Shoot the Weakest

Let me tell you a short story.

Picture source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sled_dogs_-_Terra_Nova_Expedition.jpg

Once, in the cold, snowy mountains, there lived a farmer who had 12 dogs. They pulled his sledge, helping him move around in the snow. All the dogs worked hard, but like everything else around, they were not the same. They had varying levels of strength and stamina. One of them was particularly weak. The farmer waited, hoping that the weakest one would grow stronger on its own, just like the others, but it didn’t. One fine day, the farmer thought if he got rid of the weakest dog, there would be more food available for the other 11 dogs, and they would be better fed and perform better without the 12^th dog. The idea seemed logical. So, the next day, he shot the weakest dog. The other 11 dogs now had more food and things seemed to get better. It worked. However, in a month’s time, the farmer realized that there was another dog amongst the 11 left who was not as strong as the other 10. And he again thought, one less would mean more food for the other 10. So the next day, the farmer shot the weakest. Month after month, he kept on systematically eliminating the weakest one in the hope of optimizing the resources. More for the stronger and shoot the weakest. By the end of the year, he had just one dog left. The dog was very strong and very well fed. But to the farmer’s horror, the dog, even with all its strength, couldn't pull his sledge. One dog was just not enough. The farmer was exasperated. He couldn't understand what went wrong!

What went wrong?

No society is uniform or homogenous in its constitution. There are always people who are better endowed than the others, be it the case of money or power or access to amenities. Also, there are performers and there are slackers. There are people who can produce a lot with very little and then those who need a lot to deliver even a little. There are also weaker sections of the society, at times even oppressed or discriminated lot, who are trying to catch up with the section which has already moved miles ahead. But it must be understood that all the people mentioned above together constitute a society. Not just one section, but all of them together. This highly complex constitution make it complete.

In India too, we have a highly fragmented society, with a huge gap between its top 10% and bottom 10%, which is only increasing. According to an article published in Times Of India, for the period from 2000 to 2012, the richest 10% of Indian society have seen highest growth while the poorest 10% have seen the slowest increase in incomes. The remaining 80% of the people have seen roughly the same levels of growth ranging between 35% and 40% in rural areas and between 40% and 50% in urban areas over 12 years. That means that for 90% of people, annual growth in income was just over 3% in rural India, and just over 4% in urban India. (Complete article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Income-disparity-between-rich-and-poor-growing-rapidly/articleshow/21410981.cms)

Since independence, a lot of effort has been made by the government in the form of various schemes like MGNREGA, subsidies on a number of items, reservation system, setting up of PSUs etc. to bridge the divide. Without doubt, there have been a lot of problems with most of these efforts. MGNREGA is said to be fraught with lot of leakages. Subsidies are being misused. Reservation system is not benefitting the needy enough. Many of the PSUs are running huge losses and are inefficient. It would seem that the entire effort is pointless. So why spend the public money on such activities which reap no benefits. Why to bother for people who are beyond redemption? The hard earned money taken from people in the form of taxes being put to no good use is injustice, one may say.

There is a point.

Now, one way to address the problem might be to ignore the problem altogether. Pretend that nothing is wrong. Argue that according to Survival of the Fittest, the ones who can crawl their way out of the pit of poverty shall become worthy of living. Rest all shall perish, and sooner than later. That way, one day, the world shall finally be rid of poverty and all of the economic injustice. However, please understand, before dying out, there will come a stage when the poor shall become desperate. If this fracture in the society continues, there will come a point when the entire social structure will rupture, leading to chaos and disorder. The morality will be compromised if the marginalized section is left behind to suffer with no hope of a future. This issue was raised in the UN Sixty-sixth General Assembly, Third Committee, in October 2013, “As World Struggles with Economic Crisis, ‘Time Bomb’ of Rising Social Inequality Could Tear Apart Moral Fabric of Societies” (More at: http://www.un.org/press/en/2011/gashc4004.doc.htm). To prevent our society from reaching such a point, we have to address this issue.

Further, the thing about the last step of the ladder is that no matter how many steps you chop off from bottom, there is always a last step left, till the point comes when the last step and the first step are the same step. Simply put, even if the bottom most rung of the society is left to perish and even if it withers out, there will still be a lowest section of society. It will not be the same as the last one, but it will be equally desperate to survive. The problem will never end with the end of people. New set of people will emerge with the same set of problems.

Moreover, how can a nation think about making rapid economic growth when its weakest link is unable to contribute to the growth of nation? How can the sledge gain its top speed while one of the dogs is actually being dragged by the others, instead of pulling the sledge himself? We have seen that shooting the weakest is no option either. We need every last member of society to contribute to pick up pace and race to economic growth. Any lopsided growth is temporary at best. We have a huge population. It can either be a problem or we can enable our population to contribute.

So, what’s the way out?

Facing the problem for what it is will be a good start. Understand that the economically weaker section of the society IS a part of the society. They are not outliers. They are not exceptions. They are not expendable. Do not try to cover up their existence with growth figures and GDP stats. Accept that we have a problem. Only then can we start to fix it. Having said that, one must admit that there is no one size fits all solution to the problem. It’s a long, cumbersome process with requires commitment from society and the government apparatus alike. We have to plug holes that lead to pilferages. We also will have to be extremely patient. Things will not begin to look up instantly. When a plant has withered, watering it for a day or two doesn't make it flower. Long term nurturing is needed. We have to pledge to never give up on them.

Most importantly, we require sensitivity and compassion.