Unemployment and standard of living in Ukraine

[johnstruthers]

Hi Andrej,
I was kidding, too, when I made those cracks about our wealthy Mother to the east. But, see, you guys have a great advantage: Putin. He's pretty sharp, in fact downright molodets. We've got some other guy. The only way it could be worse is if we got Bush, who is uniquely talented in sticking incompetents in high positions. In Ukraine, we don't need to hire Bush to do that, because the incompetents are already in place, and we keep them just for old time's sake. They may be jackasses, but by God, they're OUR jackasses.

But you're right that this place has the attribute of inevitability (is that what you meant?), but I hope that doesn't mean that all that's inevitable is already here. We'd like to move on, as it ticks us off.

We need tax reform so honest people will pay all of their taxes. We need to keep what is left of the health care system, then improve it, and the same with the educational system. Then, damn it, I'd like to get some heat in my apartment. But I think I'm kind of far down the list. And that's one of the things that ticks me off.

[Nickolas]

Vanya,

The light has penetrated the DARKNESS.

Ukraine is independent in more ways than any
one man can understand.

I believe most Ukrainians know this to be true and real.

Only more Ukrainians working for themselves as independent businessmen or
artisans and making jobs for others will Ukraine become more independent.

This is the ONLY WAY.

Remember and give thanks to our Faith.

Everything will be fine.

I also believe Ukrainians need to learn from other independent thinking
Ukrainians as good role models, hence leaders, for society.

Not dependent thinking people, whomever they may be,
as role models or leaders for a free people.

As I'm reading various historical viewpoints of Ukraine
a particular quote came to mind by Mr. David Thomson's
Europe Since Napoleon, published in 1957 by Penguin Books. He was a Ph.D.,
Visiting Professor of Public Law and Government at Columbia University in New York.
Born 1912. Died 1970.

About Ukraine before WW I he wrote, "Great inequalities
arose in a closed community which presupposed a broad
equality." (p.333)

In 2002, this insight of 5 generations past is quite ironic don't you think?

Good things take time.

Ukraine needs to be more OPEN.

Or if I may use a famous American musician, Elvis once said,

"... Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue...


...Strong winds of promise that will blow away the doubt and fear...

...

We're lost in a cloud
With too much rain
We're trapped in a world
That's troubled with pain
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly

...While I can think,
While I can talk,
While I can stand,
While can walk...,

While I can dream...,
Let it come true right now...!!!"

I believe Ukraine has the BLUE
and now after much pain seeks its GOLD.

Under everyone's feet!

Indeed, good things take time.

Godspeed Vanya.

[johnstruthers]

Nikolas, you're right, of course. It's the Ukrainians who see this place as a land of new opportunity who are making things happen. The tough part is putting up with Inspektsiya Naloga under current tax laws.

But there's so much going on, if someone wants to grab a handle. In Nikolaev, we've got more development and redevelopment going on than you'd see in any western city. It's not all retail, either: There's lots of good, new Ukrainian products hitting the market every day.

It's real tough on pensioners, and others on low fixed incomes. But workers actually have a choice, if they want to give up the "security" of their pathetic paycheck and take a chance. But it's hard to create a cushion to do that, and for many it's unthinkable. They're just not equipped.

But as a general statement, we are all better off than before, when people thought things were "free". There's a pricetag on everything, and anything that seemed to be "free" was a bribe against real freedom. It wasn't necessarily mean-spirited all the time, but it was always, always dumb. The place is definitely smarter now. And it will take time.

And the solution to heat in my apartment, and others' apartments, is to buy a boiler, and then you can have hot water in the bathroom, too. But the money...the money.

But anyone who can see the sun through the clouds understands that we have to continue to be patient. Ukraine is a sweet but grimy lady who needs to find the means to wash her face.

[Nickolas]

Vanya,

I have no central heating either.

But I can save money with a cold walk to the toilet.

In Japan I get heating oil from the local gas station to heat my place.
Once a week I carry, with one in each hand, two small oil containers.
The Japanese have made small metal but light heating units
using electricity and an oil container insert for winter warmth in the home.

About tax laws in Ukraine, what is the Inspektsiya Naloga like??

In Canada, in the west: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta,
and British Columbia, the federal government puts western farmers in jail for up to 6 months
for selling or even giving away their own wheat directly to Americans without going through
the Canadian Wheat Board (federal) first - when at the same time eastern farmers, Ontario,
Quebec and Maritime Provinces are able to freely sell
their products, including wheat, to whomever they like.

As of last week there are 13 farmers sitting
in jail for living free, honest and good lives in Canada.

This is freedom in the West...

It's all about monopoly.

About TAX,
I chose to exile myself a few years ago, as a free enterpriser,
to Japan where I pay a reasonable 20% (total) income tax
of my earnings to the national government.

In Canada it's 50%.

But I would surely love to operate a business
in Ukraine and pay a reasonable income tax to the
Ukrainian government too.

For more than 25 years I have dreamed and prayed
about freedom and the Blue and Gold in Ukraine.

I must try some ice cold Yantar!

[johnstruthers]

Kathy, you are right on the money: Rule of law. For a good long while, we had this goofy situation with leftover Soviet laws, new Ukrainian laws, regulations posing as laws, and a "tradition" of ignoring all of them. So what mattered was who you were, who you knew, what you wanted, how much you were willing to pay, or whose name you could invoke. I always thought this place was pretty straight in the '60s, but those who crossed borders knew another world. You're father-in-law (may God rest his soul) no doubt crossed the Polish border lots of times, and it's always been a free-for-all there. When a lot of borders started to open up in the '70s, stuff we had never seen came across, so we owe a debt to your father-in-law. That was the beginning of the end for the USSR. Especially when we learned that there were stores in other places that were fully stocked, and weren't staffed by the stupid and the rude. Yes, I spent many years in the west, and thank you for your kind words about my English.

