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Echoes of EcoIn this issue: Extracts from our book Samagra

Vikas

The Happenings

Visions of Wisdom:

British egac! in the fie"d of

#air! So ca""ed #e$e"opment

True path of #e$e"opment

%reat Truth& formidab"e

'ora" (rder& Vo)& *enance&Spiritua" kno)"edge& sacrifice&

these sustain the Earth+ 'a!

that Earth& the mistress of

our past as )e"" of our future&

make for us a )ide )or"d ,for

our acti$it!-

. /thar$a Veda 011+2

Prayer to Mother Earth

May, 2016 Vivekananda Kendra- nardepNewsletter Vol:8 No:3

If a man, day and night, thinks he is miserable, low, and nothing, nothing

he becomes. If you say yea, yea, I am, I am,, so shall you be. Swami Vivekananda

Extracts from our book Samagra Vikas

Develoment with a !uman "ace

N!"#$%& 'N! ENV%(NMEN$

$he %)ler : Rama! I am spending sleepless nights. In the forenoons,

the industrialists come to me and talk to me about economic growth,profit , prod uction , weal th, manufacture of goods and servicesneeded for the Society. In the afternoon the environmentalists come

and bother me about pollution, dwindling natural resources,

exploitation, declining employment opportunities. I do not know howto balance their claims and demands.

$enali %a*a : Five hundred years of industrial civiliation hasnarrowed down our options. ow sustainability is going to tip thescales heavily in favour of environment and against industrialiation.

"specially multinational industrial corporations, their exploitative,

polluting, ma nufa cturin g processes are me rely technological

extensions of colonialism. #istory should not blame us that we knewof the dangers of pollution, global warming, depletion of non$renewableresources, limits to growth, yet did not act to save our short term and

long term interests.

$he %)ler : %ll in all, our industries are being blamed for all

environmental degradations.

$enali %a*a : &rue, the industrial revolution, energy guling, globalwarming, urbaniation, slum$formation, pollution, waste 'mis(

management all are interrelated problems. "ver since the )artesiansplit in man*s vision of the world spliced nature into useful

components and wastes, the problems got intensified. Science, themanipulative science of Francis +acon, invested man with a tool, to

concentrate wealth in his hands, to exploit his brother, to createunconscionable ineualities. #istorically, science has all but ceased to

be a search for truth. In traditional societies, agricultural tradit ions, a

waste material emerging from one process was always used up as the

raw material for the next process. &his chain closed upon itself andthere was a -no waste- productive process, the closed loop. Industrialrevolution opened up and straightened the loop and left the chain withraw material famine at the beginning and waste disposal problem at

the end.

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Cow for him is not only the thing of faith and devotion, It is a living property also.

He wanted to heighten the splendor of doors and dignity of house with it #unshi $remchand %&odan'

Echoes of Eco ( )ewsletter* Vivekananda +endra nardep* #a, -./0* Vol12 )o: 3

&he Ruler /ho will educate the industrialists,

managers, investors0

&enali Rama 1uckily some kind of self$educativeefforts have begun. Industrialists are reuired to

publicie the environmental impact of their processes

and products and give options to the investors.+usiness managers are educated better in

sustainability in social and environmental spheres.

&he press devotes more space on warning theindustries and educating the consumers. Far$ sightedindustrialists are sub2ecting themselves to eco$ andsocial audits. Some others are opting for eco$friendly

manufacturing processes.

&he Ruler +ut the costs of transition are going to beenormous!

&enali Rama &rue, the pioneering modelindustrialists will prod the laggards to speed up the

transition. 3overnments all over the world will give

tax concessions to the -greens- and punish and levy

heavier taxes on the polluters. -4olluter pays- isgoing to be the *5antra* in the future tax structure.

&he Ruler +ut your environmentalist friends are

saying that material shortage is already troubling all.

&enali Rama &his is where language helps, Sir! In a

narrow sense, an unwanted by$product of a process isa waste. In a broader sense, in ature*s sense, whatis a waste thrown out of one process is the raw

material for the next productive process.

&he -use and throw- culture has to depart because, ittreats an ob2ect as a waste, after one of its variousualities gets used up. +ut the material can berecycled, reused, reshaped.

/e are heading for an era of producing goods whichare for a long time use, recycling, sturdiness of the

ob2ect, buyback guarantee after the useful life of theproduct is spent, repairing facili ties, spare supply,retreading it, etc. Remanufacturing is the future

approach to industry. % steel nail which loses its lifeas a good nail continues to be good steel all the same.&hat uality, that asset, need not be thrown away, as it

is done in the present set up!

&he Ruler %nd all the subsidies0

&enali Rama Some of the subsidies will go. /hichsane economist will subsidie petroleum products,

forest timber, water supply and encourage the users towaste them and degrade the environment0. 5uch ofthe subsidy$economics lacks direction. &here is no

effort to reach the really targeted group. &he wholesystem leaks.

