Of Haves and Have-Nots

The story of those who have a lot and those who have nothing is a very old story. Somehow, through the ages, people continue to invest a lot of creativity in expanding opportunities for those who have a lot, and denying opportunities for those who have nothing.

Map of Eastern Europe, downloaded from the University of Texas

The World Bank reported that the total national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Hungary in 2014 as $138.35 billion US dollars, with a total population of 9.9 million in 2013. Bulgaria's 2014 total GDP was reported as $56.71 billion in US dollars, with a total population of 7.3 million. And the United States total GDP was reported as $17,419 billion in US dollars, with a total population of 318.9 million. As a note of interest, the population of Illinois is 12.9 million, with 9.7 million living in the Chicago region and 2.7 million living in Chicago proper. 

So now that we know the total GDP for each country, the question is: in looking at government debt, what is government debt as a percentage of the total GDP? Interesting answer. For Hungary in 2015, national debt amounted to about 76% of the total GDP amount. For Bulgaria in 2015, national debt amounted to about 26% of the total GDP amount. And for the United States? Our national debt is 103% of the total GDP. (Source: Trading Economics)

So what this means is that even though Bulgaria is the poorest of the three, it actually carries less debt relative to the overall economy than Hungary. Hungary has high debt relative to the overall economy, which raises big questions about how the Hungarian economy is managed. And the US basically has more debt than the overall income of the US economy, which raises massive questions about how the second largest national economy in the world got that way.

Naturally, when the economy is poorly managed, terrible things happen. Like the college students in the US who carry tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Or the Hungarian pensioners who get into debt and lose their homes because they cannot pay off the interest. Or the nonexistent school options in rural Eastern Europe for children with disabilities that force parents to send their children to institutions or "boarding schools," not to mention the general lack of rural economic development.

Who is to blame? Naturally if you ask those who have money or power, it is the fault of the have-nots.  The rich focus on dividing the poor.  And those who are poor and powerless will say it is the fault of the rich and powerful. The most powerful weapon of the powerless is solidarity. Yet I think generalities cannot help either Bulgaria, Hungary or the United States. It's worth taking a look at process, instead.

The other night at dinner in Budapest, a Hungarian activist pointed out that one of the ways that the Hungarian people are denied power is because Parliament has developed a legislative mechanism by which new measures can be introduced and passed without going through the formal review and voting procedure. This, in conjunction with the fact that the Hungarian political system is not a direct representation democracy, means that the people are doubly shut out of the legislative process because they cannot engage with their politicians. To a similar degree this also happens in Bulgaria, and certainly there are mechanisms in the United States that allow the President or state governors to simply issue executive orders.

There is also the question of the degree of control of money that goes to civil society groups/NGOs. As with NGOs in the United States, money that comes from the state or from foundations in Eastern Europe tend to have a lot of strings attached. There can be limits, for example, on whether NGOs can administer grants to smaller groups (this was a concern in Bulgaria for sure). So if you want to do advocacy work in Eastern Europe, there have to be mechanisms for funding that allow people the freedom to innovate, because many reforms are badly needed.

Essentially there are thousands, if not millions, of people in Eastern Europe whose basic needs are not being met. Personal politics aside, if a person does not have clean water, or food, or shelter, or any kind of education, or disability supports, then their basic rights as human beings are being denied and that will cause a tension for whatever system has been put in place for the rich and powerful.

And yet there has been a theme in both Bulgaria and Hungary of whether those whose needs are being denied can be awoken to solidarity. If one's immediate need is what to eat or where to sleep that day, then it can be difficult to begin thinking of the larger picture of social change. And yet I do believe it is the very people whose needs are not being met that actually have the most power to change the system. The role of the community advocates or organizers is to look for the people who can help awaken things, and to build that community so it can do what it needs to do.

What can the people of Eastern Europe do? From what I have seen I think there is a recognition already; there are so many smart and sophisticated people here and they just need that chance.  There is a need for education reform in both urban and rural settings. Those of working age need jobs that pay real money.  There is a need to support the elders who are being forced into homelessness or poverty. There is a need for openness towards Roma and migrants.  There is a need to be kind, to build trust, to break the legacy of fear and suspicion that have built up over hundreds of years. There is a need to recognize when one can help those who are in a worse off place, and to take that action. Even to do something as simple as take your neighbor dinner. That is the start of change.

Of relevant interest, in considering the official version of nationhood, versus the everyday acts of people:
The Hungarian national anthem
The Bulgarian national anthem
The US national anthem

A particular thanks to Anett and Zoli for a conversation that inspired this blog post.