The science of economics tells us that society’s resources are scarce, and we should use them with extreme care to make sure we do not waste them. The goal of every human action is to fulfill as many needs as possible using those scarce resources.
There are two major economic systems that any economy can choose to use for the efficient use of its scarce resources: 1) capitalism 2) socialism. Only one of these systems works efficiently: that system is capitalism. Capitalism is defined as a system where the means of production are privately owned. Because only an individual knows what he requires, only he is in a position to use resources according to his priorities. As Milton Friedman said, we better know how to use our money.
Against this, socialism is a system where the means of production are owned by the government, i.e., the state officials like politicians and bureaucrats. When these people are in charge of society’s resources, their priorities rarely meet with the priorities of an individual citizen. As Friedman said, when someone uses someone else’s money on someone else they are least concerned about how much money they are spending and what value that someone is deriving from that spending. I know how to use my money, and not some politician sitting in New Delhi or Gandhinagar. Politician and bureaucrats’ priorities are not my priorities.
A classic example of how socialism wastes society’s resources is how the Modi government is functioning in India right now. I am not saying the past governments didn’t waste resources, but Modi is quite unique in this regard. Modi’s priorities are completely different from the priorities of ordinary Indians. Let’s list down a few examples.
Sending moon, Mars, space missions when millions go hungry daily
According to World Global Hunger Index 2024, India is ranked 105 out of total 127 countries with a GHI score of 27.3 which is categorized as severe hunger and malnutrition. Approximately 190 million people go hungry daily. Some 163 million people do not have access to clean safe drinking water. World’s top most polluted cities are in India. In such dire circumstances where ordinary Indians are deprived of the most basic necessities of life, Modi government is busy spending on moon, Mars, and sponsored space missions.
Now, many defenders of the state will say that these expenses are necessary for progress etc., but are they? And what kind of progress will leave millions of people poor, hungry, and destitute? Are necessities of life not part of progress? Why is the government searching for water on the moon when it cannot properly utilize water available in India? When the government cannot take care of life in India, what’s the point of searching for life on the moon or mars? What is the use of spending millions of dollars on Mr. Shukla’s space flight or to send humans in space?
Foreign trips for Modi when foreign relations are in tatters
I asked AI Perplexity about Prime Minister Modi’s foreign trips and its total cost. This was the answer:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made approximately 90 international trips since taking office in May 2014, visiting 78 countries as of July 2025.
The estimated total expenditure on these foreign visits is about ₹2,550 crore (₹25.5 billion) between May 2014 and December 2024. This includes costs for chartered flights, aircraft maintenance, security, and delegations.
What is the end result of these trips and spending? Nothing. Forget about having better ties with foreign Western powers, Modi government cannot even maintain better relations with its neighbors. Constant wars with Pakistan, bitter ties with Bangladesh, Nepal grabbing its land, big dispute even with smaller countries like the Maldives, and always tense borders with China are not signs of a better foreign relations or diplomacy. In the recent war with Pakistan not a single country stood with India. Modi has spoiled relations with everyone.
Even while he is spending millions touring the whole world, he has no time to visit his own state of Manipur where communal violence is raging since more than a year.
Research, Development, and Innovation scheme for private sector
Modi government recently approved a research and development scheme worth US$ 11.68 billion (Rs. 1,00,000 crore) for the private sector. Without going into a detailed discussion of why government funding for scientific research and development is a waste of resources (readers can refer to this work for a detailed argument), again the question is of priorities. When millions of people are poor and hungry, government spending crores of rupees on private sector research is pure boondoggle.
I can go on discussing more such misplaced priorities of Modi government, but I guess I made my point.
In economic technical terms the issue I discussed is known as the Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem. One of the crucial implications of this theorem that, and I paraphrase, in a democratic system of voting it is impossible to match people’s preferences with the rulers. It is always the leader’s preferences that are imposed on the ruled plebs.
One of the core implications of Arrow’s impossibility theorem is that, if you insist on all the other fairness criteria (unrestricted domain, Pareto efficiency, and independence of irrelevant alternatives), then the only possible social welfare function is a dictatorship—meaning that the group’s preferences always mirror those of a single individual, regardless of what others want. In other words, only the dictator’s preferences are fulfilled under these conditions. (source)
We see this dictatorship in India today under Modi regime where only Modi’s wishes are priorities. It is his “Mann ki Baat” that is important. No one listens to the wishes of people. Modi is not accountable to anyone. He does what he wants to because he can.
