We Must Help People to Make Ends Meet

by Craig Butler

Many of us are familiar with the TV commercials promoting feed-the-children efforts in poor countries. The pictures turn my stomach and make me feel guilty. Well I have news for you, there are many people in our own country who can’t make ends meet.

When I discussed this on a recent radio talk show, many people contacted me to recite their own tales of horror. I have been moved to the point of tears a few times as a result, and I believe the time has come for us as a nation to address this issue.

There are many factors at play here, so we must be careful in apportioning blame to any individual or institution. None of us in the Bahamas could have foreseen the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States, but it is a fact that we have to deal with.

We should not underestimate the extent of this crisis. All one need do is consider how the US central bank took the unprecedented step of guaranteeing J P Morgan Chase's takeover of Bear Stearns.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke invoked a law not used since the 1960s. Over a year ago Bear Stearns stock was over 170 per share. In February it was at 110 and now comes in somewhere around 10. Local resident Joe Louis who reportedly owns some 9 per cent of Bear Stearns would have seen his personal wealth take an $800 million dollar hit as a result.

Another manifestation of the crisis is that the US housing market has come to an almost complete standstill. Housing starts, which are the staple for measuring the economy, are down and foreclosures naturally up and significantly so, I might add.

This is the time when raiders with liquid cash can make a killing as they are able to pick up multi-million dollar properties for a fraction of the cost. For example, a home in Miami Shores that sold for $477,000 two years ago was auctioned on Saturday for $177,000.

The US government has been forced to take a number of measures to spur the economy in addition to the bail out mentioned above. The Fed has reduced interest rates by two per cent recently and Congress has announced a stimulus package giving taxpayers a rebate from the federal government.

These steps have had effects in the Bahamas. Every time the US lowers its interest rates life becomes more expensive and the cost of imported oil goes up as the US dollar gets weaker. Personal savings don’t earn as much and therefore the impetus to save is weaker. Prices are rising in other industries as well, so you start to see why the poor are getting poorer and the middle class has evaporated into a pay check to pay check working class.

I’m not here to talk about the United States, but we know that as their economy goes, so goes ours. What have we done to help our people through this crisis? More importantly, what steps is the government taking or prepared to take in the short term?

One measure we can take is to cut taxes on imported oil. Yes, I realize that this accounts for a large portion of the government’s revenue but these are extraordinary times and they require drastic action. The failure to review the projects left in place by the PLP in a timely fashion has also been a major contributor to this dilemma - not that quick approval would have averted our problems but the overall effect would have been lessened.

A friend was telling me about her visit to the accident and emergency department the other day. She saw a young lady with a child waiting to be served. The baby’s bottle fell on the floor and the young mother picked it up and put it back in the baby’s mouth. This lady turned to the young mother and told her not to do so because of all the germs in the area.

When she noticed that the bottle was empty and the baby was clearly hungry, she went home, fixed something to eat and bought it back to the hospital. I am told that the baby and the mother devoured the food in a matter of minutes after which the young mother said that she hadn’t eaten in two days.

This young lady was so distressed that she asked the young mother if she could take her child and care for him. Now I’m sure that you’d expect that the answer was a resounding no, but that is not the case. This mother let her child go with a perfect stranger as she could not do anything for the child herself.

She told of how she worked in a fast food joint making only $170 per week, that at 21 she had been abandoned by her husband for a life on the streets doing drugs. This mother lived in a single room no bigger than a bathroom with a mattress that was on the floor with no sheets on it and the room had no electricity or bath facilities.

How can people like this manage? Lately a loaf of bread costs about $3, staples such as noodles and hot dogs have also gone up. And then there is the rent, other bills, and money for kids. How can anyone make it on a minimum wage?

We have real problems in the Bahamas. They are only going to get worse. For us to play like we don’t see our own flesh and blood out there hurting is just turning a blind eye to what is happening and we shall all experience the results later on.

