President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently said that if the unemployment rate drops below 2 percent, the economy will suffer from a shortage of labor, which would harm the nation’s industries.
People have different ways of thinking, depending on what role they perform in society.
It is understandable that businesspeople do not wish to see a shortage of labor hampering their production lines. However, it is scary when the national leader has thoughts like this.
Ma is a broker serving capitalists: He has forgotten that it is his duty to look after each member of the public and to give them access to full employment, rather than worry about what should be done in the event of a shortage of labor.
A century ago, German economist Karl Marx proved that the existence of what he called an “industrial reserve army of the unemployed” facilitated the accumulation of capital and that this was an important factor allowing capitalists to stand above laborers and keep their wages low.
This also explains why capitalist societies continue to have problems with the alienation of labor and commodity fetishism.
Marxist thought is just one way of thinking and may not always be applicable, because economic problems are complex.
Everyone, regardless of whether they are an expert in a certain field, can say: “There is nothing all that bad about a shortage of labor.”
Ma can also say this as a private individual, but as a president, he cannot. This is because what we think on a subconscious level will influence the actions we take in the real world. As such, how a president thinks will influence an entire nation.
As long as Ma is concerned with the impact of a labor shortage on industry, he will never pay any attention to the unemployment rate.
Of course, the unemployment rate has nothing to do with Ma’s results over the year, but rather the amount of effort he puts into ensuring everyone has a job.
A president should show more concern about whether people have jobs, as opposed to whether there is a shortage of labor in the business world.
I am unable to say what will happen to Taiwanese industry if the unemployment rate gets so low that we experience a lack of labor.
However, employment is deeply linked to human survival and is also related to the acquisition and utilization of many family resources, such as health and education as well as social problems like crime and homelessness.
It would be much better to see each laborer fully utilized and giving their utmost, even if that does offend capitalists.
Better this than seeing unemployed people being forced, exploited and struggling for their livelihoods, and sometimes even being stigmatized in the process.
Liao Wei-kai is a doctoral candidate in politics at the University of Sheffield.
Translated by Drew Cameron
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with