PAF9181 Spring 2020

I just wanted to share this. These are the minimum wages around the world. As you can see Australia has the highest minimum wage. The lowest federal minimum wage is in Sierra Leone followed by India. You can read more about it in this article https://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-at-minimum-wages-around-the-world-2013-8.

Why is there such a high difference between the wage earned in Australia and Sierra Leone? It could be due to governance, there could be corruption in the government and poor implementations that is hindering the government from increasing the minimum wage.

Australia could have a better system of government that is able to afford the minimum wage $16.88 per hour. In addition, Australia probably has a strong and stable economy. I’m not sure, what do you guys think?  The United States minimum is still the same at $7.25 per hour since 2009.

I want to also mention that colonization could have something to do with why Sierra Leone has such a low minimum wage. Colonized places were not able to dictate their own country and control their own governments. There are still puppet rulers in control and corruption is quite rampant in colonized countries.

This is important to our class because there is an issue of governance. Who are leading these governments to make countries like Sierra Leone and India to have such low minimum wage?  Maybe the type of government systems are not working in those countries. We can also compare Australia, the United States, Sierra Leone and India to examine why there are stark differences in the minimum wages in these countries.

Blessing Uzoeshi.

Edith posted earlier about work cultures. One of the key aspects of work culture is how much/long you work. I heard a radio segment this morning say in the US we work more than in other industrialized countries and the trend is to work more hours, while in other countries the trend is to fewer. See below for a link to many fascinating comparisons of work hours, historical and between countries.

Standard Work Hours (from Clockify) https://clockify.me/working-hours

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/the-age-when-americans-start-saving-for-retirement.html

As the world population enjoys the long life-expectancy, it is inevitable that the pension in any country would be depleted.  As a result, we have been advised and persuaded to save money during our working years. Then, I start to wonder what the appropriate age would be to start saving for retirement in the world. An article released by CNBC talks about when American people should start investing for retirement. This article states that a significant portion of U.S. adults are delaying starting to save for retirement until a decade or more into their working career. Also, half of adults between 18 and 34 are not saving for retirement at all, compared to 42% of adults aged 35 to 44, and 40 % aged 45 to 64. The financial experts highlight the benefits of starting saving and investing for retirement early in 20s. They add that if a person starts saving as soon as he/she/they can, the amount that he/she/they have to save will not be too much burden on us.  Otherwise, the amount for saving should be increased and bigger if he/she/they delay starting the practice.

After reading this article, I begin wondering about the people in the European Countries which have strong social welfare system. Are those living in Europe advised to save for their retirement as soon as possible like American people? What is your thought?

China’s technological transition to the gig economy in recent years is remarkable by any measurement. In most large Chinese cities cash is obsolete. The Chinese financial system leapfrogged the use of credit cards, and the majority of everyday consumer transactions are authenticated through a combination of WePay  – a mobile app – and facial recognition technology.  

In China, there is an added layer to authenticating financial transactions known as the social credit system. If you’re intrigued by 21-century technology, or enjoy reading science-fiction thrillers then Google search and read up on the Chinese social credit system. 

Unfortunately, this is not science-fiction. It’s science reality and it’s overtly dystopian. 

In an article published by Foreign Policy in 2018, Siminta Mistreanu illustrates the point. 

According to the PRC, the driving ambition of the social credit system is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredit to take a single step.”

Under the PRC social credit system, the ability to purchase a bus or train ticket for domestic travel can be completely limited for things such as consuming prohibited internet content, purchasing certain “taboo” items regularly or receiving parking and J-walking tickets.

In essence, consumers are rewarded for behavior that is in accordance with what the PRC deems to be an ideal “good” citizen. Increasingly every aspect of Chinese societal interaction is heavily monitored.  Conversely, bad behavior results in a low credit score whereby individuals are deemed untrustworthy and lose their basic rights of freedom. For these reasons, the Chinese social credit system is by definition Orwellian. 

The countless observing eyes of the PRC make “Big Brother” in the West seem like child’s play.  

On the other hand In the United States, the credit system rewards and punishes consumers based on financial responsibility to repay debt obligations. Next to that, consumers are rewarded for low utilization rates ( the amount of credit spent divided by the total credit line) of approximately 10% across all open lines of credit. A possible injustice in the U.S. credit system is that public schools in the United States do not teach financial literacy or basic investment strategies.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/africa/internet-affordability-africa/index.html

I think as the world become more globalized people ought to have greater and equal access to internet. I think having people paying 20% of their average income for 1g of data is very bad people in low income countries.  in the US and other develop countries unlimited internet is  way less than 20% of our earning. I think if the world want underdeveloped countries to develop progressively we have to create ways to foster such development. by paying so much to have access to internet we are not really addressing other issues like poverty in these countries.

