State and Nations are perpetrators of Justified Violence

 There are a few books I usually read simultaneously and the sequence of books read is generally random based on some recommendations.  Many of these are heavy non fiction books. Books on public policy have been on my reading list for a while and the realization that simplistic state interventions based on hunches not well researched can have effects which are opposite of what was intended. The state by itself tends to be an oppressor and has a monopoly on sanctioned violence. So if the common rights of one are infringed by another there are laws to justify punishing the infrigers on behalf of the oppressed. While there maybe safeguards to prevent misuse, these too can be set aside and state can selectively misuse the law and become an oppressor itself. The state can and does take away your land and possessions for the greater common good and also in fact take nearly one third of your hard earned money as tax to ensure you get basic amenities and as a nation guard you against external threats. The justification for state intervention is generally based on political rhetoric and posturing rather than real welfare. The examples of such in the past like bank Nationalisation and abolition of privy purses by Indira Gandhi in the1970's and the recent Demonetisation were examples of disastrous ill thought policies.

India for it's part inherited a colonial apparatus which was created by the British to subdue and oppress the people. While India adopted the Westminster style of democratic process with all the right intentions the circumstances in which freedom came were one of a state divided and falling apart and so the tendency to centralize power and keep the nation from falling apart led to a relatively coercive state. A book In Service of the Republic by Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah https://a.co/d/8EXtfEP and another book Accelerating India's growth by Karthik Muralidharan https://a.co/d/atNUJKo have contributed to my thoughts on this subject. While these are tough and exhaustive books to read and digest the simpler book is We the Citizens https://a.co/d/abpt2ld and Missing in Action by author Pranay Kotasthane. While I recommend reading them but for the busy persons, these books say that the state must in most cases allow market forces to work as in a lot many situations and interfere only when markets fail. Measures like price control as in the case of vaccination post Covid or complex GST rates rather than one slab, irrational taxation are state interventions which foster uncertainty and fear and hamper development. But worse still is the use of state agencies to target politicians, businesses, social activists and legitimate protesters. So the violence of this kind is certainly not justifiable at national or international levels.  

Suddenly interspersed I read a different book Letter to a Hindu by Leo Tolstoy. There is a strange story behind this book. All of us are aware that Leo Tolstoy the Russian novelist and thinker had a great influence on Mahatma Gandhi. A chance happening led to Gandhi seeing this letter in response to a letter written by a reader of an Indian periodical to Tolstoy. Tolstoy's reply was with respect to the aspect of small minority ruling and oppressing a vast majority in the name of actually doing good to them. While Tolstoy referred to the fact of less that a few thousand Englishmen who came as traders landed up ruling over two million Indians who are by all accounts were clever and intelligent race. Yet today many Indians under the influence of Western Civilization believe that unless Indians use force and violence they cannot become free. Looking back at the arc of the past history Tolstoy said that right from ancient times, this kind of submission of the weak but large majority to small strong minority was commonplace especially in the interest of protection. But when the powers of these began to be misused there arose in different times and locations great men or prophets who spread the message of universal love and made the minority aware of the power of true knowledge. Selfless love, unselfish actions and devotion to God all empowered the people. The rise of religions was soon resisted by the ruling classes who saw this as a threat to their powers. However, Tolstoy believed that the it is only religion and the power of nonviolence and universal expounded in the scriptures that can free mankind from the curse of violence especially inflicted orchestrated and perpetrated by the state in the garb of the greater common good. 

The way of love and a benevolent state which most democracies strive to create seem to be very simple structures based on Tolstoy's simple proposition. Yet the other 4 books relating to public policy also in their own way promote and call for Universal liberties and freedoms with a state intervention which is meaningful, well thought out and based on action only when there is market failure or when externalities can seriously affect individual rights. Besides this when there is power asymmetry based on lack of information it is the duty of the state to intervene and correct this. Affirmative action in terms of giving to the poor and taxing the rich are all corrective state actions. Tolstoy clearly said that it was not the Englishmen who were responsible for enslaving India, but Indians who allowed this to happen. So later as Gandhi proved the power of Passive resistance and civil disobedience was really good enough to finally force the British to give India freedom. Yes, I agree there were other factors too which gave India it's freedom and this is not the topic of this blog. The real purpose of writing this is to understand how fragile is the line dividing justified and unjustified violence. Therefore, I believe engaging in public policy knowledge and debate and power dynamics of society can give a very deep insight into human evolution and nature of man. 

My hope is that I kindle in my readers a curiosity to use their intellect and engage with the world in your individual, family, workplace, country and national engagements and relationships. Politics of governance and service delivery must take precedence over politics of identity, polarisation and patronage.

Vispi Jokhi