My vigorous opposition to the “Right to Food” advocated by Amartya Sen

Many months ago I was informed of an initiative called Ground Report India that allows NGOs and civil society institutions to publish their own write-ups across India. This is, in principle, a good idea so long as one is careful to sift through the material and distinguish the good form the bad. 

Here is a case in point (extracted from this this report):

"Amartya Sen in his research on world famines concluded that during famines the important issue is not availability of food but the distribution and the lack of purchasing power of the poor. This led him to propose entitlement or a kind of right of the hungry to have employment so that they can buy food. 

"The Kolkata Group, an independent initiative inspired and chaired by Amartya Sen, has demanded that the Right to Food Act be made non-discriminatory and universal to cover justiciable food entitlements for all Indians. The Eighth Kolkata Group Workshop (February 2010), has argued for creating durable legal entitlements that guarantee the right to food for all in the country. Sen stressed the need for firm recognition of the right to food, and comprehensive legislation to guarantee everyone the right.

"' Right to Food Act covering justiciable food entitlements should be non-discriminatory and universal. Entitlements guaranteed by the Act should include foodgrains from the Public Distribution System (PDS), school meals, nutrition services for children below the age of six years, social security provision, and allied programmes' a statement released by the group said." 

Comment

Now, what is wrong with this? Well, a lot!

I wasn't expecting Amartya Sen to go so far as to advocate a "right to food", but this is what he is now doing. His ideas about positive liberty have led him down the socialist path.

Note that classical liberalism ensures a similar outcome for everyone in society, as well. For instance, I have been advocating the removal of poverty at one fell swoop in India through the negative income tax (NIT). But that is NOT a right, and not an entitlement. Instead, it is part of social insurance (a second order function) that a liberal state can ensure once it has performed it core functions adequately. And this method does NOT provide food but money. It does not second-guess people's needs.

There are just too many problems with the idea of a 'right to food' – and I've discussed some in the draft manuscript The Discovery of Freedom. The idea of "positive liberty" is just too dangerous – for it inevitably destroys freedom. 

Another great problem with Sen's ideas – as I have pointed out elsewhere – is that he simply doesn't seem to understand the basics of public administration. By advocating "Public Distribution System (PDS), school meals, nutrition services for children below the age of six years, social security provision, and allied programmes" he is supporting the BUREAUCRATIC MESS found in India. Our socialist bureaucracy harms the poor as I've shown in BFN. 

Instead of supporting such dangerous ideas, we need to SHUT DOWN these programs and substitute them (if that is the word) with one single program: NIT. And that too, after a wide range of other reforms are put in place. Indeed, the single greatest solution to India's poverty problems is through freedom and good governance – something it has not had for over 60 years now. Without these reforms India's poverty will continue as it is, and indeed, if Sen's ideas are implemented, India's poverty will increase.

I do hope that Amartya Sen is open-minded enough to read my books and to revert to the basic meaning of freedom. Let's bring freedom to India, not a socialist utopia that is operated by idiotic bureaucrats and politicians.