Why do we think that there is a crisis only in the economy?

Dear friends, we have started to experience perhaps the most severe economic crisis in the history of the republic. There is a very clear relationship between crises and incompetence and inadequacies in management. Because the system starts to give symptoms before the crisis. A crisis does not occur suddenly. A rational management evaluates these symptoms and takes measures to prevent a crisis. After the crisis occurs, crisis management gains importance. The most important characteristic of crisis situations is that the situation changes rapidly and unpredictability increases, requiring the implementation of management measures specific to the crisis situation. If rational solutions are not produced, crisis situations tend to evolve into chaos. Once the threshold of chaos is crossed, the situation cannot be controlled. Therefore, the first goal in crisis management is to prevent events from getting worse. 

Systems have a state of equilibrium. When this state of equilibrium begins to deteriorate, the functioning of the system also begins to deteriorate. If equilibrium cannot be re-established, this deterioration evolves into a crisis. Social structures are dynamic systems with high level of complexity. For this reason, state administration should be designed to meet the requirements of the system and its continuity should be ensured. The persistence of governance problems in Turkey has made the fact that the country periodically enters a crisis a chronic problem. This is because unresolved problems in the governance structure produce constant imbalances. While this fact is obvious, the "Presidential Government System", which has been implemented since 2018, has completely disrupted the governance structure and the system has started to drift towards a state of constant imbalance. 

Crises are often the result of bad governance. Is there a criterion that can evaluate bad governance? In democracies, the people evaluate political powers and decide whether or not to change them. Perhaps here we should make an addition to Plato's criticism of democracy. Should people who are incapable of deciphering the link between cause and effect have the right to decide on the goodness/evil of the whole society? When we put the problem in this way, almost everyone realises the danger. However, the problem is not in democracy. Because the concept of democracy is a concept that has developed by incorporating many sets of values in the historical process. The main problem is that democracy is not operated with all its institutions and rules. If there is no alternative information, democracy is only a manipulation of the dominant power. If access to accurate information from different news sources is problematic in a country, blaming those who are unaware of what is happening is like exonerating the political power, which is the real culprit.  

Political powers that assume the responsibility and duty of governing the state acquire the right to determine public policy. In other words, they have a say in the allocation of public resources. Each public policy is embodied in a legal text reflecting the priorities of the political power. For example, the budget allocated to the Presidency of Religious Affairs instead of education, science, research, technology and health determines the priority of the country that the political power wants to see in the future. In addition, the political power does not have the freedom to allocate public resources wherever it wants without question. For this, the separation of powers, one of the most important principles of democracy, is a basic guarantee, but not the only one. In terms of moral values, the political power must also be aware of the fact that it is using public money. Making wasteful expenditures and then collecting money from the public through taxation in order to create new resources when the resources are exhausted can be considered, to put it mildly, as not having a share of the values that are the historical achievements of humanity. 

An automobile is a system that functions by the combination and harmonious operation of various systems. If there is no harmony in the parts that bring this system together, the car will work problematically or will not work. State administration also requires the ability to manage the state, which is formed by the combination of many systems, in harmony. Poor management leads to wastage of resources, and wastage of resources can be solved by creating new resources since functions cannot be sacrificed. In a country, if taxes are high enough to hinder the welfare of the people, there is definitely bad governance. Bad governance cannot be seen only as a problem of political power. If the deputies who make up the legislature have the right to determine their own salaries and personal rights, where should the line be drawn? What should be the limits of representation? If employees and pensioners do not have the right to determine their own salaries, why is this right given to MPs? 

In fact, these are not difficult questions to answer. If you determine all wages in the country by multiplying the minimum wage by a certain coefficient, there will be no problem. It should not be very difficult to establish a constitutional principle that the salaries of MPs cannot exceed four/five minimum wages. Thus, MPs will not be able to increase their own welfare without working and increasing the welfare of the people. Even wage injustice is a matter of public choice. Society cannot progress if there is no difference between the educated and the uneducated. When you lower the general wage level, you are stealing the welfare of the people. The decline in the purchasing power of the people slows down the growth of the country. The distribution of income deteriorates further and the system moves rapidly away from the equilibrium point. 

The easiest way to make income distribution fair is the tax system. In a country with an indirect tax rate of 60-70 per cent, if a public official says "we will spread the tax to the bottom", this is clearly mocking the public. The easiest way to alleviate the tax burden already at the bottom is to increase the income tax. When everyone is taxed in proportion to their income, the injustice in income distribution begins to improve. However, the political power's approach to taxes also shows a public preference. While the taxes of a few conglomerate bosses are cancelled, imposing additional taxes on the people means usurping the people's right to budget and sovereignty. A government's granting tax exemptions to certain companies and cancelling their taxes cannot be within the sphere of freedom of the government under normal conditions. However, in societies that have not been freed from servitude and become citizens, the political power always finds the power to do whatever it wants. The legislature does not hesitate to make regulations that privilege itself. In short, the system produces incompatibility and problems. The natural consequence of this is crisis. 

Imbalances in the economy disrupt all systems in society. Economic policies are also a part of public policy. It consists of monetary and fiscal policies. It is easier to determine what needs to be done about monetary policy. Because it is a very technical field. But when it comes to fiscal policies, the class preferences and ethical principles of the political power come to the fore. The tax system in a country is the subject of fiscal policy. The power to impose a new tax is a function of sovereignty. This authority cannot be left to individuals, institutions or groups. This authority, also known as the people's right to budget, is closely related to representation and falls within the field of activity of the legislature. Fair representation is only possible if the representatives respect the sovereignty of the people.  

To summarise, the possibility of harmonious and balanced functioning of the parts that bring the system together has disappeared in Turkey. The political power feeds on this diseased structure that constantly produces crises. In such an environment, the people neither realise that sovereignty belongs to them nor do they seem to have such a problem. If welfare is decreasing in a country, it is not possible for the administration to be good and correct. Excessive taxes, inflation and income injustice are clearly the result of bad governance. A people who see the problem only as the imposition of additional taxes deserve to be governed worse. Someone may have the right to impose taxes, upset the wage balance, disrupt labour peace, destroy nature, use and waste public resources as they wish, supposedly on behalf of the nation. What is important is where the public is positioned while all this is being done. Every decision, every regulation that does not prioritise the public interest is a usurpation of sovereignty. At least, if you are in an effort to make everything by the book, remove the sixth article of the Constitution. As long as it is there, what is done is a problem for people like me who love their homeland and have a sense of citizenship. At least we know to whom sovereignty belongs.