1. What is Prout?

Prout is the Progressive utilization theory. It is the first socio-economic theory that takes into account the entire human potential, including the mental and spiritual, while advising a socio-economic path for the benefit of both the individual and society. Leaflet text on "What is PROUT?"

2. Who formulated Prout?

Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1921-1990) propounded the fundamentals of Prout in 1959, and continued to develop the theory throughout his life.

A short biography and other material on Sarkar is available here.

3. What are the fundamental principles of Prout?

Prout is a complete socio-economic theory, comprising all potentials and resources of life - physical, mental, supramental and spiritual. Its five fundamental principles and other proutistic principles and concepts are explained on this website.

4. What are the salient points of Prout?

Based on spiritual values of life Prout aims to tackle socio-economic challenges through progressive maximum utilization and rational distribution of all types of resources - physical, mental and spiritual. The theory advocates economic democracy based on cooperatives and local planning eventually supported by a democratic world government as the cure for today's economic and political ills. In order to achieve complete global integration, Prout deems it necessary to establish self-reliant economic zones defined by common cultural and economic factors in order to develop the indigenous strength of the various societies and peoples. These are some of the salient points of Prout.

5. Can we go through that point by point; firstly, what is the scientific basis for Prout's "spiritual values of life"?

The Universe is being continuously created as a mental projection of the Cosmic Mind; whatever the Macrocosmic Mind imagines becomes the creation. It means that whatever exists is a part of Cosmic Mind and is therefore permeated by Cosmic Consciousness. As part of the Universe, human beings come into existence at some point in this flow of creation. Hence, existentially speaking Supreme Consciousness is our father, the Supreme Force of Creation is our mother, and the Universe is our common homeland. Socio-economically speaking all created beings are therefore siblings--brothers and sisters--with the same right to inherit and enjoy a common ancestral property; the physical, psychic and spiritual resources that are found within the Universe. Prout's vision is to create a society where this ideal is realized for the good and happiness of all. The spiritual view is of great consequence to Prout's principles of accumulation of physical wealth, the utilization and distribution of any crude or subtle resources, and issues such as culture and leadership, to name a few.

6. Are spiritual values anything more than abstract assumptions?

Prout concretizes the spiritual in the concept of human cardinal principles. In the words of Sarkar: "Human existence is trifarious, a combination of three currents: physical, mental and spiritual. Most people cannot transcend the limits of their physical existence: crude worldly pleasures become the only enjoyment of their lives. They embody all that is beastly in nature, goaded and tormented as they are by carnal desires. The subtle feelings of life, the subtle expressions and practices are beyond their reach. Their world is limited to their bodies and physical requirements. Other people are more concerned with their minds. They feel that it is the supremacy of the mind that has differentiated them from animals. Their lives are guided by their desires for mental satisfaction. By virtue of their endeavors they create poetry, art, music, sculpture, etc. They express the finer human feelings of mercy, sympathy, love, friendship and pity. They believe that the mind flows for the sole purpose of attaining the Infinite, and hence they focus their energies on the contemplation of the Transcendental Entity. [...] The culminating point of animality is the commencement of humanity. The highest peak of human progress is the beginning of divine bliss. Where animality ends, humanity begins, where humanity ends, divinity begins. The meeting point of the highest attainment of humanity and the blossoming of divinity is the base on which the cardinal human principles are established."

7. Practically speaking, what are human cardinal values?

Sympathy, compassion, fundamental respect for others' life, love for others' inherent divinity, universal outlook, and service-mindedness are all values that are called human cardinal values.

8. Don't such values come natural to most normal persons?

Yes, one would think so but as implied in answer no. 6 above, all do not practice cardinal human principles with the same vigor at all times. To a proutist, spiritual principles of life precede other social principles in any strata of life, for instance in areas of governance and administration. Politically speaking, these psycho-spiritual principles form an essential shield against corruption and exploitation, and Prout has a special concept explaining it--the place of spiritual revolutionaries (sadvipras) in the center of the social cycle.

