Capitalism, dominoes and resilience.

And it starts. The fall of the dominoes. Stacked endlessly one after the other; each piece at the mercy of the one preceding it. Brimming with hope and optimism. The dominoes of Capitalism. When the going is a good, they swell. All of them. Together. They grow bigger in size and in weight. Randomly. At the mercy of the size and weight of the one preceding it. There comes a point where all dominoes, before they know it, are at the mercy of each other. Quite like a symbiotic relation, so many in number. Growing without any measure of quality, through endless symbiosis.

Capitalism, dominoes and resilience.

Then something happens. The bloody game of dominoes is interrupted. Suddenly, things become essential and non-essential. Suddenly, the phenomena of synergies are so very fundamental and indispensable.

Adjourned, the dominoes just sit there. At the mercy of an unknown entity.

And it begins. All the flaws of capitalism, as we adopted it, hitting us all at once. The first domino falls. The second domino falls. And so, it goes.

An unknown entity brings us down to our knees.

It is up to the known entity now to shield the vulnerable pieces which also includes themselves.

Case in point; I have been reading about companies already laying off employees. Big in number. The fallen dominoes.

In India, doing that will only multiply the fall.

It is my humble appeal to MSMEs and the big dominoes (Corporate Inc. India) of our country to not let go even a single employee. Not now. Not like this. Not because a virus has brought your commercial machinery to a grinding halt.

And this is not simply an emotional post. There is a body of logic and simple economics to it.

Our core demand right now is X. That accounts the current salaries and monies made by the working class all across the country. This money is spent and hence a certain fair degree of demand exists. If people are let go as a pan India phenomenon, they will be left with no money to spend. This will reduce our core demand which is already at an all-time low. These jobless skilled people will have no other option but to go deeper under debt or dip into their savings to live and to support their families. Logically, they will spend only on what is absolutely necessary for survival. This will further shrink our core demand. This demand reduction will obviously also affect the outputs/sales of companies because there will be lesser number of takers for their product. All in all, we will be deliberately entering into a vicious cycle of a looming depression by laying off employees.

We will end up stepping on a landmine trying to avoid doing so the whole time.

As a result of which, our core demand would have come down to X-Y. That will beat the whole purpose of firing people in the first place; the mental agony and stress unaccounted for.

Instead, it is easier to be a little logical and a little compassionate right now. Do not let go of your employees. They are your family. They have worked hard day and night to bring you the glory. In a tight situation, do not abandon them. Try to maintain the status quo. I understand the cash flows have been hit. But I am of the belief that people running companies across the country are resilient, intelligent and they bring with them a certain fighting spirit. Raise money. It is easier than is perceived. Financial institutions have mechanisms in place.

Take extreme pay cuts. Pass on the pay cuts. Talk to your employees. Like you do with your family. Sacrifice. Ride it out together. But do not take away the jobs of good hardworking people. Not now. Not like this. Not because of a virus.

That way, after we emerge victorious against Covid19, the core demand of our country will either be X or X+x but definitely nothing less than X, our nodal point.

Moreover, at this juncture, when the world economy is at crossroads, the need to look at the domestic marketplace as a safe haven for core demand is even more.

Also, we would not only have done a great service to our nation by helping fellow countrymen and countrywomen, we would also have ensured facilitating an ease to get back on the growth and development trajectory.

Please do not lay off employees. Fight it out. All of you. Show resilience; not in the bloody gym but in your head. Like most problems, it is easier than it seems.

Doing this is way more patriotic than most things people these days do to show their alleged love for the nation.