EQUALITY AND DEMOCRACY

EQUALITY AND
DEMOCRACY

 South Asian countries have fundamentally regarded economic development as a political matter.
 Another thing that differentiates South Asia is her commitment to egalitarianism in terms of planning.

 In terms of guiding beliefs, there is a similarity between South Asia and the West. However, a time dimension is involved.
 During West Asia’s development period, social welfare was still in its early stages.
 Social welfare was part of abstracts by scholars and even rebels but since the ruling class deemed it as a threat, it was excluded in government policies
 In South Asia, an egalitarian doctrine is an act without historical precedent outside the Soviet sphere.

 In all development plans, the egalitarian ideology is prominent.
 Since the state is directed to economic growth, the emphasis is on equal distribution of income and wealth as well as a more widespread ownership.  Social and economic equaliy is explained as a widespread, intellectualized feeling that is an intristic good.
 Implication: Rational motivations would support the quest for greater equality even if it were attainable only at the cost of slower economic development.

 Inequality in South Asia hampers economic progress so an amount of levelling would have an instrumental and independent value for development.  Traditional inequalities found in social stratification are obstacles in development.
(e.g caste system in India
 Also hinders feelings of compassion and brotherhood which are important virtues attributed to equality

 It is a common agreement that greater equality should be the primary goal for planning but the actual development goes to increased inequality.
 In such a situation, economic progress comes first before the realization of equality.
 Observed in historical economic development (West,
Japan)
 Inequality is natural in developing countries as economic progress leads to greater concentration of wealth and income.

 These observations