9. Where are the human cardinal principles located?

The meeting point of the highest attainment of humanity and the blossoming of divinity is the base on which the human cardinal principles are established. It is the silver lining between the psycho-spiritual and the spiritual. It is the area of spiritual practices.

10. Must one do meditation to cultivate these principles?

Many good people do not practice meditation, as such practices were not a part of their tradition or the culture where they live. However, spiritual aspirants meditate in order to develop their consciousness continuously so that they will be able to realize the spiritual and human cardinal values more and more.

11. What are social values?

The social value of an excellent prime minister is different from an ordinary worker, but their existential value is one and the same because they both carry cardinal human values in their essence of their  human being. Social values may differ and change but cardinal human values remain steadfast as they are based in the psycho-spiritual, which are much more absolute than the transient society of an ever-changing world.

12. So what comes first in Prout, human cardinal values or social values?

Human cardinal values such as sympathy, compassion, love for others' life, fundamental respect for others' inherent divinity and universal outlook are more important than social values such as efficiency and laborousness in Prout.

13. What is meant by "progressive" in Prout?

Any development is not progress. Where development is towards psycho-spiritual welfare Prout calls it is called progress. According to Sarkar: "Normally, people associate the word progress with scientific progress, but actually, scientific progress may or may not be true progress. The essence of progress is movement towards psycho-spiritual welfare. Human existence is trifarious. It has the physical, the intellectual and the spiritual aspects. There is movement in all three spheres, and therefore there can be progress in all three spheres. The main consideration, however, is what is the goal or the aim of movement?" It means that any development that supports or aims at psycho-spiritual welfare may be termed as progress but other development is not progress. Ordinary physical development, for example the development from mass transportation by boat to airplane, is not progress in the proutistic sense, as the drawbacks of air transport outweigh its benefits. Similarly, in the mental sphere intellectual progress has its drawbacks and limitations in the form of recurring mental complications, tiredness, etc. Real progress, free of any negative effect or reaction, can only take place in the spiritual sphere of the Absolute. Therefore, development should be psycho-spiritually motivated in order to minimize negative effects and reactions in any sphere of individual and collective life.

14. What is meant by "maximum utilization and rational distribution"?

Prout's concept of utilization is defined in the 2nd to 5th fundamental principles of the actual theory; and the first principle lies the foundation for the involvement of all in utilizing all the wealth there is. In short, Prout aims to utilize all physical, mental and spiritual individual and collective wealth of human society and to adjust these utilization progressively with changes in time, place and person. Everything should be utilized and not just be kept lying around. According to Sarkar: "Where there is over-accumulation of physical wealth several problems occur. Human beings do not have many needs. Primarily they need satisfying meals and clothing, according to their necessities. Most people do not even want many things. The desire to accumulate money is actually a mental disease. The accumulators do not accumulate to fulfill their basic needs as human needs are few. For instance, if a person has a mango-grove that yields 500 mangoes and a family of five, what will he do with so many mangoes? In cases of over-accumulation there is very little chance of utilization." By introducing the concept of rational distribution, Prout bridges an important gap of economic theory, namely the abyss between the individual and the collective. In Cold War Era terms, socialism meant the rule of collectivist economics where individual initiative was never at a premium. On the other hand, the unbridled economic freedom of capitalism has led to the accumulation of colossal riches in the hands of a few at the cost of the lives and reasonable living standard of the great majority. Prout's rational distribution ensures the minimum purchasing capacity of all, by introducing labor for all, while the surplus is to be distributed according to merit.

15. Can you explain Prout's concept of economic democracy?

Regarding political democracy, Sarkar writes: "In all countries where democracy is in vogue today, people have been deceived into believing that there is no better system than political democracy. Political democracy has no doubt granted voting rights, but it has snatched away the right of economic equality. Consequently, there is gross economic disparity between the rich and the poor, immense inequality in people's purchasing capacity, unemployment, chronic food shortages, poverty and insecurity in society. The type of democracy prevalent in India is also political democracy, and it has proved to be a unique system of exploitation."

