Micro-Struggle: Building Rings of Trust

Great Problems Require Great Solutions

Although it is said that the era of ''Grand Narratives'' has ended, it is certain that great problems have not disappeared. We are facing great problems: The Global Climate Catastrophe, the new labor order that Artificial Intelligence technologies will create, the raw material crisis, the food crisis, water scarcity, biological wars, and pandemics are just a few of them. 

In addition to these crises that are effective on a global scale, our country also has its own unique major crises: The refugee invasion, the drug epidemic, the housing problem, the cost-of-living crisis, the decay of the state...

In the face of all these crises, and due to the erosion of the social state, ordinary citizens are helpless. Unfortunately, there is no harbor they can take refuge in or an institution they can trust against these problems. 

The fundamental emotion behind disorganization: Distrust

''It's up to us'', they say, but it is also clear that no spontaneous organization has been initiated. While thinking about the reasons for this, I found the answer in the "loss of trust." In an environment of distrust brought about by the uncertainties in the country, people do not trust the future, themselves, their neighbors, their colleagues, or even their family members. For this reason, they cannot come together even to solve problems.

One of the actors that could establish trust, or at least lay the groundwork for trust, among neighbors, colleagues, and people who share living spaces could be municipalities. By taking the initiative in solving problems, municipalities can offer citizens the legal, financial, and technical infrastructure that could enable the stakeholders of a problem or those who would benefit from the solution to come together with a problem-solution-oriented business plan. 

Examples of Micro-Intervention 

As local elections approach, I have tried to focus on the steps that can be taken by local governments. In this context, I will try to present some examples. In this way, I hope to clarify what is meant by micro-struggle. 

1) Against the food crisis, a commercial organization can be built where neighborhood residents can operate agricultural land and provide logistics for agricultural products. Thus, the homeland's soil can be cultivated, and cheap and high-quality products can be offered to neighborhood residents without unnecessary transport expenses and fuel consumption. Moreover, these organizations that produce surplus can put their products up for sale in the national or international market. Thus, daily needs are met, idle land is cultivated, and profit can be made.

2) Against problems in energy supply, it is possible to ensure energy production in the city and countryside and the transport of the produced energy to the end consumer via the shortest route through a similar organization.

3) With the pandemic, we experienced the working and failing aspects of the remote working model. The most important failing aspect was the ambiguity of working hours, the inadequacy of internet infrastructure, and the difficulty of supervision. However, these three problems are not problems that can be overcome without solving the inadequacy of the internet infrastructure to a large extent. For this purpose, citizens who are in metropolises due to work against rising rents should be enabled to work remotely in smaller settlements using high-speed internet infrastructure. However, the establishment of high-speed and robust internet infrastructure cannot be left to the mercy of companies. Local governments must take a hand in this issue. Thus, both the communication expenses of households can be reduced and the efficiency of jobs suitable for remote work can be increased with a more robust internet infrastructure. It is certain that there are legal problems ahead of the steps to be taken by local governments acting as intermediaries or taking it on entirely themselves. Because the establishment of internet infrastructure by local governments is not a situation foreseen in the regulations. However, there are many ways to overcome this problem.

4) With the resolution of the internet infrastructure, the housing problem of young people can be gradually corrected. Because today, both education and work can be done over the internet. Thus, we can save our youth from a 4-5 year internal migration adventure caused by their educational needs. Moreover, campuses where our students can live cheaply and have access to food and energy, and which are suitable for ecological and social development, can be established by local governments. Many of the qualifications that the workforce our country needs must possess can be acquired by students through one-year accelerated certificate programs and the 3-6 month internship programs that follow them. Thus, a workforce capable of solving the problems that need to be solved will also be created.

5) Applications for participation in local government, secured with blockchain technology, should be developed. Using these applications, citizens will be able to participate in the administrative activities and decisions of municipalities very quickly and effectively. Thus, the problem of representation in local government will be largely eliminated, and the citizen's sensitivity and practice of solving problems with local government will also develop.