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Ahmad Shah Mobariz - Bangalore |
All aspects of our universe are governed by some rules. The socio-economic aspect of human society being the bedrock and the most significant dimension of human life is not an exception of being based on some principles or governed by some rules. The difference between the rules of nature like gravity and the rules of society is that the former is static and scientifically proven, while the later is defined by human and changes through the ages. The rules of nature, precisely science are underlying in the very geneses of the phenomena which only need to be discovered, but the rules of politico-socio-economic interactions are dynamic in nature, which not only changes by time but also differs from society to society and country to country. This factor adds to the complicity of the matter. For instance let’s take the example of political systems. Monarchy system of government where the king and the royal family was termed as the symbol of unity of the state, while today most of the nations go for the democratic form of government where people at large plays the pivotal role in deciding the practices of the government for the betterment of their social life.
Among the branches of social science economics is referred to as the king of social science. It is the deciding factor behind many social movements and phenomena. Economics like any other social doctrines has passed through various phases and scholars and intellectuals in economics have propounded their own principles, which according to them would solve the problem and lead to the fulfillment of better social harmony and prosperity. That is why we are not able to propose a single defined rule. Literally economics is taken from the Latin word economize which means efficiency in action and reduction of waste. In Arabic the word economics is termed as Eqtesad, which is taken from the root Qasd, meaning intention or target and Eqtesad means reaching the target the faster, the better and with less cost.
The literal meaning of the term economics reflects the very intention for which it has been coined. Simply we understand that economics means managing the resources in such a way which leads to efficiency and the achievement of social well being of every single individual of the society. We are all children of nature and creature of God almighty and justice must be made in distributing the resources. In the light of this literal meaning of the term scholars have given their definition and established the underlying principles. According to Adam Smith “economics is the production, distribution and consumption of wealth”. In today’s dominant Monetary-Market Economy the supply and demand is the governing rule of the system. The demand for commodities and supply of commodities, when viewed from a single unit, viz; firm point of view or precisely business point of view, bears in its very essence the magnitude of consumption. The bulk advertisement expenditure of the firms which builds a major part of cost of commodities is directed to channel demand and boost up consumption of products of business unit. The more the consumption the better the economic condition is perceived.
All economic indices such as the GDP, PCI, inflation rate and stock market indices reflect the volume of consumption. Firms produce low quality products with lesser cost and lower price so that more people would be able to purchase. In this case naturally the life span of commodities would be less. Business strategies are planned in such a way that individuals should consume more number of commodities, false needs for products are promoted and promotional marketing strategies are designed in such a way that overall psychology of the society is directed towards crazy and mindless consumption, regardless of the revenue of the buyers. The other player of the system; the monetary or financial subsystem works hand in hand with production sector to supply money through loan to the consumers. The financial sector enslaves the consumers, for the consumers are overburdened with the interest and fall victim to the call of their lenders. This is how some nations are exploited by the so called developed countries who are the controller of both production and financial sectors. Wars are fought for the simple reason that the sophisticated war technologies produced by war industry firms must find consumption by prompting the governments to fight for better resources abroad, which at last fall in hand of other business players, rather than the governments.
As students of business and economics we must question wither the system before our critical eyes, is compatible with the very noble purpose of the subject? It is clear that today’s business economics promotes consumption in large scale which leads to extinction of scarce resources for the benefit of few at the cost of deprivation of millions. Whereas the subject economics is meant to manage resources efficiently as a result of which the ideal sustainability is insured and all the children of nature is lead a prosperous and dignified life.
Now that we understand that the consumption economics is no economy lets ponder and bring out our ideas as to how to manage our resources and how should the ideal economic system of our generation should be. Hopping that such great thinkers rise among us and propose the way out I end my article.
2 comments:
dear ahmad sha mobariz accept my regard. wish you all the best, i studied your great topic it was really nice and great
it was a nice topic Mr mobariz.
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