Small is Beautiful
Come to think about it, all of us are April Fools.
To begin with we celebrate our local new year on the fool's month albeit, 13 days later which is an irony which number nobody seems to be having any liking.
We married on the 13th of a month and when this was raised by few in our family circles, i told them, if we celebrate the new year on the 13th why not on another 13th on another month?
On both counts whether after the April New Year or after the marriage one is little bit poorer, money wise but rich in experience of mundane affairs.
There is no special risk in doing something on the day13th of a month at all, but it will always remain as a belief.
I do not know how this belief originated.
There are a few things, the real politicians can do but have no inclination.
"Small is Beautiful" and think in those lines, is one of those premises.
To begin with one can increase the purchase value of a printed note by increasing its value denomination without increasing its size in proportion to the monetary value.
A gimmick JRJ did with success was to print Rs.1000/= notes so big that it cannot be put in an ordinary purse.
It is very big compared to a dollar note.
I had to buy a bigger and an expensive purse .
At that time parity of a pound note was about 30 Rupees and the Rs.1000/= note was in fact over 30 pounds. Those days, 30 pounds was big enough, that one could stay in a cheap "Bread and Breakfast Motel" in London for up to seven days.
In actual fact, the Rupee has depreciated drastically, within 30 years we had to print Rs.5000/= notes and its parity today is little over 10 pounds and it has depreciated by 150%. What one can buy with Rs.5000/= note is very limited today.
I used to pay Rs.300/= for a trip to Kandy on a three wheeler drive and today I had to pay the guy Rs.3000/= an increase of 100%. In terms of pounds a loss of 50% for him, since he is paying for his petrol on dollar rate which is nearing Rs. 400/=.
The bus fair has increased dramatically and going by the three wheeler is actually productive, since I get all the work done in one day. I do not have to go anywhere for another 15 days and I have a saving of 14 days of bus fair.
One need not write an economic thesis on this very subject.
My first proposal for the Bank Governor, is to reduce the size of the notes, so that my old small purse could accommodate enough notes of them to do my shopping.
Since the new administration cannot fulfill the promises they made prior to election, making the notes smaller would make them feel, in line with the an average voter who is lean due to daily starvation.
If not money it would save lot of trees, in the rain forest.
I am not going to accept the central banks explanation that they need special type of paper and rain forest is not vandalized for the purpose of printing money.
The way to save lot of money is to abolish the Post of Presidency in one go, even if we have to confirm it by a referendum.
Anybody who fills this post become megalomaniac whether one is male or female and they never appreciate the concept of small is beautiful.
The central bank economists want understand, the simple arithmetic principle, that if we are to print two notes of a smaller size, the paper wastage is reduced by 100%.
This proposal of mine, if the central Bank Governor can espouses, as one of his own original ideas, he might even be invited to become the next Governor of the World Bank.
What an upward mobility for a yappy?
I have many such ideas to portray, the beauty of “small is beautiful” which I would not dispense here for economy of English words.
One's prowess has to be dispensed with small doses, lest the upward mobility would be hindered in due course, if all the ideas are dispensed, all at once.
The Peter Principle comes into operation, here.
This is actually a philosophical issue and the philosophers of yesteryear were very economical in their words lest they were beheaded. They also made sure most of the rulers did not understand the contents of the philosophy but only the face value of their utterances.
Rulers are rulers and a very few of them had been philosophers. Thinking of, small is beautiful is not a weakness but a strength.
What it means is not bowing down to pressure but to reason.
What is happening today is we are bowing down to economic pressures disregarding, the strength of our convictions.
Small nation can become strong only if it thinks in that way.
For Buddhists the selflessness should be the greatest assert which should drive the selfish dreams of individuals out of the mainstream politics and drive the collective needs of the nation.
This is already happening.
Sadly we are lacking in insight and we may very well slowly but surely slip into a cycle of violence promoting selfish drives.
Selflessness does not mean bowing down to all the demands but striking the correct balance to reach the best compromise.
We must not let the international community dictate terms.
What has happened is that the international community has become part of the problem. For example in our ethnic crisis Norway became partisan, it has become part of the problem rather than honest broker.
Sooner we realize this it is better for any viable solution to the economic crisis.
I think very soon we may have to think in terms of Rubles.
Currently the party of one Ruble is 5 Rupees. It is fast appreciating with dollar and it is 62 plus Rubles a dollar.
It is actually the West which is collapsing due to Ukraine War (Pumping money to Ukraine War has caused British economy to collapse and they cannot balance the current budget).
The Wild Dream of the West that Russia would buckle down to economic sanctions has backfired and President Biden will be the first to fall come next election and with that the stupid Democrats who instigated and supported the War Machine!
It is the West that is feeling the pinch come Winter Months.
I am glad I am in the tropics and we are not feeling the usual December cooler breeze which is strangely unusual!
The Peter Principle is explained elsewhere.
