NRI’s Views: Globalization, the Modern Slavery

Commentary

CHAITANYA DAVE

In the world of today, multinationals from former colonial and imperialist powers increasingly dominate and control the world economy. It seems the 17th and 18th century colonialism is being replaced by 21st century economic imperialism. Western multinationals armed with their ruthless technical prowess are the 21st century’s armies of the old imperialist nations. They are increasingly spreading their tentacles to the so called ‘Third World’ nations to exploit their downtrodden millions that are unaware of their designs and ulterior motives. What drives these multinationals to the third world countries is nothing but sheer avarice and desire to exploit cheap labor. The lure of Western products with their attractive packing, sometimes false but innovative advertising and new technology, drives millions of unsuspecting people to buy the products peddled by these multinationals. In the process, vast sums of money flows from the victim countries, like India and many others, to the exploiting economically imperialist countries of these multinationals. More poverty is being created as large number of local people loose their jobs due to technology intensive nature of the multinationals that enable them to hire minimum number of people for maximum production with a fraction of the minimum wages they would have to pay in their own countries.

Perhaps the worst damage done as a result of the inroads of these multinationals into the Third World countries, including India, is to their indigenous culture. The local culture of the victim country has unusually evolved over a period of thousands of years. It has been enduring, superior and designed to adapt to local conditions. Simply copying the alien Western culture, specially by the young people, does irreparable damage to their indigenous culture and psyche. For example, if we look at old pictures, photos, paintings or earliest movies made in India, almost all men and boys used to wear dhoties, pajamas, lungies depending on the part of the country they came from. Most would wear a topi, a pagari or some kind of head cover. Under weather conditions of most of India’s extreme heat,dress made of white local cotton cloth made a lot of sense. It was ideal to keep the body cool, aerated and yet provide ample protection. As a result of British rule of some 150 years or more, a vast majority of Indian men and boys have blindly adapted to wearing tight shirt and pants. The affluent in the cities also wear socks and shoes. This new dress, if you consider India’s extreme hot climate, is utterly inappropriate and un-hygienic to the body. Wearing these clothes, one feels hot, humid, full of perspiration and sticky. Yet blindly copying the West, we have foolishly adapted their ways in India. The same is true for most of the developing third world countries. We need modernization without Westernization.

Coming back to the multinationals, India and other developing nations need to be extremely wary and careful when allowing these multinationals to enter their country. Perhaps the ‘minimum wages’ law should be different for foreign companies. It should be at least half of what the workers are paid in the mother countries of these multinationals who go to India. Also, we should be quite selective. Allowing tobacco companies like Philip Morris to set up and manufacture their deadly tobacco products which targets millions of young people, would do irreparable harm to the local population. Also welcoming McDonalds, Coca-Cola or Pepsi makes no sense. There are enough Indian companies making similar products. Why duplicate them? We might invite telephone system manufacturers to install an efficient telephone system in India which is vitally needed. Even better answer to this would be to encourage local businesses to adopt or develop latest technology in each sector and manufacture products of vital importance for the masses. Why can’t we have big businesses involved in in-depth research developing farming tools and once developed be mass- produced? This will change the face of India if followed through. India is still a very agricultural country and yet our politicians forget that if you improve the lot of an individual farmer, you will automatically uplift the masses.

Some might dismiss Gandhiji as an outdated leader whose time is far gone in the dustbin of history. I think Gandhiji is more relevant today than ever before. His life-long struggle was not only for India’s independence, but also to teach us Indians how to be independent and free from foreign influence. He had laid great emphasis on local production for local consumption even at village level. Inviting foreign multinationals is a first step towards a new kind of slavery.

It has been 50 years since independence and yet no government that came to power had the wisdom and will to adopt and enforce genuine land reforms which is a must if we are to free small and marginal farmers and laborers without land from the shackles of powerful landlords who control a big percentage of our cultivable lands. It has been said that less than two percent of rich landlords control 40 percent of our agro-land.

Millions of our farmers rent the farms they are tilling. The rent they pay to the rich landlord is exorbitantly high. It is this unfairly high rent, whether in the form of money or a percentage of the crop, that keeps the no-land farmers and laborers in perpetual poverty. Why can’t the politicians enact laws that force rich landlords to give the land to the tillers who alone do the real hard work! Of course, some reasonable compensation to the landowners should be given but once and for all, the shackles of indebtedness and bondage should be broken.

But who is going to undertake these tough drastic and often unpopular tasks? Certainly not the current lot of politicians. They don’t even have the time to think about all these problems, let alone to do something about it. It is only if awakening amongst the poor masses and villagers takes place and if they elect a whole new lot of dedicated and honest politicians whose only mission would be to serve the country and not the self, that our downtrodden millions will have a chance. Otherwise the country is steadily headed towards a disaster of unthinkable proportions.

Deadly viruses and diseases such as AIDS are spreading amongst the ignorant masses like a wildfire. Our forests are being destroyed and depleted unabated, our wildlife is being made extinct by the process, our rivers, coastlines and oceans are being polluted as a result of conspiracy between polluting business factory owners, local, state and central politicians and officials in charge who are happy with the bribes. The air in major cities is becoming unbreathable. Our population is multiplying uncontrolled at a disastrous rate.

If those in power as well as the intelligentsia who at least grasp the massive problems, don’t start a joint venture of cooperation to save India, our Motherland, the results would be unimaginable. Time is fast running out. delay may make India explode into a violent revolution that will bring death and destruction to millions in its wake.

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