Poverty, Population, Politics and the Environment:The Unholy Tangle

Poverty, Population, Politics and the Environment:The Unholy Tangle

Ganga Prasad G. Rao

Ever wondered why our country has no place for the 'clean and green' parties? Why do political parties assiduously avoid anything that could remotely be termed 'green'? Because being ‘green’ signifies a rich economy and the poor masses will not vote for a party seen as anti-poor. Every rupee spent on pollution control and cleanliness is, as they rightly, self-deceptively or wrongly perceive, taken off the bowls of the poor. (So say the communists; I wonder if the 'right' is behind them. Strange bedmates indeed! Why, that's a conspiracy you'd never suspect!). Little wonder that being green is a stigma no political party would risk!

But the tragedy does not stop there. In our country, we care for the poor. We subsidize their education, their health, their food, their electricity and their transportation. Nothing wrong with that. They deserve help in an opportunistic society that denies them equal opportunity. But what it brings about is a semblance of security and comfort; and with that comes family, a larger family supported by welfare money. In the perverted subsidy system that we have, raising larger families obtains more subsidy since welfare is denominated in per-capita terms, not per 3-member family. A trifling, but one with enormous implications. One being that some of the highest birth rates are found amongst the poorest, subsidized classes.

On the macro stage, as the poor multiply, so does the subsidy. A larger share of government revenues go toward subsidies and interest payment on ‘past loans’ (read ‘past subsidies’). Less remains for more productive investments. The 'welfare trap' is now well and truly set! The poor grow in numbers, but turn poorer despite the subsidy. The country's growth is stunted; it can no longer afford investments in new technology, pollution control, R&D, quality public education and other productive projects. It remains, perhaps for ever, a third-world nation where the poor masses vote to power a government that subsidizes them in a ‘I’ll scratch your back; you scratch mine’ deal; a government that has made its compromises with the rich and powerful; a government that has no place for the middle class and the intelligentsia, a (perpetual) government (regardless of who is in power) that will shun anything green or environmental! Indeed and in fact, Welcome, to Hell!

Ganga Prasad G. Rao, gprasadrao@hotmail.com, http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar