Surviving The Coming Hard Time

Recently, I received email with below content. It is very interesting! May be it happen in foreign country. Below is the content.

It turns out that the government you voted in will not hold your hand to see you through hard times. Instead, it will make sure to add to your suffering because that is the easiest way it can avoid going bankrupt.

It has apparently decided that the time has come to remove or cut subsidies — the kind of subsidies that poor people depend on, not the kind enjoyed by big corporations and monopolistic suppliers of utilities and infrastructural support.

So what is the use of a government that will eagerly shake your hand during election time but will not hesitate to pull the rug from under your feet when it needs to save itself? Few believe that the removal of subsidies on essential food items and fuels can save the government from possible bankruptcy. If it does go bankrupt, it will be because it has failed to cleanse a corrupt system.

It is better for citizen to be rich and to control a bankrupt government than to be poor and controlled by a corrupt government. Many countries have rich citizens with bankrupt governments. You do not need an economist to tell you that $100 today does not buy as much as it did last year.

In what we may call the Misery Index, we can see that food prices have been spiraling upwards for years. Local people have become used to the doubling in price of some food items during festive seasons. Most people do not expect the situation to improve. Food prices will continue to go up and there is little hope that they will come down again.

When the GST (goods and services tax) is fully implemented, it will be a double whammy for poor and middle-income households, pensioners, the unemployed and single parents. Some have argued that imposing GST does not make much economic sense when only small percentage of population are taxpayers and a large majority earn low incomes. Furthermore, it is acknowledged that most of us are paying hidden taxes in tolls and electricity tariffs. Indeed, the future looks bleak.

Yet, quite a number of us are gullible enough to think that the government will protect consumers. Are we not being stupid? Isn't it better to be wiser and brace for tougher times ahead?
Instead of believing the promises of a government that has a dismal performance record, we should believe the law of inflation, which says, “Whatever goes up will go up some more.”

Ronald Reaganonce described inflation as a violent mugger, a threatening armed robber and a deadly hit man. So how do we fight the inflation of food prices?

Economists generally agree that the average household spends about 75% of its income on food. Food price hikes will therefore have an adverse impact upon disposable income and force us to make a lifestyle change. To fight inflation, here are some of the things we can do:

- Stop eating at expensive restaurants.
- Boycott traders, hypermarkets and hawker stalls that charge unreasonable prices.
- Shop intelligently for value and do not be too impressed by branding.
- Work out a budget before buying. Look out for special sales.
- Prevent wastage by not buying more than you can eat.
- Tell friends and acquaintances about shops that charge excessively.
- Avoid buying expensive beverages or foodstuff and find alternatives for nutritional value.
- Boycott chained markets and fast-food joints. They are monopolized by a few large companies and can therefore raise prices at whim.

Perhaps economist Milton Friedman was right when he said, “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara desert, in five years there will be a shortage of sand.” Some citizens do not take the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) seriously. They know it does not accurately reflect price rises in essential foodstuffs.

Many suspect that the government uses it as an instrument to deceive the public into thinking that things are hunky-dory when they are not. The government develops statistics so that the inflation-weary public would direct its hostility towards businesses, and not blame official mismanagement.

Not long ago, there was official acknowledgement that 95% of families are finding it hard to cope with the rise in food prices. Inflation, whether it is imported or locally generated, raises the cost of living and lowers the quality of living.

There is a politician asked citizen to change their lifestyle in the face of the rising cost of living.
A blogger wrote in response: “Perhaps, the politician should have done some simple calculations himself. People like us basically have no lifestyle, just merely surviving with our earnings. So how are we going to change (our lifestyle)?

“Inflation has gone up and the government is pushing the cost of living higher by increasing electricity tariffs, but our income remains the same.” Others felt it would be easier to change the government than to change a non-existent lifestyle. “Instead of listening to politician asking us to change,” one critic remarked, “why not we change the government at the next general election?”

When such a government decides to cut subsidies, many of us will wonder whether the so-called “savings” will instead go towards more majestic arches, fanciful lampposts, refurbishments of VIP residences, luxurious government bungalows and fruitless overseas trips by ministers. Any government that stands accused of having wasted billions in 20 years — through corruption, wastage and mismanagement — definitely does not deserve to be re-elected.

This is what I received in email. Anyway, I am not sure which government of the country that stated above. How about you?