Our Pterygoid Walk
THE growing influence of black money in our life is comparable to how a snake swallows its prey. Once the prey is inside its wide-open mouth, it drenches its mouth with saliva and begins to transport the prey into the digestive tract. The snake has two extra rows of teeth on the roof of its mouth, which ratchet over the outer surface of the prey and gradually work it into the belly. These teeth are called Pterygoid teeth, and this process of swallowing is known as the Pterygoid Walk.
In this budget season, when there is so much controversy over black money, we need to realise that we have already walked that walk. Many years ago we entered the coils of the serpent when it was argued that dirty money washed could give our economy a shot in the arm. The serpent took us into its mouth when the first amnesty was offered. Then, like those Pterygoid teeth, budget after budget delivered us further into its gorge.
In a nutshell if black money was nibbling before, it has now swallowed us. The finance minister has recently confessed to its tremendous clout, when explaining why he couldn't but propose an amnesty scheme that should allow anyone with undisclosed income to pay only 10% as taxes and legalise his money within the next three years. Even he wasn't surprised that the scheme has drawn so much flak.
Because, it sounds like the government is offering a three-year tax-holiday as stimulus to a new growth sector. It might sound ridiculous but black money has turned into an industry unto itself. We may not have an estimate of the black money circulating in this market, but in 2000, the Kenyans ascertained that crime and corruption combined was the fourth factor of production in Kenya.
In the same year, a study conducted by the Series on Alternative Research in East Africa (SAREAT) showed that this fourth factor generated much more than most sectors of the formal economy in Kenya. The activities under this thriving sector included carjacking, land grabbing, government corruption, bank robberies, cattle rustling, drug and arms trafficking.
For example, carjackers alone earned a whopping amount, which could pay for the rehabilitation of all urban roads in the country. In another instance, bank robbers had robbed from one bank what was nearly equivalent of the 1999-2000 budget for the country's police force.
The reason why another amnesty is being proposed in next year's budget is because previous amnesties didn't work. It's for the same reason we can't be sure that another amnesty will be seriously taken and the flow of black money will run dry after three years. Then, what is the justification of repeating it?
This is where the serpent drenches us with saliva. It shows temptations that the release of black money will be a miracle tonic for the economy. It will be invested in capital market, start-up industries and physical infrastructure, invigorating an economy that should otherwise wobble on its foundation.
Fortuitously, the exponents of renewed amnesty have got an extra angle this time. Surfacing of black money will be a cushion against the fallouts of global recession, they argue.
Now that's pretty much how a Thieves' Market operates. If an item is stolen from you, chances are you will be able to buy it back from that market. If you analyse carefully, the same deal is being offered to us. People who stole money from the economy are being lionised as saviours. They have killed our cows, and now we are being asked to thank our lucky stars if they should donate shoes to us.
The shame of it is that nobody is saying what should have been said long ago. The black money is our money, stolen from us. It has been raked in through bribery, extortion, tax dodging, smuggling, hoarding and misappropriation of government funds. This money would have been spent in the economy, if not swindled by the less honorable amongst us.
Instead of asking them to refund this money with interest in arrears and taking legal actions against them, they are being placed on the pedestal. And imagine what that should do to our moral conviction. Jail to small thieves, hail to big ones.
There is a German proverb that says that he who holds the ladder is as bad as the thief. Why should government after government try to rehabilitate black money? Simple. They want this money to be invested in the economy.
What will happen if that's done? It will invigorate the economy and raise our standard of living. But it will also lower the standard by which we live. Theft is the mother of all mischief. If we don't mind others stealing from us today, why should we mind stealing from them tomorrow?
Email: badrul151@yahoo.com.
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