Documents of ADATS - Book 5

The Coolie Sangha Model of Development (1986)

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The development of a people centrally implies the bettering of their material well being. All other facets of their spiritual existence are determined by this material status and so take a secondary position.

At the same time we find that it is deficiencies found in the spiritual existence of the poor people’s lives that perpetuate their underdevelopment and poverty. The culture of poverty manifested in tolerated indiscipline, fatalism, pursuance of short term goals, etc. operates to ensure the continuance of poverty and underdevelopment.

A seeming dilemma is caused as to where a development effort should focus its thrust on the material realm of the poor people’s lives or on the spiritual realm. Efforts are often made to materially develop the poor through economic inputs, but these fail. Equally sincere efforts made to raise the spiritual status of the poor from the existing subhuman levels also fail. Both fail because they fail to comprehend the dilemma and base their efforts on a total comprehension of the existence of the poor people in society.