Ghana in general is a well balanced society with a good education system and a large middle class. But there is a huge social problem affecting those at the bottom of the ladder, which there appears no will at all among the political class even to acknowledge, let alone tackle, and that is rent.
Ghana’s agricultural production has never collapsed, unlike Nigeria, and the traditional patterns of society in rural areas have not broken down. Modern services, in terms of edication, electrification and clean water, have penetrated rural communities better than in any other African country, though there are still areas of concern, particularly in the North. But the overall good picture means that there has therefore been less extreme urban drift, less shanty town existence, than in most of the developing world, and therefore less urban violence.
But despite all this there is a terrible problem with the rent culture of Accra. The poor all rent housing, rather than own. Demand exceeds supply and landlords invariably demand three, or at the very least two, years’ rent in advance. This is absolutely established as the way the market operates, and for the poor there is no way around it. Three years’ rent is typically over one year’s income, and in consequence the poor are sucked into a permanent life of debt. This applies to the majority of people living in the City. Quite literally, a day never passes in which at least one Ghanaian doesn’t ask me to lend them the money for their rent; yesterday there were four. I help where I can.
This situation was already calamitous but is going to get much worse, as land values are already starting to soar with the coming of the oil industry. I have good friends at the highest levels in all the Ghanaian political parties, but they all seem to have been so indoctrinated with IMF economics that they do not even consider rent controls. Unfortunately the performance of both the NPP and the NDC in building social housing has been very poor. I am forced to the opinion that the plight of the poor is not actually a pressing concern in the minds of the educated classes in Ghana in general.
The fierce party political divisions in Ghana need to be put aside, and an all-party solution on social housing and on rents has to be pursued with vigour, as a primary use for some of Ghana’s oil revenues.
@ Passerby
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You are mixing all the arguments in one bowl making one big argumental mess.
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First why to compare homeless in US and women who (as you said) are selling their butt off in Czech Republic? As I stated in my earlier comment (which I hope you read before writing yours) those ‘free’ things that you referred to and which Czech population had have been subsidised by the USSR from (mostly) its oil and gas revenues. But here if you think that USSR was too kind as to give ‘free’ thing to Czechs you are mistaken again. USSR needed to prove to the world and to Soviet and Eastern European population first that Soviet Socialism is much better than rotten in core capitalism. Thus oil and gas revenues that could have been better spent to improve social standards of Soviet population have been spent in GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Cuba etc.
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Some basic rules of economics dictate that in order to have a share of something you first need to produce this something. Systems like in USSR and then in Eastern Europe did a lot to kill this very will of people to produce because no one was interested in the result of production. Many benefits of the Soviet state have been based on what was established by enthusiasm of people since early stages of socialism and by Stalin’s industrialisation that was executed by slaves of Gulag.
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If you chose this type of system as future for your children then I clearly have good grounds to say that your judgment is based on inexperience of totalitarianism (that what I was referring to earlier).
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And to conclude I was never referring to that current state of affair in former USSR is better than during USSR. And it is not better mainly because of the Soviet legacy and because people like Havel were executed in USSR long before USSR collapsed.
Evidentially we are all out of step except Uzbek. USSR was crap because it was the first to go to space, USSR was crap because the Stealth aircraft principles were debated and researched and the associated mathematics were first published there, which later was nicked by US. USSR was crap, because Uzbek says so, he was there, and we were not, and oh by the way all those free service in USSR were crap as well and also crap was the letter U, which is why Uzbek is crap?
Uzbek,
Soviets started their education system from scratch on such a vast country, and without anyone’s financial or other help. Besides, they had to elevate population’s literacy level almost in all unionist republics, including warsaw block countries. Add to this the wars (cold ones and hot ones). If not soviets your parents would probably be illiterate and you would not be here on this blog talking about lack of good education in the soviets. I am not intending to offend you but that would be almost a certain fact, don’t you agree? I am not speaking for brutal ruling in the soviets either. My point is they had a good education system, free and for all. Had their political system survived with democratic changes you would probably see more Nobel winners from them by now. The fact that the corruption and other things brought such a good educational system to the collapse is another topic.
