Political Perspective

THE question of ‘bailouts’ is a controversial one in the United States right now, but its not a particularly new concept in Namibia where these have happened with monotonous regularity in the past few years, particularly with regard our state-owned enterprises, or parastatals as they are also known. As we enter potentially turbulent times, there is a need for us to ensure that organisations such as these (and Government itself as well as all businesses for that matter) are better managed than ever before, or the ‘bailouts’ will simply continue at increased pace.

MOST of our ‘bailouts’ have been because of bad management, let’s face it, and this is in all likelihood compounded by a dismal work ethic.
A reader mailed me this week to say that what is referred to as the ‘entitlement’ mentality applies particularly to our country, especially in Government, where many feel they are ‘entitled’ to be paid without feeling similarly ‘entitled’ to do the work their pay/office demands of them.
Regrettably he has a point.
But he also forwarded a letter (which I am unable to authenticate, but which is in all likelihood genuine) written in response to the recent lobby in the US for government there to bail out the ‘Big 3’ auto-makers, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
The writer opposes the ‘bailouts’, and while his response may be most pertinent to US conditions, it certainly has bearing on our situation in Namibia today, and raises issues which we should tackle here with great urgency if we are to stave off similar ‘bailouts’ here in the future.
In appealing for the ‘bailout’ , Troy Clarke, President of GM in the US, said: ‘There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management, which it is not ..’
The writer responds to the GM appeal by delivering some home truths.
‘Politicians and management of the Big Three are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs for the last countless decades, and whose new plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting … President-elect Obama to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep ‘living the dream’ – believe me folks, the dream is over’.
Why is it over? Because, the writer continues, it is not only the result of bad management (in the auto industry) but also ‘lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction’.
Comparing the roles of parenting and government, he goes on to say that parents are not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess you’ve gotten into. Children, he says, do this on a regular basis. ‘I do for them what my parents did for me – I make them stand on their own feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work though it. Am I there for them in the wings? Of course, but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults’.
‘Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins,’ he adds, and should ‘stop trying to put off the inevitable.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything the writer says, but I certainly concur that Government (read taxpayers) should not be stepping in to save anyone and everyone who’s (mis)managed a business into the ground. And from companies onto the people themselves …
The writer then posits the following: ‘That couple whose combined income is less than $50 000 shouldn’t be living in a $485 000 home … the job driving a forklift isn’t worth $85 000 a year … let the market correct itself folks – it will. Yes, it will be painful, but it’s going to be painful either way, and the bright side is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has, and doesn’t live beyond its means, and gets back to basics, and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world …’
Lessons to be learned: hierarchies, whether in Government, parastatal or private sector, should not be overpaying themselves; ditto the workforce; bring back a strong work ethic; live within one’s means and don’t fall prey to living on credit; don’t feel ‘entitled’; and Government should think before it bails out badly managed companies whose CEOs have been earning unscrupulously high wages, and/or gives loans to companies which it later has to make good on, courtesy of the already overtaxed citizen.
It would do us no harm to make these parallels and listen and learn before it is too late.

ANY comments on this column or other issues? E-mail me at gwen@namibian.com.na