
台北市市長柯文哲近日於臉書公開指出,未來三十年,臺灣不可能有三級貧戶當上總統,因為貧富在目前的社會已經世襲。而在這資本主義的社會裡,有兩項東西必須要社會主義,一個是醫療,另一個是教育。臺灣現在已經有健保,醫療平權差不多達到了,但教育平權要努力的空間就很大。
因此,台北市市府為了讓教育能夠平權,決定推動教育E化,提供免費網路資源及E化教室給所有台北市內國小、國中、高中任何願意學習的學生,讓每人都能夠享有學習的機會。
貧富在目前的社會已經世襲
美國是典型的資本主義國家,而台灣長期以來是「唯美是從」,資本主義亦稱為自由市場經濟,資本主義的本質就是財產私有化,也就是說在自由市場的經濟制度下,大家可依照自有財產做最大限度的投資與發展,彼此競爭,競爭優勝者能獲得大量資源並累積財富,此時,這些優勝者,便開始以資源優勢來阻礙其他競爭者,其他競爭者財力無以抗衡,致所有資源到最後會集中在極少數人手中,在最極端的情況下,資本主義會促發嚴重的貧富差距,根據主計總處資料顯示,台灣貧富差距現象的確逐年惡化,家庭可支配所得五等分位家戶差距倍數在2000年從5.55倍大幅增加,到2016年已為6.08倍。
舉例來說像是台灣房地產價格在過去十年來一路飆升,企業為了獲利,選擇炒房而非實體投資,而個人方面,買得起房的人,可以短期買賣或租金方式獲利,而買不起房的人,則需要支付越來越高的居住成本。
資源配置不均
早期的社會,經濟給人希望,只要努力就會有回報,貢獻越多則創造更多報酬促使經濟成長,經濟成長則創造更多工作機會使人民生活水準獲得改善,遊戲規則是公平的。
但現今的社會,經濟與政治體制似乎遭到非法操縱,人民對於經濟體制的信心快速下降,人民開始不再相信他們能擁有公平的成功機會。
當人民開始覺得無法擁有公平機會時,則會尋求新庇護或革命。
台灣過去幾年來看,政黨非藍即綠,台灣的民意也呈現某種藍綠對立的發展趨勢,藍綠政黨為了執政權力長期惡鬥,導致台灣滯留不前,昔日台灣與香港、新加坡、南韓並稱為「亞洲四小龍」如今,無論國內生產總值(GDP:Gross Domestic Product)或國際知名度都位居落後,一個經濟下滑的國家,受苦的永遠都是人民。
台灣屬民主國家,每一次選舉都算是一次小革命,但大多真正能掌權的並非政客,而是背後掌握最多資源的企業家、財團。這些企業家及財團早就已經佈設好各種條件使所有新執政者都會傾向維持既有的資源分配模式。
台灣人民也終於於近幾年來開始打破非藍即綠的限制,讓無藍綠黨籍背景下的柯文哲就任台北市市長,在一就任,就以人民利益及民眾福祉的前提下,進行多次改革,使台北市成為更好的一線城市,但在這階級複製的資本主義社會下,要縮短貧富差距是一項巨大改革且改革之路必定窒礙難行,但執政者若能提供平等的資源及機會給每一位人民,相信在不久將來,我們也都能一步一步慢慢的從資本主義制度所造成的缺陷中生存下來。
柯文哲臉書全文:
未來30年,臺灣不可能有三級貧戶當上總統,因為貧富在目前的社會已經世襲。如果一個小朋友沒有網路、手機、電腦,他根本沒有機會和人競爭,這個局面必須打破。
我常說,即使在資本主義的社會裡,有兩項東西要社會主義,一個是醫療,另一的空間就很大。
這就是為什麼要推動教育E化,3年內,我們要讓臺北市所有國小、國中、高中全面建立免費網路、E化教室,每一個學生有平板或其它移動載具 (mobile device)。我們已經把每一科的課程都拍成影片上網(臺北酷課雲),還要繼續精進。將來,每一位孩子只要願意學習,都有載具可以連接網路,透過「酷課雲」自我學習。
未來的世界,知識都在網路上,但如果一個小朋友沒有網路、電腦跟手機,學校又不給他這些東西,他要如何與其他人競爭?所以透過網路建立教育平權,是我們很重要的政策。教育E化計畫,就是要給貧苦的孩子們留下一個翻身的機會。
English Version
Taipei Mayor, Ke Wen Zhe, 柯文哲, recently made a public announcement that he believed, in the next 30 years, opportunities for the poor in Taiwan will decrease to the point that those the lowest on the socioeconomic ladder will have no opportunity to be president, because social position has become hereditary. In this capitalist world, there are two crucial issues to pay attention to:Healthcare, and Education…
Taiwan, currently, has a national insurance system, and equality of access has approximately been reached for all Taiwanese. Educational access, however, still has significant room for improvement. While in principle a meritocracy, access to the schools and systems, including tutoring and extra class time, that give students the opportunity to achieve high enough scores on tests to enter that meritocracy, is still dependent on income.
As a result, the Taipei Mayor has suggested to push forward a move to online learning, using free online resources and e-classrooms to all of Taipei’s elementary middle and senior high school students. This will give them additional opportunities to practice and refine their basic knowledge, to try to match what Taiwanese ever-present “cram schools” may offer.
