A journey to my tribal homeland.

[Tallaabo]

The biggest problem we have in Somaliland and elsewhere in the Horn is people have no concept of halaal and haraam in their minds. Also there is no fear of Allah in the hearts of the political elite.

[galbeedi]

I think it is a tradition among Somalis. In the eighties, you could see a guy will get a job in one of those places where they literally rob, and after a year or two he will build a big house which every one can se. Friends and family will praise him for his looting and he sends his mother to the Hajj. Except " man raxama Rabbi" it is part of the culture. What people do not realize is corruption eats the progress, and the poor will suffer.

[DoctorKenney]

Galbeedi, which is why I think it's better for Somalia to adopt a more Libertarian stance when it comes to running the economic affairs of the country.

 

Somalia can't handle being a big bureaucratic centralized State such as the U.K. or France. The corruption amongst the Somali government officials would be endemic, and no amount of preventative measures will be able to curb it. If a politician doesn't outright rob the citizens, then he would appoint his nephew or his cousin to high positions within the government.

 

This was a reality during the Kacaan era. Government officials often appointed their family members to high positions of power, despite the fact that they have no skills or credentials of their own. And this robs the Somali citizen in more ways than I can describe.

 

So perhaps we should adopt a system where the Government enforces criminal law and property law, but then steps out of the way and lets the citizens conduct their own affairs. As peace is maintained in the country, then the citizens would establish their own private companies or partnerships which could deliver services to the people in a very efficient manner.

 

We've already seen how efficient and competent Dahabshiil is. Dahabshiil and the Khat Market has proven what Somalis can do if we put our minds to it. And we can accomplish a lot if we had a government with a laissez-faire approach to economics and governance

[galbeedi]

Doctor Kenedy, your proposal is really the only way to combat corruption. Libertarian free market economy is the only way. We already have a culture of free enterprise among the people. The role of the government in running the economy must be minimized to curb the looting. The stake of the citizens hold on the country will rise. The only way losers, criminals, thieves and others could make a living is by joining the government. They have no hope in the free market or others parts of the economy run by honest hard working entrepreneurs.

 

The young educated Somalis must push for reforms or bring these new ideas in the sun.

[DoctorKenney]

Yeah definitely. Somalis are already an enterprising people, we are risk-takers, and we know how to get what we want in the Free Market. In Nairobi, you can find Somali businessmen selling products from all over the world, at a much cheaper price than what the Kenyans or Indians sell it for.

 

We have our good qualities and our bad qualities. And the bad qualities of Somalis are amplified when we have a Big Government. Everyone's heard stories about the level of corruption during Siad Barre's era. The good qualities of Somalis are amplified when we have a small Government and free markets. Somalis would be manufacturing, expanding businesses, constructing, teaching, and investing at extremely high rates. And we could catch up to the rest of Africa in under 15 years. (Probably even less than that)

 

What I would propose, would be to set up a government which enforces national security, prosecutes criminals, enforces contracts, and protects private property. Everything else can be handled by the Free Market.

 

I've seen Somali private schools, private hospitals, and private organizations which offer far better services than anything a Government Agency can offer. And if peace is restored in Somalia, there will literally be hundreds of companies competing for customers. This will force companies to drive down their prices and increase the quality. And if a Somali company does a terrible job, they can go bankrupt and be replaced by a newer, better company. The same way how Pan American Airways, TWA, and Woolworth's went bankrupt and vanished because they couldn't compete. And they were replaced by others who could do a far better job than them.

 

With government, that can't happen. With government, if they do a terrible job, you're forced to accept it and you really can't do anything about it. If the government delivers terrible electricity services, then you have to accept it. If a private company delivers terrible electricity, then you could easily switch to the competitor. This is the beauty of the free market.

 

Somalia could become an extremely prosperous country in a relatively short time, if the right economic policies are pursued.

[DoctorKenney]

Under the current system, the only way opportunistic thugs and losers can ever achieve something in life, is by joining the Government and hoping for a big paycheque.

 

Under a free market system in Somalia, the only way these losers can ever achieve something is by working hard and being of service to the people.

 

Naturally, they don't like that and will do everything to oppose it.

