Job Creation

“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

There has been much focus lately on the issue of jobs. Actually this is a perennial issue, as all political campaigns try to drive home the importance of economic development and the creation of “good paying jobs” for the citizens. The promises from the politicians are always the same. “I will create such and such number of jobs. I will jumpstart the economy today.” Some politicians now even take to claiming that they can save x number of jobs and thereby keep companies in business. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that jobs actually come about through desire, something which inherently exists inside of every living entity. The system of prescribed work is known as karma and it takes care of providing full employment for everyone. Lord Krishna, or God, is the supreme governor of this world, including the system of karma, so if anyone deserves thanks for creating jobs, it’s Him.

To give us a clearer understanding of this concept, let us study how a job is created. This is where many of the politicians and economic analysts go wrong. They believe that government action, through either the modification of tax policy or the distribution of hand-outs to various companies, creates or saves jobs. If we look at how jobs are initially created, we see that the government has little to no role. To understand job creation, we have to remove ourselves from the current political and economic situations. Let’s pretend that we are in a brand new country, city, or state which doesn’t have any existing jobs. People have just settled in to live in the area. In any society, there will be people who will desire to further their economic condition. The Sanskrit term for economic development is artha. Along with dharma and kama, artha is considered one of the highest material rewards that one can receive.

To act out their desire for economic development, a person may decide to start a business. This business will sell a particular product, though businesses can actually sell anything, from money to services. The business owner wants to sell his product for a profit, meaning that the cost incurred to a customer to buy the product will be more than the cost incurred to the business owner to create the product. This is the simplest form of business, and it is enough to generate a profit for the business owner. The actual nature of the product is not that important. In this example, let’s say that a land owner has produced an abundance of food and wants to sell the surplus for a profit. The business starts out fine, with modest profits coming in from a small number of sales. Issues arise, however, when the business owner wants to expand his business and sell more products. Now he needs a way to create more inventory, handle the demands of the customers, and manage the day-to-day affairs of the business. To help him meet these demands, the business owner will hire workers, i.e. he will create jobs.

Since the business owner’s primary objective is to turn a profit, he won’t want to pay his employees a salary. A salary, after all, will cut into the profit margins since it will increase the cost to operate the business, thereby increasing the cost to produce the products that the business sells. Workers don’t come cheap though. No one will be willing to work hard for the businessman without receiving some sort of compensation in return. In this regard, we see that the employee is also after a type of profit, i.e. a return on the investment of the time and energy they give to the employer.

Since people won’t work for free, the businessman decides to pay his employees. Now, will this salary be high or low? Well, the businessman will only pay his employees just enough to get them to work. Again, his central focus is to turn a profit, so he wants to limit his expenses as much as possible. This is where some people might be turned off. “So he basically wants to exploit his workers? He wants to hoard as much of the profits for himself and pay his workers as little as possible? This is evil.” This may seem like a sinister plot on the part of the businessman, but he is just doing his job. The business only came into being due to the desire to turn a profit.

If we stopped at this point, we’d see that the wages paid to the employees would be very little. Workers would be exploited and the businessman would reap windfall profits. There is a catch however. This businessman is not the only person who gets to act out his desire for economic development. We are all living entities after all, meaning we all have an equal right to pursue our personal interests. What follows is that another businessman, seeing the profit made by the first businessman, decides to start his own business. Again, he will have to hire workers. In order to lure people to his company, this businessman will decide to pay his workers more than what the other company is paying. Now people start to get “good-paying” jobs.

Based on this example, we see that competition is the driving force behind economic improvement. Not only is there competition for workers, but there is competition for sales. This means that companies will constantly work harder to innovate and create new and better products that people will want to buy. As long as there is a desire for profit, and competition to achieve that profit, jobs will always be available. In this whole scenario, we haven’t once discussed the issue of the government or the idea of a central planner making moral judgments as to whether someone is earning too much money or not paying enough in salaries. Not a single congressman, governor, or president has intervened to this point.

