The Struggle of Libertarians in India

August 19, 2012
by

After reading the post Why Not to Pay Taxes, one of the readers asked me, “What is the solution to this problem?” The same issue was raised on the Facebook page “Indian Libertarians” where, a commenter asked,

“How can we take this message of liberty to masses is the moot question. Can there be revolution by the libertarians or the capitalists? Can they take up the cudgels and give direction to the people? Simply speaking, can they also be political leaders?”

Obviously, libertarians in India have a difficult task at hand. Libertarianism isn’t a political philosophy in strict sense; rather, it is a philosophy that suggests individual freedom against the political clutches of collectivist government. A libertarian can be a student, an engineer, a housewife, a businessman, but can he or she be a politician, a mass leader? However, that is not the actual issue. The actual struggle of a libertarian in India is to find out a way to fight against ever-increasing socialist government and its inflationist policies. It is a huge task and every second day, as the government announces some other social welfare program, the struggle becomes more intense. Current economic scenario of the world is suggesting the failure of Keynesian economics and liberal politics in the U.S., Europe, and in Asia. However, there hardly is a sign that things will become any better. Indian economy is also going through a difficult phase and the government is busy in announcing ‘Education for All,’ ‘Free Healthcare,’ Free mobiles for BPL people and so on (How India is Becoming a Totalitarian State).

The difficulty for libertarians in India increases because of the fact that there are very few libertarians here and hardly anybody knows about them or their ideas. Practically speaking, Indian society is economically and philosophically illiterate and there is no organization actually offering any kind of education for the masses. We Indian libertarians aren’t equipped with organizations like Ludwig von Mises Institute, Ayn Rand Institute, Cato Institute, Foundation for Economic Studies, or International Society for Individual Liberty. In absence of such institutes, the idea of individual liberty is still unknown in Indian masses.

Hurdles against Libertarians in India

India is a socialist country with mixed economy and to protect the remaining threads of individual liberty, libertarians will have to fight at an enormously high number of fronts while the true libertarians willing to raise their voices are practically negligible in India. The state is engrossing every aspect of our life through ever increasing interventionists, welfare policies and it is necessary to fight against all those policies. However, hardly any libertarian in India has enough time, resources, and knowledge to oppose interventionists at any subject in a significant manner. People say that there are very few libertarians in the United States; however, there are enough to make a Libertarian Party, to initiate a Free State Project. Here, in India, libertarians can be termed as the smallest minority. If we try to think about a Free State Project in India, there will hardly be 10-12 people actually working for it and we have to face a grave problem here in India.

The biggest hurdle for libertarians in India is the Indian bureaucracy. Indian government has employed around 1,622.8 government servants for every 100,000 citizens1 . I don’t think there is even a single libertarian for every 100,000 citizens in India. It is the army of government and a simple libertarian hardly has a chance to confront these bureaucrats and discuss about the issue of individual liberty. Even if a libertarian takes a stand and works for attacking the wrong of a particular issue, there hardly will be anyone to hear him while there is a huge hill of issues to be raised as a libertarian. However, it is not only the bureaucracy that we have to face; our biggest opponent comes from those citizens for whom we try to raise the issue of individual liberty. Every now and then you will face a statist zealot forcing you to accept that government is necessary and nationalism is the highest value.

Furthermore, there is hardly any base of supporters for libertarians in India. While we keep debating for capitalism, laissez faire, and free market, we cannot expect Indian businessmen, entrepreneurs, and capitalist to encourage or help us. On the other hand, there are a number of socialist groups in India that keep raising frivolous issues of welfare and ask for higher governmental interventions. The recently passed bill of Education for All and proposed bill of free healthcare are the results of these social organizations and NGOs. The Civil Society of India raised a huge platform of “India Against Corruption” with an agenda to increase the bureaucracy to check corruption at the expense of taxpayers.

