Tissue Paper Economics

Having a nonvegetarian meal on a Sunday afternoon is one of the conventions of Indian life. Though I protest most conventions I never shy away from a good meal. It was not the first time I have seen someone using a tissue paper in the hand-wash section of the hotel, but it was not the usual sight too. The mother asked the child to drag the tissue paper from the suspended box above. It drew one for its left hand, one for its mouth and the last one for fun.

The child cannot be above six years of age meaning the brain is still at a very nascent stage and attitudes and behavior register deeply in the neural networks. If capitalism wanted to promote consumerism for the next generation and induce growth it is definitely on the right track by molding the next generation by a simple tissue paper. The tissue paper is the manifestation of our use-and-throw behavior.

A few weeks ago, I received a sympathetic stare for housing an ink pen in my front pocket. The stare conveyed that I belonged to the era of dinosaurs and was not supposed to be living in the 21^st century. The ballpoint and gel pens had already made inroads even before I joined college. The spillover from pens has reached domains much faster and farther than anyone would have predicted, in an eco-friendly cultural society like ours.

Photo Courtesy: D Coetzee

The Indian way of life is centered on the ‘Chakra’, where it ends where it begins. Most of our lifestyle patterns and behavior in our villages are based on aiding the ecological cycles. Tissue paper economics became prominent with economic liberalization. But beyond globalization, it was our failure to incorporate the existing sustainable features in our society and lifestyle to increasing consumerism.

The absence of transferring healthy values from the previous generation and excessive pampering due to the rise of nuclear families has incubated young minds which are driven by the urge to consume rather than preserve, engage, modify and adapt. When the economic attitude of the next generation is altered resilient economic values cease to exist not just in the wash-room but also in life. Spending aided by lending and consuming for borrowing would become the order of the day.

The tissue paper also reflects the way designers and economists have operated to induce development at the cost of inequality, environment, and quality of life. The founding principle is the creation of necessities which did not exist. They aim to prove that a better comfort zone exists which is guaranteed to improve operational efficiency. And the final nail in the coffin is the proposal that Western political and economic ideologies are the only methodologies for prosperity. The Third World developing countries need to adapt their principles if they are to succeed in economic wealth. 

The tissue paper is a metaphorical representation of all facts on capitalism.When I walked out, I knew that the process is irreversible. Comfort is a dangerous thing whereas contentment is peaceful. But comfort drives economics, the "so-called" 'Right' Economics.

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D Coetzee