13 aprilie 2008

More questions for the (national) election campaign: from immigrants to housing

Lack of labor force. This is one of the most predictable challenges that the Romanian society will have to face if the economic growth will continue. Receiving immigrants will be a must. From where to attract them, which qualifications should they have would be normal questions to be asked in a rational election campaign, not to mention vividly maintaining them on top of the public agenda.

The country has a few to offer in terms of infrastructure and quality of life, but it has large, almost virgin spaces, currently uninhabited. Should we extend the built in areas to those spaces? Would this, in conjunction to developing infrastructure and promoting teleworking, a solution to attract Western migrants, in search for a life closer to nature, far from the hectic life of the big cities?

How would the low educated Romanian population react if better educated foreigners will come to settle down here and to earn better than the local people?

How would the same population react if the new residents would be black or Asians? Are social tensions predictable? How should we avoid them?

Should we continue talking about the Utopian plan to repatriate our migrants from Italy, Spain or wherever they might be? Is this useful? Would be more useful if, as it is likely to happen, they will settle down definitively in Spain, Italy, Portugal…? Would it be more useful to help them consolidating as potential lobby groups?

And, no matter which way to chose, how should we stimulate building new houses, bigger, better endowed, and adequate to the contemporary standards, from which we are still far beyond?

4 comentarii:

Turambar spunea...

The lack of labor force is one of the recent items that start appearing in the unprompted answers in our surveys, when asking about the issues of concern - a sign of things to come. Until a couple of years ago, this spontaneous answer was unimaginable. The bulk of answers was oriented toward the opposite direction: unemployment.

Don't get me right: there are still big chunks of the country where this unemployment answer is prevalent. Moreover, the living standards / poverty issue still dominate the personal agenda.

However, there are signs of change. Slow, but steady. Another certain sign of lifestyle and value change is the apparition of environmental concerns among the rural population (esp. against deforestations).

As the wise Chinese say: mintea romanului cea de pe urma :(

Turambar spunea...

Typo. I mean: don't get me wrong. But this morning pre-coffee context make my brain & fingers clumsy

No coffee, no women and no pay
Make this sorry young fella turn astray


:)

Bogdan spunea...

This is another example of the poor communication within the society. I remember opinions which circulated some 3-4 years ago within the academic world, clearly stating the predictable deficit of labor force. However, they are hardly to get on the public agenda, since they do not imply a very very very visible danger, media got no interest in them, and the few people contributing to the respective discussion were too lazy or found not enough incentives to stimulate the debate :((

Turambar spunea...

The same as with the negative demographic natural evolution (aside from the migration issue). As long as it won't affect the short-term political agenda, is invisible, except for some boring conferences.

Until the consequences will be visible. Unfortunately, then it will be too late.

Another example is the traffic in Bucharest. There were studies predicting the cvasi-gridlock since ten years ago. Nobody paid them any attention, until gradually the street turned into a daily nightmare. Now everybody is hectic to find some miraculous solutions.

Them bloody short-sighted buggers, always hunting the cheap profit.

Mama lor... :(

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