________________
Poverty and Unemployment
Mahavira said: anegachitte khala ayem purise – men demonstrate different attitudes and possess varied capabilities. There are wide divergencies in intellectual talent, business acumen, capability to earn wealth, attitude of good conduct and behaviour. These are not possessed by everybody in the same measure. Each person possesses different quantums and levels of attitudes and capability. As a corollary, equality can only be an ideal and we can consider equality only as a basic concept. On a practical plane, it is not possible to achieve relative equality.
Question of Economic Equality Mahavira said: nho neenhe no aeritte -- nobody is low, nobody is expendable, superfluous. It is an undisputed fact; it is only the expression of truth. But in, a competitive, practical world, there are relatively less capable individuals and more idle, good-fornothing individuals. Everybody does not possess the same ability. It is, therefore, obvious that economic equality can be conceived only in a technical sense, it cannot be considered at the level of a practical reality.
In this context, there are four issues before modern economic systems:
62
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