The situation is so grim that many Indian libertarians, who have enough resources to escape, prefer to drift away from India to settle in the U.S., obviously, they may try to be a part of the Free State Project of the U.S. However, that is not a solution and things won’t change in India until we a few libertarians actually try to raise our concerns and to propagate our ideas. Internet is obviously a great tool for us because it will let us propagate the idea to a significant number of people. Education and proselytism is the only way for libertarians in India as it will help them to increase their intrinsic strength. Without actually educating more and more people about the libertarian principles, we cannot prove that libertarianism is actually an exoteric way towards development of individual and the society.

We Need Specialists

The very first task for Indian libertarians is to gather enough number of true libertarians to make a group of Individuals committed to raise the voice of Individual liberty. However, libertarians aren’t looking for just another club to enjoy parties and have fun. Libertarianism is a serious matter as it directly puts a person against the state which is nothing less than omnipotent in current situations. Lack of resources and unwillingness of businessmen and entrepreneurs to help us to gather resources is a grave issue because even a libertarian needs to look after his own life while he will have to invest his time and resources for libertarian studies and for spreading the idea of libertarianism in masses.

However, there is only one way to change the scenario in a positive manner and that is to attain libertarian specialists taking a stand about various libertarian subjects and issues. It is obviously very beneficial to continuously assert the basic principles of libertarianism in public through internet and through public meetings. Yet, we cannot stop only to that. We need to develop specialist libertarians taking a stand against specific economic and social problems. This is very necessary to actually show that we can apply libertarian principles in specific fields. These specialists will have to learn and explore the ways to counter attack various governmental policies in specific fields such as education, agriculture, healthcare, electric power, petroleum and mining, transportation (roads, railways, and aviation), NREGA, Defense (necessity to reduce defense expenditure), judiciary, police, government spending and fiscal deficit, governmental grants (subsidies, economic stimulus, and economic free zone), property rights (to be established as fundamental right in Indian law and constitution), minimum wage control and other interventions in private sector, high taxes, interest rates, quota, corporatism, consumer protection laws, feminist laws, gun control, and various other issues.

Benefits of having Specialist libertarians

Trying to develop libertarian specialists taking a stand against specific field of governmental control will make our voices and concerns more audible and impressive while we will have proper data and information to make people realize about what is wrong with the system and how libertarian principles will improve the situations. Obviously, it will help libertarians in India in raising the number of students willing to learn about individual liberty and importance of free market. Education is the only way to increase the number of true libertarians.

Another advantage of having specialists taking stand against specific fields of government intervention will be in form of patronage and support from businessmen, entrepreneurs and private organizations that we libertarians may attain in future. However, not all of us can really devote ourselves to be specialists in any particular field. Yet, all of us need to keep repeating and asserting the general aspects, axioms and principles of libertarianism. More importantly, we will succeed in intiating a libertarian culture in India.

No matter a libertarian succeeds in attaining speciality in any specific field or not, it is very necessary for every libertarian in India to take a stand and raise their voice at every possible avenue and if he fails to find favorable opportunity, he needs to create them. Indian libertarians are certainly not in a position where they may say ascertain complete success; however, whatever struggle we will face, we will certainly succeed in raising a culture of freedom in India and a better future for our upcoming generations.

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: 1Voluntaryism, Anarcho-Capitalism, Education, Ethics, Philosophy
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Comments

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  • sarafshailesh

    i am almost a libertarian and so, glad to come across this indian-libertarian blog…

    my understanding is anarchism can be achieved in 2 broad ways:

    1) liberals/libertarians participating in govt. or simply pressurizing govt to slowly but steadily move away from socialism and towards individual liberty.

    2) govts becoming more and more oppressive to the point where more and more people start breaking laws without guilt

    The 1st path seems more desirable but, in india, the second seems more likely (unless US or other countries see more success using the 1st path and their success educates/inspires indians).

