There is a dire need for sound principles on wealth distribution, allocation and accumulation. The capitalist model is falling apart with poor countries tied up in useless debt to rich countries, wealthy individual accumulators hoarding excess wealth while indigenous communities have not even got the minimum necessities. And many other examples. It is time to realise that all these represent gross inefficiencies in the capitalist system. It is by no means an efficient or equitable or fair system. Rather it is a complete abuse. Still many corporations also benefit from handouts by way of the corporate dole. Again a sign of being unable to establish anything viable without government assistance and the falsity of free enterprise. Sound principles are urgently needed on which to build proper policy objecives. 1. Everyone must be guaranteed the minimum requirements of life. 2. As the income of people increases, their minimum requirements should also increase. 3. To bridge the gap between the more affluent people and the common people, it is necessary to increase the minimum requirements of all. 4. Special amenities should be provided so that the diversity in skill and intelligence is fully utilized, and talent is encouraged to contribute its best towards human development. 5. Maximum amenities should be provided to especially qualified or gifted persons to enable them to render greater service to society according to the social value of their production. 6. The provision of these maximum amenities should not go against the common interest. 7. It is also necesary increase the maximum amenities available to the common people over and above their minimum necessities. 8. There will still be a gap between the maximum amenities of the common people and the maximum amenities of the especially qualified persons, but there should be constant efforts to reduce this gap. 9. If the maximum amenities for talented people becomes too high, then the minimum requirements of the common people should be immediately increased. 10. What constitutes both the minimum requirements and the maximum amenities should be ever increasing. --- Minimum Essentialities of Life The availability of the minimum essentialities of life plays a vital part not only in achieving world fraternity, but also in the development of human personality. This should be tackled on a world footing, and should be based on certain fundamental presumptions. Every human being has certain minimum requirements which he or she must be guaranteed. Guaranteed availability of foodstuff, clothing, medical assistance and housing accommodation should be arranged so that human beings may be able to utilize their surplus energy (energy up till now engaged in procuring the essentialities of life) in subtler pursuits. Side by side, there should be sufficient scope for providing other amenities of the progressive age. To fulfil the above responsibilities, enough purchasing capacity should be created. If the supply of requirements be guaranteed without any conditions of personal skill and labour, the individual may develop the psychology of idleness. The minimum requirements of every person are the same, but diversity is also the nature of creation. Special amenities should, therefore, be provided so that the diversity in skill and intelligence is fully utilized, and talent is encouraged to contribute its best towards human development. It will, therefore, be necessary to make provision for special emoluments which can cater for special amenities of life according to the age and time. But at the same time, there should be a constant effort to reduce the gap between the amount of special emoluments and the bare minimum requirements of the average individual. The guaranteed supply of minimum requirements must be liberalized by increasing the provision of special amenities pertaining to the age and also, simultaneously, by bringing about a decrease in the provision of special emoluments given to the few. This never-ending effort of proper economic adjustment must ceaselessly continue at all times with a view to assisting the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of human beings, and to let humanity develop a Cosmic sentiment for a Cosmic ideal and world fraternity. In this socio-economic set-up people are at full liberty in the spiritual and mental spheres. This is possible because the spiritual and psychic potentialities for which people can aspire are themselves unlimited, and the extent of possession in this sphere does not hamper the progress of others in their quests. But the supply in the physical sphere is limited, and hence any effort for disproportionate or unrestricted acquisition of physical objects has every possibility of creating a vast majority of have-not's, and thus hampering the spiritual, mental and physical growth of the larger majority. So, while dealing with the problem of individual liberty, it must be kept in view that individual liberty in the physical sphere must not be allowed to cross a limit whereat it is instrumental in hampering the development of the complete personality of human beings; and, at the same time, must not be so drastically curtailed that the spiritual, mental and physical growths of human beings are hampered. Thus, the correct social philosophy advocates the development of the integrated personality of the individual, and also the establishment of world fraternity, inculcating in human psychology a Cosmic sentiment. The path advocates progressive utilization of mundane and supramundane factors of the Cosmos. The society needs a stir for life, vigour and progress, and for this it is essential to advocate the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout), meaning thereby progressive utilization of all factors. Those who support this principle may be termed "Proutists". - P R Sarkar 5 June 1959 --- Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities There are many attractions in society, and it is the nature of human beings to run after these attractions. Communism exploited this