 

The Government of Somalia should have a very limited job, and should stick to their limited duties. We could do well with a Government Spending that's about 10% of GDP

[galbeedi]

Absolutely, we can't have a centralized huge system that can build things like china or other centralized nations.

THat era was from 1970-1977, were people feared the system. Also in this day and age fragmentation, it is hard to establish, find or organize a highly efficient bureaucracy that can implement government projects. You could contract out almost everything, from procurement to highway building and other services. Electricity in most cities today is run by private enterprise. they are cheaper and reliable, there are possibility of some government employee stealing the fuel.

 

I believe less than ten years you could have some of the most modern services in electric, phone, internet and cable. You could have private companies building roads, ports and housing.

 

 

[galbeedi]

http://risaala.net/spaw/uploads/images/7_1_2_3_4_5_6_7_8_9_10_11_12_13_14_15_16_17_18_19_20_21_22_23_24_25_26_27_28_29_30_31_32_33_34_35_36_37_38_39.jpg

 

http://radiokulmiye.com/knn/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IMG_9947.jpg

 

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSxVCOWpq_Rz_gtXLh_lqyfBhuMxgFFaNUV89-

YfOPRPfIU-FPqw

 

this the government . everybody is waiting.

[SomaliPhilosopher]

<cite>

@OdaySomali

said:</cite>

Galbeedi could you tell us more about the daily life (or your observations thereof), your interactions with ordinary folks/businesses/students,

the status of women

, quality of life, state of the infrastructure, where you see this "homeland" heading in the next few years etc. Thanks in advance.

 

So far its just been a politics overdose.

 

lol

[DoctorKenney]

<cite>

@Apophis

said:</cite>

The people should be robbed by unelected cartels instead of elected politicians. Bloody great idea from the school of greed, aka: economics.

 

Apophis,

 

1. Dealing with a business isn't like dealing with the government. If you don't like how a certain company does things, you can leave and deal with the competitor. The same how I hated Verizon, so I switched to T-Mobile and received better service.

 

With government you don't have that choice. Even if you vote, the guy you voted for could have lost the election and you'll be forced to deal with someone you don't like. And deal with a government bureaucracy which you can't stand.

 

2. Aside from some exceptions (and this is due to monopoly and lack of proper regulations), private companies don't "rob" people. You pay them money and they give you goods and services. It's pretty straightforward saaxib. I'd much rather deal with them than a government ministry which decides how many goods should be produced and how they should be distributed.

 

This leads to chronic shortages and wasted labor, and Siad Barre's era was full of examples of Somalis waiting in long lines for hours for the most basic stuff (ie. bread, eggs, leather, etc.)

[galbeedi]

Apophis, economy is what what creating prosperity around the globe. The business community, if supervised may not rob as much as the government. If you have a restaurant and some company asks you to provide 100 plates of lunch a day or every few days, believe me , you would be happy to provide that services and you do not need to cheat. Even if they steal 10%, the job will be done. If you give that simple task to a government guy he may cut the lunch half, give some bribe to the businessman and deliver only 25 plates.

 

They are stealing the salary of the solders by falsifying the names. Can you imagine these guys can not even deliver the soldiers o

[DoctorKenney]

<cite>

@Apophis

said:</cite>

This has worked well for America where the poor had to go without basic healthcare until the government had to step in.

 

It's a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.

 

You do realize that the Federal Government in America provides Medicaid coverage for the poor?

 

And you do realize that the Government heavily distorted market prices in the healthcare field, since Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" programs. The cost of healthcare has risen dramatically in the past few decades, and government's fingerprints are all over this fiasco.

 

This is crony capitalism saaxib. I hate crony capitalism. Where corporate CEO's bribe government officials to pass legislation favorable to them.

 

But that's not the topic. That's not what we're talking about

[DoctorKenney]

<cite>

@Apophis

said:</cite>

Give whatever excuse your economics professors have imbibed in you, but the result is clear.

 

Corrupt politicians are no worse than those who see humans as cash cows to be milked dry at will.

 

People are corrupt. There's no questioning that.

 

But the only difference between me and you, is that I want to decentralize the power of any individual person, to curb corruption. Nobody wants to see a CEO or a Politician becoming too powerful

 

Any concentration of power into the hands of a select group of men, will lead to corruption and waste. And this is a fact.