@passerby – I believe @uzbek is being honest about his view of the USSR. That does not mean that he is necessarily lauding Western capitalism as a better alternative – and from his later remarks, I think he does not. The failure of the USSR is not necessarily a sign that ‘communism has failed’, if that’s your central concern – although I am not a communist, I think it could work, if done a different way.
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The radical American thinker Michael Albert suggests that the failure of communism in the USSR was its hierarchical power structure that required everyone in the upper levels of ‘the party’ to be scrupulously honest about benefitting the people equally. He has suggested, I believe, that if ordinary people were permitted to occupy posts around the party at random – “balanced job complexes” – that the minority of the `dishonest privileged` would have been cancelled out by the honesty of most people.
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So, what I am saying is that Uzbek’s view is not necessarily wrong. And it is surely right to say that freer societies are better, even if no-one is fully free at the moment.
@Uzbek – thanks.
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> One need to look at the very root of the problem in order to understand that loss of
> so called ‘free’ things in Eastern Europe was because the absence of freedom in the
> first place. And this later led to economic stagnation that resulted to decline in
> social services.
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If (by ‘free things’) you’re talking about the welfare state in Eastern Europe, I think both freedom and Western political influence could be a factor, depending on which era you are referring to. I should be surprised if, since the 1980s, that region has not been influenced by austerity politics and the transfer of wealth to the global elite, which started around the time of Thatcher/Reagan. And, of course, that trend has got steadily worse since then.
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But I agree that freer societies, and their attendant flow of ideas, are better entrepreneurially.
Ah, sorry – by free things, you meant the products of communism in the USSR – right. Yes, corruption was a major factor, which Albert’s point is in agreement with.
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I suppose it is always difficult to determine whether “communism works”, since the mechanisms of capitalism will always try to destroy it, wherever it is tried. Ditto Cuba, of course.
Jon,
Questions regarding “freedom” are fraught with deceptions masquerading as true reflections of the actualities. At the outset we must agree to reference the debate around certain inalienable rights for every human. These universal rights which as yet have not been agreed upon despite efforts in the direction of their introduction.
1- freedom from hunger
2- freedom from thirst
3- freedom from illness
4- freedom from homelessness
5- Freedom from fear and coercion.
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the above can be the skeletal structures which with further refinement can come to be agreed upon as the declaration of charter of humanity. However these facets are not debated, or encouraged to be debated, because all too often the economic implications of any such agreement would be considered calamitous for the “free for oligarchs school of thought”.
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The spurious notions of “freedom of expression” are far too worn out, and frankly are bordering the theatre of absurd. Given that Uzbek and his love affair with Western “democracy” are an all too prevailing theme in his comments, alas his foreign status hinders him in seeing the evils of plutocracy masquerading as “freedom of choice”, which is a prose, and in fact a meaningless sound bite.
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USSR was not a perfect system, but at least the young children were not living in the sewers, drowned in a the haze of fumes from their plastic-bags filled with glue, these feral children cannot justify any amounts of “freedom of expression”, the waves of corruption emerging in the wake of the fall of USSR cannot justify any amounts of “freedom of choice”. The hegemonic oligarchs having destroyed the only probable bulwark standing in the way of their schemes to rule the planet, have been steadily destroying the concepts of sovereignty and independence, as well as the notions of self-defence, which is now considered to be an act of terror.
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Whilst IMF has taken over the running of the countries pushed into the edge of bankruptcy, somehow have not made any impressions on him, that; the only game in town is no longer”democracy”, but the survival of nation states that are giving way to corporations for taking over the management of the globe. Uzbek is blissfully happy to accept that “Greek economy was not a balanced economy”, a nice sound-bite handed to him by the nice man on the TV.
