Of the various ‘industries’ there are in the world today, 4 of them are what you would call ‘social industries’. They are:
- National Security
- Healthcare
- Agriculture
- Education
These industries have some unique characteristics:
- All of these are critical for the survival, growth & proliferation of humanity and the human race.
- All of these are also deeply connected to lives of people, and nobody can say that they are untouched by them.
- The smooth functioning of these industries is needed for a society of function. Hence they have disproportionate importance compared to their financial value they add to a nation’s GDP.
- Working in these industries cannot be just another job. It is a ‘calling’. Nobody will enjoy working in them, nor be any good at their job, nor be even remotely successful unless it is a calling for them and they feel deep passion, emanating from deep within. They must want to wake up every morning and look forward to going to work.
- Working in these industries demands an incredibly strong sense of ethics and morality, of a higher standard than from those not from these industries. Moral / ethical transgressions in each of these industries are looked upon as somehow being ‘anti-society’ (anti-national in some cases as well).
- People who work in these industries are always short-changed when it comes to financial rewards for their work. They earnings are generally lower by approx 50%, as compared to someone not from the social industries, who would be at their level of expertise & experience.
These 4 industries comprise a unique set of professions / industries among the many many other industries which make up the professional world today.
That said, within these 4, there seems to be a pecking order of preferential treatment. The order is specific to the country / society is based on their unique history and where they are in their journey of development and self-actualisation as a society. In Scandinavia, Estonia, France, Germany, etc – Education would probably come up on top, followed by Healthcare, Agriculture and then National Security. For someone like the US, it would probably be National Security, Agriculture, Healthcare and then Education. (I’m just guesstimating, not an expert on these countries).
For India the priority order would probably be 1-Agriculture, 2-National Security, 3-Healthcare, 4-Education. This is based purely on how much importance is paid to these areas in public life by people (society) and hence, by politicians. This is also based on how much of the population considers themselves to be engaged in / with these professions.
In India, we regularly hear the statistic that 40% of Indians are farmers (a loose term for people involved in agriculture in some manner). Even though Agriculture only comprises 15% of India’s GDP, the importance that it gets is significantly higher. We refer to our farmers as ‘annadatas’. This is a kind of pedestal-isation (sorry for making up a word) that I find highly problematic. I don’t get it. They grow crops. The country (including themselves btw) pays for it. That’s a fair deal. I get it that the income of an average farmer is low. That’s because food should cost less for people wanting to buy it. Hence agriculture is subsidised. However, that’s not the only reason why farmers earn less. Farmers also earn less per-capita because there is a mismatch of proportion between % of people employed and size of the industry. There are too many people involved for the industry to sustain each of them lucratively. Hence, they need to be subsidised. And farmers are subsidised a lot. Which is fine. But when they are treated like some kind of god and then they demand to be prostrated in front of, it bugs me to no end.
While our Armed Forces do receive reverential treatment, respect in society, a decent pay and good perks, even they (many of who put their life on the line for others) are not bent over backwards to, like we do for the ‘annadatas’. Just like nobody forced the soldier, doctor or teacher to do what they do, nobody forced farmers to work in agriculture. They got into it knowing fully well what they are doing. They were welcome to venture out of their fields and into other professions and careers in other industries. The fact that they chose to do farming does not mean that the nation or its citizens needs to put them on a pedestal. For too long now, our politics & our economics has been supplicant to this one group of people.
That said, let me also provide a counter-factual point to my rant above. Actually, there is a large percentage of those who call themselves farmers, who are in-fact cognisant of their reality. They themselves do not expect or want unfair treatment. I guess they too have some pride and ego as professionals and want to be valued for their contribution to society, no more, no less. They are at the forefront of innovation in their fields. They are always seeking out new methods to make agriculture better, more productive, more efficient and hence, enrich the country and their own lives.
And here we have a farmer who understands reality… and is very clear about it…
However, like it happens in any group, there are a few who don’t want to do any of this, want to simply take advantage of their position in society for being in a social industry and demand all kinds of nonsensical things from the country. It is, unfortunately, this maladjusted group of people, who try to blackmail the country to agree to their ridiculously nonsensical demands. And we keep giving into them.
Here is the an actual list of ridiculous demands by these ‘farmers’ which were publicly put out during the anti farm reform protests which happened a few years ago.
Now, also watch this conversation between a ‘journalist’ and a real agricultural expert on reality & hence the ridiculous-ness of these demands.
There is a very interesting couple of lines from the Harrison Ford starrer ‘Air Force One’, where Harrison Ford’s character (who is the President of the United States of America), orders his Vice President (played by Glenn Close), not to negotiate with the terrorists who have hijacked his plane & taken a bunch of people hostage.
We should all remember these words:
President James Marshall says: “Kathryn, if you give a mouse a cookie…“
Vice President Kathryn Bennett completes his statement: “It’s gonna want a glass of milk.“
(see PS below for some irony…)
Time to treat farmers like we treat soldiers, doctors & teachers. No more cookies please.
Meanwhile, here is a post from a doctor, with demands similar to those of these ‘farmers’
P.S. Ironically, dairy & animal husbandry are the fastest growing sub-segments of Indian Agriculture, growing at an average of 8%-9% each year for over 15 yrs now. And there is no MSP for milk, eggs or poultry. Not is there a guarantee by the government to buy any of these agricultural commodities…