Work Hard, Work Smart, Work Right

The old mantra for success was Work Hard (ie, maximise effort). Then the new mantra for success became Work Smart (ie, maximise efficiency). Which is correct? Of course, both working hard and working smart are important. But in this whole Hard Work vs Smart Work debate, we forgot the fundamental truth. Which is that every human has his/her own true potential – and so real success is finding out that true potential and using it. Hence the key to real success is to do the right work – ie, the work that uses our true potential. Thus the real mantra for success is not just Work Hard or Work Smart – but 'Work Right'!

Free-Market Capitalism Vs Government-Controlled Socialism

In 2005, Tamil movie director Shankar Shanmugam made a movie called Anniyan ('Stranger'). The hero was a vigilante who goes around killing corrupt government officials. He launches his anti-corruption campaign in an auditorium by giving a slides-presentation on a big screen (!). In it, he first shows old black and white photos of Singapore and Hong Kong from 1945 – they were just small and poor fishing villages. Then he shows pictures of the two places today – big, rich and modern cities. Then he asks: "These two countries have made so much progress since 1945. We became free in 1947. Why are we still a poor country?". He answers: "It is because of our corruption. So from tomorrow, I will start killing anybody who takes a bribe."

It is a powerful scene. But it is only half-correct: it asks the right question – but gives the wrong answer. People are fundamentally the same in every country. Indians are not much different from the people of Singapore and Hong Kong – with roughly the same mix of good and bad. So it is not that we are significantly less moral than Singaporeans and Hong Kongers. But if that is the case, then what is the answer to the vigilante's question?

Human nature is the same everywhere. But different societies have different destinies because of different systems. Systems are destiny. And economic destiny is decided by the economic system. In 1945, Singapore and Hong Kong adopted free-market capitalism. But in 1947, India adopted government-controlled socialism. The results are there for everybody to see . . .

India, Socialism and Free-Market Capitalism (FMC)

What is capitalism? The dictionary says it is an economic system in which 'the means of production are privately owned'. 'Means of production' means farms, factories and companies. 'Privately owned' means not owned by the government but by individuals, families and groups. So capitalism is an economic system in which individuals, families and groups (not the government) own farms, factories and companies. Now how else should an economic system be? And how else has it been – since the beginning of civilisation? It is nothing but the natural economic system.

If capitalism is the natural economic system, why have a term for it? That too a term ending with 'ism' – as if it is an ideology? The word 'capitalism' was coined by Karl Marx – for two reasons:
1. To defame/slander the natural economic system
2. To distinguish it from his economic system 'socialism' – in which the government owns farms, factories and companies.

India became free in 1947. Nehru was a socialist. So he chose socialism as our economic system. With socialism, our economy grew at an average rate of 3% and our population grew at 2%. So our average income grew at 1% per year. Meanwhile, the East Asian countries (Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong) and the South East Asian countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore) did not make this mistake. They adopted capitalism and grew at 10%. The result: By 1990, the East Asian countries became high-income countries and the South East Asian countries became middle-income countries. And we? We were still a low-income country – though in 1947, these countries were poorer than India.

Finally in 1991, the Soviet Union (the world's biggest socialist economy) collapsed – and proved that socialism is an inefficient economic system (China had wisely converted to capitalism in 1978 itself). The same year we had an economic crisis and we converted to capitalism under Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Since then, our economy has grown at an average rate of 7% and our population has grown at 1% – so our average income has grown at 6% per year. As a result, we have drastically reduced our poverty and are on track to eliminate it. We have also become the world's 5th biggest economy and are on track to becoming, yes, a superpower. All this is due to the free-market capitalism (FMC) we embraced in 1991.

So now we have a choice:
A. Continue with free-market capitalism and become a First World country.
OR
B. Go back to government-controlled socialism and remain a Third World country.