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The Age
29-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
What if people just want better jobs, not more stuff
It's this huge improvement in our productiveness that's given us a standard of living many times better than it was 200 years ago. Our homes, our health, our food, our entertainments and our possessions are far better than they were. Loading What's worrying the great and the good is that this process of small annual improvement in our living standards seems to have stalled about a decade ago. They don't actually know why it's stalled, or whether the stoppage is temporary or permanent. But the people at the top of our economy are worried by the thought that, unless we do something, our standard of living may never go any higher. This thought appals them, and they assume it appals us just as much. We've got used to ever-rising living standards, and for this to stop would be disastrous. Well, maybe, maybe not. What no one seems to have observed is that this is a completely materialist view of how our lives could be better. Better goods, better services and a lot more of both. My guess is that, for the managerial class, more money to buy bigger and better stuff is what they most want. But I'm not sure if that's what the rest of us want – especially after we'd given some thought to the alternatives. If an ever-higher material living standard came free of charge, of course we'd all want it. But if it came at a cost – as it's likely to – we'd have to think harder about the price and what we'd have to give up to pay it. When the big business lobby groups argue that our productivity has stopped improving because their taxes are too high and the Labor government has introduced too many regulations controlling how they pay and treat their workers, sometimes I think what they're saying is: we could make you so much richer if only you'd let us make your working lives a misery. In a recent article for Project Syndicate, Dani Rodrik, a Harvard economist, argues that most working people probably want a good job more than higher pay. 'When people are asked about wellbeing and life satisfaction, the work they do ranks at the top, along with contributions to their community and family bonds,' he says. This is something economists keep forgetting. In their simple theory, work is a pain. And the only reason you do it is to get money to buy the stuff you want. The bad bit is work; the good bit is consumption. In truth, most of us get much of our identity, self-worth and satisfaction from our jobs. Some people hate their jobs, of course, but that's the point: they would be a lot happier if they could find a job they enjoyed. Loading Rodrik adds that jobs can be a source of pride, dignity and social recognition. It's clear that Australians hugely value having a secure job. One where they don't have to worry about where their next meal's coming from. Where they know they'll be able to keep up their mortgage payments. Where their job classification is permanent, not temporary. Good pay is nice, but work is about a lot more than pay. Psychologists tell us that job satisfaction is helped by having a degree of autonomy in the way you do your job. A more obvious need is a boss who treats you fairly and with respect. No one wants to work for an idiot who thinks they should treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen. I have no doubt that all workers want the pleasure of being loyal to their boss and their company. But they have to be receiving loyalty to give it back.
Sydney Morning Herald
29-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
What if people just want better jobs, not more stuff
It's this huge improvement in our productiveness that's given us a standard of living many times better than it was 200 years ago. Our homes, our health, our food, our entertainments and our possessions are far better than they were. Loading What's worrying the great and the good is that this process of small annual improvement in our living standards seems to have stalled about a decade ago. They don't actually know why it's stalled, or whether the stoppage is temporary or permanent. But the people at the top of our economy are worried by the thought that, unless we do something, our standard of living may never go any higher. This thought appals them, and they assume it appals us just as much. We've got used to ever-rising living standards, and for this to stop would be disastrous. Well, maybe, maybe not. What no one seems to have observed is that this is a completely materialist view of how our lives could be better. Better goods, better services and a lot more of both. My guess is that, for the managerial class, more money to buy bigger and better stuff is what they most want. But I'm not sure if that's what the rest of us want – especially after we'd given some thought to the alternatives. If an ever-higher material living standard came free of charge, of course we'd all want it. But if it came at a cost – as it's likely to – we'd have to think harder about the price and what we'd have to give up to pay it. When the big business lobby groups argue that our productivity has stopped improving because their taxes are too high and the Labor government has introduced too many regulations controlling how they pay and treat their workers, sometimes I think what they're saying is: we could make you so much richer if only you'd let us make your working lives a misery. In a recent article for Project Syndicate, Dani Rodrik, a Harvard economist, argues that most working people probably want a good job more than higher pay. 'When people are asked about wellbeing and life satisfaction, the work they do ranks at the top, along with contributions to their community and family bonds,' he says. This is something economists keep forgetting. In their simple theory, work is a pain. And the only reason you do it is to get money to buy the stuff you want. The bad bit is work; the good bit is consumption. In truth, most of us get much of our identity, self-worth and satisfaction from our jobs. Some people hate their jobs, of course, but that's the point: they would be a lot happier if they could find a job they enjoyed. Loading Rodrik adds that jobs can be a source of pride, dignity and social recognition. It's clear that Australians hugely value having a secure job. One where they don't have to worry about where their next meal's coming from. Where they know they'll be able to keep up their mortgage payments. Where their job classification is permanent, not temporary. Good pay is nice, but work is about a lot more than pay. Psychologists tell us that job satisfaction is helped by having a degree of autonomy in the way you do your job. A more obvious need is a boss who treats you fairly and with respect. No one wants to work for an idiot who thinks they should treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen. I have no doubt that all workers want the pleasure of being loyal to their boss and their company. But they have to be receiving loyalty to give it back.
