Once again, the government statistics people are touting improvements in the regional economy. More so in the national economy. They cite numbers which are, however, mostly meaningless to the poor who are more preoccupied on where the get the next meal.
They are also saying the number of poor people are increasing and, consequently, also the number of those who experienced hunger.
So why the contradiction? Improving economy but more people are becoming poorer and more are getting hungry.
The problem lies in the fact our leaders and those before them are using statistics to fool the people. They congratulate themselves for improving the economy by citing statistics. These, however, do not trickle down to the poor.
For instance, the gross national product and gross national income are increasing, or the gross regional product for that matter, are always becoming better. But not the people’s economic conditions.
This is because such figures are measured in the aggregate. The estimated income per person or per capita Is obtained by dividing this by the number of people in the country or region.
It does not reflect how much each person got as the income could have been just concentrated in the hands of members of the economic or ruling elite and their lackeys or factotums. Or this is not distributed in an equitable way to the populace.
The economic statistics are therefore just being used to fool the people. In reality it is not a measure of progress. Only the progress of a few.
The best way to measure the progress of a country or a region is the GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS (GNH) of the people which is being used by the country of Bhutan.
For any economic progress is nothing if the people are not happy. “The four pillars of GNH are good governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation” (From Google). And rightly so.
For what is economic progress for if it is being used as an instrument to fool the people or is achieved through bad governance—including the inequitable distribution of wealth and opportunities. It is also useless if it is just for a one-night stand or not sustainable.
And it would be worthless if such progress means we damage our culture or our identity as a people. We should preserve and enhance our ways of life and everything that makes us US. Otherwise, we will be a weak people easily fooled or controlled by those who are more powerful and richer.
Economic progress is also meaningless if attained by destroying our environment, which is life itself. Such destruction is our slow death.**