F-ed Up Agitprop

Look at that - I'm angry! That's new!

Listen, I don't like to wade into politics OK? I am not one to shy from a debate or (even better) from ranting, but I live a very comfortable, even blase existence... until it ran into this completely egg-headed bit of propaganda released, apparently, by the government of my nation.

It's just... stupid, and I went on to rant about it on a social network when a friend shared it. What follows therefore is not cogent thought (ahem) but a rant. Unfiltered, uncensored. Maybe it's a product of the fact that I had a long day - but I'm ticked off, and just couldn't help but write this up...


So this whole hullabaloo started with the FDI announcement. The government of India is opening up Foreign Direct Investment in the Retail sector. That's long-hand for opening the nation up to Walmart and Ikea. Which in and of itself is a stupid thing to do, in my not quite humble opinion. Why?


The "F" part of FDI is immaterial. I don't particularly care about swadeshi vs videshi etc. What I worry about in particular however, is the corporatization and commoditization of the Retail sector, and the known destructive patterns introduced by Walmart, big box retailers like Ikea, and GM food from Monsanto. Let's be honest, those are the three brands we're talking about here.

Let me unfold all the loaded terms I used in order...

Corporatization - Every urban Indian remembers the "sabziwala". Our moms used to haggle with these guys carting fresh veggies straight from a farm to our doors. There was at most 1 layer of middle-man between us and fresh produce. The entry of Reliance and Godrej and ABG other Indian giants has eliminated this phenomenon already. That is bad because instead of fresh organic veggies sourced locally we get only factory farmed stuff sourced from faraway locations and therefore made available to us after a great delay (sometimes frozen).

This is also bad because it encourages the sale of standard fare and destroys local varietals of veggies. As Maharashtrians, when was the last time you ate "traditional" fare like Tandulja and Son-keli? India had thousands of varietals of rice - just RICE - grown in the nation before the so called "Green revolution". Today, there are probably tens left.

Walmart will never stock up on slightly spotty looking, smaller banana varietals, will they? No - they prefer the standard sized, unstained, super yellow Brazilian bananas that have already replaced the vast majority of the banana crop in India. Our biodiversity is being replaced with monocultures and we don't even realize it!

Farmers are incentivized by McDonalds to supply huge potatoes so they can be cut into the beautiful uniform fries McD loves to sell. But wait... those are Russet potatoes! What about the smaller sized potatoes mom uses to make dum-aloo? Nope, falling out of favor these days... But let's move on...

Commoditization - We've heard of the coal scam - wait'll you hear about the insane land grabs and water grabs that are also on. Land parcels are being SEZ-ized and water rights being sold to corporates (foreign or domestic, who cares?) at the cost of small farmers who own less that a few acres of land to support their livelihoods.

The traditional farming method for such small farmers (the vast majority of Indian farmers that is) was to grow multiple crops, rotate crops, and keep a portion of the produce to feed the family, and as seed for the next crop. Corporatization, commoditization and the availability of easy credit means farmers are encouraged to buy "standard" GM crops that produce "saleable" produce at great cost (and on credit). Except, the grain (for example) so grown is not fertile, and growing it in local conditions means heavy expenditure on fertilizers, water, and pesticides (all also provided on credit). The produce cannot be used as seed next year because Monsanto designed it to be infertile. If a crop fails because of a drought a year - maybe two years - if the soil left behind is sucked dry by the monoculture cash crop attempted on it, is it any wonder farmers have no recourse but suicide?

But no, our dear government says this is development! Progress!

Let's move to destructive patterns exhibited already by these retailers in the West. Walmart is well known to make people work for a pittance, and destroy communities. Enough has been written and filmed about this, so I shall not repeat it all.

However, mark my words - "mondha" markets that feature wholesale trade in foodgrains and other items across the nation will simply go kaput once these big retailers start buying up chunks of the nations' food supply and selling it on discount. Local markets for finished goods too (the "Laxmi Road" type places for Punekars/ Sultan Bazaar type places for Hyderabadis) are already under threat from the InOrbits and Shoppers Stops of the world. Imagine how Walmart will stir that pot!

Already a fast food epidemic has taken over India - ponder for a moment the public health implications of that in India, with our dysfunctional health system!

Ikea, seemingly isn't that bad... except you're talking about killing off the business of all those traditional artisans who have for generations made our furniture... we are talking about exchanging so called heritage/ boutique furniture for factory produced uniformity!

Finally, let's talk about those factories as a source of employment. In the age of mechanized and automated assembly lines, how much labour do they really need? If Reliance puts up a furniture factory on X acres of land, they may employ a certain number of labourers, but they almost certainly can't employ the farmer whose land the government gave away as a SEZ. No, that poor guy is screwed because he has no skills. The ratio is off too - I can provide stats if you're really interested on how displaced farmers per acre in cases where agro land was converted to SEZs far outstrip the actual employment generated by the industry set up there!

Like I said... don't trust the government's propaganda.

Whether FDI is "F" or not, it is certainly f-ed up! Because the problem is not Swadeshi vs Videshi, which the media will obsess about. The problem is Corporatization and Commoditization will destroy traditional ways of life. This is not progress, because the victims will never quite see the fruits of this progress... only us creamy layer mall shopping soda guzzling FB-ers will!

Because the only money makers this bill will let in are those that are in it to make a quick buck... at the cost of converting India into another uniform, tasteless, homogenized market.

/rant