Et tu Chomsky!

The Marxists have traditionally played host to Professor Noam Chomsky on his visits to Kerala. His recent trip was no exception. And since CPI(M) has conventionally believed in the ‘revolution is not a tea party’ maxim, they gave receptions a go-by and stuck to organising theoretical sessions. At one such an event, a renegade from the crowd elicited the scholar’s view about the erstwhile socialist El Dorado, the Soviet Union.

In typical fashion, Chomsky replied that the US imperialists, being the enemies of socialism, had been maligning the Soviet Union in collaboration with the American media — all to tarnish the image of socialism in the eyes of the world. Not surprisingly, this piece of wisdom was greeted with thunderous applause from the assembled cadres. So, Chomsky graciously waited for the cheering to die down before he proceeded to finish his statement: that Soviet-style socialism was also not the real socialism! And as if on cue, many of those seated on the dais turned red in the face.

Faith no more
The Prime Minister’s heroic target of eight per cent GDP growth rate for the Tenth Plan period seems to have few takers even among his own people. Initially, the improbability of achieving this growth figure used to be discussed in hushed whispers in the thick-walled rooms of Yojana Bhavan. Now, this lack of faith has spilled on to paper and in to the reports of those who’re working out the logistics of the entire exercise.

Which is why the Planning Commission working group on savings for the Tenth Plan has come up with two sets of saving projections — one based on the PM’s target of eight per cent, and the other made on the basis of a lower but more realistic target of 6.5 per cent. More interestingly, projections based on the 8 per cent target have been referred to as the “alternative scenario”. Eavesdropper wonders why the group went to the trouble of making projections based on an unrealistic target in the first place. Then again, may be it didn’t have an “alternative”!