A citizen's
commitment to the country could amount to anything. It
could be by finding political voice against a rampaging civic
administration, exercising our vote or even encouraging
private enterprise that deals with social inequities as a
business and not through charity.
We live in a country that demands so little from our citizens.The least we can do
is perform our civic duty. Only then can we make fortune at
the bottom of the pyramid. Societies have always searched
for an ideology and an institutional framework to
balance collective and private interests. In the last
century this struggle played out as a confrontation
between two clearly defined ideologies - communism and
capitalism.
Capitalism may have grown, but capitalists
themselves have started re-examining how to adopt themselves
to the 21st Century. Capitalism is built on a few key
principles -- entrepreneurship, innovation, investment
and organisation are at the heart of
capitalism. Investors,who finance the ideas of entrepreneurs
to create business,deserve the benefit with returns
commensurate with risks. Private property and the rule of law
are paramount in such a system. Private enterprise,in a
system of transparent transactions,can benefit
consumers and provide incentives for business. Capitalism
is usually associated with participative
democracy. No one really questions these basic problems any
longer. The practice of capitalism,however,has not been without
problems,and must adopt itself to address these
issues. Does capitalism short-change consumers, employees, suppliers and
communities? Does it care about the poor
and the disadvantaged?
Recently Bill Gates suggested that
we should focus on creative capitalism that explicitly
recognises the four billion poor and develops market-based
solutions to help them.Capitalism can provide economically
viable solution to social problems than engage in partisan
debates.The debate must focus on solutions,not ideology.The
focus should be on dealing with social inequalities as
a business and not through make shift arrangements.Profitable
business usually grow and sustain themselves.
Without
a long-term,self-sustaining solution that reduces
poverty,we are likely to create higher levels of inequality. No
institution is an island. Private sector institutions are
an integral part of society and cannot prosper without
reorganising the social context within which they
operate.India represents a unique opportunity for developing
the practice of capitalism for the 21st century. It has a
vibrant private sector and a participatory democracy.It
also has inequalities,not just in incomes but also in terms of
opportunities. If a country can find a way to make
capitalism work by addressing problems of poverty illiteracy,inequalities,disease
and subsistence agriculture while creating
new opportunities for the poor and oppressed and vibrant
business at the same time, the consequence are tremendous. A new
nation can be built only with a fresh work ethic which
combines discipline with creativity, passion with respect