Economics of Mahaveera

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

Page 87

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT
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committed to live a life of poverty as a curse - this is the condition of man today. This reality cannot be changed unless Mahavira's principle of 'limited ownership' is accepted.
Effects of Accumulation Today's Economics has identified two impacts of hoarding - poverty and war. Mahavira said, "Do not accumulate". If accumulation is kept within limits, the problem of poverty can be solved easily; so also the problems of unemployment and population. If poverty is contained, people will get proper nutrition. With this will end the problem of population. The basic factor is poverty and the outcome of poverty is population growth. Look at the conditions in developed countries. They are making an effort to increase population. In Russia mothers who produced more children are rewarded. Whereas in China and India efforts are being made to limit the size of families, programmes have been undertaken to increase the size of families in Germany and other developed countries.
Expanding Disparity Let us now divert our attention to another dimension. What we are seeking is a change in social, political and economic systems, which is manifest only externally while man lives by his innerself. Unless the inner-self is not addressed, unless the world inside is not treated, the basic problem will perpetuate itself. In other words, as long as there is a growing tendency for accumulation, greed and selfishness, poverty will also continue to flourish. Statistics say that even in developed countries, that is rich countries, the proportion of poor people is increasing. In America 17 per cent of the people reinain below the poverty line. This proportion is expanding. This is because wealth has been so grabbed by the rich that very little remains for others. As long as this attitude of ownership and grabbing wealth remains, there will be no solution to the basic problem.