There are four requirements for Prout's economic democracy:

The minimum requirements, including food, clothing, housing, education and medical treatment, must be guaranteed to all. Not only is this an individual right, it is also a collective necessity, because the easy availability of the minimum requirements will increase the all-round welfare of society.

In order to realize this goal, increasing purchasing capacity must be guaranteed to all. Local people will hold economic power, so that local raw materials will be used to promote the economic prosperity of the local people. It means that the raw materials of one socio-economic unit should not be exported to another unit. Instead, industrial centers should be built up wherever raw materials are available. This will create industries based on locally available raw materials and ensure full employment for all local people who then may trade their demi-essential and non-essential refined wares with people of other localities.

In economic democracy the local people will have the power to make all economic decisions, to produce commodities on the basis of collective necessity, and to distribute all agricultural and industrial commodities. Economic liberation is a birth right of every individual.

Outsiders must be strictly prevented from interfering in the local economy.

In order to strengthen the political system and make it conducive to economic democracy, Prout advocates certain democratic reforms. These includes eliminating the age of suffrage and instead give the politically conscious the right to vote; as well as introducing the concept of compartmentalized democracy, where the secretariat is kept free from pressures from the cabinet. More on economic democracy

16. What is the role of cooperatives in Prout?

The cooperative sector is the largest in Prout's three-tiered industrial system, leaving huge and complicated key industry (raw materials) to the state, while private initiative may take care of small and non-essential businesses. In the same way as Prout's progressive socialism is fundamentally different from traditional materialist socialism, Prout's cooperatives differ fundamentally from the forced Soviet collectives. Prout advances a scientific approach to producers', consumers', farmers' and other type of cooperatives such as various forms of service cooperatives and cooperative banking. To ensure the success of cooperatives and counteract the rampant immorality of the prevailing corrupt economic system, Prout stresses the need for morality, strong administration, and wholehearted acceptance of the cooperative system by the people. Even in this mundane area does Prout present a spiritual perspective. Writes Sarkar: "Prout supports the implementation of the cooperative system because its inner spirit is one of coordinated cooperation. Only the cooperative system can ensure the healthy, integrated progress of humanity, and establish complete and everlasting unity among the human race. People should work to enjoy sweeter fruits by establishing the cooperative system. Prout raises the slogans: We want cooperatives, not communes! And: We are not slaves of communes!"

17. What is Prout's system of "local planning"?

Prout's program for planning and development programs turns the centralized approach of both capitalism and communism upside down. Any economic planning is based in the bottom-up and decentralized approach of Prout's economic democracy. Both local and regional planning is initiated with this end in view. At the heart of Prout's planning is "block-level planning", which is undertaken for the welfare of the local people. "Economic planning will utilize all the mundane and supramundane potentialities of the local area to meet the local requirements." The cost of production, productivity, purchasing capacity and collective necessity are the basic elements central to proutistic economic planning.

18. What sort of "world government" does Prout promote?

In the words of Sarkar: "The world government has to be strengthened step by step and not suddenly. For example, two houses may be formed for an unspecified period for administration. The lower house will comprise representatives from parts of the world elected on the basis of population, while members of the upper house will be elected country wise. By this arrangement those countries which cannot send a single representative to the lower house due to their small population, will benefit by expressing their opinions before the people of the world by sending their representatives to the upper house. The upper house cannot adopt any resolution unless the lower house has ratified it, but it will enjoy the privilege of disallowing the decisions of the lower house. In the first stage this world government may act only as a law framing body. The world government will be vested with framing the rights of implementation or non-implementation of any particular law in any particular region. In the beginning when the world government is being established, the government of different countries will have only administrative power. As they will not have any power to enact any laws arbitrarily; it will not be easy for any government to inflict atrocities on its linguistic, religious, or political minorities according to the whims of the governing majority."

19. What are the "common cultural and economic" factors for groupifications of self-reliant socio-economic zones?

Same economic problems, uniform economic potentialities, ethnic similarities, the sentimental legacy of the people, and similar geographical features are the common factors for socio-economic groupifications.

