BUDGET 202122/05/21

The impact of restructures 30 years ago was the beginning of the end for parents in the desecration of the family. The extraction of wealth and resources from the poor transferred to the rich reversed the liberal drive of trickle-down effect. It wasn't restricted to tax breaks for the well-off, but also benefit and services cuts for low income families among the sick and unemployed.

Transition is usually referred to targeted developments from static state to growth and stability, but when social consequences outweigh intended outcomes that the reverse of the process has established abnormal growth a major social development. And life was never the same again.

Children grew up with unresolved issues of family separation. While some survived and moved on, unfortunately for others are stuck in victim mode.

Privatisation made inroads to separatism. One sector is impoverished to prompt the lifestyle of another served to separate the rich from the poor. And the gap in between widened to form the foundation of a dichotomy. Based on the reverse trickle-down effect, the abstract economy booms for the rich and busts for the poor at the same time. Separation by status is not new, but since non-Europeans make up a large population of the poor, separation is now based on race. Its economic apartheid!

This has tarnished the term transition from economic growth for all to separatism when economic growth benefits only the few. When public housing was sold and handed over to the private sector, restriction of access and price hype inflated its value. While it's unaffordable for the ordinary, housing sustained a market investment for the rich. What we once valued as a home has become a commodity, a sought after stock for prospectors among developers. Even landlords and capitalists have kept the market turning.

And there you have it, the cycle of progress is turning for the rich but in fact it's static for the rest of us. Progress seems to transition, but we in fact are stuck in a loop of deterioration.

That is why Budget 2021 addresses where it's needed the most. Some who understands where we are have argued that it's only a drop in the ocean, but most have said it's a start. The statements are true as developments do not established overnight.

The incoming government spends the whole term if not more to attempt at repairing and upgrade of infrastructure from years of neglect. Essential public services including health, schools, roads and transport were secondary to privatisation. While the private sector were well off, the public sector was disestablished.

So I can understand folks wishing for more in the budget, even I couldn't find any goodies for me. But I am grateful that the budget has something for families that are struggling especially to pay the rent. And frankly, I haven't in my time seen so many people from all walks of life hoping for the government to acknowledge their struggle. I can't blame them as the other party has no social responsibility, not even for the consequences of its own making.

We have learned from covid-19 that business cannot survive on its own. And to revive, it is also depended on the government for handouts. But to be viable a business needs participation of the public both as employees and consumers. Yet, a business private sector party would rush to disestablish the public sector in the first hint of a downturn. Then it quantifies handouts to prompt the abstract economy while labour is confronted with austerity measures.

This is corrected by the budget that recovery needs the public sector to generate business in operation and consumption. You cannot sustain business on an impoverished population. That is why it produces social abnormal consequences and people become creative in trying to make ends meet. But upgrade of public infrastructure provides a safety net to balance against material developments.

It is then that we witness a holistic cycle of progress in transitional developments not one sided but for all. Yes, we are all in this together. No matter who you are or what you do or not do, we all serve a purpose in the organisation of society.

This is it. Organisation of the economy prioritises material developments for the sake of material developments itself; an end in itself. Organisation of society prioritises social developments for the sake of citizens; a purpose.

If society was the Olympic Games, then doctors would be awarded gold medals because of their commitment to maintain the quality of life. But somehow doctors became a bit selfish and egoistic, their work is now focused not on saving lives but how to increase the number of gold medals.

And the spiral escalates to selective consumers according to status, brief consultations and more drugs until patients are not recovering but depended. It serves to provide a demand and earnings for the doctor, but it doesn't guarantee wellbeing for the patient. But there's a good chance of producing generic doctors if not now then, in the future.

A fairer system can sustain the quality of life for all while maintaining economic growth. I hope that a modern trend in transition is from individualism and materialism to Diversity. It is awareness of inequity resulting from discrimination based on race, status or gender. Instead of separatism, the economy can be boomed for all irrespective.

The social model is more stable.

The social model is measured by the number satisfied customers.

The material model is measured by how much money the business made.

If the social model gets so many people satisfied, its reputation may attract more people and thus more money.

If the material model gets more people but not necessaroily satisfied and complain a lot, then the business will suffer.

I think a survey will prove that people are more likely to go back to a shop where service is friendly, and the product is genuine.

A shop that seems to offer more but clinical and not genuine is likely to lose customers in the long run.

So, customer relationships is important.

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