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Trouble is this other man on the TV was reported to be a hoaxer, and part of the “yes men” theatre company, alas he was telling it as it is; Goldman Sachs rules the world That point somehow has not made no impressions on him.
The Soviet Union was a pretty dreadful place. Remember most of what is so terrible in modern Uzbekistan depends on continuing Soviet institutions, including the secret police, torture, censorship, lack of political and religious freedoms and state forced labour. All Soviet. And remember Karimov was a Politburo member. He was good guy then and a bad guy now because he allied with the US? Nonsense – he is the same Soviet thug.
And remember, Uzbek in the UK, unless he/she is very young, actually lived in the USSR, I suspect unlike those who buy the workers’ paradise rubbish.
Flying home tonight.
Rocki I an afraid to say that, probably as expected, Judge Andrew Nicol did not grant David Halpin’s application. So Dr Kelly died in mysterious circumstances and he did not have an inquest unlike anyone else in this country. As his body was cooling, Falconer instructed Hutton to hold an inquiry although the Oxfordshire coroner had opened an inquest which was subsequently abandoned. No notice was taken of the fact that five items carried no fingerprints or DNA, including the knife and the packet of co-proxamol tablets. There were many other inconsistencies too numerous to mention. The court was packed and outrage was expressed by many at the decision. It was hard to hear the judge’s voice most of the time throughout his hour long judgement.
Time and time again it was said that the public had not been satisfied. Neither have the 800 or so people who contributed approx £50,000 to a fund. {http://www.inquest4drdk.co.uk/}
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Dr David Kelly inquest ruling challenge fails
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16249783
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So Grieve maintains the establishment line taken by previous occupants of the post. Grieve conducted his own private inquest as I see it.
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David Halpin’s counsel, John Cooper QC, was excellent.
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So Dr Kelly died as has this case and it will be 70 years before the papers are open to the public!
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‘Where the law ends, tyranny begins’. John Locke.
Karimov was bad guy then and still bad guy now. No doubt about that. The question is the soviets provided free education, free housing (homelessness was fully eradicated) and free and good quality medicine was available even in rural areas. When I first visited the US in 1998 I was shocked to see homeless people in the streets of New York and California. Then I was still living in the soviet republic and had my own house. The soviets eradicated speculation of bankers in housing market which created conditions for ordinary people to purchase their home within their budget or for interest free loans which then they could repay within a short period of time.
The only thing soviets could not fight was opression of freedom which resulted in spread of corruption. Had they managed to provide freedom of expression and freedom of media the soviets would have been a dream country for you Craig to live in.
sorry, i meant “Then I was still living in the post-soviet republic…”
I am just reading on the BBC ceefax review of UK papers, that the Times is reporting that up to 100,000 hiouseholds could lose their homes next year as a result of cuts in housing benefit.
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On Havel, they are reporting various papers calling him a hero, implausibly towering figure, kind wise and modest, etc !! In the Torygraph Lord Powell who worked for Thatcher writes that he was a true hero. He says ‘Lady Thatcher admired Havel’s courage and his speeches. Though their politics were different she never lost her affection for him.’!!!
Off topic, like most of the other recent comments, but topical. The BBC is getting ever more partisan in its reporting and it makes you wonder who is paying for the news we get to see. For example tonight Jon Snow, on the report into the change of leadership in Korea following the death of Kim Jong Il, talked about North Korea sinking a South Koream warship last year. But did it?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eui6ij34Fo
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There is further evidence in Korean False Flag 2.
Mary, I am so disappointed that an inquest into the death of David Kelly has been refused. Along with many other members of the public I contributed to the costs of bringing this unsafe finding before the courts. In its cover-ups this country is getting as bad as the good old US of A. And to quote Mr Micawber “the law is an ass” And so is Judge Andrew Nicol.
Is UK ‘Labour Friends of Israel’ group breaking law on political funding? http://electronicintifada.net/blog/david/uk-friends-israel-group-breaking-law-political-funding
Alright. Here is one simple lesson on math or if you would like economics.