Does this mean that government should lay off and not bother anyone? Actually government does have an important role in all of this. When a businessman hires a worker, there is an inherent contract that is agreed to. The worker will provide a fixed number of hours of labor and the businessman agrees to provide compensation for that work. If either party breaks their end of the deal, the government certainly should intervene and ensure that the original contract is being followed. The same issue holds true with sales, for a company must be held to account if it takes money from customers and does not deliver the promised goods. The government must ensure that force does not play a role in any of these transactions. A worker should never be forced to work anywhere, a customer should never be forced to buy a product or service, nor should a business be required to sell their product to anyone.

Now let’s analyze the situation today. Governments certainly go far beyond their prescribed duties when it comes to regulating businesses. What happens today is that business leaders spend millions of dollars lobbying political candidates so that they will grant favors to them. A person need only look at the Federal tax code in the United States to see the results of such lobbying. There are all sorts of tax breaks for various activities. The Federal budget is also filled with hundreds of earmarks designed to help certain businesses. In a fair system, no business would be favored over another because no one person’s desires are any more valuable than another’s.

Aside from handing out corporate welfare, governments tackle the issue of fairness. They say that people deserve a “decent, living wage”. Based on the principles of economics as described above, we see that wages have nothing to do with “fairness” or a person’s living conditions. A wage is an agreement between an employer and an employee. An employee agrees to do a certain amount of work and the employer agrees to pay a certain amount for the performance of said work. Arbitrary fairness has nothing to do with it, for both parties are benefitted in a voluntary transaction.  If there was no benefit to be gained, neither party would enter into the agreement.

Government leaders will always try to tackle the jobs issue by implementing flawed strategies, but we see that there is actually no need for their intervention. Jobs are created out of desire. The Vedas tell us that this desire exists naturally, for that is how the material world operates. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus He is the creator of the world that we live in. This world is intended to act as a sort of playground for the living entities who want to imitate God. This playground has a set of governing rules known as the laws of karma. Fruitive activity, or plain work, is known as karma, and since we all have an equal right to perform karma, there must be a system of fairness maintained that ensures that no one person’s desires are favored over another’s.

The beautiful system of economics, including how it deals with desire and competition, was created by Lord Krishna so as to help the living entities achieve God consciousness. This may seem strange because how can economic development relate to religion? The Vedas tell us that the aim of human life is to understand that God is the original proprietor of everything, our dear friend, and the supreme object of pleasure. As living entities, we require the bare necessities of life (food, water, clothing, and shelter) in order to maintain our lives. Economics is the system that seeks to meet the demands of the body. If a person has a stable occupation, they hopefully will be at peace and thus have more time for cultivating spiritual knowledge.

The Vedas tell us that we can achieve perfection in life by dedicating all of our activities to God. This discipline is known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. To this end, we see that even by performing our occupational duties, we can serve the Supreme Lord. How do we do this? First, we must regularly chant the Lord’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Then we should sacrifice our hard-earned money to the Lord. This can be done by purchasing nice flowers to offer to His deity, preparing nice food to be offered and eaten, and also by donating money to construct temples, etc. In this way, we can make the most out of our economic condition.

“Since the Lord is the supreme enjoyer of everything in or outside the universe, it is happiness to be employed by Him. Once engaged in the supreme governmental service of the Lord, no living being wishes to be relieved from the engagement.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.11.33 Purport)

Krishna is the ultimate job creator. Not only did He create the system of karma for the human beings, but He made sure to provide enough food, water, and shelter for the animal kingdom. Birds, aquatics, mammals, etc. don’t require any planning commissions or government bailouts. All of their necessities are provided by nature, which is merely a manifestation of one of Krishna’s energies. By the same token, we human beings can have all of our needs taken care of simply by serving the Supreme Lord. Governments can promise that they will create or maintain jobs, but no one can create desire. That already exists inside of us. At most, a government can create an environment where our desires can be more easily acted upon, but even then, life doesn’t stop once we have a good job. We need to go one step further by using our stable lifestyle to increase our attachment to God. If we make Krishna the supreme object of our desire, we can be guaranteed of a permanent job in the spiritual sky as His loving servant.

