Curse of selective indignation

While it is important in a democracy to express disapproval of government policy and to offer alternatives, a more profound question that should be placed in the public domain is where were these groups and organisations when abuses of the said programme were allegedly taking place.

We appear to be selectively indignant about issues only when they affect us. No one is an island.

Indignation is needed, but not selective indignation.

The changes to GATE provide for a steep learning curve for us as a society.

Selective indignation is a curse for a community and a country. Many of us today are only concerned about issues that directly affect us. We are quick to take to the public domain only when our pockets are affected. This is a truth that we must accept and reflect upon. The State has a pocket, too, from which it provides essential services, especially to those who cannot manage for themselves.

The State, therefore, has a responsibility to protect the Treasury, its institutions and agencies from corruption and from mismanagement.

To abuse any State programme is to abuse the resources of the State and ultimately, to affect the poor and the powerless. Those who feel the longterm effects of the wastage and inefficient use of State resources are the poor. We must also have indignation about the effects of our individual behaviour and government policy when it affects the other, especially the poor.

Another important lesson for any government relates to the use of resources in time of abundance.

A government should seek the efficient management of its natural and human resources as well as its revenue and expenditure apart from a recessionary period.

The Minister of Finance and other government ministers are responsible for the country’s revenues and expenditures. It should not take a fall in revenue to force us to make efficient use of our resources.

We should be efficient, thoughtful and wise in the use of all our gifts-both in time of little as well as in time of plenty. Proper fiscal management should be done in and out of a recession.

It is a curse upon a nation when individuals and groups are selectively indignant as a way of protecting their pockets. It is also a curse when a government mismanages resources in time of plenty in order to win votes or makes better use of the resources at its disposal only because not doing so would threaten its re-election.