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Average salary in the USSR in 1980th was around 160 rubles per month. Even considering official Soviet exchange rate 1 ruble equals to 1USD it would become obvious that average salary in USSR was at least 7 times lower than in the US. Considering that USSR GDP was in 1980th just twice lower that in US and adding to this that in USSR GDP was owned by the state as there were no private enterprises one might conclude that USSR government had a lot of assets in its dispose.
So basically Soviet citizens were provided free housing (not instantly but eventually), free education, free medical services (the last two free things of some doubtful quality) and were given an income that was sufficient to maintain 3000 calories per day quota.
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So in turn it would become obvious that those free things have not actually been free but have been earned by citizens. Unemployment was not only inexistent but was administrative offence. But this in turn produced huge number of so called nomenglaturshiks, people who have been employed as pencil pushers and had no labour productivity.
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This all artificial system was based on some factors that I have already named earlier and also on oil and gas revenues. By beginning of 1980th it has become apparent that this system is distant to fail. And it failed. Not because of external conspiracy but because it has existed in artificial environment
@ Anapa
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I am not sure but could just assume from your nickname that you too have somehow been connected to USSR or Russia (since Anapa is Russian city).
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First, I just wanted to say that your statement that my parents would have been illiterate if it was not for USSR, reminds me very offensive but at the same time favourite argument used by most of the Russian chauvinists. I really hope that you are not one of them. As you might know history does not tolerate conjunctive mood and only God knows would have happened if Russia had not occupied Central Asia 150 years ago. It might have turned to be better for Central Asians, it might have turned to be worse. Nobody knows. But facts are that millions of Central Asian have perished, killed by Czarism or Communists, sacrificed their lives and paid heavily for these ‘free’ things that one arrogant member of this blog is amazed with.
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Secondly, I do not denounce Soviet achievements. My argument is that those ‘free’ things were not actually free and were lower quality. We can of course argue that there have been millions of reasons for this, but facts talk for themselves. Lets look at hospitals, universities and schools in Tashkent (4th largest city of the USSR and capital of 3rd most populous national republic). I have attended number of schools around USSR (due to nature of my parents work we travelled a lot within USSR) and by the time I started to study Physics and Chemistry I can tell you for sure that we did not have even one single experiment. We learned by the books printed 20 years ago and until we moved to Moscow, for short time, I have never even seen that school could have lab facilities (to add to this there were no experiments in Moscow school either). In Moscow there have been some top quality hospitals with top quality academics and patricians but in Tashkent I personally know two cases (in mid 1980th) when such simple surgery as to remove appendix led to serious post surgery complications. And mind here we do not talk about some far away village hidden in mountains but about 4th largest city, capital of 3rd most populous national republic.
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You mentioned corruption, but the reason of corruption was imbedded into the foundations of the Soviet system. Everything from schools to universities, from hospitals to department stores have been corrupted to some extend.
@ Anapa
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I am now concerned with your later post. It is clear that you are/were from USSR but you have either forgotten or providing misleading information. In USSR there was NO housing market for that simple reason that neither houses nor apartment have been in private ownership (and in most of the USSR including Uzbekistan land is still owned by the state). People did have right to live in house or apartment (similar to council houses in the UK) but they were not allowed to sell them (although exchange of apartments particularly between different cities was common). Also you mentioned free loans but as there was no housing market no one could take a loan to purchase a house (although there were loans to purchase car and household appliances). And if you are talking about dachas (summer houses) but even here it was not actually owned by someone but by summer housing community.
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Have you actually lived in the USSR?
@ Jon,
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Thank you for your contribution to this discussion.
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To respond I can just quote my former professor (from USSR). He said that Marxism is brilliant idea on paper but turned out to be disaster when applied in practise.
