Toxic privilege

Wreading the dailies one cannot help but be astonished at the prevalence of toxic privilege that is so endemic in our society. Topping the cake is the fact that those we expect to at least try to do something to curb this toxic privilege are now joining in on the fray, hoping to benefit from the perks of toxic privilege. I reference my thoughts on the submissions made by some Members of Parliament (MPs) requesting to appoint 59 army recruits, a sentiment that boggles the mind.

It is hard to fathom that these statements came from a legislator. Another MP submitted that the construction of factory shells in rural areas would promote sex work.

An MP is also reported to have called for the public to be given individual licences for drinking. These abhorring statements are made by those in the echelons of power, who ought to use their privilege for the betterment of the entire community and not just a select few.

This is what I term toxic privilege, while one may analyse and frame their points from a vantage point of privilege, the overall impact of these points of view are negative for the 99 per cent.

Vantage point of the 1%

These sentiments, in my view, are borne from privilege, I would not want to call it ignorance but rather toxic privilege. Standing from a vantage point of privilege, it is easy for one to argue that the construction of factory shells in rural areas would lead to a surge in sex work. I have two points to make from this statement. The first is that sex work is work; those in power should not, therefore, be seen to be demonising it or sensationalising the issue. I strongly believe in the do no harm philosophy; if your sentiments and statements are likely to harm someone, then it is safe for you to reserve your comment lest you hurt someone’s welfare.

Also, from a distribution perspective, I would argue that centralising production systems in towns leads to skewed infrastructure development, with rural areas left wanting even of the basic infrastructure.

Also, from a labour perspective, locating industries in the rural areas lowers the costs associated with access to the labour market. This essentially lowers the efficiency wage, which is the wage the one needs to be sufficiently nourished to take on the labour market.

I argue that decentralising industry would make workers’ wages last longer as transport costs and rental costs would not be a factor to consider for most workers. We count on MPs to do no harm and be advocates for inclusive growth and broad base development in the kingdom.

Corrupt privilege

The other aspect, which I want to delve into, is that of corrupt and weaponised privilege. Instead of advocating for fair access to army jobs for all emaSwati, some MPs are advocating that they be allowed to appoint 59 individuals into the pool of recruits.

This is blatant elite capture, and electioneering of State resources. Electioneering is a situation where those in political office utilise State resources to position one’s self to win the election at the peril of non-incumbents. It is clear that the nation should not expect much from the current House in terms of dealing with corruption, through the establishment of transparent systems for access to public sector jobs and the private sector.

Instead, we have a scenario wherein the MPs simply want to legitimise elite capture and a corrupt practice. The access to public sector jobs based on who one knows results in inefficient labour markets.

It results in a situation of adverse selection; this is a scenario where one of those who end up getting the jobs are of poor quality compared to those who do not get the jobs.

This has negative impacts on the country’s growth trajectory. The issue of payment for jobs and technical ‘know who’ is a common secrete in this country. It is sad that the House we had banked our hopes on to fix it and ensure transparent recruitment procedure within the public sector wishes to use its privilege to perpetuate the practice.

Social detachment

This is by far the worst form of privilege, being detached from social issues. Just because one drinks in an exclusive and contained environment does not equip that person to utilise their privilege to suppress the middle class.

It is bemusing how MPs would expect members of the public to have drinking licences. This is an indicator that pro-poor policies will always elude us as a country.