THE ECONOMIC ORDER 4 Bali Vacation Bali Indonesia | Information about Bali Indonesia

THE ECONOMIC ORDER

The Balinese are more and more eager for the “ advantages of civilization “ in the form of inferior foreign cloth, bicycles, flashlights, aniline dyes, and motor-cars, and if their miserable earnings are not taken away by the Arab merchants it is only because they are already due for back taxes. Besides a tax on each household, there is a sawa tax (padjeg) and a tax (upeti) on dry grounds bearing coconut and coffee trees. The most hated of taxes is that paid every time a Balinese kills a pig, no matter how small, for which he needs a certificate.

This has led to clandestine slaughter and with it the reduction of the pig supply, and the reward promised to denouncers has introduced the element of discord into otherwise unified communities. Dr. Korn, the authority on Balinese sociology, says that the population would prefer an export tax on cattle to the troublesome slaughter tax.

With the relentless drain of the island's wealth, poverty, too, is on the increase and the Balinese are threatened with the loss of their lands through failure to pay taxes. They have been forced to sell whatever they possessed of value - antiques, fine brocades, jewellery, and even the bits of gold that decorate their krisses - to tourists and gold-hoarders, while theft and prostitution are on the increase.

It is to be feared that if present conditions continue, the simple and well-organized life of the Balinese will be seriously disrupted and their institutions will collapse as a result of the unavoidable social unrest.

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