It’s interesting to look at different cultures all around globe. One way to look at different cultures is through traditional dresses. I am actually interested in learning some of the traditional clothing in several regions around the world. I am aware of some of the cultural clothing of some countries but there were others I was surprised to learn about.

This article shows examples of the traditional dresses in different places around the world https://www.roughguides.com/gallery/traditional-dress/. In Namibia, the Herero women wear adapted Victorian dress that was worn by German colonists. They kept the style of clothing after fighting in a conflict with the German colonists during the twentieth century. The dress is a full, floor length skirt, fitted bodice and horn-shaped hat.

In Bhutan, the men wear the gho, which is knee- length gown that is tied at the waist by a belt called a kerman. For women, they wear a ankle-length dress called a kira.

In Sardinia, a large Italian island, the traditional dresses is said to have a strong Spanish and Moorish influences. There are common items of traditional wear in Sardinia. There is a veil, bonnet or shawl. There is also a long pleated skirts and embroidered blouses.

These different places with different traditional dresses shows a sense of identity and rich culture. This is important to our class because there is a influence from different cultures that influenced other cultures. So, were comparing. For example, the Herero women of Namibia were influenced by the Victorian style clothing and designed their own traditional dress. In Sardinia, the people were influenced by the Spanish and the Moors to adapt their own traditional clothing.

Blessing Uzoeshi.

Growing up in an Islamic State, little did I know that kissing is universal but only for parents to kiss their babies and doesn’t really extend to adults; In my culture, you can hardly find anyone kissing or holding hands even if they are married. It is funny and sad at the same time that I never saw my parents showing affection to each other both in public or at home. In some countries such as Pakistan or any other Islamic states such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco or even as secular as India, it falls under a crime, In some countries it is acceptable and in few, it’s widely celebrated.

I have had a hard time when I first moved to States back in 2012 and I can talk about my cultural shocks; be it PDA or food but gradually I become used to hugs, side kisses, and Americano coffee. I got to travel to some of the countries and I would love to share some of my PDA experiences. Here are a few of my first-hand experiences:

Pakistan: Culturally rich but being an Islamic state; here you can hardly find anyone holding hands except for Islamabad which is a capital city; a very beautiful city in the lap of mountains, progressive and a home to the elite of Pakistan. It’s pretty normal for the same sex to hold hands, kiss and roam around wrapped their hands in each other’s waist.

India: From dry states of Gujrat to progressive cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi it’s slightly acceptable among the public to accept PDA as a normal thing. Anyhow it’s always an adventure to do it and you could see many eyes rolling on you.

Srilanka: You might find most Europeans kissing on one of the breathtaking train experience but you can hardly find any locals making out in public or even showing affection except for some notorious public parks under some umbrella or a tree.

Azerbaijan: An Islamic state yet very progressive because it used to a part of the USSR so it has a huge influence on it. You can see women wearing skirts, or men shorts and roaming around the streets holding hands but hardly find anyone kissing except if you happen to go to bars or house parties. Azerbaijan has recently attracted a huge number of tourists from all over the world because of its friendly policies towards tourists.

United Arab Emirates: A home to Burj Khalifa, often known as place for skyscrapers yet an Islamic state; which recently has shown some leniency towards alcohol since it attracts millions of tourists every year from every part of the world but you will only find couples confined to their hotels or homes when it comes to PDA.

Maldives: A nation of Island, an amazing honeymoon destination but yet a conservative nation. You will see women in Niqab and Burkinis on their famous capital beaches but life is on their private resorts. Alcohol is banned in their capital Male and even at Mafooshi Island but you can always go in the middle of Island and spend as little as $12 for a can of a beer. You might see many local women working in their hotels or at Airbnb but you will still see segregated beaches often named as normal and bikinis beaches.

Watch here to know why kissing isn’t a universal act. https://www.brut.media/us/news/why-kissing-isn-t-a-universal-act-245fd21d-0a36-4d8f-bea2-bc47a1628eac

Do share about PDA etiquette in your country. How do you greet a person? Thank you.

Regards,
Raj

There are a number of countries where you can become President if you have a second passport, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel and Somalia. Let’s take a quick look them, shall we?