NDTV
10-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Bird Becoming Parrot?" Congress' Dig At Shashi Tharoor After Emergency Article
New Delhi: Shashi Tharoor's article on the Emergency, which is the latest flashpoint between him and the Congress, has prompted a dig from a party colleague, who used an avian analogy to get his message across without naming anybody. The Emergency has become a hot-button issue in Indian politics, especially since the BJP-led government at the Centre began marking June 25 as 'Samvidhan Hatya Divas' to mark the day it was imposed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders have been speaking out against the Emergency, calling it the darkest period in Independent India's history and using it to attack the Congress. Eyebrows were, thus, raised when Mr Tharoor, who is the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, wrote an article on the Emergency in the media non-profit Project Syndicate and said the "excesses" during the period were "downplayed". The article also included criticism of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's son, Sanjay Gandhi, and the forced vasectomy campaigns. Mr Tharoor has been seen as moving increasingly closer to the BJP, especially after his support for Operation Sindoor, which was India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, and his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Tharoor also went against his party and led an outreach delegation to five nations, including the US, to convey India's stand that it will adopt a zero-tolerance policy to terrorism, earning praise from the PM and BJP leaders. This perceived closeness was used to take a jibe at Mr Tharoor - without naming him - by Manickam Tagore, the party's whip in the Lok Sabha. "When a Colleague starts repeating BJP lines word for word, you begin to wonder - is the Bird becoming a parrot?" Mr Tagore wrote on X. When a Colleague starts repeating BJP lines word for word, you begin to wonder — is the Bird becoming a parrot? 🦜 Mimicry is cute in birds, not in politics. — Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) July 10, 2025 "Mimicry is cute in birds, not in politics," he added. 'Unchecked Power' In the article, Mr Tharoor said some of the government's actions during the Emergency reflected "unspeakable cruelty". "In fact, the quest for "discipline" and "order" often translated into unspeakable cruelty, exemplified by the forced vasectomy campaigns led by (Indira) Gandhi's son, Sanjay, and concentrated in poorer and rural areas, where coercion and violence were used to meet arbitrary targets. Slum demolitions, carried out with ruthless efficiency in urban centres like New Delhi, rendered thousands homeless, with little to no concern for their welfare," Mr Tharoor wrote. "These acts were later downplayed as unfortunate excesses. And some might point out that, in the Emergency's immediate aftermath, there was a fleeting sense of order imposed, a temporary respite from the unruliness of democratic politics. But the violence was a direct consequence of a system where unchecked power had become tyrannical, and whatever order the Emergency delivered came at a very high price: the soul of our republic," the MP added.
The Print
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Emergency column puts Tharoor in firing line. Congress says ‘decide which party you belong to'
A shorter version of the column titled 'Heeding the Lessons of India's Emergency' was published in Project Syndicate on 8 July. In a column published Thursday in the Malayalam daily Deepika , Tharoor termed measures taken during the Emergency 'cruelties beyond words'. Thiruvananthapuram: A survey projecting Shashi Tharoor as the most popular choice among Kerala Congress leaders for the chief minister's post, along with a column in which he criticised excesses committed during the Emergency, has become the latest flashpoint between the party and its four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. 'The quest for 'discipline' and 'order' often translated into unspeakable cruelty, exemplified by the forced vasectomy campaigns led by (Indira) Gandhi's son, Sanjay, and concentrated in poorer and rural areas, where coercion and violence were used to meet arbitrary targets. Slum demolitions, carried out with ruthless efficiency in urban centers like New Delhi, rendered thousands homeless, with little to no concern for their welfare,' he wrote, adding the period of the Emergency should be looked at to draw larger lessons from it. 'We should understand the lessons of the Emergency beyond merely tagging it as a dark page in India's history. Whether we will be able to foresee the rise of a dictator? Are we doing enough to protect civil society and institutions like the media and judiciary? Anyone who has faith in democracy should ask this,' wrote Tharoor, who has been a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) since August 2023. A day after Tharoor shared the survey by a private polling agency that projected him as the popular choice for chief minister, Kerala Congress leaders asked the MP to first clarify his own political affiliation. 'First, let him decide which party he belongs to,' said senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan, adding that many leaders other than Tharoor are working for the party on the ground. 'If the UDF comes to power, one nominee from the UDF will become the CM. It'll be someone who's working 24 hours in the state. There are many leaders doing that grunt work in the Congress. Tharoor is a global figure; we need somebody who knows the state. Let the global leader look after world affairs, and we'll look after the state,' he told the media in Ernakulam. Muraleedharan also said the party is currently focused on winning elections, not picking a chief ministerial prospect. Having been in opposition for two consecutive terms, the Congress finds itself heading into a battle for survival in Kerala. While it won the hotly contested Nilambur assembly bypoll last month, the party's Kerala unit is still grappling with infighting and internal discord. Muraleedharan's remarks came on the same day Tharoor's article criticising the excesses of the Emergency sparked a heated debate in Kerala Congress circles. Reacting to it, Muraleedharan said party leaders believe it is important to discuss the events leading up to the declaration of the Emergency. 