g). Racism:

Another form of discrimination that seeks ways to look down on others and thereby boost their own esteem in the eyes of their colleagues. They target those that look different, have different skin colour or features and comment thereon to feel a sense of superiority in being even only average in the local majority.

However, the tendency to confuse colloquial identification, as identifing persons by their different home locations, such as Bihari, Madrasi, Pahadi etc.,with real racial comments needs to be better understood and resisted.

After all even Police and anyone else may identify persons by sex, looks/features , weight, height, skin colour, hair or bald, fat or thin, tall or short, young or old, accent and dress style. Such identification is very common amongst friends, class or team mates, who often categorize their fellows as ‘motu’ (fat), ‘patlu’ (thin), ‘kaalu’ (dark or black), ‘ghora’ (Fair or white), ‘ganju’ (bald), ‘chottu’(small or young), ‘lambu’ (tall),’budda’ (old), and so on, which cannot really always be taken to mean a racist or denigrating comment.

Of course falsely claiming a familiarity and the privilege that goes with it, and using such terms for strangers indicates dis-respect, again not always racism, and should be dealt with accordingly, context is important. The attitude should be-‘ call me as you like but it better be accompanied with a smile, otherwise I may take it as fighting ‘talk’, in any case the choice to respond appropriately or even to not respond is always mine.’

Racism is best eradicated by education, cultural exchanges, travel and tourism, with the aim of developing greater empathy and sensitivity for others.

h). Don’t reward Bullies or Protectionists:

If you discover that you can get your goods on the Internet or elsewhere, cheaper than at your local store. Do you have an obligation to compensate your local store keeper?

If you find an equally good apartment as the one you are staying in now at a lower rent, and hence, shift into it, do you have an obligation to compensate your previous landlord?

Similarly, you have no obligation to compensate the workers who lose their jobs to lower cost immigrants or to compensate inefficient manufacturers losing out to more efficient manufacturers elsewhere, of course allowing for disparities in the costs of power, finance, raw materials etc.(See-‘Swadeshi’ – Protectionism).

Also, the rights of an employee and that of an employer have to be recognized as mutually applicable. If the employee has the right to quit for better prospects elsewhere, then the employer must also, have an equal right to fire/dismiss an employee. To prevent anarchy, regulations can be specified for organizations employing more than say two or even five thousand employees, for a minimum notice period and a gratuity to be paid to the dismissed employee to allow reasonable time to find employment elsewhere.Social contracts between individuals or the State and an individual also, cannot be one-sided.(See -’Job Creation, Labour & other Regulations’).

Would you compensate school yard Bullies just because new anti-ragging rules now make such bullying unprofitable to the Bullies?

Both bullying and protectionism have a lot in common. They both use force/ extortion as a method, either directly or through the power of the law, to enrich someone else at your involuntary expense. The lower cost of the product you and the other many purchasers, now buy is to your benefit and you are under no obligation to compensate those that through inefficient productivity and lack of proper competition held you hostage till now. If the trader or his employees who lost in free trade feel that the world owes them compensation for enduring the downside of Trade, what do they owe the world for till now enjoying the upside? The savings of the many consumers easily offset the losses of such few inefficient producers, traders or their employees. Just because they can raise a united vocal demand for protectionism or compensation for their presumed losses, while the many more individual consumers cannot about their individual savings, should not allow the truth to be lost sight of. The ability to unionize or raise the collective voice should not be used to impose your choice on others out of their fear of your threats. (See-”Swadeshi- Self sufficiency & Protectionism”).

As Dennis Lecome writes- Live and let live. You can coerce only public assent, not private conviction. Suppression encourages revolt and religious persecution has always been bad for trade. Civic equality is the essence of tolerance. Faith should withdraw from public orthodoxy into private choice. (See-”Common/Uniform Civil Code”).

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