The rich, the poor

I used to sit on my balcony in Salacak and look out across the Bosporus onto Dolmabahçe Palace and the Çirağan Hotel and be reminded of all the wealth. Often when I’m driving, I have a shortcut I take which takes me from Erenköy over toward Umraniye. I pass through neighborhoods of poorly constructed buildings and some shanty sections as well as newly constructed skyscrapers.

From the residents’ high balconies, they look down on well-groomed gardens, shady jogging trails, tennis courts and outdoor pools surrounded by deck chairs and colorful umbrellas. On the rooftops are masses of satellite dishes that bring broadcasts from all over the world into the living rooms. The car parks are full of expensive cars. Yet just across the main road, which almost serves as a barrier, is a shanty town and old, poorly constructed smaller apartment blocks where people struggle for a day’s wage. I guess disease is chronic and poverty real.

The rich and the poor live within meters of each other. Yet their lifestyles could not be further apart.

Possibly the only contact may be when a repairman or maid from the apartments across the street comes to work among the elite.

One of my favorite authors on evangelical ethics is Stuart Briscoe. In his book, “Vital Truths to Shape Your Life,” he writes, “Money talks, loud and clear, and what it says is not always pretty.”

The lure of money can occupy a crucial place in our decision-making policy, adds Briscoe. You can see this in the way business is conducted and contracts are honored (or not).

Turks have had their share of financial crises over the decades. Is the economic “bubble” in Turkey about to burst? Is Turkey about to experience a period of ongoing declining economic performance?

Visitors often ask me whether Turkey has been affected by the economic crisis. I reply that Turks have seen many banks open and close and the value of the lira soar and drop. Turks are survivors.

Nations that have experienced major economic downturns have all been associated with major declines in economic performance for an extended period.

Major financial crises and bank closures have been caused by an excessive inflow of capital. This in turn drives some commodity (housing, in this case) to be overvalued. At some point, this capital heads elsewhere (where it will likely cause another overvaluation), and the “bubble” bursts, leaving those remaining behind with crippling debt.

Turkey has become a very materialistic nation in recent years. I have watched the gradual effect on the culture of not only the fast food chains but that of the banks and the issuing of credit cards. Both supposedly blessings from the West -- the magic of plastic!

Credit cards have become commonplace here. In the 1980s, the push began and where thousands used to have a credit card, now millions have multiple credit cards.

I just wonder if the economic crisis is going to get worse here before it gets better.

Unless you visit certain sections of the city, you would not imagine real wealth was in existence. The trend to me looks like it may be fair to say that a soaring income/wealth gap is creating more problems. I wonder how it will ever be possible to experience a flatter distribution of wealth.

Let me ask you a question: What would you do for $5 million?

Would you leave your family?

Would you give up what you believe?

Would you try to obtain it by hook or by crook?

In my next piece, I will share the results of such a survey conducted in America.

“Money ranks with love as man’s greatest joy. And it ranks with death as his greatest source of anxiety.” -- John Kenneth Galbraith