Proutist Economic Theory part 1

I Introduction to Proutist economic paradigm

Aim of Prout: The creation of an ideal society encompassing the collective body of
human beings progressively moving toward a spiritual goal, a cosmic goal, together. In
building an ideal society there should be a congenial environment where people get an
opportunity for their physical, psychic, and spiritual progress. 1

In this light society and economic structure(s) are based on the fraternity of all human
beings regardless of race, class, gender, ethnicity, or religion, etc.

Economic policies reflect the needs of the physical, mental, and spiritual potentialities of
human beings (and eventually even the realms of plants, animals, and the rest of the
natural universe) and those potentialities are given ample encouragement and room for
growth and development.

Leadership of society is to be in hands of moralists who aim at harmonizing the needs

and wants of individual members of society with the collective interest(s) of society.

The economic structure should reflect a proper adjustment of human beings lifestyles in
regard to each other and the natural world.

II Fundamental Concepts and Principles

A. Minimum requirements
1. Human beings have minimum requirements of living such as food,
clothing, medical supplies and assistance, housing and shelter.
a) These minimum necessities must be guaranteed regardless of race,
class, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.
b) Rather than trying to give equal wealth to all, the proper approach is to
ensure that the minimum requirements are available to all.

2. Society must make arrangements so that people, in exchange for their

labor according to their capacity, can earn the money they require to
purchase the minimum requirements.

3. The minimum requirements of human beings change according to

changes in ages and the demands of the age.
 a) While a horse may be the standard requirement of one age, an
automobile may be for another.
b) All people should have the minimum requirements of their age.
c) As it becomes possible the standard of the minimum requirements
should increase and go on increasing as society becomes more efficient
and advanced.

4. The minimum requirements of people may be the same, but diversity is a

law of nature. Promoting an incentive-less system of giving equal wealth to all
when there is diversity of skill, talent, and motivation is not as desirable as
providing minimum necessities to all and, also, incentives for meritorious people.

B. Maximum Amenities: The surplus wealth should be

distributed among meritorious people according to the
degree of their merit

1. In recognition of the diverse skills and capacities of individuals of society,

after minimum requirements have been provided for the people, special
amenities should be provided as incentive for the utilization of skills, intellect,
and other talents to be best contributed for the welfare of the society and the
world.

2. Meritorious people such as physicians, engineers, and scientists should

receive more than the amount of minimum requirements allocated to people
in general.

3. After meeting the minimum requirements of all in any age, the surplus
wealth should be set aside for meritorious persons with special qualities to
enable them to render greater service to society.

4. The wealth of society that is left over after providing for the minimum
requirements of the age should be distributed among meritorious people
according to the degree of their merit. (E.g., in an age when a bicycle is the
minimum requirement for common people, a motor vehicle is necessary for a
physician.)

5. The amenities given to the meritorious should never go against the

collective interest.

6. Common people should not be deprived of maximum amenities. As the

income of the more affluent members of society increase the scope of minimum
standards should not lag far behind. Efforts must be constantly made to reduce
the gap between the maximized amenities of the affluent with the minimum
standards of the common people. Thus, the common people should receive more
and more amenities. 2
C. Purchasing Capacity
1. The requirements of all should be within their pecuniary periphery or
purchasing power. In order to raise the level of the minimum requirements of
people, the best policy is to increase their purchasing capacity.

2. The advancement of people’s economic standard should be measured on

the basis of purchasing capacity. Purchasing capacity is the yardstick to know
how a person’s economic needs may be met by their income. The responsibility of
planners will be to make purchasing capacity ever-increasing and economic plans
and programs should be designed toward that end. Having high income but low
purchasing power is not preferable to low income with great purchasing power.

3. The economy should be organized in such a way that it has its own innate
power to produce more and more. Money should be reinvested, money should
be rolling rather than hoarded and purchasing capacity and the wealth of society
should be increased. As maximum production is made according to collective
need and increased production is based on consumption motive and full
employment policy purchasing capacity will increase.3

D. Maximum Utilization of Resources

1. The Proper Use of Resources

a) In all regions of the earth there are abundant natural resources.

Mundane resources are limited but human longings are limitless. The
misutilization, under-utilization, and/or over-utilization of resources
without rational distribution have caused untold sufferings, hardships, and
death. Therefore, society must adopt as system of maximum utilization
and rational distribution of all resources. No group or individual can be
allowed to hoard wealth and resources without allowing for the potential
for harming the collective interest.

b) The resources within the natural world, within the human body, and
individual and collective mind should be fully explored and utilized for
the betterment of society.

c) Society must ensure the maximum development of every member’s

body, mind, and spirit, as well as the maximum utilization of the full
spectrum of the potentialities of resources available in the universe---
mundane, supra-mundane, and spiritual. Also, society must ensure the
 maximum development of the collective body, collective mind, and
collective spirit.