human tendency by promising to give equal wealth to all. But the mundane resources in the world are limited, so is it possible to provide equal wealth to all? No, and the attempt to do so is nothing but a dazzling ostentation. Now communism has met its end. Communism was nothing but a bogus "ism" - a mere ostentation of verbose language and nothing else. Rather than trying to give equal wealth to all, the proper approach is to ensure that everyone is guaranteed the minimum requirements of life. As the income of some people increases, the radius of their minimum requirements should also increase. However, to bridge the gap between the more affluent people and the common people, we have to increase the minimum requirements of all. PROUT (PROgressive Utilisation Theory) also advocates that the maximum amenities should be provided to especially qualified or gifted persons to enable them to render greater service to society. This should be done by setting aside some wealth for those with special capabilities, but the provision of the maximum amenities should not go against the common interest. This relationship between minimum requirements and maximum amenities has already been clearly explained in PROUT. However, something more can be added. Besides increasing the maximum amenities of gifted people, we also have to increase the maximum amenities available to common people. Especially qualified persons will earn more than the common people and this earning will include their maximum amenities. But the ordinary public should not be deprived of maximum amenities, so there should be efforts to give them as much of the maximum amenities as possible. There will still be a gap between the maximum amenities of the common people and the maximum amenities of the especially qualified persons, but there should be constant efforts to reduce this gap. For example, students should get their minimum requirements of life, but together with this they may also get lunches and snacks as part of their schooling requirements paid for by society. Similarly, while first class passengers already get special facilities, ordinary passengers may also get free tea or coffee as part of their flight. Thus, the common people should also receive more and more amenities. If maximum amenities are not provided to common people, no doubt there will be progress in society, but there will always remain the scope for imperfection in the future. What constitutes both the minimum requirements and the maximum amenities should be ever increasing. This idea is a new appendix to PROUT. If the maximum amenities for talented people become excessively high, then the minimum requirements of the common people should be immediately increased. For example, if a person with special capabilities has a motor bike and an ordinary person has a bicycle, there may be a balanced adjustment. But if the person with special capabilities has a car, then we should immediately try to provide the common people with motor bikes. There is a proverb which refers to plain living and high thinking, but what is plain living? Plain living 80 years ago was not the same as it is today, so plain living changes from age to age. The standard of value also varies from age to age. Thus, both the minimum requirements and the maximum amenities will vary from age to age, and both will be ever increasing. If this were not so, there would be no economic progress in society. So, our approach should be to provide the minimum requirements of the age to all, the maximum amenities of the age to those with special capabilities according to the social value of their production, as well as the maximum amenities of the age relative to the common people. The minimum requirements of the age as per their money value plus the maximum amenities of the age as per their money value are to be fixed, refixed and fixed and refixed again and so on. In this way you must elevate the standard of the people - you must go on elevating their standard of living. The Amenities of Life The amenities of life are those things which make life easy. The word "amenity" comes from the old Latin word "amenus" which means "to fulfil the desire" or "to make the position easy." Amenities means physical and psychic longings. Whatever will satisfy the physical and psychic longings of the people will be the amenities of the age. Common people should be favoured with maximum amenities. For example, previously people used to dig a well to get drinking water, and then they carried the drinking water to their houses. Later water tanks were constructed, and now drinking water comes through pipes. In this way the amenities of life have increased and life has become easier. Though the aim is to get water, the system of getting it has become more effortless and more convenient. Take another example. Suppose school children receive the minimum requirements of life. If they are provided with free snacks, this amenity will be over and above the minimum requirements. Again, in most trains there are first and second class compartments. If free tea or coffee is given to the passengers in the second class compartments, it will be considered an amenity. More and more amenities will have to be provided to the common people with the progress of society. This process will generate the impetus to collect and utilise more and more resources, and the proper utilisation of the collective resources will elevate the standard of living of both the common mass and the talented people. As the need for the minimum requirements is fulfilled and the supply of the maximum amenities increases, the struggle for daily subsistence will gradually decrease and peoples' lives will become increasingly easy and enjoyable. For this reason PROUT guarantees the minimum requirements and the maximum amenities to all. What is the "the pabulum asked for"? What is "the pabulum not asked for." Here pabulum means something that fulfils. If you are travelling by train and you see someone take a snack of delicious food, you will have a natural urge or