Nikolas, I didn't know about the stupid laws in Canada. I wish those jailed farmers the best, and I hope they get some attention. That's pretty rough treatment for standing up for the value of your commodity. And I didn't know that taxes got up around 50%. That's high, and runs right with ours. We can get away with lower taxes, though, by getting into a "category", but that's too much to explain here. Our wheat is sold at far less than western market prices through government middlemen, but when it crosses the border it goes to western price, and I don't know who gets the money in betweeen. Just that the farmer gets screwed, whether he is one of the new private kind (very few) or whether it is a state operation. All our farmers need to be freed of this, and there needs to be a commodity market like they have everywhere else. I think a tax of about 20% right across the board, no exceptions, is fair. People would pay it.
The Inspektsiya Naloga is very busy, and they use that old huge leftover internal intelligence apparatus that might have otherwise gone to waste. They find out real fast who's making money, and do a good job of looking over the place and the books. Under one of two conditions, they get real rough: If they are certain they're going to find an operation with lots of loose, undeclared cash around the place, or if someone crosses one or another of the powerful politicians. Then, they become the Tax Police, black hoods, commando tactics, the works. As a general statement, if you do what you're supposed to do, and don't get political, you don't get strange visitors. Sound familiar? Same old place. I know, in many points of comparison, we're a lot better off. But everyone who takes a risk here takes more than one risk at the same time. It takes guts to stay the path. You trash your security when you join the New Ukrainains. It can seem real friendly, just lovely, then something weird happens to you or someone close, and you realize how careful you have to be, all the time. The flip side to moving out of the government womb: You can buy clothes, a decent TV and stereo, and do a disco or a good restaurant once in awhile.

The most popular response to "Kak dela?" (how's things) is "Vsyo potikhonochku", which for casual readers here translates liberally to "OK, little by little, but on the quiet." Do your thing, quietly, inconspicuously.

[Nickolas]

Vanya,

As more Ukrainians become independently prosperous
over t-i-m-e, Ukraine's democracy will grow stronger.

I'm absolutely sure about this!

Two things. One is abstract. The other is historical.

About Ukraine's future democracy described in the abstract,
it's best explained if one has played or understands the board game Civilization.

The game starts with all players starting with NOTHING
in the pre-history era. To win a player needs to build his civilization.
To do this TRADE must be formed between the players.
Everyone is competing and benefiting with each other. Starting with wax and fur, and so on,
and moving up into wheat, copper,
and later as t-i-m-e passes, newer and better goods to trade.
The winner or player who builds the
best civilization in reBfeEreEncRe to relationships is always the one who trades the most with other players.
Even when mistakes are made and a player loses some trade deals;
the more he trades the more he will become successful.

The more trade there is, the more advanced your civilization becomes -
the arts, education, industry, sports, music and so on.

After I learned the logic of this game I thought about real life.

If you read most history books about mankind's different civilizations, of any race, it's in fact true.

People who trade the most become the most prosperous.

How that is nurtured and protected is another topic.

War is a different matter.
From all the wars Ukraine has endured, before and after WI, before and after WWII:
from the Germans, Russians, Poles, Turks, Mongols - from all directions -
I believe it's only by the grace of the Lord that Ukraine still exists today.

From the great tragedy of war during the 20th century,
I understand MOST Europeans like peace and trade more than
war... So now and also by the grace of the Lord, there are more democracies in Europe than in the past.

Hope is a timeless blessing.

About Ukraine's future democracy in the context of it's history:
peace, through TRADE, is definately the answer.

Perhaps, ice cold Yantar <<CHEERS>> will start influencing
more people than we know in this direction.

Somehow people need to learn trade, among different individuals from different nations, promotes national peace.
There is a positive correlation between the two. Somehow too, governments must learn this.

In peace, a democracy definately becomes stronger through trade. History proves this correct.

As Professor David Thomson writes in Europe Since Napoleon,
" By 1939 democratic governments survived in most of the dozen countries of the
world which had the highest income per head of the population - and hardly anywhere else."
(p.600)

That's all for now.

I need to finish drinking my red wine from California.
Unfortunately I don't have any Yantar.
At least, not yet.

But before I do Vanya,
I would like have your private e-mail address (if it's OK).
I have some private questions to ask you.
You may post it here in the public arena
or send it to the e-mail address below:

seenew1@yahoo.com

Take care.

[Zbyszek]

Hi, Vanya

Winter is coming quickly and the traditional All Saints/Our Souls holidays in Poland (nice to visit the graves instead of spending all day in the office) was rather cold.
You mentioned that there are some problems with heating the apartments in Mykolayev. Are these problems caused by the technical failures or rather it is the economic situation that makes the heating insufficient? By the way, I thought the Black Sea makes the climate in your area milder and the temperatures in October are high enough to make heating unnecessary. What is temperature in your place in January? We normally turn the heating on in the middle of October.
Actually, we have a kind of the opposite problems and it makes me nervous. The heating companies here noticed that because of the considerable improvement in the insulating technologies, the apartments need much less heating than at the communist times. Moreover, people are more careful about adjusting the amount of heat. Now, the heating companies try to sell their heating energy even if it is not needed, so they invented the system of pricing which is less and less dependent on the actual amount of the supplied heat. They try to enforce the pricing connected to the surface of my apartment rather than the amount of the incoming heat.
When we had serious problems with heating in Poland, I used the kitchen stove to heat my apartment. I put a very big pot there and it took hours to make the water inside boiling. Then, it gave the heat back for a long time. The money we pay for the kitchen stove gas is almost unnoticeable. The electricity is much more expensive here.
Warm greetings for cold seasons, John.