India's Scarcity Mindset

I have been to Europe, USA, Middle East and East Asia. Every time I come back from there to India, there is one question I think really hard on

After discussing a lot with people around me, I feel I have root caused it to three primary concerns. They determine the course of action we as a nation take in terms of the most minuscule thing you can imagine:

• Education
• Population
• Scarcity

Education

While even the most uneducated in our society gained access to internet in a very short span of time, their primary usage has been:

• Scrolling and Cheap Dopamine
• Looking into the life lead by riches
• Getting brain washed by radical sections

And I can say very well after seeing people be unaware about waste management and nutrition that this hasn’t happened yet.

Education isn’t about the degree that is very easily purchasable and gainable from rote learning. It’s about components that help adults navigate their lives, things like:

• Mental Wellness
• Public Etiquette
• Substance Abuse
• Career Guidance
• Financial Planning
• Sexual Health

The response when somebody asks people not to be self indulgent and take care of their society and environment is generally a stark reply with:

Population

Combined with lack of education and being the largest proud producer of human kind we have crippled ourselves on our own.

There is only so much resources available. While people might say there is plenty for everyone…to be honest there isn’t. I wonder if Thanos, the mad titan was also born in a parallel world similar to India.

In one of my favorite books Anxious People the author had said

This line has stayed with me because this is exactly what we are suffering from. To have a spacious house/flat, visit someplace less crowded and have a chance at some breathing space all you have to do is pay more.

A very large population also leads to the scariest of competition and fight for survival. They say “survival of the fittest”, but all I hear is that “you will have to fight for everything”. A job, education, food and shelter.

Collaboration, not competition is what keeps things healthy but with a population our size there is competition even for collaboration.

Scarcity

I think everyone has at least once wondered why are people getting up inside the plane as soon as it lands and why does nobody bother to follow sequential boarding.

Airport might still be a place where we meet a more civil crowd, but I have seen stampede of IT workers on a Thursday evening rushing to onboard a BMTC Bus on ORR, that was scary!

I think we all would have seen images of applicants sitting on roof of train to get to examination centers while risking their lives.

Parents are sending off their children from standard 7th to coaching institutes so that they are able to make into the “prestigious institutions” where they would again learn on “how to compete in the world”.

All of the above actions are taken under the threat of scarcity due to our tremendously large populations. I am not sure when these thoughts became so prevalent in our society. All Indian parents are teaching their children to take care of themselves without ever bothering about society.

Did we forget this? Who or what circumstances made us forget some of our core values? Maybe it was the British Rule, that made everything so scarce for Indians. And yet, after so many generations we still haven’t been able to let go of that ideology.

Second Order Effect

I think Scarcity isn’t really a first-order effect; it arose from growth in population and simultaneous lack of infrastructure/resources to cater to everyone’s requirements.

The cycle of scarcity and corruption feed each other in an endless loop:

• A corrupt society causes disproportionate distribution of resources leading to a wider scarcity mindset
• A scarce society can possibly lean into corruption to ensure their own well being over others

Conclusion

Can we pull ourselves out of this mindset? Maybe, with a decline in population growth rate we might see more equitable access to resources.

I feel the quality of life we experience in India can only improve once we resolve our education and population issues, not like Thanos but maybe like China. The very country we are taught to despise, which faced the same population pressure and pollution issues pulled itself out.

When that day finally comes to be we might finally be able to start asking right questions to our elected and executive bodies related to our food quality, financial stability, pollution, infrastructure, public transport, etc.

Until then we have to wing it, maybe our generation can bring about that change. Hopefully we will all come to see that day in our lifetime at least.

Thanks for reading, I had been holding this blog for sometime because I didn’t want to come out too negative. At the same time I don’t want to hold back ideas that I want people to ponder upon and discuss with me.

Cover Photo by Nisarg Chaudhari.