Falling On Hard Times

"One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.” (Rishabhadeva, Shrimad Bhagavatam 5.5.18)

The U.S. economy has fallen on hard times lately. The gross domestic product, GDP, has been shrinking instead of growing. The unemployment rate is very high and the stock market has completely tanked since last fall. This has caused the government to feverishly adopt new plans as a means of stimulating the economy.

The Obama administration came up with a plan along with the help of the Congress. A massive spending bill consisting of thousand of earmarks, the proponents said this would give the economy the jumpstart that it needed. Another similar bill was also passed last year by the Bush administration. Both bills have proved to do little to nothing to stimulate the economy.

“’This recession might linger for years,’ President Barack Obama wrote in a Feb. 8 Washington Post op-ed. ‘Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Every day, our economy gets sicker.’ This was the justification for haste in passing Obama’s stimulus package. Now, six months later, with just 10 percent of the $787 billion package spent, ordinary Americans don’t think it’s working.

Fifty-seven percent told the Gallup organization that the package has had no effect or has made the economy worse. Eighty-one percent believe that it has not benefitted them personally in the short run and 70 percent believe it will not benefit them in the long run. This opinion is not without factual basis. Unemployment reached 9.5 percent in June, with nearly 3 million jobs lost since Obama’s op-ed. In July, it dipped to 9.4 percent, not because more jobs had been created, but because only 242,000 jobs were lost and some 400,000 individuals stopped looking for work and ceased to count as ‘unemployed.’” (Editorial, San Francisco Examiner, Aug 18, 2009)

Taking a close look at how economics works, one can understand the flaw in such proposals. Our economic system is considered to be a free market one. Goods and services are exchanged peaceably and voluntarily between people along with a respect for property rights and the rule of law. Government’s role in this system is to ensure that the exchanges are in fact voluntary, and that contracts and agreements are honored. If the market is left on its own, with government playing its minimal role, growth will occur naturally through the forces of competition. This has proved to be the case time and time again throughout the country’s history. From 1980 to 2001, the government did little to stimulate economic activity in the form of subsidies or other hand outs, and the result was that the U.S. economy grew at an unprecedented rate. Prior to that, recessions were very common, with GDP rates fluctuating up and down in the 1970s.

“Just as one who cuts off the udders of a cow with the hope of getting milk never acquires it, so also a state in which taxes are levied inappropriately, thus harassing the subjects, does not prosper.” (Mahabharata, 12.71.16)

According to the Vedas, the material world is made up of three gunas or modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. The free market system is the embodiment of the mode of passion. People, through their buying and selling habits, are striving for fruitive results. The stock market is a great example of this; traders frantically buying and selling, all in hopes of turning a profit. When people are left to compete with one another, the mode of passion kicks in and economic circumstances improve as a result.

This isn’t a new idea. According the Mahabharata, a book written about five thousand years ago, a king should make sure that taxes are low for vaishyas, the mercantile class of people. The reason for this is that if taxes are high, the producers will have no incentive to produce. That will mean less money coming in to the treasury. Not only should taxes be low, but the treasury should spend money wisely and for legitimate purposes.

“The treasury of a king is meant for the protection of the army, his subjects and of righteousness (Dharma). If it is used for these purposes, it will prove beneficial. On the other hand, if the treasury is misused, it will prove disastrous. Should the king use the royal treasury for his wife and children and to fulfill his own sensual pursuits, it will bring him unhappiness and he will attain hell.” (Shukraniti 4.2.3-5, taken from Purpose and Function of Government According to Mahabharata)

Contrast this with today’s leaders and their policies. The recent stimulus packages are nothing more than the taking of money from one group of people, the producers, and transferring it to another group, the non-producers. Such a plan is destined to fail.

