Progressive utilization theory

Progressive Utilization Theory, also known by the acronym PROUT, is a philosophical theory of socioeconomic and political ideas propounded by Indian philosopher and spiritual leader Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. Considered^{[by whom]} an integral part of his spiritual philosophy, Sarkar formulated the theory of his Ananda Marga movement ^{in 1959 and summarized[too early for a summary... more accurately, formalize] it in the fifth chapter of his influential work Ananda Sutram.}

Opinions of others

According to a description by Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill, PROUT "envisages a decentralized, community-based world economy of self-sufficiency for the poor; economic democracy; small business; and limits on the accumulation of wealth." Sohail Inayatullah stated that the philosophy "attempts to balance the need for societies to create wealth and grow with the requirements for distribution." David Skrbina characterized PROUT as a "model of social development... which advocates a 'small is beautiful' approach to society." Economics instructor Mark Friedman places Sarkar's economic thought in the tradition of Monsignor John Ryan, E.F. Schumacher and Herman Daly in Sarkar's incorporation of spiritual values into economic goals.

Sarkar positioned^{[positioned what?]} as an alternative to communism and capitalism. It has been characterized as a form of "progressive socialism" as well as a "socialist theory". PROUT recognizes all material goods^{[what about non-material goods?]} as common property and seeks the rational and equitable distribution of that property to maximize the physical, mental, and spiritual development^{[how do material goods "maximize" spiritual development?]} of all people^{[Is PROUT only concerned with people?]}. It seeks to guarantee what it recognizes as the five minimum requirements of life for human beings: food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care.^{[Does it not want to guarantee anything more than that?]}

PROUT describes a social order consisting of four classes of people^{[This is not what Sarkar was talking about with his concept of "varna".]} that cyclically dominate society: sudras (labourers), ksatriyas (military–minded individuals), vipra (intellectuals) and vaisyas (capitalists). To prevent any social class^{[What is PROUT's concept of a social class?]} from clinging to political power and exploiting the others, he proposed the concept of "spiritual elite" sadvipras (etymologically sad – true, vipra – intellectual) who would determine who held political leadership. Sarkar thought that the first sadvipras would be created^{[Created how?]} from disgruntled middle class intellectuals and military-minded people^{[Are the military-minded people also disgruntled?]}. He called for^{[When and in which way did Sarkar call for this?]} sadvipras to be organized into executive, legislative, and judicial boards which would be governed by a Supreme Board. They, according to Sarkar, would be responsible for the application of force necessary to change the order of dominance^{[What does that mean?]} within the social order, with large amounts of force^{[Did Sarkar not see any other way for social change?]} akin to revolution.

PROUT's economic model^{[Is there anything more to the economic model besides industrial structure?]} advocates a three-tiered approach to industrial organization where key industries or public utilities are non–profit^{[Managed by whom?]}, a decentralized industry^{[What about farming?]} run by sociolinguistic unions^{[Are these like trade unions?]} provide people's bare minimum necessities, and most of the economic transactions are through producers' and consumers' cooperatives^{[vague - needs amplification]}. It distinguishes itself from communism by proposing an incentive based economy^{[Are there no incentives under communism, and is this the only distinction?]} where surplus in the society is distributed to people who serve the society.

At the political level, PROUT rejects nationalism^{[does this mean that there would be no nations and no national governments under PROUT?]} and seeks the formation of a world government. Sarkar also supported the concept of a world army.^{[may need more context]}

Cooperative communities have been established by Ananda Marga in an attempt to provide ideal models for the society outlined in PROUT. A few intellectuals support the philosophy, but it has not achieved widespread implementation.

Criticism

Professor Narasingha P. Sil describes Sarkar's ideas of the social cycles that underlie PROUT as having "little originality or historical validity", having been derived "with some feeble adjustments" from traditional Hindu caste structure. Ravi Batra used the^{[all or some, accurately or inaccurately?]} ideas in PROUT in his book The Great Depression of 1990. In reviewing the book for the Los Angeles Times, economist Paul Erdman described the work as "a strange mixture of voodoo historical theories and sound economic analysis"^{[Is this a criticism of PROUT or a criticism of Ravi Batra's book? And does it mean that a professional economist agreed with PROUT's economics but took exception with PROUT's theory of history?]}.

See also

• Ravi Batra