longing to enjoy the same delicacies. This is a natural longing for physical pabulum. Those things which your body wants are the natural amenities. Natural amenities include all the longings of nature -- all natural physiological longings, like urination, defecation, eating when one is hungry, etc. Common people should be provided with more and more natural amenities and facilities related to them to make their lives easy. They should also be provided with more and more super-natural amenities. Common people experience much stress and strain - they should be freed from this tension. For example, the rural people of India always worry about their crops. If the rains are late or if they fail, paddy production will suffer; if the climate is too cold or not cold enough, the winter crop will be adversely affected. The common people should be freed from all these stresses and strains. Indigenous disadvantaged persons all round the world should be similarly freed in this way. This can be achieved through the provision of super-natural amenities which can be developed artificially through science and technology, better agricultural techniques, the construction of small scale dams to conserve water, etc. Even simple techniques can increase crop yields. For example, if the smoke from burning wood chips is made to pass through a field of mustards seeds, the mustard seed flowers will bloom immediately and increase the production of the crop. So we should provide common people with both natural and supernatural amenities according to the physical capacity, the psychic capacity and the technical capacity of the state. This approach will ensure that human beings get enough amenities and that their lives become satisfying and congenial. Thus the minimum requirements must be guaranteed to all human beings, and under the concerning environmental conditions -- the existing environmental conditions -- there should be maximum amenities provided. You should satisfy the thirst for physical and psychic longings -- for physical and psychic pabula -- under the concerning conditions. So maximum amenities are to be available to all under the concerning environmental conditions which means keeping in view such factors as the temporal, topographical, geographical, social and psychic conditions. What is the difference amongst surroundings, atmosphere, and environment? Surrounding means everything physical that surrounds, either directly physical or psycho-physical. Atmosphere means the nature of different expressions in the surroundings - water, air, air pressure, temperature, etc. Environment means that which controls the characteristic of inanimate and animate beings. One age will go and another will come, and human longings will also change. In one age a particular type of breakfast is accepted as the standard, and in the next age it will be considered sub-standard. Today people eat bread and butter, but according to the standard of the next age people may eat fried rice or sweet rice. Thus the maximum amenities of life should be assured in a fail safe manner to each and every individual, and their standard should be continuously elevated. The jurisdiction of maximum amenities will go on expanding with the progress of human beings. Human beings are marching ahead, and their longing for different psycho-physical pabula is also increasing. The minimum requirements of the age must be guaranteed, and the maximum amenities must also be guaranteed. Maximum amenities must be provided in the existing environment. Can human thirst be fully quenched? Can human hunger be fully satisfied? Why is it that human thirst knows no limitations? From PROUT we are moving to psycho-philosophy. In the relative world human thirst cannot be satisfied. Human beings are the progeny of the Universal Consciousness, and human beings always wish to expand their consciousness and therefore human thirst is unlimited. All the properties of the Cosmic Expression are ensconced in human existence, and not only in human existence, but in each and every entity of the expressed universe. Can physical thirst, psychic thirst and spiritual thirst be quenched? Only spiritual thirst can be quenched. Unification of the unit with the Cosmic can quench the spiritual thirst. The physical body has certain limitations. It functions with very small limitations. The mind has a far bigger jurisdiction but it is also limited. Future Progress In the future there will also be tremendous changes in the structure of human beings. Psychic strength will increase. Physicality will be transformed into more and more intellectuality, and intellectuality will be transformed into the culminating point of spirituality. At that time human beings will be making tremendous progress in the realms of intellectuality and intuition. The human beings of that future age will be very sensitive. The efferent nerves will be more active than the afferent nerves, and subtle experiences will be more common than what they are now. Today human beings seldom have subtle experiences, but in the future they will occur naturally and spontaneously. As human beings gradually move along the path of evolution, they will come to increasingly understand that humans are more psychic than physical. The progressive availability of the maximum amenities of life will be guaranteed in PROUT, satisfying physical needs. The satisfied physical needs will lessen the physical obstacles which inhibit human progress and human beings will experience all-round development, especially in the intellectual stratum. Human beings will get the opportunity to develop in the intellectual stratum without any hindrances. The truth of humanity, the veracity of humanity, will go on increasing in different areas of expression. That is why there must be guaranteed minimum requirements and guaranteed maximum amenities for all human beings, and that these must go on increasing. These amenities must be good for the physical and psychic development of human beings, or at least for one of these two. PROUT and Neo-Humanism The human