There are two types of experts in Turkey. According to the first group, nothing seems to be going right in Turkey. According to the second group, on the other hand, everything seems to be going right. The only exceptions to these two groups are us. And for some reason, people get offended the most by my words.
Here’s what I understand: Some people are easily offended by the things wise people say or those who speak without taking into account unpleasant experiences they’ve had in the past since people who get offended by those things secretly know that I am telling the truth.
From sporting events to politics, the same goes for almost every aspect of everyday life. I always get incredibly harsh reactions when I say that we have a problem but it’s not irreparable. I wonder which of these two things upset people the most. Is it the fact that there is a problem or is it that I offer a solution to fix it? Maybe both…
“No one wants advice…”
Similarly, the managers of football teams, who always lose because of the system they do not want to quit, are looking for something else to blame. Constantly complaining about internal conflicts, these managers don’t seem to realize that the source of the problem actually lies within them. From Foreign Trade Regime to Tax Practices, Monetary Policy to Incentives, almost every component of Turkey’s economic model is filled with flaws and errors. People are constantly asking, “Why it doesn’t work, but no one thinks about asking “How did they let things fall apart?” because, the executives are so certain about the accuracy and precision of the system that they do not want to their ideas challenged.
And that’s the tricky part: It’s hard to convince people that they are wrong. It’s not easy to convince neither private sector owing billions of dollars nor the public sector levying extremely heavy taxes or team managers who are always losing matches. They think they are right all the time. It’s always the others who are wrong.
That’s why they react instantly whenever I point out that something is wrong. No one ever says, “Hey, he’s trying to say something. Let’s hear the man!”
Here’s another thing I find quite odd indeed: No one seems to show any tolerance to those who make constructive criticism and offer solutions. For some reason, those who speak negative things all the time are the most preferred. I guess this is a never-ending battle between chronic optimists and chronic pessimists.
