Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou has thrown his hat into the ring to contest the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary. The business tycoon once remarked that “Democracy doesn’t put food on the table,” which was criticized at the time by President Tsai Ing-wen and triggered a war of words among netizens. Without getting bogged down in the finer details of the correlation between democracy and economic growth, is it true — as Gou asserts — that the public are struggling to make ends meet to the extent they don’t have enough to eat? In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
In the past few years, Taiwan’s economy has been relatively stable and has not experienced boom or bust. This is borne out by the economic data. Between 2016 and 2018 , Taiwan’s GDP grew by an orderly 1.51, 3.08 and 2.63 percent per year. Per capita GDP for last year was US$24,971, ranked 35th in the world, higher than China or India, but lagging behind Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.
However, if per capital GDP is calculated using purchasing power parity, which takes into account cost of living and inflation, Taiwan moves up to 19th place, overtaking both Japan and South Korea.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
In other words, while Taiwan’s economy is not going gangbusters or charging forward like a hot knife slicing through butter, neither is it in recession, nor is the general public destitute and struggling to feed itself, as Gou has intimated. However, with a presidential election looming in January, some are seeking to manufacture a brouhaha over the economy and are singling it out for attack.
Will Gou’s brand of populist rhetoric have the desired effect? To some extent it will have an impact: while the domestic economy continues to grow, real salaries are not increasing. Meanwhile, food and beverage costs are going up every year. If the electorate is left with the general impression that they are being sucked dry, this could easily morph into a wider feeling of discontentment onto which may be projected a sensation of not having eaten one’s fill.
Central to modern democratic government is the concept of one-person-one-vote, with each vote being of equal value. Democracy is a way of life and a specific ordering of political power, rather than an ideology in and of itself. If, as Gou says, “Democracy doesn’t put food on the table,” does this mean that if we dispense with democracy we can all be rich? The answer should be self evident.
(Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
鴻海精密執行長郭台銘要出馬角逐國民黨總統初選,他過去「民主不能當飯吃」的言論,引起總統蔡英文的反擊與網路多方論戰。姑且不論民主與經濟發展的距離為何,但把台灣當前經濟情況說到民不聊生、連飯都吃不飽的地步,這就與事實相差太遠。
坦白說,台灣這幾年經濟表現尚屬平穩,並沒有大起大落,根據統計,二○一六至二○一八年國內生產毛額成長率依序為百分之一點五一、百分之三點○八及二點六三。若以人均國內生產毛額成長率來看,去年為兩萬四千九百七十一美元,在全球排名三十五,高於中國、印度等國,但落後日、韓、星、港。
不過,若以生活費用及通膨的「購買力平價」算出的人均國內生產毛額成長率,台灣一舉拉高到全球第十九名,超越日本及南韓。
也就是說,台灣目前景氣雖然不是一飛沖天、勢如破竹,但絕對沒有落到經濟衰退、民不聊生的貧困局面,與吃不飽的說法還相差太遠;不過,就因為明年一月要總統大選,經濟情況就被拿來大做文章與攻擊。
這種庶民語言有沒有效果呢?其實,多多少少會有,國內經濟雖然持續成長,但民眾實質薪資不漲,荷包沒增加,民生餐飲費用卻年年提高,這種相對剝奪感,很容易轉化為不滿情緒及吃不飽的心理投射。
所謂的民主政治,就是一人一票、票票等值,這是一種生活方式與政治權力運作結構,絕非一種意識形態;試問,若民主不能當飯吃,難道沒有民主就可以發大財嗎?答案已經不言而喻。
(自由時報記者王孟倫)
讀後練習
Follow up
Questions (True or false)
1. It has been decided that Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou will be the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate at next year’s presidential election.
2. Depending on how GDP per capita is calculated, between 2016-2018 Taiwan’s economy outperformed China, India, Japan and South Korea.
3. The author believes politicians are correct to focus on poor economic performance prior to the coming presidential election.
4. The author disagrees with Gou’s statement that democracy doesn’t fill stomachs.
(Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Drive-through (or drive-thru) restaurants provide people with the immense convenience of being able to purchase and pick up meals without needing to leave their vehicles. These restaurants have been around for decades, and their success has spawned a number of equally handy services. The drive-through concept originated with the drive-in restaurant, the first of which was established in the US in 1921. Patrons would order and eat the food that was delivered to their cars by workers called “carhops.” Ten years later, a drive-through service was introduced, but it was not until 1947 that the first exclusively drive-through restaurant opened its
On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled. Once
A: “Forbes” magazine just revealed Hollywood’s top 10 highest-paid stars of 2023. B: How much did those superstars make last year? A: Denzel Washington was at No. 10, having made US$24 million, which is about NT$771 million. B: That’s an astronomical figure to me. A: No. 9 to No. 6 were: Ben Affleck with US$38 million, Jason Statham with US$41 million, Leonardo DiCaprio with US$41 million, and Jennifer Aniston with US$42 million. A: 《富比世》最近公布了好萊塢去年的片酬排行榜。 B: 大明星的片酬到底有多高? A: 第10名是丹佐華盛頓、片酬2400萬美元,大約7.7億台幣。 B: 天啊這根本是天文數字! A: 第9到6名是︰班艾佛列克、3800萬美元,傑森史塔森、4100萬美元,李奧納多狄卡皮歐、4100萬美元,珍妮佛安妮斯頓、4200萬美元。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)