I worry about the influence of capitalistic trends in PNG
17 October 2015
DAVID EPHRAIM
THE Post-Courier this week reported that Papua New Guinea has about 10 million mobile telephone subscribers in a country of seven million people.
To me this indicates a trend in both spending and in the way of life of Papua New Guineans, who are beginning to walk blindly into consumerism: wanting more than they need.
Digicel and other telecoms companies provides whatever gadgets and technology people feel they want and often live beyond their means to get hold of them.
I am not saying it's bad to own or use these goods but, given the state of our country's infrastructure and social challenges, some form of effective regulation needs to be put in place so we don't fall into poverty.
Poverty is the result of uncontrolled and unregulated systems that lead to corporations monopolising markets and pushing people beyond their means.
For example, when PNG LNG started operations roughly around 10,000 chickens were cooked for breakfast, lunch and dinner in all the mining and petroleum sites to feed a 20,000-strong workforce.
This resulted in shortage of chickens so the company had to import them from Thailand and other countries.
I am using mobile telephony as basic indicator of how a society can easily progress or be divided by capitalistic norms.
What can be done to avoid bursting the bubble of growth and progress and avoiding poverty?
Balancing these socioeconomic indicators is a hard task for government.
It needs an effective parliament where legislative debate and discussions will ensure that people fully participate in the governance process so we are assured we have a government for the people and by the people.
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