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新加坡启示录:从种族隔离的黑白对抗到贫富对抗



贫富不均,基尼指数加剧,导致流血事件的发生。
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南非在 18年前脱离种族隔离,结束黑人和白人的对抗后,今天,仍然不能脱离对抗的命运。黑人当家做主,社会问题仍在,贫穷问题没法解决,贫富距离进一步的加大,对抗仍然继续下去,只是由黑白,变成贫富罢了!

回想起种族隔离的黑白对抗,还不也是一种贫富对抗吗!

1978年作为例子,当年南非有19百万黑人,450万白人。土地的分配却是87%为白人拥有,黑人只得13%。国民收入75%去了白人,黑人只得少于20%。其他方面的分配,如医生,婴儿死亡率,教育,等等都是极度不公平。(见下表)




黑人当家,贫富依旧

到了黑人当家做主后,黑白间的距离淡化了,取而代之的是贫富不均。投资者,部分黑人,却取代了白人的位置,成为少数的富人,因此,新的对抗产生了。黑白的距离转化成贫富的距离,对抗的双方不同,但是问题依然在。今天的南非是世界上贫富距离最高的国家之一。

在本星期三(815日)呈给南非总统的一份报告书中,就说明南非的基尼(Gini)指数高达0.69。报告书希望在2030年把它降到0.60. #1 隔不了多久,南非在种族隔离后,黑人当家后,最严重的冲突流血事件就发生了。这是巧合吗?还是几十年来累积下来的怨恨,无法解决的贫富悬殊的突发?

包容性增长,包含解决基尼贫富不均

很巧的是,这份报告书也提到包容性的经济增长,希望通过快和包容性增长来解决贫穷和不公平。我们的包容性增长有提到这个问题吗?

更巧的是我们的财政部长和一位政务部长#2都认为,新加坡高的基尼指数是因为我们是一个国际城市。那么南非是一个城市还是一个国家?
好像南非这样的资源大国,也一样出现很高的基尼指数。人家说要降低基尼指数,我们却无动于衷。或许,我们感觉良好,不需要大惊小怪。看来我们还在找借口来加剧贫富的距离。没有从南非的教训中学习。

资源分配不均,基尼就高

南非的自然资源在贫富不均的分配下,在以前是被白人拿走。现在呢!是被富人拿走。那么,新加坡没有自然资源,如何出现贫富不均呢?想想看,我们的资源,不就是人力资源吗?这是我们一直强调的,我们没有其他资源,只有人,因此,增加人,就是增加资源。所以,行动党政府一直在强调人的重要性,本国人不生,就进口。

但是,新加坡利用人创造出来的财富,并没有公平分配。富人在造富的过程中,获得很大的利益,而贫穷人,则分得很少,这就导致基尼指数很高。基尼指数高的论题和说法,行动党政府并没有否定。它只是说问题没有这么严重,这是城市地区的普遍问题。现在,南非(甚至俄罗斯,巴西)这样的资源大国也出现问题,我们又做何解释呢?

南非的问题和我们有无相似之处?

我们在1959年自治,1965年独立。在这之前,英国人不是拥有资源的便利吗?我们把他们赶走后,把经济搞上,开始的时候,大家都没有很多钱,过后就不同了。现在就连部长也要世界第一的薪金水准。

以前是英国人把资源,财富拿走。南非的情形是白人把财富拿走。今天的南非和新加坡一样,在南非,富人把资源拿走。在新加坡,富人把人力资源生产出来的财富拿走。因此,两个国家都出现很高的基尼指数。
以下是世界各地的基尼指数的情形:



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/GINIretouchedcolors.png/800px-GINIretouchedcolors.png

南非的工会和我们的工会比较

根据英国广播公司#3和美国有线网的报道,南非的矿工原本的工会和执政党关系密切,在为会员争取利益时,未必尽心尽力。因此,转而向另一个工会求助。政党政治,工会利益的冲突,再加上加薪要求未能获得解决,导致局势不可收拾。但是,导火线还是贫富不均,工人的所得太低了,因为,他们已经好几年没有加薪了。

这是不是有些像我们的工会,在过去几年我们的工会,是否有尽心尽力为工友争取利益,大家有目共睹。我们的低薪工友,不是十几年,没有获得实际的工资增长吗?他们是不是和南非政府,南非工会做着同样的事情?

令人担心的是,这样的结果,会不会和南非贫富冲突产生异曲同工的结局?

南非从种族隔离时代的白人专有专用,到今天是否发展到“富人专有专用”的地步,虽然还没有到这个地步,但是,流血事件的发生,不正代表,这个国家正向这个方向发展,我们能不加以警惕吗?借鉴吗?

#1
“The other social problem is inequality. South Africa has a very high Gini coefficient of 0.69, we seek to reduce that to 0.60 by 2030,” the minister said.
“Our approach to tackling poverty and inequality is premised on faster and more inclusive economic growth,”

#2

"We have a higher Gini coefficient in Singapore compared to most larger countries, because we are a global city. Hong Kong, London, the key American cities, and the leading Chinese and Indian cities in fact have somewhat higher inequality than Singapore. But we cannot resign ourselves to widening inequality. Unlike these other cities, we are a country. We have to try to contain inequality, and ameliorate its effects on our society."

#3
This strike was sparked by a demand for better wages. And - armed with spears and machetes - strikers were in no mood for compromise.
But it goes much deeper than that. The traditional union in the area, the NUM, is a key ally of the African National Congress. Their backing is critical for President Jacob Zuma in his fight to retain his position in the ANC's party elections this December.
Miners accuse their leaders of abandoning their grassroots concerns, focussing instead on politics. So they turned to an alternative union to fight their corner. But - as so often happens in South Africa - this dispute turned violent. Two police had been killed earlier in the week.

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