Armenia: You can be born anywhere, as long as you can proof that your parents or family is Armenia, you are good to go. You just need to become a citizen by living there for 3 years, knowing the language and the constitution. But, there are some stipulations:

“As of 2007, Armenia also allows for dual citizenship. The catch is that all male dual citizens are required to serve in the military regardless of where they live. There is an option to do 46 months of civil service instead of the standard 24 months of military service, but if you have done neither by the time you reach the age of 27, you must pay a fine of $4500 to avoid prosecution for evading military service.”

Austria: Again, having Austrian blood can qualify you, or you can become a naturalized citizen (chancellor too!).  The bad side? You gotta give up dual citizenship, have lived there for 10 years, have no criminal record, know German and hold knowledge about The Republic of Austria.

Azerbaijan: Natural born or naturalized, doesn’t matter, you just have to renounce citizenship anywhere else. You gotta be 35, able to vote, hold a degree from a university, not be a criminal and be a permanent resident for 10 years.

France: Any citizen who is 18 or older, can vote, has no criminal record and has a French bank account can run!

Germany: Like France, most citizens can run if they are over the age of 40. You’re also allowed to be a dual citizen from certain countries! The extra bonus here is that if your parents are foreigners, but you grew in Germany, you might be able to run. You just have to have lived in Germany for at least 8 years, and attended school or vocational training for 6 years.

Great Britain: Dual citizens can be Members of Parliament. Even commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland can become MP without needing to become British citizens. And as we should all know by now, since the PM is just the leader of their party, anyone can be it!

Israel: Where you were born doesn’t matter, because of the history of this nation, so dual citizenship and multi citizenships are ok. However, to qualify to run for president, you have to give it all up. On top of that, there is a mandatory military service of 2 years and 8 months for men and 2 years for women.

Somalia: Somalia is very open and as long as you’re a citizen, you can run. Many past officials have citizenship elsewhere, some have lived in other countries for a long time and some were even government officials in different countries! Somalia encourages people to bring the experience of living and working in other places back home.

My Reference.

Examining multiple countries in this course, I was surprised to not see in-depth explanations of the variations between countries’ welfare systems that we have observed. Our textbook, Introduction to Comparative Politics, mentions the fact that countries like the UK, France, and Germany have welfare systems, however, the book does not go into detail on some of the key differences between these systems. With this in mind, I wanted to share a bit of background on variations in welfare systems, specifically around the work of Gøsta Esping-Andersen, a Danish sociologist who has written on the topic extensively. In his book, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Esping-Andersen identifies three forms of welfare systems, the conservative system, which is utilized by countries like France and Germany, the liberal systems, which is used in the United States (and to a certain extent the United Kingdom), and the social-democratic system, which is primary used in Nordic countries.

These systems vary in how they attempt to provide welfare to citizens in the country. Liberal systems like in the United States typically provide welfare to citizens based on need. This can be observed in the US in systems like Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC. These systems provide aid but this aid is contingent upon means testing, which is typically measured by a family’s income. The conservative system differs in that it typically provides a broader array of services but the extent of these services varies based on individuals’ existence in certain groups. This can be observed in France by the various pension schemes that are supported by the government but vary in amount and in retirement age based on an individual’s profession. Many of these systems formed in the 19^th century in countries with conservative leaders like Otto von Bismark in Germany, in order to co-opt certain groups in society and prevent a push for democracy or greater union participation. The third welfare system is the social-democratic model, which seeks to provide universal services to citizens. This may include universal access to services like healthcare, childcare, university as well as strong protections for unemployed individuals. The thought behind this system is that the universal distribution of welfare services helps to build broad support for the program across economic classes as every citizen in the country benefits from the taxes being collected to provide these services.

This is just a brief blog post to get people thinking about the systems. I would be curious to hear which systems are typically used in your countries of origin and which you think may be the most effective based on your views of the role that government should play in supporting the population.

If you find this topic interest you can read the first chapter of Esping-Andersen’s book The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism is available here.

I found this post by Ian Bremmer interesting.

If you’re not familiar with Bremmer, he heads up the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. 

Ian’s post makes an interesting comparison between the current and past U.S. presidents and their use of official presidential pardons.  

Thinking in terms of what motivates a presidential pardon, I wonder if there are generalizable narratives that might explain why some U.S. The President’s issue pardon in large numbers and others not so much. All U.S. Presidents encounter contentious battles. Perhaps presidential pardons are one of many tools employed in an effort to build cohesive unity across our Republic.