Republican Ideology's Perspective on Economy

Actually, I think it's about you winning or me winning. The issue hovers around that.

Capitalism, in its basic definition, capital brings capital. If you have capital, you earn more.

But if there is a pie to be shared, then the one with more capital gets a bigger share of the pie.

And what about those who don't have capital?

Let them die of poverty! Is that what it is?

As I have written before, the fight between labor and capital in America started as early as 1934. The never-ending fight was the Wagner law on workers' rights.

Among other achievements of the Republic, another thing it has brought us is that all the capital owned by the throne has now been made available for the nation to share. 

Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation!

But of course, this sovereignty is not limited to choosing who will occupy the administrative positions. It should not be.

Sharing the added value that the country can produce in every sense is also an element of this sovereignty. 

This should include education, health services, income justice, the equitable acquisition of all our needs in daily life and the common sharing of all kinds of services.

Of course, everyone is born with rights in this life. 

However, this sharing should be based on certain principles.

What should these principles be?

I was born into a good family, my family gave me a good education, I had a good cultural environment, and I benefited from the advantages of family wealth.

Someone else was born into a different kind of family, where the family did not have enough education for a good family education, and they did not have the means to provide a good educational environment for their children. The living conditions and environment were also different, so even though he may have had the capacity to develop his mind, he did not have the same opportunities as me.

These and similar differences are always possible differences between people.

On what basis can the state be at an equal distance between its citizens?

Unfortunately, no matter what we do, there is no mechanism that can make us all the same like a fabricated product.

What the state can do is to provide equal educational opportunities, to provide free and equal health services, and to take the necessary measures to ensure a fair distribution of income. I don't want to go into other details right now, even if it could only provide these, I think we would have a much more peaceful life.

But as we all know, today there is neither income justice, nor equality in education, nor equal conditions in terms of health services.

Especially under the current government, this injustice has reached maximum levels.

Not to mention the collapse and lawlessness within state institutions.

Yes, we haven't even started the endless fight like in America yet. 

In America, capital actually won the fight. Labor lost!

If you ask what is the symbol of wild capitalism today, I think everyone would point to America first.

The recent bank failures in America may be an indication that capitalism is crumbling. This is happening all over the world.

Especially during the covid pandemic, the world has learned first-hand that the policies of the liberal economy, which is a requirement of capitalism, are wrong. Now, the mixed economy view is being adopted more and more every day.

So how is the situation in our country?

With the Republic, Atatürk's path in this country was a mixed economy.

This had to be so partly because of the post-war conditions of those days.

However, especially with the Democratic Party that came to power after 1950, the direction of the country was changed with the "democratic" view in parentheses.

Of course, we cannot ignore the establishment of other heavy industry facilities such as the Iskenderun Iron and Steel plant in 1970.

So this transformation did not happen so suddenly! 

Nevertheless, the privatizations that started especially in the Özal years and Turkey's becoming more open to the world were beneficial for the country in terms of achieving more prosperous living conditions on the one hand, and on the other hand, they accelerated the accumulation of capital in certain hands thanks to the support of the private sector by the state.

The first privatization started in 1985 with the sale of Sümerbank's Iğdır Cotton Weaving plant to the private sector.

Even before that day, there were capital-owning families in the country. But still, Turkey was governed with much more statist policies in those days.

Today, everything the state owns has been sold off. 

While saying that we will downsize the state, by giving the power of money to some hands in the private sector, the current government has brought the country to these days with political cadres who make laws and regulations only in line with the wishes of the money lords within this great mechanism of state cadres, and in the meantime, in the wheel of bribery and corruption, clinging tightly to their seats only on the financing of politics.

The only thing I regret is that the poor people, who cannot see the whole picture, have had to endure the hardships of life with these political cadres they themselves elected.

I am not counting those who benefit from the opportunities provided by the government and are financially satisfied with the situation. 

Of course, I also exclude those who have become fanatical especially with the religious discourses that the government uses as a sauce.

However, at this point, it is a fact that the majority of the people are impoverished.

So let's come to a more current issue.

It is now apparent from the public opinion polls that the opposition and Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu have received a great wind of power with the recent developments.

The supporters of the current government are still hoping that Mr. Erdoğan will pull a few rabbits out of the hat at the last minute, but the fact that even current ministers are being nominated as parliamentary candidates in these elections shows me that Mr. President has accepted the situation.

He does not have much to do since his one or two attempts in the meantime have ended in disappointment.

The increase in pensions and the money distributed to earthquake victims do not seem to have done much good either, because every wage increase announced is reflected in the market as a several-fold increase. 

It is like a car with a broken brake that is speeding towards the cliff, out of control.

If Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu wins the election and becomes the 13th president, I think he will have to work hard to fix the situation.

So, what do we mean by fixing the situation?

For example, I can predict that these absurd heterodox methods of economic management will be abandoned, and there will definitely be a return to orthodox methods.

However, when we talk about orthodox methods, America also manages its economy with orthodox methods. But at the same time, America is a country that symbolizes wild capitalism.

So what I mean is that a shift to orthodox methods in the economy does not mean that the owners of capital will not dominate over labor.

Where will the new leadership be between broader socialist policies and liberal policies?

They say we are going to improve the distribution of income, what will be the policy for that?

Do you know why I am asking these questions?

Because Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu is not the candidate of the Republican People's Party, he is the joint candidate of the six parties that we call the alliance of nations, and the perspectives of these parties in terms of economic policies are quite different from each other. At least the Republican People's Party has a very different perspective from the others.

I wonder whose point of view will be the valid policy?

In my heart, of course, the republican ideology's perspective on the economy, of course the mixed economy that our great leader Atatürk had in mind when he founded this country should be the basis. Maybe not as it is, but adapted to the conditions of the day, the main economic perspective should be a mixed economy.

This is how I think.

We will wait and see, of course, first let the elections be won and then we will have more time to analyze these issues.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow