The Silenced Side Effects of Seasonality
(By Poly Kallis)
The decision to suspend business operations in tourist areas, which has been in effect for an entire generation, has effectively paralyzed life across the entire Famagusta district. However, it has brought even worse consequences! A whole army of people has been trapped in idleness due to a decision made to save businesses from bankruptcy by halting services in response to the Gulf War in the early 1990s. What was originally a temporary measure at the beginning of the 90s has since evolved into a permanent situation.
Thousands of people, in full health and with full capacities, instead of generating national wealth through work, remain idle for more than five months each year! These are the economic side effects.
But what about the social, psychosomatic, and intellectual consequences?
- What characteristics does a person develop when they remain inactive for 40% of the year?
- What skills are ultimately retained by someone who experiences prolonged professional inactivity?
- What endurance, vision, and values remain in people who have "settled" into this five-month hibernation, generation after generation?
Children have grown up witnessing their parents not working for five months each year—signing up as unemployed and still getting paid! What kind of example does this set for them?
The worst consequence of economic inactivity is the destructive transformation of the entrepreneurial, work, and social DNA of a community.
The "suspension" of the psychosomatic capabilities of the majority of the local society, which gets paid without producing work or national wealth, is a huge risk—because such a society is easily manipulated. And that means… whatever it may mean!
This dangerous attitude and condition are either silenced, covered up, or simply ignored. It is time for serious reflection. Some people should start losing a bit of sleep over this.
If an immediate decision were to be made, it should be nothing other than the abolition of paid unemployment and a shift towards subsidized employment. The elimination of idleness through a "Marshall Plan" for the Famagusta district—ensuring sustainable and cross-sectoral support for employment and entrepreneurship.
Note: This article was originally published on November 15, 2016.