A LOPSIDED GLOBAL MODEL
The model of industrialization, world over today, reflects the division of the world into,
THE BIG DIVIDE
Haves Have Nots
Privileged Under Privileged
Wealthy Poor
Developed Developing
Eco-Friendly Eco-Degrading / Polluting
Advanced Backward
Labourers Consumers
It is a model that leverages advances in transportation and communication technology, to enable it to produce and sell across lands, so that the above differences can be leveraged to make gains in a legal manner.
It is a model driven primarily for economic gains where Money is Power and economies of scale and automation are leveraged for securing high economic returns.
In this model it is not uncommon to find investors from developed economies, investing in developing foreign lands where land, labour and law are conducive to produce in an “economically viable”, rather, profitable manner. These products are then sold in markets which offer them pricing advantages to make larger profits.
It is a model built on differences in valuation of the currency, money power of different nations which enables higher gains due to trade of currency too along with trade of produce.
Products are chosen keeping “economical gains” in mind rather than “ecological friendliness”.
The investors go laughing all the way to the bank, as their land, their surroundings and their health is not affected. The production is not on their land and market too is not their land. They only enjoy the returns reaped and the final finished good.
Ironically, the monies that many of the developed foreign economies invest in developing nations for production, are monies that originally came their way from plundering the same developing nations, the erstwhile colonies such as India.
It is a model driven by greed than need!
It is a model that leaves behind large footprints all over the globe.
And the world welcomes it in the guise of development and economic growth.
In India, the nett result of such a trend is the emergence of huge. mechanized, manufacturing plants which centralize production into a few pockets This is in lieu of the traditional , proven model of India, with a large number of smaller, indigenous, skill oriented manufacturing units strewn all over the land wherever necessary raw materials and skills could be sourced locally.
THE BIG MESSAGE IN SMALL MEASURES
The BIG highlights in the industrial and trade practices followed by India over millennia have been,
*small footprint,
*small scale industries in villages,
*producing suitable products with local natural resources
*using a local labour force
*naturally skilled in the industry having grown up in it and having wholesome expertise honed over generations,
*but collectively generating output comparable to the present.
It was a decentralized production and trade model then.
This is vis-à-vis,
*Large footprint.
*large scale industrial plants near cities .
*producing by transporting raw materials from across the country or other countries.
*using labour force imported from villages .
*naturally inexperienced in modern automated technologies and learning just one task in the entire manufacturing process.
*not to speak of the damage to the social as well as the ecological fabrics.
It is a centralized production and trade model now.
This new world model of centralized manufacturing has given rise to many detrimental side effects in societal and familial model, besides ecological damages such as,
*the displacement of people from their traditional farm lands and vocations.
*the displacement of families to aggregate in cities, around the factories.
*the shift from producing to servicing.
