‘I think, therefore I am’, wrote Rene Descartes in 1637. This assertion was the foundational principle of his philosophy. He highlighted through this famous remark that even if you doubt everything, the fact that you are possessed with the capability of doubting or thinking confirms your ownself or consciousness.

He was establishing his idea that humans are a thinking entity. It is only when you think, can you come up with ideas, new, reformed or even altered. The best way to arrive at new ideas is to challenge the status quo. The acceptance of old order will lead to stagnation of thought and consequently in action. The validity of existing order must be challenged.

I can become only that which I think I can grow into. Now, if we apply this very principle to a nation, then, it is the people who would decide what their nation should be like. Ralph Waldo Emerson supported the idea when he remarked, ‘you become what you think about all day long’. This was followed up with a remarkable crafting of words, ‘the ancestor of every action is a thought’. Our inner beliefs, value system and ingrained orientation over a period of time go towards in-making and development of character. The sum total of character of the society ultimately impacts the destiny of the individual constituent as well as the entire society.

We essentially therefore become what we think. The mind, said Emerson, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions. We are all blessed with ability to think — and for the 78 odd years, we have been thinking (convoluted mostly). Our problems emerge from not being able to translate ideas into actions. Unanimity of purpose has also been an impeding factor — coupled with the worst malaise of non- implementation, accompanied by procrastination and stubborn inertia.

We have swung from Free Enterprise to State Control; from promotion of entrepreneurship to directed economic activity and then taking a full circle , we are all now active subscribers of the concept of privatisation. While, it is important to promote private sector, but to do it because public sector enterprises have become ‘white elephants’ due to state ownership, is to portray an attitude of turning away from the problem.

In these columns for many years, I have invited attention of readers to the fact that........

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