Minimum wage, economic choices, national power, and scientific knowledge

The minimum wage has been announced. No one was satisfied. Everyone was saying that 2025 would be difficult for workers, retirees, low-income earners, small tradespeople, the poor—in short, for broad segments of society. However, the announced figure immediately shattered the rosy picture the government had painted regarding the economy. 

We know that the Turkish economy has structural problems. We are a nation that consumes more than it produces. Our external debt is high. We have a serious current account deficit problem. Unemployment is high, as are inflation and the exchange rate. Even in periods when the Turkish economy recorded high growth compared to the world average, it could not create employment commensurate with this growth rate. In other words, we are an economy afflicted by the disease of jobless growth.  

The question before us is this: As those who missed the Industrial Revolution, what are we doing to ensure we do not miss Industry 5.0? What steps are we taking, what training are we undergoing, and what efforts are we making to invest in using big data analysis, artificial intelligence, new business models, advanced technology, robots, and the most advanced information and communication technologies and production techniques? What science, education, technology, and R&D policies are we developing to prevent and reverse the brain drain, which is a real existential problem? 

We know from our history lessons that muscle power came to the fore in agricultural society. Machine power was the determining factor in industrial society. In the information society, brainpower carries the most weight. For this reason, information and advanced technology software companies, which are roughly a quarter-century old, are larger, wealthier, and more profitable than automotive, oil, iron and steel, chemical, arms, and finance companies that are approximately 80–100 years old. The whole world knows the names of the owners of these companies, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg... The earnings of white-collar workers in these sectors are also higher compared to others.  

As is known, because scientific knowledge and advanced technology are expensive to produce and require expertise, effort, infrastructure, institutionalization, planning, and a suitable political, social, cultural, scientific, and economic foundation, they are concentrated in certain regions and countries in the world. The virtual world and the online environment are very fast. Social media is very dynamic. But even though the space where knowledge is shared is expanding, there are serious concerns regarding the scientific nature, reality, and reliability of that knowledge. A rich literature has emerged regarding the ethical debates on this subject. Tough negotiations are also being conducted regarding legal regulations. In addition to the economic, political, cultural, and social dimensions of the issue, there are also aspects that concern national defense, security, and intelligence. 

On one hand, regulations regarding patent laws and intellectual property are coming to the fore. On the other hand, efforts regarding how rapidly spreading knowledge can be used for the poor, the oppressed, and the weak are drawing attention. Fortunately, the number of those who argue that the outputs, findings, and results of science should be universal and should be used for all of humanity, independent of ownership, is not small. 

However, to reach this goal, an organized struggle is essential not only in the scientific field but also in the ideological and political fields. Without investing in science starting from basic sciences, without coming to the fore in R&D and advanced technology, and without possessing a developed industrial infrastructure and products containing advanced technology in exports, it is impossible for a state to scale up or become a great power.