'Kerala was not affected by the Emergency. Congress won in states where they managed well during the Emergency, including Kerala,' he told the media in Ernakulam. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said he hadn't read Tharoor's article. 'I am not aware of him writing such an article. I haven't seen it either. I don't think there's any situation that required him to write it. Because he is a parliamentary member of the party and a Working Committee member, it's difficult to believe he wrote an article against Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi,' said Chennithala, a permanent CWC invitee and former Kerala Leader of Opposition. He also dismissed the survey as a BJP ploy to sow confusion among voters and within the UDF in the run-up to the polls. 'There is no trust in these surveys. It's a cooked-up survey. We don't need to catch on to it. It's usual to have surveys like these during elections,' Chennithala said. The survey conducted by the private research agency Vote Vibes and titled 'State Vibes: Kerala Elections 2026', indicated that 28.3 percent of respondents wanted Tharoor as UDF's CM face in the Assembly polls, followed by Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan at 15.4 per cent. Chennithala was chosen by 8.2 percent, while 6 percent saw Muraleedharan as their top choice. The results were published on 7 July and shared by Tharoor on his X handle Wednesday. In the LDF camp, former state health minister K.K. Shailaja received the most support, with 24.2 percent, followed by incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan at 17.5 per cent. The survey also found that 47.9 percent of respondents said there is 'very high anti-incumbency' sentiment in Kerala, with women expressing slightly higher anti-incumbency (43 percent) than men (39 percent). According to the poll conducted by the agency headed by political consultant Amitabh Tiwari, the NDA emerged as a third option, with 23.1 percent of respondents expressing trust in the alliance, compared to 38.9 percent for the Congress-led UDF and 27.8 percent for the LDF. The agency, however, did not disclose details about the sample size or the methodology of the survey. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: New twist in Congress-Tharoor saga—PMO shares Kerala MP's article on Op Sindoor global outreach
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Shashi Tharoor writes of Emergency's ‘unspeakable cruelty', ‘deep and lasting impact on lives'
Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has yet again put himself at odds with his party, penning an article slamming former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for imposing the Emergency. Fifty years later, Tharoor has written, the country is 'more prosperous' and has 'a robust democracy'. The article, titled 'Heeding the Lessons of India's Emergency', was first published on the website Project Syndicate, and reproduced in the Church-backed Malayalam daily Deepika on Thursday. Talking of 'unspeakable cruelty' in the name of 'discipline and order', Tharoor says this was exemplified 'by the forced vasectomy campaigns led by Gandhi's son, Sanjay, and concentrated in poorer and rural areas, where coercion and violence were used to meet arbitrary targets. Slum demolitions, carried out with ruthless efficiency in urban centers like New Delhi, rendered thousands homeless, with little to no concern for their welfare.'' Noting that Mrs Gandhi argued that the Emergency was 'necessary' to 'combat internal disorder and external threats, and bring discipline and efficiency to a chaotic country', Tharoor says: 'The period's excesses caused deep and lasting harm to countless lives, leaving a legacy of trauma and mistrust in affected communities – which they demonstrated by overwhelmingly voting Gandhi and her party out of power in the first free elections after the Emergency was lifted in March 1977.' Tharoor goes on to compare the India of today compared to that in 1975. 'We are a more confident, more prosperous, and, in many ways, a more robust democracy. Yet, the lessons of the Emergency remain alarmingly relevant. The temptation to centralise power, to silence critics, and to bypass Constitutional safeguards can emerge in many forms, often cloaked in the rhetoric of national interest or stability. In this sense, the Emergency should serve as a potent warning: democratic stalwarts must be eternally vigilant.' Tharoor's latest remarks follow his open disagreement with the Congress over the stand the party took on all-party delegations sent by the Centre to different countries to explain India's stand on terror, after Operation Sindoor. Tharoor headed one of the delegations. In an article he later wrote in The Hindu, the MP had said the intensive period of public diplomacy affirmed that India, when united, can project its voice with clarity and conviction on international platforms. Tharoor further embarrassed the party in Kerala when he acknowledged 'differences of opinion' with the party leadership during the recent Nilambur bypoll. With Tharoor's remarks adding to the impression of a divided Congress Kerala unit, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan said while he had seen Tharoor's article, he did not wish to comment on it. Former state Congress chief K Muraleedharan was more upfront. 'Let him (Tharoor) decide which party he belongs to. Our aim is to win next year's elections. Discussions on the Emergency at this stage are irrelevant,' Muraleedharan said, while pointing out that in Kerala, the Congress had won by a landslide even in the post-Emergency 1977 elections. Tharoor's latest remarks incidentally coincide with a survey report claiming he was the most preferred chief ministerial candidate for next year's Assembly elections. Tharoor shared the report on his X handle. A four-term MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor has already made it clear that he is interested in state politics, which has contributed to the disquiet in the state unit. Reacting to this, United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor Adoor Prakash said: 'Certain people made deliberate attempts to conduct surveys.' Muraleedharan said the UDF will decide who the new CM would be. Congress leader from Kerala and AICC Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala claimed the BJP was behind the survey.
