Bawltics

Latvia was admitted into the European Union in May 2004 much to the regret of many Latvians today. Facing a lot of disillusionment from the promised (whether implied or explicit) Utopia of capitalism & freedom that only marginally materialized, many Latvians struggle to live in this inflation-laden economy. The choice to enter the EU was one of those chess moves of either you resign or make a last-ditch effort to not get clobbered. If your north & south neighbors go into the EU & you choose not to, who do you have to trade with but the Bear to the east? And yet if you live here you’ll know that the EU is no picnic.

However, joining the EU has opened up many previously off-limits opportunities to many Latvians throughout Europe. Let’s do some math. Minimum wage in Latvia (a.k.a. the poorest nation in the EU) is about 215 Euros ($250 USD) per month. Hey… that sounds ok, right? Wrong. When your housing costs around $200/month & a new car is about $13,000 & gas costs around $4/gallon, then you’ll get an idea how far $250 goes. Am I saying that everyone needs a car? No. That example is just there for perspective. Most people don’t have cars in this country just for the reason that it’s so terribly expensive to own one (Hitchhiking is very popular & normal here, since many people can’t even afford to take the bus from town to town).

Now, enter the EU… Latvians can go to Norway & make minimum wage there… ok, it’s 1000 Euros/month. Yes… the most basic stupid job in Norway pays 4 times as much as in Latvia. Then, in the UK minimum wage is 750 Euros/month. Now, you can see why folks would go to these other countries to work. In one year in the UK or Norway, they can make 3-4 years worth of a basic salary in Latvia, & they don’t even need any kind of special work visa, since this is the EU.

Is this a good thing? Perhaps, yes, for the short-term for the individual. But what about the long-term for Latvia? According to the World Fact Book, Latvia’s population growth is at -0.69%. There are 9.04 births/1,000 population & 13.7 deaths/1000 population. Now… here’s the clincher: -2.24 migrants/1000 population. That means that for every 1000 people in Latvia, about 2 people are leaving. The current population estimate of Latvia is 2.29 million… & shrinking.

The prevailing attitude in Latvia is, “Why bother? Nothing will change anyway.” So, they leave. Why shouldn’t they? In this case, the grass really is greener on the other side. So, my question then is who is left here to develop Latvia? Who has the vision to see this country become a place where Latvians are proud to live & work? If there are no Latvians of integrity left in Latvia, then they are just handing their country & heritage over (again) to another crime boss… this time to corrupt politics & greed. This is a whole other article.

~t