This is what Christians can do in times of economic hardships
Romanians protest against austerity measures from the government. Photo EPA, Robert Ghement
Opinion
Some problems never go away, Marius Bâgu writes. One of them is a struggling economy with government policies that come with it. What is a Christian attitude when your country finds itself having a terrible deficit?
Recently, I read the book The Shame of the Cities by American journalist Lincoln Stephens. Although it was published in 1904, societies today still struggle with the same problems: corruption, elitism, and injustice.
The political class is biased toward those with influence and socio-economic power. In a national crisis, taxpayers, pensioners, and teachers bear most of the burden, not politicians, and especially not those who hold influence and socio-economic power. Exactly this can be seen in Romania.
Election
Romanians celebrated a political victory on May 18. That day, Nicușor Dan was elected as the new Romanian President, with 53,60 per cent of the votes. A new government came into power, with Ilie Bolojan as its Prime Minister. Bolojan, who has been a mayor before, is known for his expertise in good governance, particularly in implementing administrative and economic reforms in the public sector.
Yet, a significant problem lurked around the corner. During the election cycle, the public was unaware that our country had a significant financial shortage, with a 9.3 per cent deficit.
Austerity Packages
In his first austerity package he implemented as Prime Minister, Bolojan has introduced various measures to tackle the deficit, including combating tax evasion, improving tax collection, increasing VAT and property taxes, and reforming the educational system.
However, it soon became clear who had to bear the heaviest load. Pensioners were to contribute much more than top executives of state-owned companies, although the latter's salaries are outrageous. When questioned about this, the Prime Minister claimed that this approach had a better chance of tackling the deficit rather than targeting the top executives of state-owned companies.
There is public support for reducing the excessive pensions of magistrates and the salaries of top executives of state-owned companies.
As expected, most austerity measures lack public support. However, there is public support for reducing the excessive pensions of magistrates and the salaries of top executives of state-owned companies. Whether something will be changed about that remains to be seen.
Education
Bolojan also introduced reforms to the educational system. Whenever there is a budgetary issue, the education system is often the first to be targeted for cuts. Among the measures the government has taken is increasing the teaching hours norm from 18 to 20 hours, restructuring the scholarship system programme, and raising the number of pupils in the classroom.
Another significant move is the merging of schools with fewer than 500 pupils. This change will have a long-lasting impact on schools in rural areas that don’t meet this threshold. It is estimated that at least 900 principals will have to return to the classroom in full capacity.
Although the Minister of Education, Daniel David, has claimed that all these changes will not lead to teachers being laid off, the reality is quite the opposite. It is estimated that 16,000 teaching positions will vanish in total.
Besides, teachers complain about their teaching hours. For more than 30 years, the norm has been 18 hours per week. Now, this norm will be increased to 20 hours. The Romanian Constitution provides the right of Unions to collective bargaining. At the same time, the collective agreement between the Teachers’ Unions and the Ministry of Education provides the right of the Unions to negotiate with the Ministry of Education on equal footing, but it has been ignored.
The teachers’ unions have attempted to engage with both the President and the Prime Minister, but to no avail.
Furthermore, the time required to implement these measures is deemed insufficient by the Teachers’ Unions. According to the Unions, teachers have not been given enough time to specialise in other professional fields. The teachers’ unions have attempted to engage with both the President and the Prime Minister, but to no avail.
Economy
It is challenging to assess the full impact of these austerity measures on the economy and citizens' everyday lives. For now, it has been predicted that there will be a reduction in purchasing power and consumption, as well as higher costs and reduced turnover for companies, which will slow economic development.
It also does not help Romania’s economy that the country, like many other states in Europe, is currently dealing with a shortage of labour forces. Typically, there are two solutions to this: either increasing birth rates or attracting workers from non-EU countries. Hopefully, the government starts working on policies for that purpose soon.
Conduct
At the same time, I would like the Bolojan cabinet to address the issues of inadequate infrastructure, magistrates’ exorbitant pensions and age of retirement, and the reduction of the salaries of top executives in state-owned companies.
Whether all these changes will occur or not, the question for me as a Christian is, how do I conduct myself? I think being rebellious and insolent, or speaking ill about politicians, is counterproductive and wrong. I have every right to take a stand and voice my concerns regarding different measures, but at the same time, I must pray for them (1 Timothy 2) and show them respect (1 Peter 2).
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