Socioeconomic Barriers
America is a classically capitalist country, and Taiwan, in many things, follows America’s lead. Taiwan already has a free market system, and has followed the path towards privatization. In this system, every individual is entitled to invest and follow the path of greatest return. As some maximize their profits, the successful will naturally amass as much as possible, and try to set the ladder to the top on fire and close the door behind them. This system has the tendency to concentrate income in the hands of a few individuals at the highest levels. Pure capitalism can cause and exacerbate income inequality when there are weak redistributive mechanisms in place. Taiwan’s measures of income and wealth inequality are slowly deteriorating: the income inequality ratio between the upper and lower quintiles of Taiwanese earners was 5.55 in 2000, and has increased to 6.08 in 2016.
Taiwanese home prices have also been continuously rising, making it harder for new households. Developers, in their desire to maximize sales, have been deliberately driving investors towards speculatively purchasing, or buying up homes for rental, pricing many lower-end earners out of the market, and raising the cost of living for many. This makes those kept out of the best schools, out of the best companies, socioeconomically lower tier. With lower income, they have less to spend on their childrens’ supplemental education, perhaps depriving them of the same opportunities as their parents.
Editor: Theoretically, if too many people buy investment homes, then the cost of rents will decrease as homeowners are desperate for rental income. With ever lowering rental income, people may eventually stop overbuying homes as it becomes less cost effective. This is the theory, but in the meantime, high savings rates and a tendency towards buying stable investments amidst stockpiling cash mean that this trend has yet to come to fruition. Houses continuously get more expensive with no end in sense. –
Uneven Resources
In earlier societies, the desires provided by the economy could be satisfied through hard work. In this system, hard work breeded rich rewards. Technological advances slowly improved the standards of living for many, but the rules of the system remained largely fair. In modern Taiwan, however, the system appears to be becoming rigged. People’s ability to achieve a similar raise in standard of living seems more and more limited, with the multiple of home costs over annual wages continuing to multiply. Home ownership and saving are increasingly out of reach, even for the college educated stable wage earning household. Some people are starting to lose hope that they have a fair set of opportunities. These trends are disturbing the country, and are leading to increased emigration from Taiwan, as well as increasing the rates of social disturbances, such as the recent protests in Taipei.
In Taiwan, as in many multiparty democracies using first-past-the-post systems and district representation, there has been a maintenance of essentially alternating two party rule, ever since its transition to democracy. The parties are so focused on extending their rule, they will even sabotage eachother’s policies to try to secure their own rule. This has contributed to the relative wage stagnation in Taiwan. Taiwan was once considered one of the Asian dragon economies, but in recent years, regardless of middling GDP growth rates, or positive or negative fortunes for some of the large conglomerates who control the Taiwanese economy, the real sufferers are the average people.
Editor: Contrary to what many passe liberal market enthusiasts still believe, capitalism never exists in a vacuum and ample quantitative economic evidence indicates that a healthy set of common place regulations, a separation of conflicting business and government interests, and a well calibrated redistributive system, as already in place in most countries, which taxes business, personal, and capital income at graduated rates, provides the most stable economic output and the highest standard of living returns for that output. Therefore, there should be a reform, of income taxation and expenditures, but mostly to draw a separating line between the incestuous business sector and career politician class that most countries are unfortunately plagued with.-
Taiwan is a democratic country, and every election represents a kind of small revolution. Unfortunately for the voters, though, the power is of late less held by the government than it is by the Taiwanese oligopolists.
Major candidates and officials in both parties are complicit in helping large firms to maintain their unfair control on the economy, in exchange for electoral resources to maintain their control.
Until Taiwan can rid itself of this two party system, this system will not improve.
Take the Taipei Mayor, Ke Wen Zhe, unaffiliated with either of the two major parties. In the aim on improving the standard of living for all citizens, he has made a major push to decrease inequality levels, but in this system where class differences are self-reinforcing for the offspring of its inhabitants, the road to reform will be heavily obstructed by those who want to lay impediments on others in order maintain their places. If both parties choose to support his efforts to improve income inequality, then perhaps over time, Taiwan can make steps to improve the redistributive structure and sustain the life of its capitalist system.
Full Text of Ke Wen Zhe’s Facebook Post
Translated: “In the next 30 years, there will likely be no way that someone from the lowest socioeconomic classes could become president, because one’s place in society has already largely become hereditary. If a child born today has no access to the internet, a cell phone, or a computer, they are at a competitive disadvantage. This unfairness needs to be shattered.
I’ve said frequently, in a capitalist system, there are two things which society must pay attention to: namely the healthcare system, and the education system.
Within three years, we will provide to every student in Taipei internet access, an e-classroom that can be accessed from any mobile device, and the device itself.
We have already made digitized videos of the curriculum for every subject available. In the future, every student will be able to freely access knowledge and study material, and will be able to self study at their leisure. In the future, all knowledge will be preserved on the internet. If there is a student who lacks access to the internet, or a connected device, and the school is unable to provide one, how will they possibly be able to compete? Completing the construction of education equality in the digital space is therefore an imperative policy for us.
Digitizing education is our way of providing the poorest of our youth a way to even the playing field.
Staff writer: Chen
English and Translation: Ari B
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