requirements of every age must be guaranteed. The minimum requirements must go on increasing according to the physical and psychic standard of human beings and according to the changes in climatic conditions, environment, etc. Thus the range of minimum requirements will go on increasing according to the range of human social conditions. According to the enlargement of human existential value and jurisdiction, psychic pabula will also increase. There should be maximum amenities for one and all with more thirst, more longing, for physico-psychic objects of enjoyment. These amenities should be increased for the entire social order. There cannot be any full stop, any comma or any semi-colon in this progress. Progress is never-ending. Pabulum is also never-ending. We should understand this. There cannot be any stop in the march of human progress. And not only in human progress, but in the physical and psychic worlds also. Geo-sentiment will die out; socio-sentiment will disappear; socioeconomic sentiment will be eradicated. Finally a day will come when sentient sentiment will dominate. A day will come when human beings will get the maximum amenities, then human beings will reach the zenith point. But is the provision of maximum amenities the zenith point of service? It may be looked upon as the zenith point, but because circumstances change, maximum amenities change. The provision of maximum amenities should be treated as a relative zenith point and not the supreme zenith point. So maximum amenities of life under the concerning conditions should be guaranteed and they should go on increasing. We should communicate this idea to the masses and encourage them to help us in our noble mission. Whenever we are thinking of implementing a theory we should feel that we are living in the present, then we should implement the theory. Suppose there is a bright lamp. Hundreds and thousands of insects will rush towards it and get burnt. Similarly, communism was like a bright lamp. Marxists built castles in the air. They propagated many tall talks but they never thought about the practical application of their socio-economic approach. They killed many innocent people and sent countless others to concentration camps in the name of so-called ideology. Stalin killed hundreds of thousands of people instead of helping them by providing amenities for all. In the name of doing good for the masses he killed so many people. This is not humanism. Today people have kicked communism out. In China the people recently demanded `common human liberty'. That was considered an offence, so they were crushed. Do not people have every right to demand common human liberty? Whatever is feasible and practical has been said in PROUT. Marxism built castles in the air and encouraged the people to dream a meaningless dream. PROUT has not done this nor will PROUT do it. PROUT will do that which is feasible and practical. If the common people and the talented people are treated as the same, the capable people will not be encouraged to develop their higher potentiality. This is the reason why the brain drain is happening in India and third world countries. When talented people leave poorer countries, they leave it for good. Providing special amenities for those with special capabilities will stop the brain drain. PROUT's approach is to guarantee the minimum requirements for all, guarantee maximum amenities for all and guarantee special amenities for people with special capabilities. This approach will ensure ever increasing acceleration in the socio-economic sphere. The question of retardation does not arise; even the question of maintaining speed does not arise. There must be acceleration. Acceleration is the spirit of life, the spirit of existence, the spirit of the existential faculty. One may not be a genius, one may simply be a member of the ordinary public, and not properly accepted or respected by all, but even then one will get the minimum requirements and maximum amenities suitable in an ever increasing manner according to the concerning environmental conditions, according to the demands of the day. So what is the significance of this new approach? 1) Minimum requirements are to be guaranteed to all. 2) Special amenities are to be guaranteed to capable people. Special amenities are for people of special calibre as per the environmental condition of the particular age. 3) Maximum amenities are to be guaranteed to all suitably, even to those who have no special qualities -- to the common person of common calibre. Maximum amenities are to be guaranteed to all as per environmental conditions. These amenities are for those of ordinary calibre or the common people, the so-called downtrodden humanity. 4) All of these three are never ending processes and they will go on increasing according to the collective potentialities. This appendix to our philosophy may be small, but it is of a progressive nature and a progressive character. It has a far reaching effect for the future. I hope you will realise its impact and all its potentialities. P R Sarkar 13 October 1989 --- SOCIAL WEALTH We should not forget even for a moment that this whole animate world is a large family in which nature has not assigned any property to any particular individual. Individual ownership has been created by selfish opportunists so that they might take advantage of the defects of this system in order to grow fatter in a parasitic way. When the whole property of this universe has been inherited by all creatures, how then can there be any justification for a system in which someone receives a flow of huge excess, while others die for lack of a handful of grain? (Problem of the Day, 2) The aspiration to become rich by exploiting others is a sort of mental malady. In fact, if the eternal hunger of the human soul does not find the real path leading to mental and spiritual wealth, it becomes engaged in the work of depriving other of their rights; it robs them of their material resources. If any member of a family seizes food from a store by application of