I came across a staggering statistic on the
official buffalo City Municipal Website. (http://www.buffalocity.gov.za/municipality/index.stm
)They claim that “71%% of the municipal population
earns less than the household subsistence level (R1 500 a month).” I
always knew the figure was high but 71% is outrageous. That means that nearly ¾
of the people in our city live below the poverty line. And the really scary
thing is that this number is increasing not decreasing.
As a society we have bought into
this myth that people have the opportunity earn according to their abilities
and to improve their standards of living through hard work and enterprise. In
truth these opportunities do not exist for the majority of the population.
Another popular myth is that as
the rich generate more capital the benefits trickle down to the poorer members
of society, through higher wages etc. In truth all they get is the crumbs off
the table.
The middle classes have been
seduced into an alliance with capital—distracted by an endless array of
consumer goods they do not see or do not care about the destruction their way
of life is causing—both in terms of the ecological damage to the natural
environment as well as the increasing use of violence which is becoming
necessary to uphold that system.
Children are dying daily because they cannot
afford to eat. Thousands survive by scavenging off garbage dumps and are being
denied even this opportunity because they have become a menace. We have become
so hardened to these realities that we regard the poor as a nuisance. Given the
extreme disparity between the rich and poor it is surprising the crime rate is
not much higher. Ask yourself truthfully
If your reality forced you to survive by eating the rotten remains of what
others toss out because they have too much—not because you cant find work, but
there is no work, would you feel any remorse in breaking into a house to feed
yourself,or your starving child. How long before the poor of the world rise up
and take what is rightfully theirs by force?
We have come to believe that the
suffering of the poor is not our problem. Yet poverty threatens us all, puts us
all at risk of becoming statistics as the poor become more desperate. If we wish to create a stable society we need to
ensure that all members of the society
feel they have a stake in it. As the numbers of unemployed and poverty stricken
grows so does the crime, the conflict, the tension in society. So it is in all
our interests to confront this problem.
Thankfully not all off us have
succumbed to greed there are many kind souls who, greatly troubled by the
suffering of those less fortunate attempt to alleviate their torment through
charity. Without belittling their
contribution, and while encouraging them to continue their good works it has to be said this is not enough. Despite their best
intentions all this does is reproduce the cycle of dependency.
Attempts to uplift the poor
through skills and literacy training while also admirable, equally have little
effect as little prospect exists for them to put those skill to use.
Exhortations to the rich to curb
their ostentatious lifestyles fall on
deaf ears as long as a culture of rampant consumerism holds sway. Equally
increasing taxation is a pointless
exercise as increased revenue has a habit of finding its way into the already
well lined pockets of our so-called public servants.
Perhaps we can learn a lesson from the
Chinese. Many will react in horror at
the thought of adopting “communist” strategies. In truth many of the
institutions of Western social democracy have communist origins including the
welfare state and Trade Unions. Its time we overcame these prejudices, and
like the Chinese adopt what works and overlook ideological origins. While i certainly do not uphold the Chinese model as one to be uncritically emulated, as a pragmatist rather than an ideologue, i believe that we need to look for an adopt rational ideas and policies no matter what their origin. In China
wages are capped – the highest earner in any enterprise is limited to earning
no more than seven times what the lowliest worker earns. Perhaps the ratio can
be adjusted some what but I believe the principle is sound.
While some would consider this an extreme solution, and it would take
some radical readjustment, the extreme
and growing inequity in our society is a crisis that needs to be dealt with using
extreme measures before it engulfs us all, and requires radical responses.
