Economics of Mahaveera

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Adarsh Sahitya Sangh

Page 85

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT
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judicial system but no intrinsic change has been achieved. Had there been an inner-change as well, perhaps the problem of poverty could have been solved. Mahavira had given a lot of importance to compassion and kindness. A truly social being is one who possesses compassion. who likes to equate his own perception with that of others and treats others like he would treat himself. If this principle of compassion is achieved, then a colossal amount of money spent on destructive weapons would be spent for the good of mankind.
The UNDP Report Let us look at the present scenario. According to the UNDP report mentioned earlier, there are five hundred and thirty crore people in the world (since then increased further). Out of them, one hundred and thrity crore are rich or live in rich countries, and four hundred crore people are poor who live in developing countries. This is a disquieting disparity. It means that 70 per cent are poor. The poor get only 19 per cent of the income of the world. The balance 81 per cent goes into the pockets of the rich (the 30 per cent). In this context of stark disparity, any talk about eradication of poverty appears ridiculous. The key to the eradication of poverty is in the hands of the rich countries. They could remove poverty if they want, or contrarily, they may even enhance it if they so wish. The question is why would they want to do it?
The Urge to Dominate There are some basic tendencies in man of dominance, of possession and of power. Ravana sent a message to Indra through his ambassador, “I do not want your empire, I only want that you should accept my authority, become subordinate to me. Then you may do whatever you like". Akbar also wanted the same from Rana Pratap, that the Maharana should accept him as the Emperor. This tendency of dominance is very pervasive. Those who control an economic empire and have the dominant power want to establish their authority over others and, among those who have become rich, to compete between themselves