Thinking, Questioning, Wondering
When these basic values exist, it is easier for society to progress and develop. When it comes to words, everyone in our country says that differences are the greatest wealth, but unfortunately when it comes to action, they do not implement this, they do not even want to be neighbors, let alone different people doing joint business. This situation, which is of vital importance for social peace, is actually directly linked to the economy. For a strong and sustainable economy, individuals who think, question and wonder are essential, but these are not enough. The society must truly respect differences, assimilate differences, and understand that brains that think differently are needed for success. Once these are ready, countries progress much faster with production-oriented and production-prioritized governments.
Greece is one of the countries with the highest rate of entrepreneurs, and Türkiye comes in second. The important thing is not more universities, more entrepreneurs, more students. What matters is quality. We need entrepreneurs and capital owners who can make a difference, innovate and think on a global scale. Unfortunately, as a country, we still have not grasped this. Our share of the world economy has been the same for 300 years. Let's leave aside 300 years and look at the last forty years. Turkey's share in the world economy was recorded as 0.86% in 1980 and 0.85% in 2020. This rate, which fell to the lowest level in the last 40 years in 2001, rose to the highest level in 2013, but has decreased every year since 2013. As you can see, it hits the bottom and rises again, but in fact it always comes to the same point, it cannot move one step further. We are like someone who runs on a treadmill and does sports. We get tired, we sweat, but in fact we always run in the same place, there is no progress. The main reason for this is that our economy is not production-oriented.
TuWhile all these were evident in Turkey, those who have been in power for twenty years without interruption chose the construction-oriented growth model instead of solving these problems. One of the main reasons for the trouble we are experiencing today is that we invest the foreign currency resources we receive from abroad in TL-income businesses. It is said that Turkey has a lot of debt. Actually, this debt ratio is not a big problem, the issue is where you invest the debts. For example, if you take $1 trillion and invest it in a business that can pay you back, that's fine. But if you take 100 thousand lira and invest it in an area that you cannot return, there is a problem. Turkey needs to analyze this.
There is no need to reinvent America. There are countries in the world that have achieved this. South Korea and Taiwan are the two best examples. Their cultural changes, focus points and education systems have brought them to these points. Our country, which stands like a bridge between Asia and Europe, has many advantages with its geostrategic importance and young population. The only thing that needs to be done is to initiate production mobilization and switch to a production-oriented economic model.
