Where does a sense of entitlement come from with some of us acting in a way that is unacceptable to others in society.
I’ve been following the case of Sara Netanyahu, wife of the prime minister of Israel, who prosecutors have been investigating since 2015.
This investigation resulted from reports that she’d directed staff at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem to order $100,000 of catered meals from some of the country’s best-known chefs.
Under Israeli law, it’s illegal to order food from outside when there is a private cook – paid with taxpayer money – already on the prime minister’s personal staff.
The indictment alleges that she falsified records and tried to hide the fact that she had a cook by ordering that he be described as a maintenance worker.
I note that here in Bahrain it has been suggested in parliament that a benefit of 100 litres of petrol be provided for Bahrainis to help them with the changes in the price of petrol that took place some months ago.
I decided to consider this matter further to understand what was driving this sense of entitlement when it came to the price of petrol.
Let’s start at the other end of the petrol supply chain with the price of oil. Brent crude is presently selling at $75 per barrel.
Brent crude is at the high end when it comes to oil prices due to the quality.
This price works out at 177 fils per litre and does not take into account the cost of refining and transportation.
At the pumps today Jayyid costs 140 fils and Mumtaz 200 fils – a bit of an eye opener.
Presently, Bahrain produces around 40,000 barrels of oil daily and this is supplemented with a half share of the Abu Safah field in Saudi which produces around 330,000 barrels daily.
I had a look at other small countries who are oil producers.
Scotland and Norway are both small countries with much the same population, five million.
They both produce around 1.5 million barrels of oil daily. In Norway, it would cost you 860 fils for a litre of petrol and in Scotland 650 fils.
Petrol like other basics such as electricity, water, bread, flour, etc. are not subsidised and tax in both countries is substantial.
I checked out what take home pay averages out at in both countries and again they are broadly similar with a take home pay equivalent to BD1,200 per month.
I know that where most Bahrainis work such as the government sector and banking are not taking home as much as they do in Norway or Scotland but subsidies, generous pensions, much more holidays, the length of working day, etc. are benefits in Bahrain that need to be considered.
Finally, I had a look at the GDP per capita number to ascertain how productive the countries are when using this measure.
Norway is at $70, Scotland at $45 and Bahrain at $20.
I just cannot understand where the sense of entitlement comes from with regard to the issue of free petrol.
Gordon is the former president and chief executive of BMMI. He can be reached at gordonboyle@hotmail.com.