Development Theory Homepage
Social development occurs by social forces like commerce, transport, education, training, information of facts, public opinion, individual opinion, attitudes private and public, administrative decisions, money. Of all these forces, Money and its movement can be more easily quantified. By increasing the power of these forces or the velocity of their movement, social development will be furthered.
Money was originally created as a symbol of storing excess accomplishment. Its nature permitted it quick movement. Capacity to accomplish in one may be in excess and in the other may be deficient. He who is deficient does not survive at his level of social existence and he who has excess has no way of using it. Advent of money helped harness the excess. Later he who is deficient was partially able to sue the excess in another through the medium of money. Lending came in to more fully use the money. Sale, mortgage, guarantee are further social customs that increased the use value of money.
Transport furthers commerce. Quicker communication makes commercial progress greater. If it is possible to quantify the progress of a new social force or a faster movement of it, it may be ten-fold or even 10,000 times. Acceleration of any social force furthers progress. Increasing the velocity of money hastens development. Increased velocity makes the use value of real money multiply.
It is possible to approximately assess the untapped potential in a country in the light of infrastructures available. If an analysis shows that India by its existing infrastructure can raise its velocity of money to 3 as against the 2 now, development measures can be taken to increase it. Suppose the study finds another country with the Indian infrastructure has a velocity of money of 3, that will be justified. If such a measure can make India Singapore, it is worth exploring.
In acute crisis areas like the Inner city of Atlanta, if a thorough study of as many forces as can be studied is instituted, an experiment can be made to wipe out poverty and unemployment only by increasing the velocity of forces, especially money.
Constructing a scale to measure each of these forces and another scale to measure a bunch of them will be a development TOOL.
Suppose there is no patent today and the trade secret disappears, what will be the change for the economy? Will it be 100 fold or 100,000 fold? All over the world, particularly in India, discoveries at the frontiers of knowledge have remained a closely guarded secret. The only exceptions were the Avatars and geniuses like Jesus and Socrates. In India any ‘knowledge’ (maybe it is a pickle formula or a knack of decision making) will not be revealed till the possessor dies. At the time of death it is safely entrusted to a confident when there is one. The Institution of Education has reversed this role making a closely guarded secret a public secret. Is it possible to measure the expansion?
At how many points of history has this happened? Money is great but have these forces not acted as greatly?
The Divine right of a king now has come to every individual. It gave the right to everyone and made freedom spread.
Two things have played this role of expanding the social forces,
1) Creation of an institution that accelerates the forces;
2) Capacity of the population to benefit by it through a change of attitude.
One common theme emerges. At every such juncture the expansion of social life is not ten fold or twenty fold. It is 1000 fold (or thousands). No wonder the programme multiplies 3000 times. This is a phenomenon occurring all the time in all walks of life but least taken note of. As it is money, it catches attention.
REALITY OF MONEY GENERATED: Greater and quicker use of money is not deficit financing. This is real money. As a photo negative or a master copy of xerox can generate infinite copies without itself diminishing in value, money multiplies. The copies are not less real.
PRODUCTIVITY: is real only when a material product emerges out of the operation. Services are now being accepted as products. Any use to which a thing lends itself makes it a product. There is no dilution of value when a material product is replaced by service or an idea. Mind and vital being of a higher level, their products are of higher value.
FORCES AND PROGRESS: Every movement is activity resulting in a product. At least it is true of every human movement. The higher the plane wherein the movement takes place, the higher is the product. At any given time in the world, millions of movements take place. EVERY such movement is producing. We see only the value of money whereas society progresses by hundreds and thousands of forces. Money is an institutional force. Every order of a municipality, every joke of a writer, every innovation in selling practices creates a product. In his ignorance man is oblivious. Money being attractive and quantifiable, it catches our attention.