the poor.
Prout philosophy states, "Those that used to think it pious to loot the rich and distribute the spoils among the poor. The Robin Hoods of that era thought that their methods alone could do away with the social disparity." (6)
Such Robin Hoods think that by looting and pillaging they can bring social equality.
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Prout philosophy states, "We have seen the advent of such Robin Hoods more or less in every country of the world. But this does not lead to the solution of the problem...Capitalism cannot be destroyed merely by pillaging the capitalists, for robbery and plunder may deflate the bloated capital of the capitalists, but it cannot kill the potential of the seed of capitalism." (7)
So these Robin Hoods too fall short of the mark. Immoral capitalists are not swayed or changed by such looting. Rather such dishonest capitalists come up with greater ways of protecting their wealth—i.e. increased security. The answer is—capitalist’s infinite desires must be diverted towards Parama Purusa.
Prout philosophy states, "The capitalists are suffering from a sort of mental ailment, and it is our foremost duty to radically cure them by diverting their physical thirst towards psychic and spiritual pursuits." (8)
History of Robin Hoods
Some examples of Robin Hoods that we've seen in the recent and distant past include:
(A) Mafia & Drug Cartels: The mafia and drug cartels are often embraced by the local people because those big crime bosses soak up huge piles of money and then donate and spend lavishly so locals feel benefited by their presence. A NY crime boss John Gotti built new stadiums and facilities for the local high schools and the drug kingpin El Chapo in Mexico provided grand resources for local peasants. In result, both crime bosses were lauded by the people.
(B) In centuries past and even as recently as this year, pirate ships around the world would loot passing vessels, especially the boats of the ultra wealthy—and often share the booty back ashore with local peoples.
(C) In the late 1880's in the US, horsemen would derail and loot luxury trains as they crossed the vast open spaces of the western US. And then they would provide for the common people. In this way those robbers became folk heroes.
(D) And if you investigate, you will come across numerous examples of looters around the world.
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With their subterfuge, such Robin Hoods try hard to knock off the immoral capitalists—as some communists also attempted—but in the end they are killed.
Prout philosophy states, "Violence only invites violence. So these blood sucking [capitalist] cannibals take recourse to yet bigger conspiracy in time to come and the half-witted robbers ultimately meet their destruction at the hands of such capitalists." (9)
Here again Baba reveals how such Robin Hoods get beat by the dishonest capitalists.
Prout philosophy states, "The amount of punishment meted out to the [capitalist] bloodsuckers by the robbers falls far short of the mark when compared to what they themselves [the looters] got at the hands of these [capitalist] blood-suckers." (10)
Thus in all such cases, the looters invariably meet their demise at the hands of such immoral capitalists. The answer is that the capitalists’ infinite desires must be diverted towards Parama Purusa.
Prout philosophy states, "The capitalists are suffering from a sort of mental ailment, and it is our foremost duty to radically cure them by diverting their physical thirst towards psychic and spiritual pursuits." (11)
Prout: only way to end capitalism
When Gandhism, communism, and the ways of those Robin Hoods all fail, then what is the proper approach to root out capitalism.
Prout philosophy states, "Those who lack a constructive ideology will never be capable of destroying capitalism, even if they speak sweet words, use threats, or create circumstantial pressure." (12)
The only way to win the war against dishonest capitalists is to educate the common people about the ills of capitalist economic exploitation. This brings a collective rise in consciousness where people stand up to such capitalist exploiters. Thus we see the rise of vikśubdha shúdras, or the awakened masses, who are ready to bring revolution forward.
In this case the masses are fortified with the teachings of Prout: They understand they are being exploited and have a rational approach for moving ahead.
In Prout, our aim is to bring about the all-round welfare of humanity where through circumstantial pressure people adopt the path of psychic expansion and spirituality. Then all their energy will not be spent on accumulating more and more physical wealth.
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Prout philosophy states, "Our approach should be to adopt a constructive ideal, and we should wage a ceaseless and pactless struggle against all anti-human and antisocial factors. We are to fight capitalism and not the capitalists. We are to wipe out this ism from human society because this ism is paralysing humanity. The capitalists are suffering from a sort of mental ailment, and it is our foremost duty to radically cure them by diverting their physical thirst towards psychic and spiritual pursuits." (13)
Only solution
One of the key operative lines in the above teaching is: "fight capitalism and not the capitalists."
Thus the Proutistic method is to combat the diseased mentality of capitalism and not engage in a war with immoral capitalists. Rather those dishonest capitalists are to be educated about the ills of capitalism. They are to be taught that the human mind has infinite desires and that finite material wealth can never satisfy human longing. Side by side, while this education is going on, pressure and stipulations need to be implemented that keep people from hoarding wealth; rather wealth is to be rationally distributed.
So the Proutistic method aims to defeat the "ism" of capitalism and not the immoral capitalists per se. That is the road to victory.
But this fact is lost upon Gandhism, communism, and Robin Hoods. The proponents of Gandhism simply make gentle appeals to immoral capitalists without addressing the central problem of capitalism; the communists themselves adopt a materialistic, hoarding psychology similar to capitalism; and the Robin Hoods engage in warfare against the dishonest capitalists, but not capitalism. And in this fight they will lose as dishonest capitalists invest more and more funds into creating weapons for defeating such Robin Hoods. At present, the dishonest capitalists hire soldiers who sit in the safety of isolated rooms and carry out drone strikes around the globe that systematically destroy those Robin Hoods. That is how so many terrorist leaders are killed regular basis—and verily such attacks are going on always.
Conclusion
So all three—Gandhism, communism, and Robin Hoods—fail to rise to the challenge. Their defective approaches fail to derail the train of capitalism.
Thus, only Proutistic teachings are the way for eliminating capitalism and bringing forth a new human society. And this is done by rationally monitoring the accumulation of wealth and forcibly goading the minds of those immoral capitalists towards the psychic and spiritual realms.
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Namaskar,
In Him,
Candra Shekhar
~ In-depth study ~
Here below Prout philosophy explains very clearly and in more detail why those adopting Gandhian measures can never gain success in fighting the immoral capitalists.
Prout philosophy states, "Nothing would be better, if it were possible, than the eradication of capitalism by friendly persuasion and humanistic appeals. In that case the peace of the greater human family would not be much disturbed. But can it be guaranteed that everyone will respond to this approach? Some people may say that a day will come when, as a result of repeatedly listening to such appeals and gradually imbibing them over a long time, as well as through proper mental and spiritual education, good sense will prevail among the exploiters. This argument is very pleasant to hear. Such attempts are not reprehensible. But is it practicable to wait indefinitely for good sense to prevail among the exploiters? By then the exploited mass will have given up the ghost! Though the humanistic approach works in some cases, in most instances it does not produce any result; and even where it does work, it takes a very long time. So, wherever necessary, capitalism must be forced to abandon its ferocious hunger by taking strong measures." (14)
Only Prout is the solution
Prout philosophy states, "Both capitalism and communism have failed to provide the proper ideological inspiration and desideratum to human beings. In the interests of the welfare of humanity, these systems should be replaced. PROUT is against the exploitation by capitalism and the false dogma of communism as both are detrimental to the all-round progress of human beings." (15)
Prout philosophy states, "PROUT is the panacea for the integrated progress of human society. It aims to bring about equilibrium and equipoise in all aspects of socio-economic life through totally restructuring economics. Without PROUT, socio-economic emancipation will remain a utopian dream. Only PROUT can save the world." (16)
Slums everywhere
The slums of Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Manila, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Buenos Aires, and Cairo are filled with hoards of people lacking the basic necessities like running water, toilets, sewage lines, and electricity yet in those very same cities a select slice of the population is living like kings and queens in ritzy apartments with grand luxuries. But it is not even countries like Brazil, China, Philippines, South Africa, India, Argentina & Egypt that suffer from this vast disparity of wealth.
The homeless problem throughout the US is a notorious and growing phenomenon: "Close to one million Americans, equivalent to a city, are homeless, according to the latest national estimate." Plus the homeless population is burgeoning throughout western Europe and especially in Paris.
Thus in places where capitalism is thriving (China, India etc) as well as in places where capitalism has long been established (USA & Europe), there are serious issues with the disparity of wealth. And in all such areas Gandhian appeals do not even begin to address the problems. Rather, immoral capitalists blatantly disregard their appeals.
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So the ways of Gandhism do not work. The dishonest capitalists never give in to such demands.
References
1. Human Society - 1, Social Justice
2. Proutist Economics, Defects of Communism – Excerpt C
3. Human Society - 1, Social Justice
4. Prout Nutshell-16, Decentralized Economy – 2
5. Human Society, The Vipra Age
6. Human Society - 1, '87 Edn, p.45
7. Human Society - 1, '87 Edn
8. Prout in a Nutshell - 4, Discourses on Prout
9. Human Society - 1, '87 Edn
10. Human Society - 1, '87 Edn, p. 45
11. Prout in a Nutshell - 4, Discourses on Prout
12. Problems of the Day, Point #3
13. Prout in a Nutshell - 4, Discourses on Prout
14. Problems of the Day, Point #2
15. Prout Nutshell - 15, The Existential Value of Ideology
16. A Few Problems Solved - 9, Economic Dynamics