There is, I’m sure, a direct correlation between the crime rate and the level of discontent among the masses. When you speak to those who I refer to as the corner dwellers, they will say that they don’t have a job and what jobs they can get will not pay as much as what they can make on the hustle.

We need to reach out and help the less fortunate as much as we can. We all need to do what we can to avoid the inevitable chaos that will grip our society if we don’t. The government needs to lead the way.

Comments

[Bill]

Hi Craig,

First time responding to your posts. And, YES, things are a little thin. But, to be honest, things were a little thin for at least 3 years now- subprimbe just added fuel to the fire; so to speak!

In any event, those who aren't covered now, will have little to do with what will happen. Things are serious and I think its time private businessmen, do a solid, take this one on the chin and hire a few extra workers- even if only at $200 a week in the short term- until something else gets sorted out.

There is allot of joint partnerships, which would not involve government spending huge amounts of social spending money, to fix this issue properly.

But, what we also need, is a public awakening of the truth. Lets face it, everyone is NOT living the Frankie Wilson life, even though they may appear to have Frankie Wilson type things.

People need to tell the truth and assist with letting government do what right for people in need. Too often, we have some very bitter folks, lower middle class to middle class and slightly upper middle class, who feel that it is their right, to be bitter and hence, any assistance to anyone who may be in need, should be met with bete noire.

Absolutely, no government, at this time, should boast any happy figures, when the world is in chaos. In fact, I don't think anyone would.

Times like this we simply just need to throw money at people. Just throw it at them. Print more if we have to. Because, businessmen are suffering- food stuffs are spoiling on the shelf. We need a stimulus package in the Bahamas.

The recession can get much worse for us, if we don't be proactive and plan right!

Best,

Bill

[Firebrand]

"Print more if we have to." ??? WTF???
The U.S. Federal Reserve's overprinting of bills that don't have anything of value to back them up is the reason why the U.S. Dollar is falling!

[drew Roberts]

For anyone who thinks simply printing more money and giving it away can help with any long term problems, perhaps a little reading on what life is like during hyper inflation might be a good start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hyper+inflation&btnG=Google+Search

Things can go all borked in a hurry.

Get costs under control. (In the government, run down the waste and worse.) Collect those back taxes instead of writing them off. What do they want? Everyone to stop paying in hopes of the next round of write offs?

If things get tough, look to your family, friends and neighbours for help. If things get tough, help your family, friends and neighbours.

What the government might want to do is consider a famine prevention plan. Some storage for rationing to get by. Crazy, I know. Very difficult in our circumstances as well. But could be worth a thought.

all the best,

drew

[Bill]

Hi Firebrand,

I never said print money because we have to, I said print money if we must.

However, I know printing money is not the "end all" solution for the USA- they have a production problem and a credit squeeze that's socially driven. But, they are still price makers to a great extent as well as a hegemon. We, and the sad truth is, are price takers and hardly a dent in the global economy. Prices, as long as the BRIC's are growing and devloping countries try to satiate their demnand, will never go downward.

In addition to that, the idea of the USA printing money can work both ways. For one, they are trying to bottom out of a hole. When I say bottoming out of a hole, they are trying to increase the money supply by lowering rates, to cover allot of short term debt with average Americans- the election pay off.

More money, low interest rates, may increase demand for goods and lower the value of the dollar, but, faced with a crisis of default on debt obligations, while it may have side effects, is the way Bernanke has chosen to take the Fed.

Now, this hurts all of us. Especially American's who travel. But, their FDI inflows are increasing- Americans just need to stop being so Xenophobic and allow FDI, to flow back IN TO their economy. Their regulators have not told them the truth about the global economy- and they probably would not even understand it if they tried.

Bill

[drew Roberts]

Hey Bill,

where did the "Firebrand" come from?

"Times like this we simply just need to throw money at people. Just throw it at them. Print more if we have to."

OK, so where is our government to get this money from to throw at people if not by printing it? Perhaps they can collect that $410 million there is talk of forgiving?

It is bad enough that we are tied to the US dollar right now and their games are causing our world purchasing power to decline.

Us turning around and printing more on our end will likely only make things worse.

