As the news media offers massive coverage of the floods occurring across Taiwan, the government and industry leaders are busy with constitutional amendments, disaster relief, protection of fishing rights, lowering taxes, financial vested interests and public hazards.
Meanwhile, I read the forward to Peter Drucker's memoirs, Adventures of a Bystander, in which he criticizes government and big industry for relying on centralized control. Drucker believes that when government and industry become the institutions that overwhelmingly dominate society, the need for a "third sector" -- non-profit and public interest organizations -- becomes more important. Only through this will social values be protected, community leaders step forward and civic awareness develop.
Floods are frightening, but so are the statements of industry leaders and some government officials. Taiwan has only just completed the transition from authoritarian dictatorship to democracy. In the past, big business could not have enjoyed this type of freedom without depending on the government's whim. The interdependence between government and industry and, in particular, industry's often domineering power -- rising out of its massive economic strength -- allows big business to control the government, thus weakening society.
But we no longer live in an era when the government can do as it pleases. Government and industry joining hands to dominate society is a social phenomenon that occurs in the transition from authoritarian dictatorship to democracy. Maybe it is even part of industry's tactic to monitor a weakened government.
The industry giants seem to be more powerful than elected officials. The weakness in Taiwan's industrial culture, however, is often a reflection of the violence of power. Instead of treating people reasonably, big business uses force to coerce them. The thinking of the rich ignores corporate social responsibility, and lacks the cultural concern that the powerful should have for a good and humane society.
A case in point is the capital and business transfers between China and Taiwan after the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, which boomed despite the lack of democracy and freedom. This is a reflection of a uniquely Taiwanese phenomenon incomprehensible to the outside world: a disregard for both our and China's democratization and liberalization.
The logic of profit is stronger than the wish to make Taiwan a normal country. The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) colonial rule has ended, but we have inherited its diseases. Having lost power, pan-blue politicians are joining China and abandoning Taiwan, and the new government is also under pressure from industry circles.
The public is relying on the government, while industry is using its strength to pressure it. The "third sector," meanwhile, issues barely audible statements, urging businesspeople and politicians to meet their social responsibilities.
Taiwan should create a vision for a "new politics" and a "new economy" which will integrate humanitarianism and social values. The new industrialists should not just work to accumulate wealth and expand their industrial base, nor should the new government take over the old government's framework. Rather it should build a new one.
Our society should listen more to the third sector and allow it to speak louder and with a stronger voice. At this time, society needs a new vision, and we should demand that government and industry offer new visions as well. This is the only way that we will be able to talk of "our" government, "our" industry and "our" country.
Lee Min-yung is a poet and president of the Taiwan Peace Foundation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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