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Letter – Economic freedom in the context of national security

Home Letters Letter – Economic freedom in the context of national security
Letter –  Economic freedom in the context of national security

Moses Leonard

Franklin Roosevelt, an American politician and lawyer who was the 32nd president of the United States, is reminding us that true personal freedom can’t exist without economic independence and security. 

People who are hungry and have no jobs make dictatorships possible. For many people, the world we live in now is uncertain and full of risks on many fronts. Common mistakes, violent fights, persistent poverty, pandemics, spreading fear around the world, and sudden financial and budgetary downturns all cause big problems and hurt the chances of long-term progress, peace and stability. 

These emergencies are hard to handle because they involve different kinds of human weakness. When they cover a large area, uncertainties can spread
like wildfire, destroying whole communities and crossing national
borders. 

In 1994, the UNPD introduced human security dimensions to help countries put security for everyone at the top of their list of priorities. In the context of what the article is trying to explain, many people will want to know how economic security and national security are related.

The military strength of a sovereign state has always been linked to its national security. Elite Project (2015) stated that national security includes a wide range of things that all affect the non-military security of the state and the values that the national society stands for. So,
national security is seen as the sum of the security of all the different parts of a country. 

This includes the security of food, health, energy, arms, and ideas. Hunger, poverty, diseases, migration, violations of human rights, and other socioeconomic problems are huge threats to the national security of a country. So, it is the responsibility of the government to
make sure that everyone in the country is safe from any kind of threat. Even though all of these things are said to be
important in the modern world, economic security reign supreme. 

Economic security means that people, families, and communities can meet their basic and essential needs in a sustainable way. These needs include food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, and a way to make a living, social protection. 

People and families can live in a decent way if they have a steady source of income or a productive asset that brings in money. Economic insecurity causes dreadful poverty and a loss of dignity and value, which may lead to conflicts. 

Helping individuals, families, and communities fulfil their economic potential puts them on the road to solving their challenges with dignity. 

Financially secure people may make choices that benefit them. Nonetheless, impoverished individuals must make tough decisions to survive, which often include criminality.

Economic security is the cornerstone of development and progress in a free society and it guarantees the well-being of citizens and the stability of the state. Several legislators are urging the president to declare a state of emergency due to the high number of jobless youngsters in Namibia. 

Countries with low employment and high unemployment tend to have ongoing disputes that threaten national security. Recent instances show young people’s unhappiness with unemployment: Youth unemployment protests, NamRA counterfeits issue. 

In a nation with 2.5 million people and enough resources to meet everyone’s needs, it is sad seeing almost 40% of young people who are at home doing nothing because the government failed in its duty to secure employment
for them. Youth desire to find work may soon lead to tensions that threaten national security. National security is costly, thus it must be protected at all cost. From the constitution’s founding, the government entered into a contract with the citizen that is termed as ‘social contract”. 

Basically, in terms of this contract, government seized all the power to ensure that employment is created for citizens to be able to sustain themselves. Unemployment has caused uprisings that led to deadly conflicts in countries such as Nigeria, Serra Leone, Mozambique and so many countries in Africa and
Europe.

The issue of unemployment should not be politicised and the government need to seriously come up with mechanisms to arrest this problem before it gets out of hand. 

The government must know that jobless and unemployed youth can always be used as a tool to carry out social vices and cause conflicts that can be detrimental to the country. All stakeholders be it political parties must come to the drawing table and draft proposals that will enable job creation as this issue is a national conundrum that affects each and every citizen.

*Moses Leonard is an unemployed youth. He holds a postgraduate diploma in security and strategic studies.