Good morning! Spajic presented the Europe Now 2 programme. What could we understand from the presentation and from the comments we heard from many addresses yesterday?
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And there was “Europe Now 2”
Yesterday, I followed the press conference of the ruling majority with attention. The presence of all the majority parties and the possibility that this press conference is just a prelude to the entry of extremists into the government, provoked me to find a serious and reasoned criticism of the programme, but I could not find it.
Ideologically, what’s happening with the decrease in gross wages and the increase in net wages is great to me. Montenegrins of all religions and ethnicities will have to learn to live without a budget pacifier at some point.
Although what I am writing is unpopular and 95% of citizens think that the state should organize and plan their lives, I think it is very important for the state to reduce itself. I mean the state apparatus. Tax duties should be reduced. Public spending should be reduced. Parasites in state and local governments should be sent home.
PES doesn’t do any of that, but it has started to reduce gross wages and give people more money in their hands. This will inevitably increase consumption, which in turn will inevitably increase inflation. But that cannot be an argument for not raising wages.
Before I listened to the conference to the end and looked at what material about PES 2 could be viewed, I visited Milos Fidelity’s page to find some good argument to criticize the government today. Then I also listened to Mila Kasalica. You should always listen to motivated opponents of the government. After that, I also listened to President Milatovic. I put aside my bias and tried to find a valid economic argument why what Spajic is doing is bad.
When you see that President Milatovic is criticizing what he wholeheartedly supported until yesterday, you cannot believe it, so make it a hundred times more credible.
In addition to concerns for social protection, possible consequences for social justice, which stand because this kind of fiscal reform will certainly cause changes, I could not hear anything except that Spajic did not increase wages by 25% but by 23%. I’m caricaturing, but it all came down to calculating how much in percentages he kept his promise.
Also interesting was the criticism of someone on the networks who said that the difference in minimum wages between those who finished high school and those with university degrees will increase social inequality. As the Russians would put it – “what about communism”. Aren’t people aware that salaries are already different because of the coefficients that take into account the level of professional education. In state-owned companies, more educated personnel receive higher salaries. By automation.
Now, only in the beginning, the more educated will receive more.
So, there are risks, but there are also opportunities.
What will be the political consequences is undoubtedly the growth of the popularity of the ruling majority. The cognitive ranges of the masses are low, and this is a well-studied phenomenon. To paraphrase the Greeks: every Montenegrin is a particularly cunning fox, together they are just a flock of sheep. In other words, people are focused on salaries and that’s all they think about.
Professor Milovic, a DPS MP, criticizes the prime minister, comparing him to a gambler. In a country where almost everyone gambles. In a country where you can find a betting shop and an electronic casino on every corner. In a country where only bookmakers advertise.
Furthermore, with this, Budimir Aleksic at the head of the education department and the galloping Serbization of Montenegro will be easier to swallow. If we as a society do not become active in protecting our own identity, aware that the state is becoming our opponent in this sense, we will only be left with a shell. And the lifeless shell is drier and more fragile over time. And it’s only a matter of time before someone steps on it.
That’s it for today and this week. See you again on Monday.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
