Page 362 - https://ia800806.us.archive.org/12/items/mwk-eng-book/Leading-a-Spiritual-Life.pdf

The Price of Being a Taker

present development of America was due mostly to
the labours of the immigrants. I said, “No, although
apparently immigrants seem to be working in the
developmental activities of the USA, in actual fact the
credit goes not to Mr. Immigrant but to Mr. Incentive.”
It is a fact that these immigrants have failed to
perform well in their own countries, whereas in the
USA they are seen to be involved in almost all the
activities of development and progress. The reason is
that in the USA every success is based on merit, so these
immigrants become heroes in achieving that success. By
taking account of this fact, one can say that the credit
goes to Mr. Incentive and not to Mr. Immigrant.

After independence, India’s economy came under
the control of the state – a system whereby everything
depended upon state policy. That meant that there
was no free competition, everything being decided
by the state, with the individual entirely subjected to
state policy. It must be conceded that a state controlled
economy renders people incentive-less and incentive-
less people work only as is laid down in rules and
regulations and not according to their full and natural
capacity.
Once, on a visit to the USA in 1893, Swami
Vivekananda walked along a street in Chicago, clad,
according to the swami custom, in just two lengths
of untailored cloth. At that time in the USA, this
form of attire was quite unfamiliar. On seeing this, a
woman whispered to her husband, “I don’t think that
man is a gentleman.” Overhearing this remark, Swami
Vivekananda approached the lady and said politely:

361