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Manifesto
The writing of the Manifesto has been going oin since April, 1998 at India Policy. The latest versions of the People's Manifesto are found at that web site. VIP is the first party to completely embrace electronic democracy in India. Participation from all Indians is invited in the continuous writing of the Manifesto.
A bi-polar polity for India. This is the Right.
The People of India need a bi-polar set of choices. All political groups today in India, irrespective of brand name, provide a centrist or left-of-center polity. Many of them do not even have an ideology. Only personalities. Others specialize in alienating large groups of our own people by emphasizing religious differences, much in the same pattern that led to the partition of what should always have been a united India.
By rejecting all such left-of-center or centrist agendas, and introducing the right, but with a human face, VIP seeks to polarize Indian politics. We do not need more than two ideological umbrellas in India. The intermediate shades lead to confusion. The left has no understanding of human incentives. As the right, VIP offers a real, cogent and successful alternative to the people of India who are tired to their bone marrows with the broken promises, corruption, communal hatred and base passions promoted by most political parties.
VIP is not content with concepts such as "independence" or "self-reliance" which might have served us well a hundred or fifty years ago. Today, in the rapidly changing world, we need to win. Victory at every step.
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a) Political independence is a sham if we are bent like a twig by
the wishes of rich and powerful nations operating through the United
Nations. We need economic might, before we really become independent.
b) Self-reliance is completely meaningless in the modern world. In this world nobody but the poor farmer in a remote village can be self reliant. The rich are completely inter-dependent. What is known as intra-industry trade between the rich nations dominates by far the trade between the rich and the poor nations. Technology makes it necessary to rely on people across the globe to get things done efficiently. Complex machines have parts that are built across the globe and assembled virtually anywhere. What is needed therefore is not self-reliance but intellectual competence and wealth. We should be able to get the best cars and airplanes designed all over the world and assembled anywhere else, and be able to sell to markets all across the world. Making money is the first thing that has to be done for this country. Being self-reliant is impossible if one wants to be rich.
The next millennium shall see India rise to the top of the world both in population and in prestige, power and wealth. This dream is not a fool's fantasy. It is rooted in a deep understanding of how the West became rich and powerful. If a few white people can become shamelessly rich and powerful in a few hundred years, so can the billion plus Indians. But now the stakes are higher. We need to beat the West. Or eat a humble pie forever and keep our peace. That is why the befuddled political parties of the past 100 years will not serve us well for the coming challenge.
We are not content with charity and alleviation of India's problems. Charity is for the weak. We want to compete on the same footing with the rest of the world and to win. We shall produce better human beings, better cars, better scientists, and better actors and dancers. Our challenge is to beat the best in the world.
Our current political parties are content with mediocrity so timid that India is being wiped out from receiving any respect or consideration on the stage of the world. VIP will give self-respect to Indians on the world stage, it will power India to its rightful place as THE leader of all nations in the world. We will participate in the world as equals, and not let anyone decide our fate. If we choose not to have nuclear weapons, for example, it will be because we think it is an essential strategy to promote the defence of the region, not because the USA or some other power says so.
VIP is the hope for India's future, when we shall not rely on dynasties nor on charismatic religious leaders nor on any other single individual, to power our way to success. Instead of fighting each other, we shall compete for wealth and glory, and thus, by becoming rich ourselves, we shall make India the greatest nation on earth.
Much of the material for the Manifesto will emerge from the book, "Becoming Rich and Powerful: A Primer for the Citizens of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh," a preliminary draft of which is available on the web at:
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~ssabhlok/Bk.
A helpful list of web sites:
It is very important that an institute is set up in India on the lines of
the CATO Institute or others, to research public policy from a
non-socialist view point.
You are invited to contribute as much or as little as you would like to the preparation of the draft Manifesto. It will continue being improved upon till it becomes Perfect (well, almost so ...). Please click here for more information.