So why the sudden downturn in the economy? As with any system based on the mode of passion, the health of an economy will always go through ups and downs. The same way that some business fail and others succeed, the economy is not guaranteed to grow every quarter of every year. Though things look bleak now, objectively speaking, the standard of life in America has never been better. Even with a bad economy, every material comfort is at our fingertips. Keeping this mind, the government should shift its focus to more important areas. According to the Vedas, a person should not be a king or a leader unless he can deliver his dependents from the cycle of birth and death. Whether the economy is good or bad, the soul is eternal. If we do not train ourselves to always be thinking about God, then we will be forced to accept another body after this life. A government’s primary duty should be to elevate people to the mode of goodness by providing them spiritual guidance. The opportunity today is great since such knowledge is almost completely absent in society.

The best spiritual education in this age comes from chanting the holy names of God, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” This is the beginning of spiritual life and it costs nothing. Chanting pays dividends higher than any stock or government stimulus plan. If our consciousness is always linked with the Supreme Lord, then nothing, including a recession, can hurt us.

The Lord of Earth

“It is accepted that the state is the representative of God. Therefore the state’s first business is to make citizens God-conscious. That is the state’s first business. Any state who is neglecting this duty, he immediately becomes unqualified to hold the state office, either he may be president or the king.” (Shrila Prabhupada)

A hot topic in the news a few months back was the collapse of the housing market. Five or six years ago, the government encouraged people to buy homes instead of just renting apartments. Even if people couldn’t afford to buy a new house, the government offered incentives to allow them to “live the American dream.” Congress forced regulated mortgage companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lend money to people who weren’t qualified to receive the loans. The motive behind the move was to increase fairness and provide affordable housing. While their intentions may have been noble, the result was a complete collapse of the banking industry due to the nonpayment of these loans.

Beginning with the last president and continuing with the new one, the government’s policy is now to bail out these ailing banks by providing them money for their sustainability. As part of the process, the government is subsidizing the failed mortgages for the people who couldn’t afford to pay them. A well known stock trader, Rick Santelli, lashed out at the president on cable television.

“The government is promoting bad behavior!  How this, president and new administration, why didn’t you put up a website to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages or would we like to at least buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and give ‘em to people that might have a chance to actually prosper down the road and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water.  This is America!  How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills?  Raise their hand.  (boos) President Obama, are you listening?”

News quickly spread about Santelli’s rant, and word finally reached the Obama Administration. The president’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters that the president and others were laughing at Santelli’s anger and rage. Gibbs went on to say, “I think we left a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader, that it was good for Main Street.  I think the verdict is in on that."

Herein lies the flaw with today’s government and society in general. Rick Santelli and other derivatives traders are citizens just like everybody else. They have an equal right to the protections afforded by government. Most of today’s leaders, including President Obama, look at society in groups. They pit classes of people against each other by favoring one group at the expense of another. The law-abiding tax payers of the country did nothing wrong, and they have a legitimate gripe when they see their tax dollars transferred to people who made bad decisions.

According to Vedic philosophy, one should not be a king, a spiritual master, or a father, unless they can release their dependents from the cycle of birth and death. A leader’s job is to provide protection to all the people, and to impart spiritual knowledge on them. Protection should be provided to all the citizens equally, without favoring anyone. During Vedic times, the brahmanas were the only group that enjoyed preferential treatment. The priestly class of men were involved in pious activity, studying the Vedas, and performing sacrifices for the benefit of society as a whole. Voluntarily accepting an austere lifestyle, the kings would regularly give in charity to them, for a society requires an intelligentsia which can provide spiritual guidance. Aside from the brahmanas, a leader’s role is to administer justice fairly and equally.

