I read these excerpts from Chanakya Neethi on the web and thought it worthwhile to share with you. I have done some editing but have not compromised on the contents. Of course whatever written inside the brackets are my thoughts.
Society is a complex and dynamic system changing constantly leaving those people behind who say no to change. Broadly speaking, Chanakya dreamt of a country reaching the following levels of development in terms of ideologies and social and economic development:
A self sufficient economy which is not dependent on foreign trade. (This may sound strange in the era of gloabalization. But, what he was implying was that we should be able to control our destiny. Too much of integration with global economy will end in us losing our sovereignty. The current global crisis is a pointer in that direction. We are being punished for someone else's follies. Also, the over dependance on imported crude has played havoc with our economy)
An egalitarian society where there are equal opportunities for all. (The ultimate aim of any society. Hence, no comments)
Establishment of new colonies for the augmentation of resources. He also advocated the development of the already annexed colonies. His imperialistic views can be interpreted as the development of natural and man made resources. (This is a bit tricky in today's world. We need to look at leveraging the core competencies of other countries to augment ours. We need not annex these countries physically, but can bind them up economically, as US does)
The state should take care of agriculture at all times. Government machinery should be directed towards the implementation of projects aimed at supporting and nurturing the various processes; beginning from sowing of seeds to harvest. (This is quite interesting. Though the main focus is to ensure food security, it also means the need for Government to support non value added farming activity, to discourage people from moving away to other sectors. Very vital from India's view point)
The cities would act as giant markets increasing the revenue of the state. Internal trade more important to than external trade. At each point of the entry of goods, a minimal amount of tax should be collected. The state should collect taxes at a bare minimum level, so that there is no chance of tax evasion. (So true. It still baffles me why we are having so many check posts on the State borders. The tax system is so complex that people avoid paying tax just because, it is not logically affordable or becuase since the taxes are high, the incentive to evade tax is also high. If the tax is 4%, I am sure every one will not hesitate to pay it, whereby increasing the collection through sheer volume. Better to have a low tax, high collection regime than a high tax, low collection regime)