2. Individual/Collective interest(s) and Morality

a) Collective welfare lies in individuals and individual welfare lies in the

collective. Without providing the basic comforts of people such as food,
water, shelter, education, medicine, etc., the welfare of the collective body
cannot be achieved. Through the promotion of individual welfare the
collective welfare is maintained. Likewise the development of the
collective mind is impossible without development of social awareness
and collective sense of responsibility for all members of society,
encouraging the spirit of social service and kindling knowledge within
every individual. Without an elevated standard of social awareness the
collective mind will remain undeveloped and a fully developed economy
representing the collective interests will remain a dream only.4

b) Achieving this system of maximum utilization of all resources and their

rational distribution requires individual ensconcement in morality and then
creating a congenial environment for morality to flourish throughout
society.

E. Proper Adjustments between Utilizations

1. There should be a balanced approach in the spirit of promoting collective
welfare while maintaining proper adjustment among the physical, mental
and spiritual spheres and the crude, subtle and causal worlds.

a.) For instance, while assuring that all members of society have access to
the minimum requirements of a dignified life individual initiative may be
retarded and the psychology of the people become lethargic if there is no
incentive to utilize their own potential to provide for themselves.
Therefore society must make arrangements to guarantee that people in
exchange for their labor are able to provide for their own requirements---
that their requirements are within the scope of their purchasing capacity.

b.) Another example: While human beings’ need for raw materials may
drive them to programs fruitful to the creation of jobs, many practices and
utilization of resources may counterproductively harm the environment,
reduce air quality, and threaten ecosystems. Thus the proper approach is
to find balanced solutions to existing economic problems beyond the
narrow radius of thinking purely in terms of economic effects when
determining economic policies and practices.
 2. “Proper adjustment” between utilizations also includes a balanced
approach in regard to how society takes service from individuals. Depending
on which characteristic skills, talents, or abilities are pronounced in an individual
society will take physical, intellectual or spiritual service from the person
according to their capacity to contribute.

a.) Intellectually and physically developed individuals are less common

than those only physically developed. Those who are spiritually,
intellectually, and physically developed persons are less common still.

b.) For those who are physically developed but lack intellectual and
spiritual development society will take maximum physical service from
them. From the intellectually developed society will take maximum
intellectual service and less physical service. From those who are
spiritually developed society will take maximum spiritual service, and to a
lesser extent intellectual service, and least physical service.

c.) The spiritually developed render the greatest social welfare to society,
followed after by the intellectually developed. Those who are only
physically developed though they may be brave and courageous must be
guided by the intellectually and spiritually developed.

d.) Thus, it follows that while economic control in a decentralized

economy is in the hands of the local people, political leadership of the
greater society is to be controlled by spiritually elevated moralists who can
provide maximum social welfare to society. This is the proper use of their
unique capacities and potentialities. Social control cannot be given to
those who are merely brave or intellectually advanced, but those who are
brave, intellectually developed and spiritually elevated at the same time.5

F. Parts of a Developed Economy

A Developed economy consists of four parts:

1. People’s economy: parts of the economy concerned with providing essentials

and minimum requirements.

2. Psycho-economy: part of the economy concerned with expanding the

“psychic pabula of the individual and collective mind through appropriate
economic activity”. Consists of two branches:

a) focus on the eradication of exploitative and unjust economic policies,

behaviors, and practices; to fight a tireless fight against all dehumanizing
and degrading economic trends in society.
 b) focus on new and creative solutions to economic problems and
developing and enhancing the psychic pabula of individual and collective
mind.

3. Commercial economy: part of economy concerned with the development of

scientific, efficient methods of production and distribution which will not incur
loss and where output will exceed input. Aim is to ensure maximum utilization of
and rational distribution of resources for the welfare of all.

4. General economy: part of economy including the organization of the

industrial structure and the coordination of economic planning at all levels to
ensure collective welfare.6

Notes:

1
“OUR SOCIAL TREATISE” in Tattva Kaomudii Part 2, Sarkar
2
“MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AND MAXIMUM AMENITIES” in Proutist
Economics, Sarkar
3
“INTER-BLOCK AND INTRA-BLOCK PLANNING” in A Few Problems
Solved Part 8, P.R. Sarkar
4
“Economic Democracy” in Proutist Economics, Sarkar
5
CHAPTER 5, A’NANDA SU'TRAM, Shrii Shrii Anandamurtii
6
“THE PARTS OF THE ECONOMY” in A Few Problems Solved Part 7, Sarkar

Bibliography
Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalization & Tribalism are Reshaping the
World, Ballantine, 1995

John Cavanagh, Jerry Mander eds., Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better

World is Possible, Berrett-Koehler, 2002.