"Obliged we have been, since good Rama capable of reading character, will be the lord of earth, and our protector. He is of a heart devoid of arrogance, and is learned, and righteous-souled, and affectionate to his brothers. Raghava loves us even as he does his own brothers." (citizens of Ayodhya, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Sec 6)

Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Krishna during the Treta Yuga, was set to be installed as the new king of Ayodhya by His father Maharaja Dashratha. The citizens of the town heard about this news and were greatly excited. They all loved Rama very much and they knew that He cared for everyone equally. A good leader provides protection for everyone and doesn’t play favorites. Since He was God Himself, He had perfect qualifications for becoming a monarch. Lord Rama specifically incarnated to show us the proper path of dharma, and to bestow His mercy upon all the people of the world.

Not only Rama, but all the kings descending from Maharaja Ikshvaku exhibited similar behavior. A leader’s duty is to create an atmosphere conducive to the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. Leaders today are themselves karmis, so they view artha, or economic development, as the primary mission in life. According to Vedic injunctions, the king, or leader of a country, is God’s representative in matters of administering justice and providing protection. Whether someone owns their own home, rents, or lives with family members, they are all equally entitled to the mercy of the Lord delivered through His representatives.

Lord Rama would regularly hold town hall meetings where people could question Him directly. No one was laughed at, and all the people were treated fairly. They knew He loved all of them, and they were loyal to Him in return. Today’s leaders would be well advised to learn from God’s example.

Depend on Krishna

President Obama recently held a town hall meeting to discuss the details of the new economic stimulus plan intended to jumpstart the economy. The meeting itself was very interesting from the standpoint of observing the questions that were asked of the president. Most notably, three questions from three different Obama supporters stood out.

The first supporter told the president that she was in need of a new kitchen and car, and that the government had been slow in meeting her requests. In tears, she begged the president to help expedite the matter. Another supporter had recently lost his job and asked Obama why unemployment insurance doesn’t pay out at the same rate as his previous job’s salary. A third supporter explained that he had been working at McDonalds for the past four and half years and couldn’t find another job. He wanted to know what Obama was going to do to help him find a higher paying job.

Now all these people seemed sincere and Obama was very kind in his responses to them. However, these questions reveal a deeper problem in society. Too many have become dependent on government for their happiness. For the government to provide the needs of one citizen, it invariably must take from another citizen. According to Vedic philosophy, one should be satisfied with one’s allotted possessions and should not covet the property of others. Also, one is taught to live a simple life and to be as self-sufficient as possible, so that one can spend the remainder of his or her time lovingly serving God.

For proper government, the Vedas tell us that a king should indeed treat his citizens as his dependents and is responsible for their happiness. However, during the Vedic times, kings were very pious and strictly adhering to the council of their royal priests, or brahmanas. The king’s main duty was to make sure that their citizens would reach the ultimate spiritual goal of life and break out of the cycle of birth and death.

Contrast that with today’s style of democratic government, and you will see that today’s leaders aren’t versed in any type of spiritual understanding, nor do they look for advice from brahamanas. Though many are well intentioned, most politicians are living on the material platform of life, with the belief that sense gratification is the highest achievement. As a result, they pursue policies designed to increase sense gratification for their citizens. Their constituents are also interested in sense gratification, and thus become dependent on the government to supply their necessities, or what they view as necessities.

By observing nature, we can understand that God alone supplies us with what we need. The birds, bees, fish, and all other animals have no problem finding food or shelter. They don’t look to any politician to supply their needs, for God automatically takes care of that. Knowing this, we should look to God for our happiness. If we surrender to Him, He won’t necessarily give us what we want, but He’ll give us what need, namely devotion to Him.

During Lord Rama’s time on earth, he was once visited by his devotee, Narada Muni. In a previous incident, Narada had asked for something from the Lord and the Lord did not grant his wish. Narada was very angry about it at the time, and he later asked Lord Rama about that. Lord Rama explained to Him that “For my devotees, I give them what is right for them and not necessarily what they ask of Me.”

So in these hard times, we need only look to Lord Krishna to help us. Remembering Him at all times will provide us more peace and prosperity than any politician ever could.

 

Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering Krishna prasadam to one and all.

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