Adam Smith's famous treatise, Wealth of Nations, was published in 1776. Two hundred years later, Poverty of Nations (Murdoch), a less known book appeared. These two centuries saw the human population of the Earth grow from one billion to six billions. We expect the growth curve of human numbers to reach a ten billion high sometime in the next century. We may reach this high point of human numbers by careful human choices or we may follow animal behavior patterns. (Meadows(a))
Both books featured nations as the basic unit of analysis. In 1776 nations were increasing in importance in the management human affairs. Nations are now declining relative to business corporations, now successfully managing human behavior with few restrictions by national governments. (Korten) The first book discussed how nations may create wealth, and the second shows how some nations have remained in poverty. The Wealth of Nations made a reasonable assumption within 1776 human knowledge of Earth resources---Earth resources were viewed as an unlimited free good available for human exploitation. With greater background knowledge, the Poverty of Nations noted finite Earth resources divided among nations.
In this explanation of the Kerala phenomena, the Poverty of Nations describes India as a modern nation. Kerala is a large human society within that nation. In per capita dollars, wealth is the condition of developed nations and poverty the condition of India. In per capita dollars, the poverty of Kerala is the same as the poverty in India, and yet important wealth is found in Kerala and not found in India---the Kerala phenomena. In order to analyze the differences between Kerala and India, we may apply the now obsolete meaning of wealth which Adam Smith may have been using in 1776---wealth as happiness and well-being.
This study of Kerala within India is not a comparison of wealth as dollars. We compare wealth as happiness and well-being. We show that gender equity increases well-being, and we do not show that high income or income equality is a necessary condition. Much is known about happiness (Meyers) but we still lack standardized measures suitable to apply in relationships to measured amounts of the EarthÂ’s ecosystem services. Well-being, on the other hand, has several standardized measurements which can be applied. In the Indian context, we can apply standardized measures of well-being such as, infant mortality rates, levels of education, life expectancy, and total fertility rates.
Within the poverty of India, we can see wealth in Kerala.
(Directory) March 20, 2000