Transparency is the essence of democracy in people’s lives.
The lack of democratic processes and structures in Iran is the most significant problem and crisis threatening the future of the country, and the lack of transparency in politics and governance is a serious crisis that, with misleading statistics and the unreliable record of statesmen, and the lack of transparency in the financial cycle, has confronted Iran with a crisis.
Nonetheless, one of the most important issues is the crisis of lack of transparency in statistics related to people’s lives.
These same people, who are supposed to be the true rulers and leaders of the country, need to be aware of their situation as a nation, a society, and as citizens in their region.
Real and transparent statistics about living conditions provide people with a proper understanding of the country’s situation and also help politics, which relies on people’s votes, to identify the roots of people’s needs, discontent, and demands. The situation in America is a big lesson for Iranian politicians and social activists. In recent years, America has experienced remarkable economic growth, and with Biden’s serious investment and support for production, job creation, and workers’ rights, it has overcome the high inflation caused by the Corona crisis and the shocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has raised wages above the level of inflation and price growth.
However, people are dissatisfied with the economic situation and prefer Trump despite his historical ineffectiveness in livelihood and economy. This strange puzzle can be somewhat solved with new statistics about people’s living conditions. On average, 37 percent of Americans are facing a crisis in varying degrees when it comes to paying for regular living expenses. This means that practically one-third of American society is either completely or partly unable to save and is in debt.
The sharp increase in Americans’ reliance on credit cards with interest payments in the coming period is a sign of this situation. This does not mean that Americans have stopped consuming; overall, consumption growth in America has been the driving force of economic growth alongside production growth.
In a situation where there is a transparent structure for receiving citizen opinions and statistics, understanding the people’s situation becomes possible for politicians.
The U.S. Census Bureau, with an estimate obtained through a survey known as the Household Pulse, has shown how and to what extent the income and expenditure of one-third of Americans do not match.
If we place these statistics alongside a comparison of the annual inflation rate with the real rate of price increase during Biden’s three-year term, understanding the roots of dissatisfaction with Biden’s economic performance despite all these remarkable achievements becomes easy.
