The sun doesn't melt it, the frost freezes it!

The repercussions of the fund crisis continue. As Borsa İstanbul closes the week with losses, the effects of the turmoil in capital markets are reaching different dimensions. Past transactions are being questioned. Far from the savings of thousands of small investors being wiped out, trust in the system is being exhausted as a result of the normalization of irregularities. The public is watching what is happening with anxiety.

Last week, we asked if you were aware of the danger in the economy and, by touching upon the loss of the country's real production power, we mentioned that for the first time in decades, the share of industry in the national income has fallen below 20%. Of course, what is important here is the general situation, not the sectoral one. Otherwise, in certain areas such as the defense industry, leaving aside intra-sectoral productivity debates, progress is undeniable. Although the picture there is not uniform either. Alongside successes in UAV technology, there are also failures such as the Altay Tank, whose mass production has dragged on for more than a decade. However, it is certain that when we look at the big picture, Turkey is deindustrializing, and this trend is also negatively transforming Turkey's socio-economic structure.

With early deindustrialization, the society's shift toward non-production areas and the damage to individuals' sense of trust in the system are directly proportional. Indeed, those who see that labor and production are not valued leave this field. As the exit increases, a great wave of unemployment forms. People are dragged into different options to avoid drowning in that giant wave and easily fall into the lap of financial markets that operate in the form of 'casino capitalism,' as defined by the great political economist Susan Strange years ago. Unfortunately, a happy ending does not await most of them.

The public's orientation toward financial instruments has increased significantly recently. From crypto assets to attractive investment funds and, of course, futures/leveraged transactions, every instrument finds buyers. The goal, of course, is to get rich quick! The question, 'Ahmet became a billionaire in months, Ayşe became a millionaire in weeks, why shouldn't I?' gnaws at brains. Yet, no one really wants to examine who those Ahmets and Ayşes are or how they got rich. It is assumed there is room for everyone in the sea of money, but of course, the plan made at home does not match the market.

Everywhere in the world, speculators who have political and financial power behind them run wild in capital markets. Especially in places where rules are not strictly applied and supervision and regulations are not transparent, they don't just run wild; they practically play games! Among so many greedy people, the savings of the small ones disappear. Consider the situation of the 28-year-old former AKP Youth Branch executive who was understood to have become rich overnight in the latest fund scandal. Could he have 'earned' that much through his own labor or extraordinary intelligence? This is exactly where the contradiction emerges: In places where the real economy weakens and production declines, if some people are getting rich rapidly, at the same time, many more people are rapidly becoming impoverished! Moreover, in countries where finance capital circulates ruthlessly and freely, wealth transfer and income inequality are much higher.

In today's Turkey, while almost half of the working population earns minimum wage, it is no coincidence that those who add wealth to their wealth and do not even feel the need to explain how they acquired it are multiplying. One of the most important characteristics of such individuals is that they recklessly occupy multiple seats and boast about it. For example, can a person be a Professor, an Ambassador, a fund manager, and a company board member at the same time? Can they be a political figure, a bureaucrat, an advertiser, and an actor? It happens here! And no one puts a stop to this insatiability. Moreover, the fact that these privileged groups lack real qualifications and cannot perform any of their jobs properly is exposed during times of crisis. Indeed, when you examine these profiles, either corruption or shallowness immediately catches the eye.

In this environment where profiteers are satisfied with the broken system and enjoy themselves, large segments of society are being dragged into poverty. Injustice is growing, expectations for the future are becoming pessimistic, and anxieties are multiplying. While a dignified life is the right of every citizen, when people's longing for this is not realized, their reactions naturally harden. Social anger turns into grumbling. Sometimes this grumbling manifests itself enough to affect even those who do not want to hear it. In a place where a fund bagman with a fake resume plays with billions, a retired public official takes his own life in protest. This incident, which occurred in the struggle for rights, breaks hearts!

The era of virtual prosperity in the economy remained years ago. Income inequality, which was observed to a certain extent until the pandemic, increased after 2020 and is now rampant. What is happening is not ordinary. It is not possible for societies where inequality is normalized and basic moral values are eroded to live healthily! The well-off may not notice, but discussing purely technical issues in such a fiery environment means burying one's head like an ostrich and cutting oneself off from the surroundings. Responsibility falls on every sensitive citizen from now on. Even if some say, 'Let me just mind my own business, let me live without getting involved in anything,' in the end, the storm takes everyone. Individualism no longer saves the individual. The spirit of the times is flowing in favor of collectivism!

In the past, the phrase 'melted like ice under the sun' was used to describe savings lost rapidly in a crisis environment. In today's Turkey, since having savings is now a dream for many people, getting by day-to-day is considered a great success. However, the knife has reached the bone there too. Even when the weather hasn't turned cold yet, the effort to get by day-to-day is becoming increasingly impossible. The situation is almost like a person being caught in a blizzard, and the latest fund crisis showed that the sun no longer melts non-existent savings; the frost that begins before winter even arrives is freezing the citizen!