Running a government requires funds to pay for the bureaucracy and to deliver basic services.
Anyone contemplating support to 'self-determination' should ask this question to those leading the cause - how shall we pay for the government bureaucracy and delivery basic services?
Depending on foreign donation/aid is not a sustainable solution; this is a short-term and unreliable option. This merely makes the polity susceptible to political compromise and in serving foreign interests. This is a form of neo-colonialism - it is as if we just change master.
Any self respecting government would need to generate its own resources primarily through taxation. This is a bitter solution. But it is the main source of all governments. Even revenues from natural resources are derived through taxation.
Creativity is a critical element for government to generate resources - how to build industries, source investments, and thereafter generate taxes. Those leading the cause for self-determination should be able to show a doable and honest-to-goodness blueprint for resource generation. If not they should start now. A government without funds to pay for its operation and deliver basic services will have chaos from day 1.
Many have been deluded to think self-determination as a cure-all solution. It is not. It is the beginning of the perennial challenge of governance and to making government work for the people. So the next time you think about self determination, think about taxation, it is the lifeblood of any government - we are tax now, we will tax ourselves later. (By Noor Saada)
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