The Greek Philosopher Aristocle (Plato) (428/427-348-347 BCE) dissected the three types of people in society: the artisans, the auxiliaries and the philosopher kings.
The artisans are the producers. They are the 'Wanjikus' making the base of the society, providing the market for goods and services in an economy. Kenya's contemporary uses the term "hustler" in reference to the category. A faulty economic system has an asymmetric effect on the artisan category because they often rely on day-to-day earnings from microenterprises for a living. In Sigmond Freud's categorisation, this group of citizens is driven by the id. They are concerned about the current and are driven by appetites and desires. They are instinctual, and will often act on what they see and feel. They often coalesce around politicians for handouts, besides attending religious worship with a hope of economic liberation. They are gullible to scums and are the fooder for the current cyber scummers. This category is incapable of strategic thinking, but are the drivers of the economy. When adequately empowered, the economy will flourish.
Plato's second class is of the auxiliaries. They are the spirited element that is advanced in their thinking compared with the artisans. They are courageous and brave to protect and defend the state. They may not have the moral compass, and therefore have to be guided by a superior. In the contemporary setting, these are the middle class, the administrators and managers. In Freudian thinking, they are driven by the ego. They are sandwiched between the artisans and the philosopher kings. They are expected to follow the orders of the philosopher-kings and ensure that the appetites of the artisans are managed. The auxiliaries are the employers of the artisans. They thrive whenever the economy is thriving and so it is in their interest to keep the artisans safe.
Philosopher-kings are established at the apex of society. They are the most knowledgeable, virtuous, wise and conscientious. They are responsible for the just running of the state. They are responsible to ensure that justice prevails. Justice, in Plato's thinking, is when every component of society functions optimally. The three arms of Government are responsible for ensuring a smooth running of the state by providing an enabling environment for social, political, cultural and economic interaction.
The Bottom-Up economic models attempt to empower the base for economic takeoff. It presupposes that the base is skilled and strategic to undertake economic decisions that will spring them to higher standards of living while reducing their vulnerabilities. The model tends to bestow the responsibility of economic management to the artisans, beyond their capacity to bear. The approach was hypothesised by Karl Marx and was found to be feasible only when the capitalists have been toppled by the working class. The economic model hence looks for a state where the capitalists would be overthrown and power handed to the artisans. This is to be characterised by the nationalisation of private assets. This move started by drawing a dichotomy between the rich and the poor through the hustler-dynasty narrative. Ironically, the people fronting the approach are themselves among the wealthiest Kenyans with vast interests in private enterprise.
Proponents of the bottom-up approach argue that the people will have access to unsecured credit services to enable them to spring up. This would be rolled out differently from the revolving funds extended to the elderly, OVC (orphans and vulnerable children), people living with disabilities, youth and women. More resources are directed through the National Constituency Development Fund, and the respective county social safety nets.
Cases are replete of people who get promoted at their employment, and their promotion ends up in killing their talents and careers. The promotion is often made from the area of capacity to a managerial position. Artists have been promoted from their fields of play, music, comedy, etc to managerial positions. The promotions have killed their cares because they cannot continue with their calking, yet they are expected to perform in the managerial and administrative roles. This, according to Plato, is a misjudgement that results in injustice.
The Bottom-up economics, besides causing confusion in the economy, is likely to be a costly experiment. From experience, Kenya is supplied with opportunists who find loopholes in every government undertaking towards the citizens. The nation will lose a considerable percentage of the GDP in the process of implementing the approach because the motive of some of the functionaries is to get rich. The moral fabric of the state is torn in the middle.
Government loans and security will be defaulted because of the internal contractions in the strategy. The mass employment that the model proposes will lead to massive underemployment that will exacerbate the mental health situation that the nation is already grappling with. The people will be directed into areas that are not of their competence and passion, driven by economic motivation. This will worsen the state of affairs that has already been created by the confusion in the education system through the poorly implemented competency-based curriculum.
