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The "Elite" of the Fourth World
May. 28th, 2003 08:30 amThe Ministerial retreat was a great success. Luminaries included the Nobel Peace Prize winning Minister (of course), former President of the United Nations Security Council Mr. Jose Luis Jesus and Australian filmmaker David Bradbury.
I think it's opportune to remind gentle readers of this journal that the Ministry staff are the "elite" of the country. The best educated (literate and invariably speaking 3+ languages), with the best jobs (indeed, they have a job) and the most highly paid - and this is a country where the prices of most goods and services - including food - is actually significantly more expensive than those of "advanced industrial nations".
Just to get this into perspective, here are some facts on their budget.
Total Ministerial budget: $1.1 million ($.85million on managing overseas embassies)
Total Staff: 74 full-time (including overseas embassies)
Total Wages Cost: $159K USD.
Mean Annual Wage: $2148 USD.
Mean Monthly Wages: $179 USD (or $265 AUD).
Now, if these people are the best paid (and most of them are supporting their extended family on these "wages"), I think it's worthwhile to ponder on how others in this country and in similar countries live. We all "hear" about what it is like, we "see" it on TV, but believe me, until you've directly experienced people scraping a meagre existence you have no real idea what it is like.
OK, enough said. More on the retreat. ( Read more... )
I think it's opportune to remind gentle readers of this journal that the Ministry staff are the "elite" of the country. The best educated (literate and invariably speaking 3+ languages), with the best jobs (indeed, they have a job) and the most highly paid - and this is a country where the prices of most goods and services - including food - is actually significantly more expensive than those of "advanced industrial nations".
Just to get this into perspective, here are some facts on their budget.
Total Ministerial budget: $1.1 million ($.85million on managing overseas embassies)
Total Staff: 74 full-time (including overseas embassies)
Total Wages Cost: $159K USD.
Mean Annual Wage: $2148 USD.
Mean Monthly Wages: $179 USD (or $265 AUD).
Now, if these people are the best paid (and most of them are supporting their extended family on these "wages"), I think it's worthwhile to ponder on how others in this country and in similar countries live. We all "hear" about what it is like, we "see" it on TV, but believe me, until you've directly experienced people scraping a meagre existence you have no real idea what it is like.
OK, enough said. More on the retreat. ( Read more... )