An Intro to Prout
Moving beyond corporate capitalism and state controlled economies.
Prout is the acronym for the Progressive Utilization Theory, which was first introduced by Indian philosopher, P.R. Sarkar (1922-1990) in 1959. Prout is a balanced economic approach, focusing on fulfilling basic human needs of food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care, while making efficient utilization of the world’s resources. It strikes a balance among individual initiatives, social and governmental control, sustainability and overall human progress.
Achieving economic liberation through economic democracy
Prout recognizes economic liberation as the birthright of every individual, and it must be guaranteed to everyone irrespective of their gender, race, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity, or nationality. Economic liberation is achieved through economic democracy, which has four requirements according to Prout.
1. Minimum requirements of a particular age, including food, clothing, housing, education, and medical care, must be guaranteed to all. This socio-economic security will help people by satisfying their physical needs, and enable them to develop their intellectual, artistic, and other subtler potentials in order to advance the development of society. People will be able to obtain these basic necessities through fair employment or other support in cases of special needs.
Key idea: Does Prout support UBI? No, Prout recognizes each individual’s need for fulfillment through a chosen profession, and provides access to job training and education for guaranteed employment.
2. Increasing purchasing capacity must be guaranteed to every individual, so that they are able to purchase their minimum requirements. Adequate and increasing purchasing capacity is ensured through easy availability of basic necessities, stable prices, guaranteed employment for local people in local industries, progressive and periodic increases in wages, and by planning the economy efficiently to increase collective wealth.
3. Power to make all economic decisions is in the hands of the local people. Local people decide, based on their collective necessities, what kind of agricultural and industrial commodities to produce, how much to produce, and how these commodities are equitably distributed. According to Prout, ‘local people’ are those individuals whose own socio-economic interests align with the socio- -economic interests of the region in which they reside.
Key Idea: Collective decision making is enacted through cooperative businesses and local and regional governments, as detailed in Prout’s vision for a three tiered economy and ethical leadership.
4. Outflow of capital and raw materials from a region must be curbed. Outsiders should not be allowed to participate in economic decisions of the region and should be prevented from profiting from local economic activities. For example, local stakeholders of a region’s natural resources could prevent the extraction and export of minerals by an outside corporation, and vote to keep profits of such a business within the region. To prioritize meeting the needs of the local population with those resources before exporting surpluses.
Conclusion…so what?
Economic liberation, consequently, leads to the utilization of human potentialities in other areas of human existence – intellectual and spiritual pursuits, art, science, social service, etc. People who are liberated from the shackles of economic exploitation are free to use their physical, mental, and spiritual energies to contribute to the welfare of all living beings. Therefore, economic democracy is not only essential for the economic liberation of human beings, but also for universal well-being.
A Decentralized, Three Tiered Economy
In a centralized economy, profits take precedence over people and the environment, and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few individuals and institutions. The aim of a decentralized economy is to develop local industries, create local employment and produce goods based on the collective necessity of the region.
Key idea: In a Prout economy, goods are produced based on the social and environmental needs of a region instead of solely for profit.
One way to achieve a balanced decentralized economy is to organize economic activity into three tiers.
- The Private Sector
Small privately-owned businesses and economic enterprises that deal with non-essential commodities and services constitute this sector of the economy. Restaurants, small repair shops, businesses that sell luxury items, dealers of antique arts and crafts, salons and other similar activities are examples of enterprises in this sector. These businesses are efficiently run on a small scale, privately by individuals, partnerships, or families. By limiting the private sector to non-essential goods and services, lives of common people are not adversely affected when any of these businesses go down.
Key idea: Prout supports capitalism and private business ownership at a small scale; however, corporate capitalism can accumulate wealth to the detriment of society and should be avoided.
- The Cooperative Sector
Economic enterprises that deal with the necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, education, and medicine form the cooperative sector of the economy. Small businesses that grow too complex to be managed privately and employ a large labor force should be run cooperatively because they begin to impact the wider community with an increase in size and scope.
Workers of cooperatives are shareholders and they elect a managing board. Each worker has some say in determining the direction of the co-op, but the managing board handles operational decisions. When a large section of the economy is run by cooperatives, with the people making economic decisions, it becomes easy to establish economic liberation.
Key idea: Economic democracy decentralizes economic power by enabling communities to manage their economies in a cooperative way for the benefit of their people.
- Key Industries (The Public Sector)
Economic activities which run on a larger scale and with wide-ranging impacts on the greater economy constitute this sector. Transportation, communication, mineral extraction, and generation of power are some of the enterprises which have an impact on the wider community and must be run as large-scale enterprises in order to manage them efficiently. Prout designates them as “Key Industries”.
According to Prout, key industries should be managed by the immediate, local government on a “no profit, no loss” basis. If there is no strong local government, a public board like a municipal board or an autonomous body should be set up in that geographic area to manage key industries. Government at the national or federal level should delegate the control of key industries to state and local governments.
A universal humanism with coordinated cooperation
Prout’s socio-economic approach to development is inspired by Neohumanism, which is an all-inclusive worldview characterized by love, care, and compassion for all beings of the universe. Neohumanism rejects the superficial barriers created by prejudices against other races, genders, nationalities, faiths, and less-evolved living beings. As such, Prout protects the rights of nature and advocates for a world constitution to safeguard universal cardinal values.
Key idea: Prout views the economy as an engine for universal welfare and progress, working as an expression of healthy ecosystems and upholding human cardinal values of physical, mental and spiritual liberation.
Is it possible to achieve these lofty goals while striking these balances? It is possible only if the leadership is in the hands of people who have strong ethical values. According to Prout, only those with true character can be in a position of power; power is to be used for the welfare of the society and the environment and not for personal gain, which is very different from the socio-political structure of today.
Conclusion…so what?
According to Prout, the antidote to materialism–the root cause of the economic and environmental crisis–is a Neohumanist perspective.