mental or physical force, that person certainly becomes the cause of misery to others. Similar is the case when a capitalist says, "We have seized wealth by intelligence and labour. If others have mental and physical potentialities they may also do it. Who objects to it?" They do not want to realize that the volume of commodities is limited whereas requirements are common to all. In most spheres, abundance for one individual takes the bread out of the mouths of others. It is a mental ailment not to understand this common necessity. (Problem of the Day, 7) But the people afflicted with this malady are also members of this vast human family and consequently, they are our brothers and sisters. Therefore, they will have to be cured of this disease either through humanitarian appeals or pressure of circumstances. It will be a great crime even to think of their destruction. (Problem of the Day, 7) It must always be remembered that the value of money lies in its use. If more money is accumulated than is necessary, it becomes valueless for lack of use. The money you keep idle and valueless makes you responsible for the injustice done to the hungry and the naked. Your valueless hoard shall have to be made valuable by providing opportunities for others' use. (Human Society I, 63) The correct spiritual practice does not teach forsaking the world. It teaches the right and correct use of all property, crude or subtle. (Supreme Expression II, 69) Let everyone enjoy as much as they like on the subtle mental plane. Let everyone possess as much mental and spiritual wealth as possible. But individual hoarding of mundane resources and wealth must be stopped, even by force if necessary. Really speaking, both physical and mental cravings are born of mental hunger. It is certainly possible to transform the craving for physical enjoyment into intellectual hunger by channeling it toward a different goal through proper education. Human society today is badly in need of such education. (Human Society I, 75) The availability of the minimum essentials of life plays a vital part not only in achieving a world family but also in the development of the personality. This problem should be tackled on a world-wide basis. Every human being must be guaranteed certain minimum requirements. The availability of food, clothing, medical assistance, education and housing should be arranged, so that human beings may be able to utilize their surplus energy in subtler pursuits - energy which until now has been engaged in procuring the essentials of life. To fulfill the above responsibilities, sufficient purchasing capacity should be created. If the necessities are guaranteed without demanding any personal skill or labor, the individual may develop the psychology of idleness. (Idea and Ideology, 94) The minimum requirements of every person are the same, but diversity is also the nature of creation. Special amenities should therefore be provided, so that diversities in skill and intelligence may be fully utilized, and talent is encouraged to contribute its best for human development. It will thus be necessary to arrange for some special remunerations to provide special amenities according to the age/era and time. But at the same time, there should be a constant effort to reduce the gap between the amount of special amenities and the minimum requirements of the average individual. This never-ending effort of proper economic adjustment must ceaselessly continue, fostering the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of humanity and the development of a cosmic sentiment for a world family. (Idea and Ideology, 95) In such a socio-economic program, human beings have full liberty in the spiritual and mental spheres. This is possible because the spiritual and psychic entities for which human beings can aspire are themselves unlimited, and one person's progress in this sphere does not hamper the progress of others in their quests. But the supply in the physical sphere is limited, and thus any effort for disproportionate or unrestricted acquisition of physical objects may create a vast majority of "have nots." This hampers the development of the total personality of humanity. So individual liberty must not exceed established limits in the physical sphere. At the same time it must not be so drastically curtailed that a human being's spiritual, mental and physical growth is hindered. (Idea and Ideology, 95) Ours is a subjective approach and an objective adjustment - the happy blending between objective world and subjective goal (realisation, expansion of mind, etc). While moving towards the subjective goal, you must maintain adjustment with the objective world. There is no other alternative. When the human society is ensconsed in this supreme idea, in the very near future it will become more constructive, with proper planning. Humanity of the entire universe will unite, and we are anxiously waiting for that happy moment. (Discourse in Caracas, Venezuela, 1979) Every human being must be guaranteed the minimum physical requirements of life; every human being must get scope for the full exploitation/utilisation of his or her psychic potentiality; every human being should have opportunity attain absolute truth; and endowed with all the glories and achievements of the world, to march toward the Absolute. In and through this movement, humanity should be made conscious of the purpose and meaning of life. (Great Universe, 234) Thus the correct social philosophy advocates the development of the integrated personality of the individual and also the establishment of a world fraternity by inculcating a cosmic sentiment in human psychology. This path advocates progressive utilization of the mundane and supramundane factors of the cosmos. Society needs an impetus for life, vigor and progress and for this enlightened people will advocate the "Progressive Utilization Theory" (PROUT) which calls for progressive utilization of all factors of the universe. Those who support these principles may be called Proutists. (Idea and Ideology, 96)