Govt struggling in governance
Sir,
Reading political quotes on political philosophy I came across the following from former President of the USA, Ronald Reagan; “We don’t have a trillion Dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough, but we have a trillion Dollar debt because we spend too much,” unquote. Still aligned to matters of their economy and the fiscus, former President Reagan had this to say: “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: if it works, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it.”
And that is so true for countries that find themselves in a fiscal crunch - spending too much, or extravagant spending to be more precise. And not even coming back armed with a bagful of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a host of thematics would save nations from collapsing and bankrupting their economies. We need to be saved from ourselves!
Isn’t it surprising that some nations still struggle with governance in an era where the likes of the UN have it all made for member states and leaders in terms of what they should be doing in governing their people? I mean, leaders go to these conferences, be it SADC, UN and others to be given the development agenda for the world and their countries, and all they need to do upon return is implement and report back on those strategies. I mean, member states have the job half done for them already and all they need to do is allocate resources for the implementation of those strategies.
The lack of political will in advancing some of these strategies is a serious let down for this country. For instance when it comes to the economy and matters of the fiscus, we seem hellbent on defying logic, in that advices given to us are seemingly treated with contempt as our extravagance gets the better of us. Zimbabwe did not get into their current financial crisis because of naivety, but it was because of not heeding advice. And if we continue in this path, we will quickly catch up with Zimbabwe. And it would be such a shame when we have such support from international bodies and institutions giving us worthwhile advice.
Like former President Reagan would have it, we are not in this position because we have not taxed enough, but rather, because of extravagant spending. The more I think of how easy it is to govern countries nowadays with the assistance of international bodies setting the agenda, the more I am convinced that simplicity is indeed the ultimate sophistication; as they say.
B Dlamini