Our readers are an erudite lot, many of whom will be familiar with the Anglo-Dutch philosospher, economist and satirist, Bernard de Mandeville, whose poem, "The Fable of the Bees", brilliantly illustrates how the pursuit of individual vice creates the maximum public benefit. As you can imagine, this radical view was considered blasphemous in 1705, causing far more alarm and anxiety in England than when Harry got engaged to Meghan Markle more recently. "She's older, she's a divorcee and erm, she's half black, how low can a prince of the realm sink?" Well, if we're going to get all technical, let's not forget that Harry is only a Duke, but I digress. Mandeville satirised the pious injunction of high thinking and simple living. Every inch the contrarian, he believed the greater the pride, consumerism, gluttony, lust and envy prevalent in society, the greater the prosperity in that society. He would probably have been more amused than outraged to know that Harry once wore an SS uniform to a fancy dress party.
Incidentally no less an authority than J.M. Keynes quoted Mandeville, " It's no new thing to ascribe the evils of unemployment to the insufficient propensity to consume", a condition known as the paradox of thrift, central to the Keynesian theory of effective demand. Mandeville theorised that vice promoted consumption patterns; without it the economy would falter and life as we know it would come to a grinding halt. Even worse, most newspapers and hostesses would be bereft of a theme for their annual bash. Today's Page 3 culture is unabashedly Mandeville-driven: 'if you've got it, flaunt it'. Far more column inches are devoted to Mallya's yacht, private jet and stable of thoroughbred fillies (both two-legged and four-legged) than to the unsung hero responsible for the Sulabh toilets. Champagne and mile-high clubs are chic, urinals are not.
My old friend, Jasmeet (aka Just Meet Singh) may have been sub-consciously channelling Mandeville, "Yaar, you Madrassis don't know how to enjoy life like us Punjus. I'm sick of those stupid headlines: 'Narayan Murthy net worth 7 billion, monthly expenses Rs.7000/. He cleans his own toilet, flies economy class, arre, if he doesn't spend money, who the hell will?" Jassi, dear reader, is the fun-loving, burra peg, burra kebab type of sardar who could have played the bhalle bhalle actor in 'Monsoon Wedding'.
Closer to home, or further, depending on where one lives, Jitu Virwani threw a lavish party last Sunday to celebrate the opening of his exclusive club at Embassy Boulevard. Champagne and caviar with blinis (toast is for the plebs) freshly shucked oysters, octopus salad and grilled seabass on soft tacos were on the menu and the grand finale was a Russian harpist playing a 35m harp to EDM background music. One thing we Indians have never lacked is an opinion and ignorance has never been a restraint. Several uninformed theories floated around like Bellandur froth, on the subject of desi billionaires: there were more opinions than transistors on a Pentium chip.
Incidentally, Mandeville took his theory a step further: like a poker player going "all in", he famously claimed that "virtue leads to ruin and that evil is the grand principle that makes us sociable creatures" illustrating the desi paradox of private vice and public virtue. If flashy spending is morally compromised due to it being rooted in self-seeking publicity, the practical benefits such as employment generation and higher consumption need to be viewed in context. Was Mandy merely holding up a mirror to a corrupt society and poking fun at those who claimed commercial opulence was compatible with virtue? Or did he seriously believe that modern commercial states should abandon their luxurious comforts for austere self-denial, so as to escape the paradox he alleged? Clearly his notoriety arose from bringing these uneasy bedfellows a little too close together for the taste and comfort of most. The current electoral farce being played out in Gujarat where both parties are virtue-signalling their undying lov
e for the poor is part of the never-ending hypocritical drama in Bharat. There is nothing noble about poverty: only sloppy thinking makes it appear so, along with the magic wand approach to poverty alleviation.
