“It’s a free country !” I snarled at my mother, when I was 16. I can’t remember what it was for, but i remember her response. “There is a difference between liberty and license” she said. “Liberty or Freedom comes with its set of responsibilities and duties and license is action with no sense of responsibility and concern for the consequences of action.” And then she went on to explain the decline of civilisaitons where license dominated liberty. These were societies where people thought that they could get away with it, and they did. I can’t remember whether i behaved like a rebellious teenager ( i still do at times) after the conversation. But, i would be surprised if I did. If i remember the conversation so many years after the event, it must have made an impact on me. She retired as Political Science Professor at the University of Mumbai — and she always had a tremendous interest in both political theory and political practise.

But, I digress …. the post is not about the lessons my mother taught me but on liberty and license. Liberty. Freedom — great words and great things to aspire for. But, it is hard work – both on part of the State that guarantees the Liberty and Freedom, and on behalf of citizens who have responsibilities and duties arising out of those liberties including keeping an eye on the State. From my point of view, the duties of both the State and Citizen goes beyond the mere Constitutional and becomes a moral duty and responsibility.

The problem with the world as a whole is that the State and Citizens, since the 1980’s – the Freidman era – have given up on their moral responsibility, making extra constitutional organisations – be they commercial, religious or political – stronger.

Herein lies the root of the current crisis facing the world. And, this crisis is not just about financial instability. it is also about the strengthening of religious muscle and political. My primary shock at the current financial crisis is about the sheer stupidity of the system, and the fact that not only were the State and Citiznens napping – they sometimes actively colluded in the stupidity. I feel for those directly impacted is the same that I feel for those caught in the Nigerian lottery scam ! a kind of ridicule tinged with awe that someone could be that stupid. But, those who get involved in the Nigerian lottery scam, don’t take the world economy down the tubes with them. This lot have. And, that brings me to a different question — what about penalty. If a cabal of people have threatened the economic security of billions of people across the world — then what is the punishment? After all, if you can invade Iraq or Afghanistan to protect world security, then shouldn’t you penalize people who threaten the economic security of large chunks of the world?

The problem is not with free markets — it is the market which recognised that the sub prime widgets have no value. Individual institutions and orgnisations may have been conned – but the market collectively saw through the guise of something that is valueless and is portrayed as having value – and appropriate correction happened. The problem is not even with regulation – laws exist across the world – that prevent this level of speculation by financial institutions – and financial institutions run by bankers are safe, it is the institutions run by traders that are not.

The problem is with the collective system taking a collective nap while Political Muscle colluded with Commercial Muscle to con the world. What were regulators doing (they exist in all countries), what were various elected bodies doing ? Should there be something that brings them to the book on charges of economic crimes against the people? Bail out and all that is fine, it is possibly needed to ensure that the world doesn’t become more economically insecure, but what about punishment? Are people who brought the world to this stage going to walk away ?

The same is the case with religious institutions. In the last 20 years, they have bullied all of us by screaming the loudest. By being offended the fastest. By asking for rights and being granted those – and these impinge on all our rights. Funnily enough, this post came to mind because of another conversation with mom. We were talking about India and the rise of the violent religious right. And, we wondered what would have happened if in two key cases of the Constitution v/s Religion – the Constitution had won ! The first was the Shah Bano Case, where the state buckled into pressure from Muslim Religious leaders, and damned the rights of Muslim women — and set the precedent for the trampling of rights of all other women in India. The second was when the Babri Masjid was destroyed by Hindutvadi leaders and Mobs. The state again allowed religion to triumph over ‘security for all’. In both cases as the political and religious system colluded for mutual gain, the System and Citizens were caught napping. And we are still napping.

In a State that is a Democratic Republic – the role is security. It is about protecting our Liberties – economic, social, religious, civil and constitutional. Somehow, across the world, that role has been diluted and handed over to organisations that are not responsible to the people. Maybe, what we need to look at is not more regulation and more rules, but more transparency and involvement.

btw – have you registered for voting in the elections as yet ?