Transcription (1)

The topic for our group is should we consider social welfares while developing economy; and I am standing on the view of developing economy. Ok I will start, there is a article written on the internet by the chairman of the Taiwan new century foundation, he points out there is a concept of gross national happiness, he says that it is the future indicator for determining a country’s development. Because in the past we always use GDP to determining a country is a developed country or not, but the problem with GDP is that it does not take education, social welfares and so on for consideration. But there is just one simple question I will ask you. How do you develop social welfares if you don’t have money? Just simply develop like education and you don’t have money. How do you get all the books all the teachers and all the professors? So I think that it is nonsense for saying that we don’t develop economics and spend all your money on education. And I think the problem with the Taiwanese government now is that everyone, most of the people they do not agree what the government says. They think the government is only doing things to benefit the rich people, the government don’t take poor people into considerations. There are even saying says that the Taiwanese government should follow the examples of the West to develop economy and to maintain social welfares, but the question is that we all have different histories. Because during world war two our economy was damaged by the wars but in the West their developing their economy at that time so they already have a long history if stable economics, so that is why they can develop their social welfares. And I think public opinions we don’t have to take care of them, because public opinions contains the risk of inconsistency and variability because the public opinions changes over time, so it is important to have a decision maker to make good decisions. So there is an example I brought up to you is the Taiwan’s Ten Major Constructions (十大建設) at that time many people, many article, many arguments says that is project is only for the good of the rich, because poor people they cannot drive on the highway, what is the point of building the highway; but the prime minister at that time蔣經國 he insisted on building these construction he thinks that If you want a country’s economy to develop you need these constructions. And the result turns out to be a success and even beyond. Many people were out of poverty and became successful people and they make a lot of money. So I think you cannot just say you want to develop social welfares but in the meantime you are developing economy you are developing social welfares too. 

Annotation 1 (Revised)

From the article “Enhancing the Social Welfares is the Government’s Duty” by the chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation, he points out that the term gross national happiness is the future indicator for determining a country’s social-economic development. “According to Wikipedia the definition of the gross national happiness (GNH) was designed in an attempt to define an indicator and concept that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product (GDP).” It includes a wide category such as education and social welfares. Even though the things listed above are no doubt important, the methods which to achieve it are still based on money. Just think if you do not have enough money to feed yourself how could you come up with spare money to develop and maintain things.      

The challenge for the Taiwanese government now is that the generally public does not trust them. There are always disagreements to the government’s decisions. The public thinks that the government is only doing things to benefit rich people while the other suffers. There are even articles written saying that the Taiwanese government should take some Western countries for model. Perhaps it is true that these countries had both well-developed economy and social welfares. The reality, however, is that each country has its own history and culture therefore will not be the same. These countries had long stable economy while the Taiwan Economic Miracle only popped out in the recent thirty years. Yet, when we are making a decision we could not take everything into consideration, or there will be no choice made at all. Referring to the characteristic of public opinion, it contains the risks of inconsistency, complexity and variability. For ordinary citizens does not take the whole nation into concern, they are simply replying what changes had been done to them.

The decision maker, therefore, becomes important. Take the Taiwan’s Ten Major Construction Projects for example. Although the public opinions were against it at first but soon found favor from it. There is question why the general public behaved this way, because Taiwan was experiencing significant effects from both the 1973 oil crisis and economy crisis at that stage. Many people strongly believed that the government should focus on people first than to develop economy. There were even radical words on newspapers saying that the constructions are built for the riches only for the poor people will never afford to drive a car on the highway.

Apparently, the project brought up the economy as it was expected and even better. It took the whole nation into prosperity and became the well-known term of Taiwan Economic Miracle. Moreover, many people were out of poverty and even became successful in various businesses. But just think what if the government did not insist on its project and listen to what the public wants. Developing public welfares may be right but how to get the essential-money are more important. 

