Why Oxymorons Win

“There is a false modesty, which

is vanity; a false glory, which is

levity; a false grandeur, which is

meanness; a false virtue, which is

hypocrisy; and a false wisdom,

which is bordering on prudery.”

— Jean de la Bruyère

Someone once told me that absurdity often stems from a tragic impulse—the attempt to mimic those we cannot resemble or match. It resembles the pathology of an insecure mind, clawing for validation not through substance, but spectacle. Therefore, our ceaseless trumpeting about being the ‘Fourth-Largest Economy’ sounds less like an achievement and more a staged performance. What use is it to be fourth in a race where the runners—India’s Janes and Joes—are impoverished, unhappy and future-less, with ground-level metrics fuzzy, starting lines uneven and finish lines getting further away? Where is the grandeur in imitating symbols like GDP numbers, global summits and space launches when clean water, humane cities and schools, steady jobs, true justice and basic dignity are hard to come by?

India recently became the world’s fourth-largest economy, surpassing Japan in nominal GDP, says the International Monetary Fund. With India’s economy at nearly $4.2 trillion, this was acclaimed as a moment of national arrival, with the economic reforms of the early 1990s finally bearing just fruit. In actual terms of living and loving, though, India trails Japan. ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’ leads in per capita income, human development, health outcomes and environmental norms. The average citizen in Japan enjoys a quality of life that is well out of reach of most Indians.

Sure, becoming a larger economy gives India the flexibility to attract investments. India will also earn more by investing in roads, railways, hospitals, education and health services. Employment numbers will get a boost, with manufacturing, the services sector and start-ups expanding. Global Influence will increase, boosting trade, investment and diplomatic relations. But there’s a flip-side. With income inequality at a high and the top 1 per cent of Indians holding 41 per cent of the wealth, the benefits of GDP would predominantly help the affluent. In a nation of 142 crore, the common man will not immediately benefit. There will also be negligible improvement at the per-capita level.

A Delusion of Mimicry

This drum-beating, therefore, seems to be a delusion of mimicry without introspection. A child dressed in a general’s uniform is not a commander; a society aping superpowers without their infrastructure and benefits is not powerful, only loud. Last week, my thinking got me to commit a sin. I had verbal intercourse on this subject with a gentleman who had had one too many. Soon, what should have been a satisfying union of minds turned into anything but, and things got so frenetic that it was impossible to figure out who was on top.

Mind you; it wasn’t his whisky or my lack of it; not my make-believe wisdom or his lack of it; or our inherent patriotic overzealousness or our common lack of it—it was the sheer impossibility of arguers such as us two bearing any sensible progeny. The intrusive wrench that stopped our sweet nothings was a battle over the importance of ‘Per-Capita Income’. After all, higher per-capita income will allow every person to purchase better food, education, health and a superior lifestyle—real money leads to buying power. It helps the government as well, for it frees it from the task of providing the basic stuff, allowing it to focus on providing state amenities such as social security, free or subsidized healthcare, infrastructural development, strict adherence to law and order, and so on.

If we look at per-capita income in the Top 5 Global Economies, India comes in a very distant fifth with $2,880 or Rs 2.45 lakh (see ‘Table’). At #4, China’s per-capita income is five times ahead of India, Japan 12 times, Germany 20 times and the United States 30 times—the chasm is massive, and widening. This ties up the Indian government’s hands; forcing it to focus on providing basics (such as free foodgrain to 81 crore-plus citizens) and leaving its coffers severely stressed. It also means development and growth plans at both the national and state levels have to be set aside due to lack of funds.

What Can Be Done Now?

Bouncing back from this morass is a tall order, involving very tough calls. To begin with, the government has to significantly reduce expenditure on handouts, weaning the poorest away from freebies. This can only be done by upskilling people and providing employment so that they can fend for themselves. The NCAER, for instance, has highlighted the need for (re-)skilling initiatives, citing a target of 13-per cent increase in job creation by 2030. The Finance Commission says per capita income needs to grow by 7.3 per cent annually for 22 years to reach $14,000 by 2047. There’s a catch—90 per cent of India’s labour class works in informal, low-paying roles, leading to rigidity and stalling formal hiring.

Experts, therefore, advocate the replacement of archaic labour codes on wages, safety and industrial relations to encourage private sector hiring, along with expanding and promoting small industries to achieve a 60-per cent jump in per capita income within five years. Next come agricultural yield and rural income, with over 43 per cent of India relying on agriculture (yet contributing only 16 per cent of GDP). Reforming farm markets—removing middlemen and updating infrastructure—will help, but this is one tough cat to bell.

Other proposals are faster infrastructure and urban development for inclusive growth, Smart-cities to reduce logistical bottlenecks and hike productivity, boosting the investment-to-GDP rate to 40 per cent, reforming credit systems, and integrating Indian business with global value chains. Further up the chain are reforms in investment norms and reciprocal tariff negotiations with key trade partners, thereby enhancing competitiveness and open market access. Finally, there’s a need to leverage technology and innovation, using AI and IT tools to prepare India for its true place in the global business firmament.

The ask is tough, but it is doable. Ironically, a major impediment is India’s growing obsession with the social media and, stemming from there, its fixation on any and all manner of rankings.

Mad Obsession with Rank

Our obsession with economic rank is an escape hatch from ground reality—youth unemployment is at new highs, the quality of public healthcare is patchy, and the country is slipping in the Global Hunger Index, even below nations with far fewer resources. Also, much of the economic optimism is only being celebrated in elite circles, divorced from the realities of the informal economy, gig workers, migrant labourers and small farmers. For them and scores of others, ‘fourth place’ has little meaning, except as a reminder of how tame their lives are, compared to the roaring parties of those celebrating.

Experts have warned that “economic reform without social reform is not only futile, but can deepen existing inequalities”. Clearly, an economy built atop a weak moral foundation is not a sign of ascent, but a symptom of imbalance. India was never mighty because of its GDP, but due to its gentleness with the weak, truthfulness with the past and its raw courage in shaping an inclusive future. Soft virtues do still matter. Unless that humane thought and India’s soul are re-ignited, top-level economic numbers will ring hollow—loud in the newsprint, but feeble in the hearts of the poor.

Today’s India is manufacturing many billionaires, not happiness on its villages and streets. If the true measure of a nation were to be its self-congratulation, we would be first. But if it is grace under poverty, courage under scrutiny and dignity for citizens, our obsession with ranks would look like a subterfuge, an attempt to be noticed because we know what we have not yet become. This is absurdity refined to an art, one that confuses reflection with replication and noise with narrative. Smarter people than I can debate this further and pass judgment; mild-witted me is s(k)ulking off to have a drink.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal