Indulgence

a social concern

Meredith Brooks from Shout (written by Meredith Brooks)
So much wasted on unimportant things
Throw away the precious time
When there's so much that really needs changin'

Lately, I've been thinking about the constant rise of prices and how things just seem to get more and more expensive. It's kind of weird (and a little too late) to start having socio-economic concerns in my life. I think I've pretty much set myself up to a life of art and wanton abandon on the state of affairs of the economy -- seeing how the concept totally escapes me. After all, I did take economics twice in college. I couldn't understand all the formulae and all those graphs and stuff just went over my head.

But lately, reading the newspapers (yes! surprisingly, I've begun reading the newspaper in my old age) and conversations with taxi and jeep drivers and over-hearing conversations at the MRT has made me more and more aware of the state of my nation. And then I also take a look at all brand new cars on the road. People sporting their brand new Mistubishi Lancers and the mass of utterly cute Honda Jazz that seem to populate my view on Tuesday afternoons. How come I see so many Jazz's on Tuesday afternoons and not on any other day? Hmmm...

It seems the old adage, the rich get richer and the poor just get poorer and everyone under some invisible economic line just keeps going lower and lower under it, almost drowning in it. We are reaching a point in our lives where we can no longer maintain the status quo. More and more of the middle class seem to be falling behind and those in the poverty line are catching up with them. It's taking more and more out of us to pay for the daily needs.

And if you know me, these are not the things that I think of. These are not the things I talk about. Yet it is very evident in my thoughts and in the things I observe. Another example of my self-absorbed/self-centered way of thinking: it only starts to matter when I'm directly affected by it. I'm such an asshole!

Whatever the case maybe, I get pissed off reading the newspaper to see how the government approved the new E-Vat bill that will increase the prices of everything. This is so, in order to collect more money to pay our budget deficit or whatnot. I don't understand all the concepts. I barely passed economics on my second time round after all. But what I read in the papers is that our tax collection, actually, is sufficient, albeit a little off because of the 10% we could be getting from taxes, only 4% is actually collected because of poor tax collection procedures and systems. The new E-Vat is suppose to handle the missing 6%. Does that make sense to anyone? Why can't they just improve their tax collection systems?

And number 2, what's the point of all of it anyway since the money never goes where it is suppose to and instead goes to the pockets of the bureaucrats. All the money we give to them and still the roads are shitty, policemen and public school teachers are underpaid, there are not enough classrooms and books for the kids going to public school and bull shit like that. Is it really so hard to find an honest politician these days? One who is willing to find and make public the proof necessary to put the crooks in jail and stay alive after? Why do we need a martyr, one who is willing to die? Can't we protect our own heroes?

It is sickening, really.

And why do the people at the entertainment industry have to pay more taxes than the regular person? It isn't our fault that people prefer to buy what we are offering. Just because we make more money than most people as we work in this industry doesn't mean that the responsibility of saving this country's economic problem fall to us. It is the problem of everyone living here. Why do we have a special tax that charges us more than businessmen who make even more? And how come it seems that people in the entertainment industry get audited more often than people in business or in government for that matter? It doesn't seem fair or just or right.

But who knows? Maybe I'm really just completely out of the loop and completely stupid to all the concepts of economy. Maybe I should go back to school and take the class all over again; not that it will do me much good. It just pisses me off that we have the capacity to get through this shit that we are in and continue to fall flat on our face and things just get worse.

I am stuck in traffic sometimes and as bad as the traffic jam is, there is still 4 police bikes, 2 escorts and a luxurious car that gets special attention; gets right of way and moves on ahead while we all slug around and wait; stuck in the same position we were in half an hour ago. I don't think that's fair. Look at our country, folks! It's not as if you are doing much good in making this country better that you earned the right to get through the worst of traffic jams. For all we know, the person in the car was just your wife on her way to shop in the most expensive stores of Greenbelt 3. Our own President's husband and son are not even in the country because there are charges of illegal gambling against them.

All of a sudden, traveling around the world doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

posted by wanggo @ 2:30 PM