The history of civilizations dictates that the richer a society, the deeper the division between the haves and the have-nots. Ironically, prosperity is the scourge of the powerful, because it feeds on insatiable greed. Adversity and calamity are lethal laboratories to test social models and medical miracles. The curse of Coronatimes is that the best of diagnosis and prognosis has failed to immobilize the insidious invader. The virus has stymied science and economics. As the moribund market model of capitalism teeters on the edge of chaos, welfare economics has risen as the only credible panacea for an invalid world. Paradoxically, the pathogen’s main target has been the habitat of the mighty.
The highest number of corona positive Americans is in wealthy and powerful New York, with maximum fatalities. Is the Global Capital of Capitalism, a victim of its own wealth? The US is not COVID- 19’s only top trophy. The virus’s geographical reach reveals that over 90 per cent of its victims –from New York to New Delhi—lives in flourishing cities. America accounts for almost every third case. Its ally of free markets and capitalism, Europe, is now a graveyard of affluence and luxury. In London, known as capitalism’s contagious cradle, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in ICU in the middle of national devastation. COVID- 19’s apocalyptic spread blighted ministers, Hollywood actors, rock stars, royalty and super-rich, exposing the vulnerability of the ruling class which lived in splendid social isolation behind a vast firewall of bodyguards, personal staff, and highly secure millionaire mansions. Europe, with all the money and science at its disposal, wasn’t spared of its toxic touch. After all, immunity levels of Urban elite aren’t all weatherproof.
They decline much faster with fluctuations in temperatures. The excessive imposition of capitalism has created an ecosystem of moolah motivated social intimacy. Crowded boardrooms, technology parks, stock markets and mega entertainment and sports events were incubation centres for future pathogens. Hugs and muah muahs were pervasive symbols of the connectivity and durability of relationships. Social and economic influencers needed a relatively cheap support system to sustain their highfalutin lifestyle. This was provided by blue-collar workers and unskilled labour who migrated to the centres of wealth creation, lured by the mirage of better life and wages. Since they couldn’t afford spacious housing, vast clusters of migrant slums with little health and civic amenities mushroomed around big cities to serve its prosperous denizens over the last 100 years.
Scrutiny shows that smaller towns and villages are either unaffected or least hit. The virus has taught India a cruel lesson in economic and social humility. If China with about 1.50 billion population could flatten the curve, India is in a better position to nuke the germ. With the minimum number of cases per million people globally, we are still not out of the woods. But the spread pattern of the virus shows a tenuous trend. COVID- 19’s killer kiss has infected urban India more. Of the 6,50,000 odd villages, less than half fall in its toxic shadow. Of the 736 districts, over 50 per cent are still safe. Out of 3,200 cities with a population of 10,000 and above, 500-odd are COVID calamities.
Nationally, even after six weeks of Corona War, 18 states and UTs account for less than 1,000 cases of the total of over 19,000 active cases. Chhattisgarh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand are smaller states in which Western model of capitalism is yet to take deep roots. The official pandemic figures are uncharitable for cities which are the playground of wealth creators. During the 1950s, big industries came up in rural India, faraway from Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru. As corporate leaders expanded business and control over decision making, big cities became the centres of economic activity. Their lifestyle choices initiated the creation of expensive infrastructure for business growth. Capital was invested in cities with better travel connectivity.
To support a celestial existence of designer dinners with vintage wines, caviar and the best Kobe steaks, labour was sourced from villages. Rural India became just a source of providing food grain at adverse rates of trade. A few decades ago, it contributed over 50 per cent of the GDP as against merely 16 per cent now. The services sector, which operates in the cities, now adds over 55 per cent to the GDP. The manufacturing sector has also shrunk. To serve the avaricious demands of the growing urban rich, unemployed rural and small-town youth moved to metropolises, thereby overcrowding them. The five-star hotels, luxury condos and malls, IITs and IIMs and high rises were built by with the sweat and toil of people from villages where basic amenities like safe drinking water, power, roads and airports were just dreams.
Natch, physical immunity was the first casualty of lopsided progress. Look at the corona spreadsheet. Of the 19,000 active cases, 4,500 are in Mumbai alone; 1,600 are in Delhi. The two cities have the highest per capita income in India and also are among the top states in terms of GDP. Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, is nothing but a colony of migrants who reached Mumbai to become drivers, cooks, gardeners, taxi drivers, plumbers, and electricians. Delhi’s 92 hot spots have a similar cultural, topographical and employment profile. Indian villages may be poor but they look healthier. Even medical research reveals that rural India is insulated from numerous lifestyle diseases. An unusual idea’s time has finally come in today’s Age of Adversity. India needs its own model of capitalism and markets. Gradual and rational de-urbanisation of cities must begin by making them less crowded and manageable.
Capital has to move back to villages, which are less crowded and where social distancing is minimal and physical distancing even more. New wealth creators should move to smaller cities and villages to establish their projects in regions with low population density. Instead of creating slums in already crowded cities, let money go into making rural India a clean place for living and economic activity. For a safer living, demographic and economic contours will have to be dramatically altered in favour of an emerging India. Since over 50 percent of India lives in villages, more money in their hands would create high demand for the Indian Model of Capitalism to survive and thrive. Only reverse capital flight from urban to rural India would prove wrong the Marxist dictum that “for capitalism, war and peace are business and nothing but business.” Stop the corona calamity from becoming a fresh opportunity for Western capitalism to make money for magnates. The adversary must become an opportunity to create new mantras of prosperity and happiness. The Greek mythological goddess Nemesis, who brings destruction to the hubris laden elite, could be COVID in a different avatar. Should history repeat itself, at least let the villages be different.
PRABHU CHAWLA
prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla