Democracy and Minimum Requirements

Democracy can only be effective and fruitful where there is no kind of exploitation.

Every person has certain minimum requirements in life which must be guaranteed.

There may be a little adjustment in these minimum requirements as per differences in time, space and person.

The people of Kashmir may need a lot of warm clothing.

Therefore, they should be provided with more woollen clothes than the people of Bihar.

The minimum requirements vary with the change of era and time.

In ancient times, people:

• were satisfied with a dhoti, a shirt and a pair of wooden sandals.
• did not even need shoes.

But today, a suit is an absolute necessity.

In olden days, people would travel long distances on foot, but today a cycle or motor car has become essential.

Minimum necessities must be provided to every individual.

There is no limit to these minimum requirements.

The minimum requirements will go on increasing day by day.

In the not too distant future a day will come when every individual will acquire a rocket. Then, for example, it will be very common for one’s father’s house to be on this planet and one’s father-in-law’s house to be on Venus.

The social system that will come into being, keeping parallelism and harmony with time, space and person, will be called progressive socialism.

Our Prout is that very progressive socialism.

Society will have to make provisions to ensure an increase in the living standard of every individual.

When progressive socialism is established within the framework of democracy, then democracy will be successful.

Otherwise, government of the people, by the people and for the people will only mean government of fools, by fools and for fools.

Mass education is one of the basic necessities for the successful and effective running of democracy.

In some cases, even educated people unjustly abuse their voting rights.

People cast their votes at the insistence and inducement of misguided local leaders.

To approach a polling booth like a herd of cattle to cast votes in ballot boxes is meaningless. Is this not a farce in the name of democracy?

Thus, the spread of education and proper knowledge is essential.

Education does not only means literacy or alphabetical knowledge.

Real education means proper, adequate knowledge and the power of understanding.

In other words, education should impart an awareness of who I am and what I should do.

Education means the full knowledge about these things.

Literacy certainly serves some purpose.

There are some countries in South America where only literate people enjoy franchise.

Political parties in these countries launch literacy campaigns and people naturally cast their votes in favour of those parties which have made them literate.

Thus, the government remains free from all responsibilities and expenditures in this regard.

But this system cannot serve its full intended purpose.