20. What is Proutist Universal?

Proutist Universal (PU) is a worldwide organization. Its aim is to develop socio-economic and cultural awareness amongst local and indigenous people in order to pave the way for economic democracy and local self-reliance. PU is organized with its global office in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its federations--Proutist Universal Labor Federation, Farmers' Federation, Students' Federation, Youth Federation and Intellectual Federation--are working on sectorial, regional, diocese, district, block and village levels.

PU contact addresses around the world

21. What is the essential social spirit of Prout?

The social spirit of Prout is to move together, which is also the spirit of Prout’s progressive socialism. Progressive socialism is not based on collective ownership of means of production, but on collective mobility--unified movement. This concept is also termed as unity in diversity.

22. What is the rhythm of the social cycle?

The initial struggle of primitive proletarians for survival gives rise to the rule of the physical strong, the warriors. The regimentation, social order and personal discipline of these warriors come to fruition in increased mental stamina and psychological maturing, allowing mental acumen to blossom forth in the era of intellectuals. Those intellectuals who do not aspire to the highest and most sublime stages of intellectual expression, but who rather start to look into modes and venues of administrating resources in order to multiply capital for the sake of controlling physical wealth, become capitalists. This succession of development of the social cycle is likened to the seasons of a year, and express themselves in rises and falls of the social cycle where each class dominate and is dominated by others in turn.

23. How did the warrior era start?

The warrior era began with hero worship of the physically strong.

24. How did the intellectual era first express itself?

The intellectual era emerged with the first inventions that marked mental supremacy over matter, such as the use of fire.

25. How did the first capitalists emerge?

As opposed to warriors who conquer the physical by their physical strength, or the intellectuals who rule the physical by their mental strength, capitalists pursue control by physical wealth through the acquisition of mundane objects.

26. How does the capitalist class rule?

Capital is consumer goods in potential form, for example money, which has become the primary means of physical enjoyment under capitalism. Due to its capitalist acumen under its own rule the capitalist is the most affluent class; other classes are completely dependent on their whims and speculative patronage for self-preservation.

27. What is Prout's concept of the proletariat under capitalist rule?

Prout’s proletariat under capitalist rule consists not only of original proletarians but of representatives of three classes: original proletarians, original warriors and original intellectuals. This concept differs widely from the Marxist proletariat in that it contains the potential for a value-oriented uprising spearheaded by the disgruntled representatives of the warrior and intellectual classes who have retained their original values and stamina. Here there is no seed of a perpetual labor class, but only the revolutionary potential of the continuation of the social cycle.

28. What is implied by the term common philosophy?

A common philosophy embraces the whole of creation, explains all its phenomena and its noumenal cause, and is therefore applicable and useful for all.

29. Why is the spiritual at the base of Prout's rational philosophy?

Spirituality is at the base of Prout because subtle pure consciousness embraces the physical and psychological realities of life.

30. What is dogma?

A dogma is a mental construction that does not allow one’s thoughts or ideas to go outside of it.

31. Why is it that religions denounce each other?

One religion cannot accept another because they are all based on dogma.

32. What is the philosophical makeup of communism?

Communism is an unhappy blending of dogma-centered and matter-centered philosophy thriving on poverty.

33. What is the philosophical makeup of religions?

The philosophical base of religions is dogma-centered, consisting of a blending of matter-centered and self-centered philosophies.

34. How do religions inject superiority complexes?

Religions inject superiority complexes into peoples’ minds by the propagation of stories, myths and parables.

35. How do religions inject inferiority complexes?

Religions inject inferiority complexes into peoples’ minds by the propagation of stories, myths and parables to create inferiority complexes.

36. How do religions substantiate these complexes?

Religions substantiate their injection of superiority and inferiority complexes by the propagation of fear complex and inferiority complex amongst the people, especially amongst the proletariat (shu'dras).

37. How to counteract the negative effect of dogmatic religions?

Emphasis should be placed on proutistic and Neo-humanist education that produces a high degree of rationality in the human mind. Simultaneously, the spiritual sentiment must be inculcated in human minds as this is more powerful than the religious sentiment.