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness
              http://www.taiwanncf.org.tw/ttforum/56/56-17.pdf

Annotation-The Ten Major Construction Projects

The challenge for the Taiwanese government now is that the generally public does not trust them. There are always protests and disagreements to the government’s decisions. The public thinks that the government is only doing things to benefit rich people while the other suffers. Questions such as why should government only focus on developing economy but not the public welfares and why cannot the Taiwanese government follow the examples of Finland and other country with good social system while also maintained a stable economy were asked many times. Although it may seems normal to a democratic society, which everyone deserve the chance of making their statements. However, the result of these massive amounts of sources flooded into one decision making ended up terribly. Here we not complaining about democracy for it had proved it to be the best types of government throughout this century. Yet, when we are making a decision we could not take everything into consideration, or there will be no choice made at all. Moreover, the responses received from the general public are not always correct. For ordinary citizens does not take the whole nation into concern, they are simply replying what changes had been done to them. Also the responses from the people contain the risks of inconsistency, complexity and variability.

The government, therefore, needs to maintain its original goal of bringing the best welfare to the public as possible. The Ten Major Construction Projects for example are put on progress to enhance the country’s infrastructure during the 1970. However, public opinions at that time were against to the constructions. There is no denying why the general public behaved this way, because Taiwan was experiencing significant effects from both the 1973 oil crisis and economy crisis at that stage. Many people strongly believed that the government should take care of the people first than to develop economy. There were even radical words saying that the constructions are built for the riches only for the poor people will never afford to drive a car on the highway. However, former Premier Chiang Ching-kuo insisted on building these key infrastructures such as highways, airports, and power plants, to upgrade the country’s industry and to develop the country’s economy.

Apparently, the result speaks for itself and proved the former Premier Chiang Ching-kuo to be correct. The project brought up the economy as it was expected and even better. It took the whole nation into prosperity and became the well-known term of Taiwan Economic Miracle. Moreover, many people were out of poverty and even became successful in various businesses. But just think what if the government did not insist on its project and listen to what the public wants. Maybe focusing on developing economy is cruel at some point but if we just think far, perhaps different thoughts will bounce in. Considering the circumstances of people at the moments may be the first choice the government should do, however, if there is a better choice in front why not give it a try.       

Issue Paper-Developing Economics or Maintaining Social Fairness

     The question of whether to develop a country’s economics or to maintain social fairness has long been a contentious problem for Taiwan. The controversy was established on whether it is morally acceptable to benefit the majority people and disadvantage the minors? Moreover, ordinary citizens hold solid believe that developing economics somehow equals to public welfare deprivation.
     There had been many arguments proclaimed, believing that the government should do everything to protect the equality among the people. However, the question arises on the definition of social fairness. It is obvious that no one wants to be the victim and be deprived while the others benefit from the result. Although the reality shows that both developing economics and social fairness could not be completely balanced. For example, when the Taiwanese government attempts to sign the EFCFA with the Chinese government many people protested on the street; it may seems to bring economic prosperity to the people, but in the same time sentenced a death penalty on the Taiwanese traditional industries, such as the towel industry. Therefore, it seems for the ordinary citizens that an ideal administration should always consider equality as the ultimate goal.

     Furthermore, it also reveals the ill-favored truth that without a firm economy as basic foundation there would be no social fairness. It is simple to understand this concept by thinking that if a country does not have a well-functioned economic system, how could it provide job opportunities for the needed and how could it watch over the underprivileged minority. Here, the cruel reality had exposed itself by emphasizing that fortune is the exact solution for it. For instance, when the great economic recession stroke the world back in the past years; many people were driven out of their job and were depended on the country’s pension. What if then the country were poor and were not capable of distributing out pensions for the needed. If that happened to be the case, the whole idea of the social fairness will not be considered that much. 
     To make a short conclusion, we can assume that there is no true social fairness existed in the world. It is impossible to have everyone to stand on the equal bases. Sacrifices have to be made in order to assure the welfares of the majority. Hence, the whole theory of equality and social fairness are to be designated to be idealism. Although many people claimed that why should certain people suffer while the rest benefit; it is without doubt a serious and sad problem to be discussed but the economic theory of “Opportunity Cost” might provide some explanation to support this concept. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines the economic theory “Opportunity Cost” as "the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen". Briefly, what it means is that if we had to make a choice between the choices, we should always choose the one that provides the less cost.


Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVCgnuAH9Zg
http://jingji.cntv.cn/20100314/101897.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost