Beware of Free Corns

“Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”

There is no rocket science here, just throw some corns on a piece of ground. The pigs will start coming every day to eat the free food. Then put a fence down on one side of that place. At first, they will be scared, but when they get used to the fence, they will begin to eat corns again. Then put up another side of the fence and they will be used to that also and will continue to eat corns again.

Gradually close all the four sides of the fence up with a gate on one side. The pigs, used to the free corns, then will start coming through the gate. Now slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. The wild pigs will lose their freedom and accept their captivity as destiny.

But who has written this destiny? Wild pigs themselves.

This is the way birds and other animals are caught and that is exactly what we see happening in many countries including India.

Our politicians are promising and winning elections in India by distributing freebies like free water, free electricity, free ration, mobiles, laptops, bicycles, loan waivers, cash benefits to people at the cost of exchequer, and the public don’t even realise that they are being entrapped with those free corns.

And whose corns are being doled out as freebies? Ours! The taxpayers’ hard-earned money. The governments become benevolent by imposing taxes on income, fuels, almost all commodities and services, disinvestment, selling government bonds etc.

Is a democracy limited to just voting?  What rights do tax payers have after that? As the money belongs to tax payers, they should have the right to oversee its use.

Tax payers should also have the right to hold MPs and MLAs accountable and initiate disciplinary action against them for disrupting working of parliament and assemblies, thus wasting millions of rupees every year. After all, they are also “public servants”, being paid by taxpayers. This should be applicable to their salaries and perks also, for which they themselves legislate, unanimously, with not a single voice of dissent.

It’s in this context that the Supreme Court of India has decided to set up a committee to form an All India Organization of taxpayers. This will be probably the biggest organization in the world. No matter which Government is ruling, without the approval of this Organisation, no freebies can be announced or implemented by any government.

I don’t know what shape it will take, but it’s definitely a welcome step in the given situation, when the distinction between freebies and welfare measures is being obliterated, deliberately.

Our lawmakers must remember that no government can legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. You can’t multiply wealth by dividing it.

Just imagine a situation when the prosperous people too get an idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to derive the benefit of their hard labour.

It will be a difficult situation when the people who work for a living will be outnumbered by those who vote for a living. Let me share a small story to envisage such a situation.

A teacher in the first test averaged the grades and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset, while those who studied less were happy. The students who studied little started studying even less, and ones who studied hard wanted a free ride too, and so they studied little. The second test average was a D. Nobody was happy, but the trend continued. When the third test rolled around, the average was an F. All failed.

–Kaushal Kishore

images: pixabay