    Is this understanding broadly correct? which path do you see as more likely…

    • http://rationallibertariancorner.com/ Unpretentious Diva

      sarafshailesh,

      The first way (as mentioned by you) is known as Parliamentarian Anarchocapitalism. It is an idea that by participating in politics and spreading ideas of liberty, one can actually make the change. It was supported by Murray Rothbard and various others and it is being supported by all supporters of Ron Paul. But it is a failure and the evidence is the increasing state-socialism of the United States and the continuous denial of Individual rights in the US.

      There are other ways too. As for example, Voluntaryism that claims that Voting is fraud and there can be no freedom through political deliberations. Other ways include counter-economics, Perpetual Travellers and Five Flag Theory (I will write about it in near future).

      In addition, there are ways like Free State Project where all like minded people may gather and create their own state based on libertarian principles.

      There can be a number of valid and practical ways. However, the most important aspect of any of these ways is to spread the Idea of Individual Liberty as much as Possible.

      I hope you will help me in doing so :)

    • http://rationallibertariancorner.com/ Sudha Saraswat

      sarafshailesh,

      The first way (as mentioned by you) is known as Parliamentarian Anarchocapitalism. It is an idea that by participating in politics and spreading ideas of liberty, one can actually make the change. It was supported by Murray Rothbard and various others and it is being supported by all supporters of Ron Paul. But it is a failure and the evidence is the increasing state-socialism of the United States and the continuous denial of Individual rights in the US.

      There are other ways too. As for example, Voluntaryism that claims that Voting is fraud and there can be no freedom through political deliberations. Other ways include counter-economics, Perpetual Travellers and Five Flag Theory (I will write about it in near future).

      In addition, there are ways like Free State Project where all like minded people may gather and create their own state based on libertarian principles.

      There can be a number of valid and practical ways. However, the most important aspect of any of these ways is to spread the Idea of Individual Liberty as much as Possible.

      I hope you will help me in doing so :)

      • sarafshailesh

        thanks for your response. i agree with you.

        However, I think we underestimate the power of democracy to somewhat increase individual freedom. Countries like US, India, UK are very poor democracies because of the high entry barriers of their FPTP electoral system.

        Even in FPTP systems, I am surprised by the lack of neutral ‘issue based vote-banks’ / political pressure groups. Not sure what I am missing here.

        A Ron Paul loses to Romney because minority ideas cannot compete with the majority ones in a democracy. However, a Ron Paul could have caused some positive change if he had created a pressure group. A pressure group that promises to campaign and vote for either Obama or Romney only depending on who agrees to some of the systemic changes they want. Even if Ron Paul had support of just 5-10% of the voters, he could have been the swing factor that decides the President. To win this votebank, Romney would have agreed to meaningful things (only if there was a real chance that they will vote FOR Obama if Romney doesn’t oblige).
        Maybe I am wrong but it seems that the Ron Paul group, Green Party, Libertarian party, Republican Libertarian Caucus, Democratic Freedom Caucus, Tea party, etc. have libertarian views on many/most of the key issues. If some of them came together as an independent pressure group, then they can definitely get some positive change.

        • http://rationallibertariancorner.com/ Sudha Saraswat

          We underestimate power of democracy? I think you do not understand democracy. It is the most threatening tyrranical power. I never underestimate it.

          Ron Paul is good because he failed. Otherwise, he would have been nothing more than a George Bush, a Ronald Reagen, an Obama.

          But anyways, you can have different opinion.

          The simple thing is that Democracy is mass rule and I am an Individual. I cannot be the mass. I am the smallest minotiry and I know that my vote will never count that is why I never vote.

          Ron Paul was better than all other candidates, he was not the one to whom I could have offered the right to DECIDE FOR MY LIFE. I mean, if he had become the President of the US, he would have been nothing more than a oppressor, yes, an enlightened one. But I never felt that slavery under an enlightened despot would be better than Freedom.

