Listers!
In my previous mail I am critical of research methods and media publication which takes surface views of the underlying mechanism and structures under which different societies works.
a. Why an Urbanites bedevilled with all sorts of problems in African cities?
b. Why are these not the same problems faced with people in rural Africa?
The Slums, misert of children, lepers, beggers, widows, orphans on African urban streets have a tale tell - collapse of traditional welfare and mismanagement of modern state welfare state - clear and simple.
The options are very clear and the foolishness of African leaders is evident.
Secondary I doubt if the American society is a welfare society in any respect. Strong indivduatin does not fit in welfare policies.
African societies themselves despite all their miseries are built on welfarism like Bagandas' bulungi bwansi and their clan structures which is entirely based on an economic ideology!
Many more societies fight bitter wars to maintain good society through society good and fair distribution.
In fact cattle rustling in Karamoja is fueled by the type of rudimentray welfarism. This needs to be refined to stale primitivism and cultural voilence that comes withit, in exactly the same way the Byanyakore (Bahiima ) did when they struggled for settler life style.
I can't understand how those above cultures and the the European welfarism can be so lightly taken as writen in the article below!
One should rightway separate monetary (economic) and socially based or derived welfare systems these are two radically different things whih Europeans themselves have not understood very well.
It is even terrible to compare capitalism to social democractic trigged welfare- the very type African have enjoyed for thousands of years re: Nyerere combinatory African welfarism with capitalist inspired which leads to the mal-function of the entire system.
Facts are facts - in which one single can one find no collective responsiblity including the most archic societies of the earth?!
Can the explain to us the nature of human societies or we are going to fubricate our own ideas deviod of reality?! Interesting isn't it?!
Bwanika.
Comment�
> Thursday, October 2, 2003� Experiment on 'welfarism' won't
> workBy GITHIEYA KIMARI
>
> One of the many surprises of working amongst Americans is that, despite
> a well-developed capitalist work ethic, there are people who do not
> have any qualms about working for six months and collecting
> unemployment benefits for the rest of the year.
>
> In fact for some, even working for six months is considered too
> much.�
>
> As a foreign student, this attempt to beat the system always surprised
> me because I assumed you only got that type of conniving in a Third
> World country. What I found to be even more tragic was the fact that,
> in what is really a land of opportunity, young people could chose
> idleness when they could be anything they wanted to be.
>
> What I later learnt was that the negative attitude towards work and the
> resulting dependency mentality are some of the many negative
> consequences of government-funded social programmes.
>
> While Kenya does not have a comprehensive welfare system, the total
> effect of the intended, comprehensive free education, shelter, housing,
> health and even retirement programmes could, ironically, undermine the
> exhortation to build a working nation.
>
> In its paper, "Economic Recovery Strategy For Wealth and Employment
> Creation", the Government states its broad objectives in the social
> sector as reducing poverty and narrowing inequalities through, among
> other things, introduction of affordable and quality social services.
>
> In what has to be the most definitive ideological statement by a
> high-ranking Government official, Planning Minister Anyang' Nyong'o
> summarised the Government's intentions as aiming to achieve rapid
> economic development in order to provide appropriate social welfare
> systems.�
>
> So far, the most visible translation of this vision has been provision
> of free primary education, and work is underway to create a
> comprehensive national health insurance scheme as well as a national
> housing programme.
>
> In his speech during the annual Tom Mboya speech, for instance, the
> minister pointed out that, by creating an elaborate welfare safety net
> for Kenyans, the Government aims to achieve two objectives.
>
> First, it hopes to free the energy spent on survival issues so that it
> can be used towards more creative matters. Secondly, it hopes to narrow
> the difference in the quality of life amongst Kenyans.
>
> Considering the experience elsewhere, this optimism seems quite out of
> place. From an economic perspective, Government-funded social
> programmes have always been controversial because they are not only an
> extra burden to the Exchequer, they also require taxpayers to
> underwrite the Government�s generosity.�
>
> The additional cost to the Exchequer means that the Government has to
> increase taxes, Treasury borrowing, or donor funding, in ways that pose
> a number of fiscal problems.�
>
> Increased borrowing in the domestic market puts pressure on interest
> rates and therefore ends up crowding out the private sector. Increased
> taxes reduce consumer demand for goods and services and therefore
> investment. Borrowing from international institutions increases
> dependency, compromises sovereignty, and mortgages the life of future
> generations.
>
> Already, the burden of such social programmes has resulted in creating
> an unprecedented deficit in this year's budget, the adverse effects of
> such deficits can be quite disastrous.
>
> For as US economic history illustrates, the stagnation and high
> inflation rates of the 1960s and 1970s resulted, to a large extent,
> from the deficits that arose from both President Roosevelt's New Deal
> welfare policies, and President Lyndon Johnson's Better Society
> programmes.
>
> If the economic arguments are controversial, the political and
> ideological arguments are equally problematic.
>
> In general, Narc's plan for elaborate social programmes seems to
> emanate from a belief that it is important to narrow income disparity,
> that the Government is the appropriate agent to bring about this
> equity, and that such a system is consistent with African culture.
>
> During the Tom Mboya speech, Prof Nyong'o revealed that the
> Government's plan is to pick up from the policies outlined in Sessional
> Paper Number 10 of 1965 on African Socialism.
>
> While every African country had a unique interpretation of this
> ideology, the different experiments shared the idea that an appropriate
> African economic system has to meet the African tradition of sharing
> and distributing wealth equitably. Forty years down the line, no
> African country does it.
>
> If the cultural justification for a welfare system stands on shaky
> ground, the assumption that equity is achieved when the Government
> dispenses social benefits is equally debatable. In the first place, it
> is difficult to define equity considering we are born with God-given
> differences and grow up in different cultural environments.
>
> For instance, the nomad whose whole life is spent looking after cattle
> has a very different concept of wealth from the urbanised professional
> who spends his life behind a desk.
>
> In such circumstances, should the Government seek to narrow the income
> differences by asking the businessman to underwrite some social
> programmes for the herdsman?�
>
> Similarly, a Catholic priest who subscribes to vows of poverty can be
> considered poor when his wealth is compared to the businessman whose
> mission in life is to maximise profit. Should the Government seek to
> rescue the priest from his self- imposed poverty by offering him
> public-funded welfare benefits?�
>
> Ultimately, there are many economic and philosophical questions that
> need to be thrashed out before putting public-funded social programmes
> in place.
> Mr Kimari is a banker in NairobiComments\Views about this article
> � Copyright �2003, Nation Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved.
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