Noam Chomsky and Robert W. McChesney. Profit Over People: Neoliberalism

& Global Order, Seven Stories Press, 1998.

Sarkar, P.R., Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities, Proutist Economics,

A’nanda Ma’rga Praca’raka Sam’gha, 1992.

Sarkar, P.R., Our Social Treatise, Prout in a Nutshell Part 16, A’nanda Ma’rga Praca’raka
Sam’gha, 1988
Sarkar, P.R., InterBlock and Intra-Block Planning, A Few Problems Solved Part 8,
A’nanda Ma’rga Praca’raka Sam’gha, 1987.

Sarkar, P.R., The Parts of the Economy, A Few Problems Solved Part 7, A’nanda Ma’rga
Praca’raka Sam’gha, 1987.

Shrii Shrii A'nandamu'rti, Chapter Five, A'nanda Su'tram, 1962.

III Relevant Issues and Discussion Topics

1. Over-accumulation. In the U.S. the richest 1% of households control as much as

40% of the wealth. Over-accumulation in the system is so extreme that the number of
Haitian workers that produce Disney dolls and clothes who could be hired for Disney
CEO Michael Eisner's salary exceeds 100,000. What are some of the effects of over-
accumulation on a society? What policies are in effect to maintain the system of over-
accumulation? Which economic initiatives could be employed to reverse the
unsustainable trends of over-accumulation and over-consumption?

2. Causes of Poverty. Poverty is the state of most of the world’s people(s). Behind
the professed goals of globalization to create wealth and interconnectedness between
nations and people, most important decisions are created by the rich and powerful,
whether they are unaccountable multinational corporations, government leaders or other
influential people. These decisions often lead to advantages for the rich nations (North)
at the expense of the developing nations (South). The global economic system polarizes
all nations and often has the effect of making the rich even richer while others are left to
struggle to survive. What are the global policies which have the side effects of creating
growing masses of poverty world-wide? What institutions implement ‘structural
adjustment policies’ and who benefits? What effects do structural adjustment policies
have on developing nations’ ability to meet the basic requirements of their people? What
are other causes of poverty around the world and in the U.S.?

3. Wealth gap. Wealth disparities have grown wide and more extreme--at one point
Bill Gates had as much wealth as the poorest 120 million Americans! Given facts such as
half the world lives on less than $2.00 a day; and the United Nations estimates that with
only an effort of 30 billion dollars poverty world-wide would be eliminated---that only
4% of the wealth of the 225 of the world’s richest people would be needed to wipe out
world poverty---what factors of public policy have led and continue to lead to the
widening gap between the wealthy few ‘haves’ and the multitudes of have those who
‘have very little’. What are some initiatives that could be implemented to reverse this
trend?
4. Living Wage Campaigns. In the U.S. this year 3.5 million people will
experience homelessness. More than 40% of them are estimated to work at some point
during a typical week yet at a wage insufficient to afford basic housing. Many cities
across the U.S. have initiated a “living wage” which would try to meet the minimum
requirements of city workers. What other campaigns are possible, what other policies
could be introduced so that the purchasing capacity of low wage workers is elevated to a
true “living wage”?

IV. Activities and Homework

Role play. Students role play a debate between those insisting on the minimum
requirements must guaranteed to all and those who do not want minimum requirements
guaranteed. The idea being to explore the rationales of existing economic discourse in
terms of Proutist economic perspective.

Newspaper or Web articles. Students find web or newspaper articles which affirm basic
Proutist viewpoints with a relevant and contemporary issue with students discussing the
issues.

Policy Position. Students reflect on specific economic policies of the U.S. government
and present some alternative policies based upon a Proutist framework. For instance
women in the U.S. earn $0.70 per every dollar of men for the same work. What are
relevant issues and what are possible polices to confront these issues?

Number crunching global inequities. Students investigate many of the inequities of the
global economic system in terms of numbers...For instance, that one out of six children in
the U.S. goes hungry every day; for the price of one Trident missile submarine 250,000
students could be put through a four year university; average net worth of the bottom half
of the world population $334.00 U.S….etc. Students should investigate to find numbers
of their own and share them together.