          • http://rationallibertariancorner.com/ Sudha Saraswat

            By the way, I may approve the idea of Direct Democracy (like that in Switzerland) over Representative Democracy (like in the US) or parliamentarian democracy (like in India or UK).

            I understand the Direct Democracy offers a lot of Individual Freedom and a chance to avoid irrationality, it offers a chance to remain vigil against politicians who are bound to be corrupt. Yet, even Direct Democracy is no match for freedom.

            I would like to recomment this article to you. Please read it…http://rationallibertariancorner.com/philosophy/what-makes-a-politician-corrupt.html

            And yep please read this one too which is about Democracy.

            http://rationallibertariancorner.com/anarcho-capitalism/the-failing-democracy.html

            • sarafshailesh

              agree..thanks..read those articles!

          • sarafshailesh

            Let me clarify my thinking:

            - Ancap is likely the best but we don’t have it and we need to figure a path towards it
            - Civil disobedience, armed struggle, encouraging people to ignore laws, etc. are possible paths but very difficult (maybe that’s the right path but not my preference)
            - The only alternate path is to use prevailing systems (democracy in the case of most nations) to gradually achieve freedom
            - Democracy is inherently socialistic and has been very harmful but, if we are going to use democracy, then more democracy (direct democracy) is better than less democracy (FPTP style representative democracy). US, for example, has gradually succumbed to socialism despite a very sensible pro-liberty constitution. But, it would have been much better (not perfect) had it chosen more democracy (direct or even proportional representation) instead of the so-called democracy (FPTP system). Even a FPTP system would have given much better results if libertarian groups like Ron Paul and those mentioned above had chosen the right strategy i.e. instead of trying to become the rulers, they should have been a votebank pressurizing the rulers to maintain/enhance liberty. It is not just very difficult to become the rulers but also the entire process changes people…by the time they become rulers, they gradually become the very evil they are fighting against (I was a huge supporter of IAC and they are doing the same mistake now). Also, it is in the rational self-interest of rulers to curb liberty.
            - Let me repeat since this is my whole point: Issue based votebanks / political pressure groups can use the existing flawed systems to attain liberty. The key is to focus on liberty, remain neutral and flexible in choosing the dominant political party to support in return for freedom and stay away from the lure of becoming the rulers (even if it is with the good intention of taking the bull by the horns). It just beats me why there aren’t many examples of such efforts across the world. A lot of groups start on this path but deviate very soon despite some success. Maybe ‘increasing freedom without getting power’ doesn’t serve the ‘rational self-interest’ of such groups :(

          • sarafshailesh

            another thing that I don’t understand is why many freedom loving individuals I come across have this ‘all or nothing’ approach …this is their typical order of preference: 1) full freedom exactly of the type that they envision, 2) status quo with/without their effort to directly jump back to full freedom, and 3) something in between…more freedom than now but still tyrannical.

            For you, does option 3 come before 2? for me, it does …

  • http://www.facebook.com/rahuldravid Ravi Kiran

    So much information on this blog and I am loving it. I once again appreciate the great work you are doing.

    Here, I would like to bring in a slightly different perspective. Barbara branden, Ayn Rand’s student, in one of her talks revealed what Ayn Rand said to her “Ayn said if economics alone could have won the battle for capitalism, it would have been won long ago..because the economic proofs were there..So she believed only by moral/philosophical persuasion can one win the case for free enterprise.”

    I agree with her and I strongly believe that along with generating discussion on economic policies, there is also a greater need to counter the altruistic morality that is so prevalent in India. I believe the functioning of the Govt. is directly reflective of the deep-rooted collectivist mindset in the society.

    Ayn Rand
    “For centuries, the battle of morality was fought between those who claimed that your life belongs to God and those who claimed that it belongs to your neighbors – between those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of ghosts in heaven and those who preached that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of incompetents on earth. And no one came to say that your life belongs to you and that the good is to live it.”

    I think this is the message we need to spread.

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