For a long time, I have been emphasizing the importance of justice on the television programs I appear on as a guest, on my own program, and in my writing. I know that seeking peace and/or happiness in a state that treats its citizens unjustly is a futile endeavor. When citizens notice injustice among themselves, they feel less attached to their country and their love for it diminishes. This also has a chain reaction: trust in all state institutions and in politics declines, people begin to emigrate, and hopelessness and unhappiness run rampant! The balance is turned upside down… This is a summary of our country, and I think it is also our country’s biggest problem…
However, as I noted in the headline, there is no point in using our country’s situation as an excuse to lose hope or become devoid of imagination. That is the real danger…
That is why, whenever I get the chance, I stretch our imaginations by putting forward ideas about the ways our country needs to change, and try to draw attention to injustices. Just as I am doing today…
One of our country’s biggest paradoxes is its civil-service system. Our country’s system is built around civil servants. The ability to pay civil servants’ salaries is the criterion by which current governments are judged. And yet the country needs a real economy. As in every country, the production and service sectors are essential in ours, too. Governments make bogus regulations claiming to clear the way for the real economy. Private-sector employees and entrepreneurs do not concern governments. They do not want to do anything for them. As a result, the country has been split in two: those who are civil servants and those who are not. On one side are civil servants; on the other are private-sector employees—and even business owners—who want to become civil servants. But the system has been set up in such a way that if there are no civil-service salaries, there is no private sector either. The sector stays afloat by paying salaries. But this cannot last very long…
Because the state does not like the private sector… In this country, it is always the private sector that sees the state at its most ruthless. You set up a business, and the moment you turn the key, the state is on your back. Tax debts, social security, the municipality, and everyone else come swarming down on you. The state has taken every measure necessary to ensure that you do not stay afloat. For example, as soon as you issue an invoice, the state takes its tax… Even though you have not yet received payment. Then you take out a loan to pay your taxes to the state. _(I’m no expert, but from what I can see, if taxes were based on receipts rather than invoices, this could help resolve the problems in this area.)_ And then there are the high rents in the country! Then you say, _“to hell with this business,”_ and shut up shop… Take a look around you: how many businesses close and how many open every month? Have you noticed?
A few days ago, we heard that the ministry had launched a project related to social security payments _(I’d like to provide clear information, by the way, but none of the links on the Ministry of Labor and Social Security’s website are working)_ and that businesses established after December 5, 2013, would receive a four-year social security premium incentive to help them stay afloat. But the project does not cover the businesses that have been fighting to stay afloat over the past two or three years—the very businesses the ministry is talking about! Yet there are many young entrepreneurs _(who have come to regret becoming entrepreneurs)_ trying to pay their social security contributions by taking out loans or going into debt, or who are on the verge of ending up in court. In my view, a ministry that cares so much about new entrepreneurs also needs to do something for young entrepreneurs in this situation.
Anyway, let us take the principle that “a society that loses its imagination has no future” as our guide, imagine that tomorrow will be better, and hope that everything can be put right.
Meanwhile, I wish everyone a happy March 8, International Working Women’s Day…
Best regards…