38. Why does dogma go against the spirit of human mind?

Dogma goes against the fundamental spirit of human mind as it won't allow one to go beyond its periphery of that boundary line.

39. How did capitalism come into being?

The historical seeds of capitalism lie in the desire to accumulate consumer goods “just in case”. It is with this mentality of acquisition and accumulation that capitalism takes root; what began as a precaution against bad times developed into speculation and the insanity of unbridled acquisition.

40. Why is external force needed to rectify the conduct of capitalists?

It is necessary to curb capitalist greed by placing a ceiling on accumulation, because capitalists themselves will not be able to reform as their internal urge to do so is very weak.

41. What are the psychological reason for capitalist economic discrimination?

Human longings are infinite. As physical objectivity is finite it can never quench the infinite physical longing. Here the psychic body and physical objectivity are always separate and so the seed of dualism and eternal frustration sprouts. Therefore capitalists' infinite longing for physical objects is an internal contradiction that expresses itself as a dangerous psychic ailment.

42. What is the permanent cure for this psychic ailment of capitalists?

The permanent welfare of capitalists lie in the attainment of spiritual objectivity, which means bridging the gulf between the self and the object, and therefore leading to peace.

43. How will Prout counteract capitalism in the physical sphere?

Prout stands for an economic system where money will not be restricted or immobile in the hands of a few capitalists. The more the optimum mobility of money is kept unrestricted, the more it will strengthen and invigorate the socio-economic life of the collective body. The 1st fundamental principle of Prout ensures such development.

44. What is capitalism in the psychic sphere?

The selfish psychology developed by an apathetic, elitist intellectual class, that does not like to exchange its privileges with working earnestly for the welfare of all, is the cause if intellectual capitalism.

45. What are the main problems caused by such intellectual capitalism?

The five main pressing problems in society caused by intellectual capitalism are:

1. Illiteracy, as intellectual people do not come forward to enhance people’s literary skills.

2. The socio-economic consciousness of the indigenous people is not encouraged, as intellectuals have become selfish and only care about their own well-being.

3. Since intellectuals support the status quo rather than challenging it in a constructive way, unhealthy inferiority complexes and fear complexes continue to influence the minds of the people so that they are kept psychically weak.

4. Due to lack of rational education and non-dogmatic inspiration through both the educational system and mass media the intellectual and moral development of people is hindered; so intellectual backwardness and irrationality become rampant in society.

5. Due to the same lack of rational education and non-dogmatic inspiration narrow sentiments like geo-sentiment and socio-sentiment start exerting a destructive influence on society. Consequently, intellectual exploitation, dogmatic theories and doctrines, and religious superstition and rituals become widespread.

46. What should intellectuals do about the ills caused by intellectual inertia?

Intellectuals must keep their intellects pure and unblemished. They will have to mix with the common people, engage themselves in their welfare, assist the common people in their development and extend their support to all anti-exploitation movements.

47. What is capitalism in the spiritual sphere?

Those who neglect their family and society and instead withdraw into seclusion in order to fulfill their longing for spiritual emancipation are spiritual capitalists.

48. What is the one great harm caused by spiritual capitalism?

Because of their selfishness, spiritual capitalists keep spiritual knowledge to themselves and do not bother to arouse spiritual awareness in individual and collective life.

49. How will Prout cure spiritual capitalism?

Prout deems that spiritual practice is a cardinal human right. In order to secure this right and infuse society with spiritual vigor, Prout introduces the concept of a spiritually strong leadership enarmed with an ideology based on universal spirituality. In this way spiritualist will be able to fulfill the ideal of Salvation for self and service to the creation.

50. Why is struggle the essence of life?

Fight is the essence of life because without the struggle between the vital force and the static force no development will take place. Even a flower has to struggle to grow out of the earth and rise towards the sunshine.

FAQs 51-100

www.proutworld.org
The website of Proutist Universal Global Office, Copenhagen, Denmark
Copyright ProutWorld 1999-2010