livelihoods - subsistence economics

[Guest guest]

I'm just returning from vacation. This is a very nice discussion.

 

I work as a department coordinator in a college environment, so I'm

always with college kids.

 

One thing that amazes me is the realization that when Srila Prabhupada

went to school, he basically had a dual concentration in economics and

philosophy. Two subjects which seem at the opposite ends of the

spectrum. Not many students put those two things together.

 

But, continuing in this line of thinking, Srila Prabhupada's

philosophical views encorporated an exceptional amount of very practical

considerations. Economics was a big part of Srila Prabhupada's

spiritual program.

 

In the early 1970s, I was a secretary for the Center for Research on

Economic Development at the University of Michigan. People that I

worked for were helping create capitalistic economic development plans

for many countries, especially in Francophone Africa. One big goal was

to convert a country's agriculture from subsistence agriculture to

commercial agriculture. This was seen as a sign of progress.

 

And naturally, working there, and having stereotypically capitalist

American values, I also accepted this as a good thing. Economy of scale

-- large scale production for the market would improve everyone's

standard of living -- or so I believed then.

 

So, I was somewhat stunned when I heard Paramananda prabhu, the head of

the Gita-nagari farm project explain our agricultural focus to a local

newspaper reporter. He specifically told the reporter that Gita-nagari

produced "subsistence" crops, that is crops which were meant to be used

by our own community, rather than sold to an outside market. I was

practically embarrassed to hear him say such a thing. At the time I

thought it was very backward.

 

But gradually, as I read more and more of Srila Prabhupada's writings,

it started to dawn on me that subsistence production was nothing to be

ashamed of, rather it was an integral component of the philosophy of

simple living and high thinking. It was a legitimate goal. When I read

"Essays in Gandhian Economics" by Diwan and Lutz, it clarified the

rationale behind Srila Prabhupada's philosopy even more.

 

The "boom and bust" cycle that Madhava Gosh criticizes with the

over-production of dried beans for the market was exactly the kind of

thing that Srila Prabhupada that Srila Prabhupada wanted to help

devotees avoid.

 

And the quote which Arya Siddhanta prabhu offers is exactly to the

point. Prabhupada made the same point in Mauritius and a number of

other occasions: Why are you growing so much for the market -- why not

just produce for yourselves? It is God's arrangement that you should be

self-sufficient.

 

My son Asto drove us from Nashville, Tennessee to near Toledo, Ohio the

day before yesterday. We saw acres and acres and acres of farmland --

dotted here and there by farmhouses. We noted that in order to simply

survive, a commercial grain farmer must grow at least 500 acres of

grain. Asto noted the irony, "All that work -- and yet, they could

never eat that much grain in a lifetime." The houses are so far from

each other that it's likely that neighbors spend more hours watching TV

than visiting with each other -- and thus the vibrant feeling of

community is deadened.

 

How different from the lively self-reliant varnasrama communities that

Srila Prabhupada envisioned!

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

Arya Siddhanta (das) DG (Govardhan - IN) wrote:

 

>>When dried beans started to be grown in North Dakota where I grew up and

>>my brothers still farm, the same thing happened. Some made some money, so

>>lots got involved, and the market crashed. My brother then went to

>>auctions and bought up bean growing and harvesting equipment at 10% of

>>market value and does eke out a little profit evry year on them becuase he

>>doesn't have to pro rate large costs for the equipment.

>>

>>Little bit of a tangent, but that boom and bust cycle is true in farming.

>>

>>

>

>

>"Walking down a rough dirt track in the open country we saw that the entire

>district was flat, fertile, and green. Unfortunately almost every field for

>miles around was dedicated to growing tobacco.

>Prabhupada expressed his amazement at the foolishness of modern economic

>systems. He explained that people can easily grow whatever they need in

>their own district, but instead they grow a product they can't eat. Then

>they ship it somewhere else at great expense. With the money they receive

>they buy the very food they could have grown themselves. This system does

>nothing but make their lives more complicated. And by becoming dependent on

>just one crop, livelihood is jeopardized because of the fluctuations of

>world markets which they have no power to influence.

>

>

>>>>Ref. VedaBase => TD 1-5: Sanand, Gujarat

>>>>

>>>>

>

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