We need a new way of thinking. A new way of looking at our world. Perhaps it is an old way with a new twist?

We have a nice climate. We can slack off and not freeze in the winter.

To be happy, we need fresh water, enough food to keep us healthy and not too much more that we can't help each other with.

Not that I want to go back to my grandparents early days with wooden houses without screens. Flit guns and lots of mosquitoes. No AC anywhere. But we could manage as a nation and with the right mental attitude, we could do OK.

But New Providence needs to solve its fresh water issues and we all need to figure the food angle.

all the best,

drew

[Astounded]

"Things are serious and I think its time private businessmen, do a solid, take this one on the chin and hire a few extra workers- even if only at $200 a week in the short term- until something else gets sorted out".
What is this tripe?
Who do you think funds every charitable and civic organization now?
Even when Government takes tax dollars and throws it at some society ill real or percieved, that came from the private sector also, contributed by the people that produce!
Private businesses hire people to work, not take up space.
That is just like the unions wanting an amendment to the labour act for businesses to pay people for lunch time!
Lunch time is the individuals time! Shall we pay them to sleep also?
Socialist tripe.

[Bill]

Astounded,

The last person here, to be a socialist- is me. In fact, I don't know how you would deduce that. In fact, it is not socialist at all- and, it is charity. Since you said that businessmen, already do their share of charity, they may as well do it better and right so that it fits the need.

The vituperation is not neccesary Astounded.

Bill

[Astounded]

So, how right is right? Who determines what right is?
THe producer or the non producer?
The needy or the non-needy?
Perhaps the private sector is hyper extended as it is, with the burden of funding not only government but also every pet project of every type?
Now, if government would remove itself as the obsticle that it is to business and production, I'm sure a greater charitable burden could and would be assumed by the private sector, along with growth and business development.
Anyway, to "throw money at people in times like this" is as an extreme a socialist idea as can be thought.
Who will produce and shore up the value of the money we should throw?

[Bill]

Astounded,

The Fed, in the USA, with G W Bush- which all in play symbolizes free market globalization- saw fit to work with your perceived "socialist" ideals. Tax rebates, lower interest rates, business concessions and so forth- bail out for lenders such as Bear Stearns and promised bail outs.

Proper public spending and socialism are two extremely bifurcated political idea's.

For that matter, I don't know how you got to socialist ideals, in regards to my position in the first place? That is not socialism- I am not asking for control on the means of production. But, asking that social spending, be properly and effectively, so that you can diversify the burden and have aid penetrate to where it needs to.

Now, as you mention, the private sector has not been pulling their fair weight- they can do a little more. What the private sector, with their charity groups, do, is, raise money and have symposium's, but that aid is hardly ever received by the persons that it was "supposedly" directed to.

Now, you are trying to denominate the ideas of "amount" with "substance" and "quantity" over "quality".

Now, any group, for example Lyford Cay, Engineer's society, Rotary and/or Kiwanis, just for a small example, can riase money- and tey do a fantastic job. With that, any company; i.e. Kelly's, Arawak Homes and/or Abaco Markets, can sponsor a fun run walk or other PR intensive ventures. But, 1. Now, the quondam donation in the first scenario, the question is what exactly are they going to do with the money? 2. With the latter, what does a fun run walk, actually do to alleviate social burden?

Its allot more complex than you saying "da socialist Billy on Bahamapundit say"...and I hope, if we continue this dialouge, the term "socialist ideal", if can't be used in proper context, be totally defenestrated in regards to this discussion.

Bill.

[Astonished]

I think you are replying to my comments to the Author.
However, I reject your arguement, and cannot assimilate it, as it is too fragmentated and theoretically unsound.

[Bill]

Astounded,

All you have to do is talk about the issues. There is no win, or loss- just talk about the issues.

I did say "throw money at people". So, hence, I thought you were talking to me. My bad if I had your position confused with someone else.

But, in any event, I think I spoke plainly and clearly, without trepedation and/or being overly censorious to anyone.

Bill