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The difference between Marx and Lenin is that Marx put his ideas on paper, he proved them to be worthwhile on paper, but being on paper they have been cast out of such simple but necessary condition as reality. Lenin in his turn implemented Marx’s ideas in reality and from the start it has become apparent that those ideas causing more problems than solving them. There have been hunger, repressions, slavery (in Gulag), but despite all of these Russia was left as raw materials addition to the capitalist world and generated most of its revenue from the export of raw materials including oil and gas. Yes, it built number of factories, nuclear and hydrogen bombs, provided all these disputed ‘free’ things, but was the experiment with practical Marxism worth so much blood if at the end Russia’s economic structure is almost the same as it has been before Lenin?
Thanks for your commiserations John. There is a long line of them. Not asses perhaps but snakes upholding the power groups’ lies, omissions and corruption in this case. Who knows what the outcome on the Iraq war would have been if Dr Kelly had lived. Would 1 million have been killed and 4 million made refugee, widowed or orphaned?
If he knew that ‘the coalition of the willing’ was using wmd of the kind that injured Ali Abbas and blasted the life out of his parents and eight other relatives, was that not a potent factor behind the death of Dr Kelly and and its very unusual circumstances.
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See Blair’s Journey: Questions Before Charge
http://dhalpin.infoaction.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=2
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The fact remains that he has never had an inquest nor ever will now.
Cameron is even more mobile than Blair and Brown. Imperial War Museum last night alongside slebs and princes plus Clarkson and Beckham all waving the bloody flag under the banner of The Sun unbelievably. How low can they go?
Afghanistan today. He is in Kandahar. Couldn’t get to the photo-op in Helmand for some reason.
Incidentally Sky News have the results of a poll on whether plastic bullets should be used on rioters. 78% say YES. http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16133900
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Brainwashing of British nitwits nearly complete.
Mary
Craig,
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The Soviet Union was a pretty dreadful place.
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It was no more dreadful than some of the current era countries, and even less dreadful than some getting labelled as “democracies”.
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However USSR served a twin purpose; keeping the politics of the West somewhat chaste with less visible and obvious tendencies towards outright fascism than the current trends we find. Also, kept at bay were the Western oligarchs appetite for imperial adventures, these mainly revolved around the one day wars of; Granada, Panama, etc. The Vietnam war which was lost largely due to the help of the USSR, was the last major offensive undertaken by the hegemonic oligarchs, intent on owning the planet.
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USSR despite the misgivings of Uzbek brought about a period of stability and affluence; into the war torn countries that have since rejoined the capitalist system, and are currently getting auctioned to pay for their debts. As well as their populations getting acquainted with the capitalists methods of dealing with pensions of their old age populations, by reducing, and eradicating it. Whilst legislating to raise the pensionable age, ie they are getting screwed twice, just like the rest of us.
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Fact that the Western oligarchs minders, and charge hands’ only weapon against the “Red Tide” was found to be in “freedom to drink pepsi” and the rest of the Freedoms, ie to say what you think to a certain extent, unless you are a Muslim and say something to the nice BBC reporter, that the nice MI5 man overhears and does not like it, and straight away after the reporters have turned their camera away makes an arrest and then puts the chap through the system, sort of Freedom of Expression. As well as not mentioning anything derisory about those too sacred to be mentioned/insulted/questioned. Not forgetting the other taboo subjects which are unseemly to even contemplate!
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The multi polar world was a far more equitable world, and still more importantly far more safer world than the current unipolar world in which every morning we find there is plot to start a new war, and or there is to be an imminent attack on some country. The aggressive stance of the current US empire, on the minions holds; “like or lump it”, which is not exactly the most democratic way of building a consensus, in fact we find these days consensus are for wimps.
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In conclusion, it is not the whimsical notions of starry eyed wannabe socialist to realise the importance of the USSR, and her role in keeping in check the more aggressive oligarchs verily believing; the only way is feudalism or bust.
Mary – I am disgruntled but not surprised at the failure of David Kelly’s RIP inquest challenge.