&he Ruler &he problems of small industries0

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The ne in me is creative and harmony is the mother tongue of the soul.

4abindranath 5agore

Echoes of Eco ( )ewsletter* Vivekananda +endra nardep* #a, -./0* Vol12 )o: 3

&enali Rama In terms of employment,manufacture and return on investment, the smallindustries are most efficient. +ut they are not

able to withstand the onslaught of big industrymultinationals, in uality control and

advertisement. &he small scale industriespreserve the artistic heritage, safeguard thecommunity*s cohesion and pollute less. &hey

ensure some kind of euitable distribution of

wealth. &o allow them to degenerate will be to

throw the whole social system out of gear.

&he Ruler /hat should we do to save 2obs0

&enali Rama +oth capitalism as well as

communism, have centralised the economy, haw,narrowed down the social and political power

base, have concentrated on heavy industries withall the attendant side$effects. 6nless the govern$ment protects the small industries with strict

laws reserving certain manufacturing sectors forthem, and restricting the bigger industries to

infrastructures, heavy engineering, etc. keepinga very strict vigil on the pollution curve, we arein for a big tragedy. % highly decentralised,

localised, industrial set$up which will absorb allidle man hours is our only hope for a peacefuland properly occupied society.

&he Ruler +ut international financialinstitutions offer cheap credit for starting

industries in developing countries. %nd much of

the money goes to big industries!

&enali Rama %rab oil money and 7apaneseprofi t$income are being deposited in the banksof the /estern countries. &hese institutions

have to earn their keep only by investing the

money where cheap raw materials and workerson lesser wages are available. 3overnments ofthe poorer countries oblige those bankers by

relaxing labour laws, creating or cheapeninginfrastructures, closing their eyes on pollution

problems, sacrificing the forests and mineral

deposits. &hese keep inflation rates low, foreign

exchange kitties a$flush, consumer supplies

aplenty and keep all the powerful lobbies happy.

&he Ruler %nyway the cash$registers are kept2ingling, consumer goods are available in plenty.

&enali Rama /hen a house is being, burnt down,there is always a little extra warmth. +ut then soonthe show is over. "xhaustible raw materials arefinished. 4ollution shoots up. 6nemployment

soars. 4urchasing power plummets8 stocks do notmove. Recession starts. obody is happy then.

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5raining rogramme 67ost effective 8io(

manure6 was held at 5echnolog, 4esource

7enter on -9th #a,1 -/ articiants

attended the training1 Shri1S14aamon,

was the resource erson1

I am a child of the !arth. The touch of the !arth is always reinvigorating to her

children. There is a science of cosmic harmony, sanity of the whole, waiting to be

recovered ;ogi Sri

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The pancha.tatt$as can be ignored

on"! to be misguided b! 1gnorance

and 'other 4ature ma! be mocked

at on"! to commit suicide+ 1t is

un)ise to think that patch.)ork ma!

so"$e to conser$e )i"d "ife here& and

simu"taneous"! ki""ing anima"s in the

"aboratories or b! deforestation inthe name of scientific or economic

ad$ancement+ The West taught the

importance of the 5Standard of

i$ing6& the 1ndian cu"ture urges the

importance of the 5Standard of "ife7

We do not need the /"exanders but

*"atos& the /uranga8ebs but the

Buddhas& not the 9aura$as but the

udhishtiras& the exp"oitation of

4ature but the )orship of 4ature&

not de$e"opment on"! butde$e"opment )ith conser$ation& not

treatment of )astes causing

po""ution& but the stopping of

po""ution+

The best %ir herd in existence

toda! is in Bra8i"+ The next best is

in ;"orida& uence of this o$er popu"ation+

/"" this causes in addition to

noxious hea"th effects& eg& a

decrease in endurance and ear"!

ageing manifestations of nihi"ism&socia" abnegation& $anda"ism& socia"

ma"ad?ustment& etc+

.A.R.Acharya

Former Director,Vishvaneedam,

InternationalSarvodaya Centre,

Bangalore

Vivekananda Kendra nardep, Kanyakumari-629702 Phone:91-4652-246296 www.vknarde.or!"#hoe$ o% "#o - &ew$'e((er, Vivekananda Kendra nardep, )ar#h 2016, Vo'.11 &o: 1*

Dr. .B.Verma

Scholar, Thinker andWriter, FormallyProf in !indi, D"V

College, Delhi

Napoleon W olasinki

Former !ead of theDe#t of Ecology, Polish

"cademy of Science,

Poland

Visions of @isdom

Ane of creativit,Bs main tasks is to heal1 Aur one(e,ed* soulless technolog,

cannot do that Sisirkumar &hose

Gross Na tional Happiness

is important than Gross

National Product

+y #5.7igme Singye /angchuk