EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion
News of another study often appears in the media, according to the results of which young people are apolitical, work for money, put material things first, and other similar significant observations. In light of the recent turbulent weeks in our country, the ongoing election campaign, and the development of civil society in recent years in general, several statements can cast a noticeable shadow on the conclusions of such studies:
1. Being apolitical is not always a bad thing – in a well-functioning market economy, it is precisely young people who can give free rein to their free spirit, accumulate assets and experience, start businesses, overcome failures and successes in conditions of de facto rule of law and an economically free environment. The politically connected provide the latter factor, and the apolitical is the subject who pays for the trodden ground with taxes and compliance with the rules. Who needs, in such a situation, to specialize in politics, rather than in an activity that would bring a comparative advantage to the individual?
2. Working for money is not a sin – money is an objective measure of people’s aspirations. Through this assessment of abilities and efforts, they can build their own well-being. Young people manage to adapt to a highly regulated labor market, which in itself is an indicator of their motivation to work. Why, then, do something that does not bring profit instead of working for money?
3. Material goods are not a cause for shame – condemning material things is most often a hypocritical position. The pursuit of wealth in no way automatically excludes the presence of values or morality. On the contrary, for a rational person who relies on the logic of his actions, the combination of the two is the ultimate desired result. How, better, can a civil society be built?
The totality of the above three statements comes to say that it is precisely the apolitical, capable and rational people who, living for themselves, set a clear example of the normal behavior so often sought under scrutiny. Their reform is that of logic. And when, as a result of the work you really like, a large part of the remuneration received is taken away "in solidarity" from a pension system without a future, logic fails.
The apolitical person is a reformer – he wants to determine his own retirement and how much of his income to allocate to it with minimal political and state interference. He wants to receive quality education, not receive subsidized knowledge. He wants to develop his ideas and his business without clashing with the huge administration of a bloated state. He wants at least as much professionalism in the state's attitude towards him as he himself demonstrates in order to earn the money he pays his taxes with. But instead, he gets hostile officials in courts, ministries and state agencies, coffee breaks in the middle of the working day and huge piles of paper (with millions spent on e-government!) and most importantly – any refusal or desire for change.
Therefore, after we dust off the research results from the hypocritical interpretation of statesmen and politicians, the need and desire for reform emerges. They come from the ordinary person who simply wants to live his own life within the law. But when the state is absent even in its only just function – the rule of law – conflicts are inevitable. And the last “king” of conflicts makes reform even more urgent: the reform of the apolitical.