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I believe the British public remain doubtful and suspicious of privy council member ‘The Lord Hutton’ consideration, holding the verdict ‘a whitewash’ and as expected from a ‘hanging’ judge, establishment guardian and military federate.
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Whatever the demise of David Kelly most British folk acknowledge the ‘establishment’ killed David Kelly. Blair, British intelligence and more importantly the CIA were all scared that David would ‘talk’ about bio-weapons(germ-warfare) esp. anthrax.
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On that ominous and fateful day in July 2003 while Mrs Kelly stood shivering in the garden in her nightdress as a special branch team that had been organised soon after David Kelly spoke to journalists, when into the house in Southmoor and retrieved the encryption machine, top secret notes, a number of laptops, computer towers and a PDA. Confirmation that this operation had been achieved successfully was transmitted to Blair.
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Those ‘Dark actors’ now walk on eggs, the power of intention is now intent, truth is in abeyance.
Uzbek
когда я жил, работал и имел свой дом в СССР тебя наверное не было в этой жизни. Ты одинь из тех, которые оказались в том кругу, которые выступали за независимость, но в итоге оказались гастербайтерами в той же России, или асайлим сикерами. А теперь вам подобным не нравится и то что сейчас в твоей стране или то что было в СССР. Так что, не волнуйся я жил там и прекрасно знаю что это такое СССР.
have I satisfied you now?
FAO the gremlins at work; My comment where are you?
Anapa,
Dittovsky, то же,
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Вы попали в точку, лиц, ищущих убежища, как правило, идти в атаку, молодого и любуясь принимающей страны, своего рода обязательная сосать вверх и вниз ногами (хоста, страна происхождения) в умышленного искажения фактов.
@ Anapa
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First of all as far as I know we have NOT met and you do NOT know me personally in order to be somewhat judgemental towards me. You do NOT know circumstances that brought me to the UK, you do NOT know how old I am and whether I liked or disliked USSR when I lived there.
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I do not want to be judgmental towards you but it seems that you still believe that USSR was ‘workers paradise’ where “Я другой такой страны не знаю где так вольно жил бы человек” (as in old soviet song ‘I do not know another country where humans live so freely like in USSR’). My only advise to you is to re-read history and you will find to yourself a lot of new, including horrible things that Bolsheviks have done in order to build ‘workers paradise’ that has at the end failed to materialise.
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I also understand that from your last comment (in Russian) it seems that you regret of the loss of somewhat privileged position that Russian and Slavs in general had all over USSR including Central Asia and Caucasus. But this is what is called decolonisation. You need to understand that Central Asia and Caucasus were Russian colonies and it was matter of time before they separated from Russia. And to me personally there is no regret that this has happened.
@ Anapa
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And also when you stated “и имел свой дом в СССР” (owned private house in USSR) could you please specify the right of the ownership? I think that with this statement alone if proven to be true one could claim having made significant historic discovery which will prove many historians (both Soviet/Russian and foreign) to be wrong.
The ‘importance of the USSR’ to which one arrogant member of this blog referred is in the following:
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If you build prison camps similar to Gulag and large enough to accommodate 8-10 million inmates then in somewhat 10-15 years it is possible to industrialise nation then yes, USSR is important.
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If you agree to sacrifice 90% of the population (like Lenin suggested) so that 10% lives in Utopian Communism then yes, USSR is important.
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If you agree to kill the very will of every citizen to study, work, achieve anything better than 160 rubles per month then yes, USSR is important.
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If you agree to build thousands of hydrogen bombs while your citizens in needs of basic consumer good, better housing, better medical care, better education, then yes, USSR is important.
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If you agree that power projection is based on direct colonisation, nuclear blackmailing and repressions then yes, USSR is important.
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And this could go on and on.
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It is funny how after it seemed everything that has been exposed about USSR some still try to sell ‘made in USSR’ brand.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/20/inland-revenue-sweetheart-tax-deals
UK Uncut are asking for a judicial review. Best of luck.