An approach for Kenya's economic fortunes is to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is through infrastructure development and a reduction in corruption, wastage of public resources. The citizens should elect the right people for political positions, with the knowledge that these positions determine the policies and laws that are enacted. The bottom-up economic model does not only fail to be the panacea for the current challenges, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
The artisans are the producers. They are the 'Wanjikus' making the base of the society, providing the market for goods and services in an economy. Kenya's contemporary uses the term "hustler" in reference to the category. A faulty economic system has an asymmetric effect on the artisan category because they often rely on day-to-day earnings from microenterprises for a living. In Sigmond Freud's categorisation, this group of citizens is driven by the id. They are concerned about the current and are driven by appetites and desires. They are instinctual, and will often act on what they see and feel. They often coalesce around politicians for handouts, besides attending religious worship with a hope of economic liberation. They are gullible to scums and are the fooder for the current cyber scummers. This category is incapable of strategic thinking, but are the drivers of the economy. When adequately empowered, the economy will flourish.
Plato's second class is of the auxiliaries. They are the spirited element that is advanced in their thinking compared with the artisans. They are courageous and brave to protect and defend the state. They may not have the moral compass, and therefore have to be guided by a superior. In the contemporary setting, these are the middle class, the administrators and managers. In Freudian thinking, they are driven by the ego. They are sandwiched between the artisans and the philosopher kings. They are expected to follow the orders of the philosopher-kings and ensure that the appetites of the artisans are managed. The auxiliaries are the employers of the artisans. They thrive whenever the economy is thriving and so it is in their interest to keep the artisans safe.
Philosopher-kings are established at the apex of society. They are the most knowledgeable, virtuous, wise and conscientious. They are responsible for the just running of the state. They are responsible to ensure that justice prevails. Justice, in Plato's thinking, is when every component of society functions optimally. The three arms of Government are responsible for ensuring a smooth running of the state by providing an enabling environment for social, political, cultural and economic interaction.
The Bottom-Up economic models attempt to empower the base for economic takeoff. It presupposes that the base is skilled and strategic to undertake economic decisions that will spring them to higher standards of living while reducing their vulnerabilities. The model tends to bestow the responsibility of economic management to the artisans, beyond their capacity to bear. The approach was hypothesised by Karl Marx and was found to be feasible only when the capitalists have been toppled by the working class. The economic model hence looks for a state where the capitalists would be overthrown and power handed to the artisans. This is to be characterised by the nationalisation of private assets. This move started by drawing a dichotomy between the rich and the poor through the hustler-dynasty narrative. Ironically, the people fronting the approach are themselves among the wealthiest Kenyans with vast interests in private enterprise.
Proponents of the bottom-up approach argue that the people will have access to unsecured credit services to enable them to spring up. This would be rolled out differently from the revolving funds extended to the elderly, OVC (orphans and vulnerable children), people living with disabilities, youth and women. More resources are directed through the National Constituency Development Fund, and the respective county social safety nets.
Cases are replete of people who get promoted at their employment, and their promotion ends up in killing their talents and careers. The promotion is often made from the area of capacity to a managerial position. Artists have been promoted from their fields of play, music, comedy, etc to managerial positions. The promotions have killed their cares because they cannot continue with their calking, yet they are expected to perform in the managerial and administrative roles. This, according to Plato, is a misjudgement that results in injustice.
The Bottom-up economics, besides causing confusion in the economy, is likely to be a costly experiment. From experience, Kenya is supplied with opportunists who find loopholes in every government undertaking towards the citizens. The nation will lose a considerable percentage of the GDP in the process of implementing the approach because the motive of some of the functionaries is to get rich. The moral fabric of the state is torn in the middle.
Government loans and security will be defaulted because of the internal contractions in the strategy. The mass employment that the model proposes will lead to massive underemployment that will exacerbate the mental health situation that the nation is already grappling with. The people will be directed into areas that are not of their competence and passion, driven by economic motivation. This will worsen the state of affairs that has already been created by the confusion in the education system through the poorly implemented competency-based curriculum.
An approach for Kenya's economic fortunes is to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is through infrastructure development and a reduction in corruption, wastage of public resources. The citizens should elect the right people for political positions, with the knowledge that these positions determine the policies and laws that are enacted. The bottom-up economic model does not only fail to be the panacea for the current challenges, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment