It is amazing how much we have dissected our challenges: economic, political and poverty, among others – yet we haven’t moved forward! Problem-solving, unfortunately, is not dissertation-writing.
Leaders who move their country forward are clear-thinking decision-makers – not trapped by analysis-paralysis! Beyond staying on message, they stay with time-tested principles – they have internalized the genius of the Great Commandments! FDR was elected three times – he stayed with his New Deal message and as importantly, focused on the vital few initiatives that defined his agenda. Clinton overshadowed the perspective of Bush 41 during the campaign and carried his mantra – “it’s the economy, stupid! – through two terms that saw one of the longest economic expansions in America. Perfection is not what moves a country forward!
But do we stop short when confronted with a challenge – and dance around it instead? And euphemistically call it “Filipino abilidad”? Unable to pursue industrialization, we pride ourselves instead for fielding millions of OFWs globally? Haven’t we learned that bolos couldn’t win against the cal. 45? And given industry is high up in our hierarchy, we keep pressing poor Juan de la Cruz to take the slack of a failed economy? Do we want to upgrade nursing education to generate more OFWs? Is that “Filipino abilidad” or abdication – “to whom much is given, much is expected”? (What about countryside development? It has a caveat, i.e., sustainability. The commune system did not break poverty in China. Industrialization drastically reduced it – they tapped the requisite elements of competitiveness: capital (foreign), market (global/economies of scale), technology (foreign) and expertise (foreign). They leveraged globalization to attain competiveness – the Holy Grail!)
Our industry is inward-looking; but meets the needs of the few (e.g., monopolies and conglomerates) and thus the rewards to them are a windfall. And given our hierarchical culture, we make them larger than life – that they can’t do wrong? What is reality – we’re not an industrial, first-world country because we don’t have a big industrial base as Gokongwei pointed out, for example?
What we have is a glaring crisis to confront: every contemporary global yardstick that measures a nation’s progress – especially development, competitiveness, corruption and economic freedom – has failed to galvanize us! A columnist discusses the efforts of the UP community to spell out the challenges for the next president. And he laments that the outcome largely calls for political will – and thus falls short? Or was it an exercise in dissertation-writing, an attempt to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s and thus missed the knock-out punch? Perfection is not what moves a country forward!
What is there to dissect but for the national leadership to work with the private sector to pursue industrialization? 98 million Filipinos with a GDP per person of $3,300 (PPP) can’t drive the economy like the US does – with a-$46,400 GDP per person – that is, skewed to consumption! The reality is: the US is a multi-trillion dollar economy with a humongous export industry albeit the US consumer had demanded more cheap foreign goods. The US is more than a consumption-driven economy – it’s a fully industrialized, export powerhouse (e.g., GE, Boeing, Microsoft, etc.) on top of their capacity for capital formation and product-idea generation. Of course, they have their Achilles heel – their bigger than Texas-sized deficit and a dysfunctional Washington – but that’s another topic altogether. We better focus on our crisis – our own crisis!
Our penchant for “kuro-kuro” (or circular arguments that don’t get closure thus equate to muddled thinking?) and “kwentong kutsero” (or assertions that are suspect?) create failed efforts like the Terminal 3 of the (NA) international airport? It is a critical infrastructure element for stepped-up economic activity with the outside world – if we missed its import? Of course there are legal issues! Getting ourselves in a no-win situation is something we need like a hole in the head?
Leaders who move their country forward are clear-thinking decision-makers – not trapped by analysis-paralysis! Beyond staying on message, they stay with time-tested principles – they have internalized the genius of the Great Commandments! FDR was elected three times – he stayed with his New Deal message and as importantly, focused on the vital few initiatives that defined his agenda. Clinton overshadowed the perspective of Bush 41 during the campaign and carried his mantra – “it’s the economy, stupid! – through two terms that saw one of the longest economic expansions in America. Perfection is not what moves a country forward!
But do we stop short when confronted with a challenge – and dance around it instead? And euphemistically call it “Filipino abilidad”? Unable to pursue industrialization, we pride ourselves instead for fielding millions of OFWs globally? Haven’t we learned that bolos couldn’t win against the cal. 45? And given industry is high up in our hierarchy, we keep pressing poor Juan de la Cruz to take the slack of a failed economy? Do we want to upgrade nursing education to generate more OFWs? Is that “Filipino abilidad” or abdication – “to whom much is given, much is expected”? (What about countryside development? It has a caveat, i.e., sustainability. The commune system did not break poverty in China. Industrialization drastically reduced it – they tapped the requisite elements of competitiveness: capital (foreign), market (global/economies of scale), technology (foreign) and expertise (foreign). They leveraged globalization to attain competiveness – the Holy Grail!)
Our industry is inward-looking; but meets the needs of the few (e.g., monopolies and conglomerates) and thus the rewards to them are a windfall. And given our hierarchical culture, we make them larger than life – that they can’t do wrong? What is reality – we’re not an industrial, first-world country because we don’t have a big industrial base as Gokongwei pointed out, for example?
What we have is a glaring crisis to confront: every contemporary global yardstick that measures a nation’s progress – especially development, competitiveness, corruption and economic freedom – has failed to galvanize us! A columnist discusses the efforts of the UP community to spell out the challenges for the next president. And he laments that the outcome largely calls for political will – and thus falls short? Or was it an exercise in dissertation-writing, an attempt to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s and thus missed the knock-out punch? Perfection is not what moves a country forward!
What is there to dissect but for the national leadership to work with the private sector to pursue industrialization? 98 million Filipinos with a GDP per person of $3,300 (PPP) can’t drive the economy like the US does – with a-$46,400 GDP per person – that is, skewed to consumption! The reality is: the US is a multi-trillion dollar economy with a humongous export industry albeit the US consumer had demanded more cheap foreign goods. The US is more than a consumption-driven economy – it’s a fully industrialized, export powerhouse (e.g., GE, Boeing, Microsoft, etc.) on top of their capacity for capital formation and product-idea generation. Of course, they have their Achilles heel – their bigger than Texas-sized deficit and a dysfunctional Washington – but that’s another topic altogether. We better focus on our crisis – our own crisis!
Our penchant for “kuro-kuro” (or circular arguments that don’t get closure thus equate to muddled thinking?) and “kwentong kutsero” (or assertions that are suspect?) create failed efforts like the Terminal 3 of the (NA) international airport? It is a critical infrastructure element for stepped-up economic activity with the outside world – if we missed its import? Of course there are legal issues! Getting ourselves in a no-win situation is something we need like a hole in the head?
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