Thursday, February 1, 2018

A system can’t make up for the absence of ... good governance ...

And the rule of law … And why the blog introduced quantum logic as opposed to binary. The essence of life – or an organism – is dynamism. To live and breathe by its very nature can’t be static. It is why Einstein believed in a creator. That outside the seeming orderliness of the universe there is something beyond the horizon. 

Dynamism is a fundamental given that our instincts take for granted. And why we don’t demonstrate foresight but mirror an ideologue. And why Rizal failed to explain tyranny to us.

And why a functioning bureaucracy – and community and the common good – is beyond our imagination. We see bureaucracy as a hierarchy and one of permanence as the self-righteousness of Padre Damaso. And why we don’t understand accountability. 

We can push the envelope and it will explain why we are underdeveloped and the regional laggard.

Let’s start with kicking out the US military. Europe gave the world two WWs; and needed the Americans to guide them back – with guns and gold – to civilization. [And Lee, Mahathir and Deng weren’t stupid. They begged for Western money and technology.] Because the Europeans couldn’t get over aristocracy and parochialism and insularity. And why the blog keeps knocking out our hierarchical and paternalistic instincts.

And Kennedy likewise demonstrated it in the Cuban Missile Crisis – and preempted WWIII. He was surrounded by the best and the brightest yet he didn’t succumb to logical yet linear and incremental thinking. He demonstrated how to dismantle groupthink – even from very smart people.

From military power to MNC power. We shunt military power and MNC power. [To add insult to injury, Du30 isn’t fully acknowledging foreign intervention in winning back Marawi. So, let’s reject EU aid. But of course, he is crediting China. It reflects our narrow-mindedness. We forget China and the Asians Tigers relied on MNC power that turned them into economic powers.] Because we can’t see beyond the horizon.

With due respect to the BusinessMirror Editorial [As important: Economic Freedom, 29th Jan 2018], its efforts to compare press freedom in Singapore and the Philippines is classic binary logic. To be sure, there are clear restrictions in the case of Singapore. Press freedom is indeed essential to good governance as articulated by UNESCO. Yet the absence of restrictions does not guarantee freedom. Consider: How many journalists have been murdered in the Philippines?

On the other hand, Lee did not kill like Marcos did or Du30’s war on drugs. And people don’t write about Lee like they do about Marcos or Du30 for obvious reasons – as in respect begets respect. While Lee begged for Western money and technology, he demonstrated good governance. He and his family didn’t claim wealth a la Imelda and children. And did the latter flaunt the Marcos kleptocracy and spurn the judgments against them?

Every foreigner that has dealt with Singapore’s bureaucracy versus PH knows the difference. And why they attract more FDIs. The writer covered the region for a decade – and, surprise-surprise, his old MNC company invested more with our neighbors. Whether it is Singapore or China and the other Asian Tigers, good governance Philippine-style pales in comparison. And why we’re the regional laggard.

Of course, perfection is not of this world. And why the blog constantly talks of net worth as opposed to assets or liabilities alone.

But let’s get back to our lack of foresight which explains the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution. The Constitution is the symptom not the cause of our underdevelopment. And two wasted generations don’t seem enough for us to learn our lesson.

Do we get the drift? It is not jobs … it is income streams. And why it was insane of us to celebrate OFW remittances – and rejoiced the advent of a boom economy.

For a people that have yet to demonstrate foresight, where is the hubris coming from – that federalism is the savior of Juan de la Cruz? We must first learn to embrace personal responsibility and accountability. It is the foundation of good governance and the rule of law – and the imperative of progress and development. 

Indeed, we need Build, Build, Build. But not our continued inability to look beyond the horizon; and must figure out the difference between an “activity” and an “outcome.” Which goes back to our underdeveloped sense of foresight. And why there are winners and losers – and prosperity and poverty.

Think of Arangkada Philippines which has not truly progressed. Arangkada is meant to accelerate industrialization – and generate an abundance of income streams. And why it is a pillar of the latest UN SDGs (sustainable development goals): (a) rapid infrastructure development; (b) industrialization; and (c) innovation and competitiveness.

It is not about jobs and poverty. Think development. We have been talking jobs and the war on poverty for the longest time. Talk is cheap and it explains why the world has left us behind.

And Du30 must get off his high horse on the war on drugs, which replicates the reign of terror he imposed on Davao. He is not the anointed. It is delusional for us to view Davao [proud as the writer is to have lived and worked in Davao] as the model for this global menace – and economic development to boot. We must benchmark against the best ... and beyond our shores ... not perpetuate parochialism and insularity, and worse, tyranny.

It is uncivilized. Friends of the writer who lived through the Soviet gulag system wonder how a Christian nation could indulge in EJKs, that their countries were among the 39 nations that condemned the killings. [And BusinessMirror may wish to note.]

Consider: “The Failed War on Drugs,” George P. Shultz and Pedro Aspe, The New York Times, 31st Dec 2017. [Shultz is a former secretary of the Treasury and secretary of state, is a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford; Aspe is a former secretary of finance in Mexico.]

“With such a complicated problem, we should be willing to experiment with solutions. Which advertising messages are most effective? How can treatment be made effective for different kinds of drugs and different degrees of addiction? We should have the patience to evaluate what works and what doesn’t. But we must get started now.

“As these efforts progress, profits from the drug trade will diminish greatly even as the dangers of engaging in it will remain high. The result will be a gradual lessening of violence in Mexico and Central American countries.

“We have a crisis on our hands — and for the past half-century, we have been failing to solve it. But there are alternatives. Both the United States and Mexico need to look beyond the idea that drug abuse is simply a law-enforcement problem, solvable through arrests, prosecution and restrictions on supply. We must together attack it with public health policies and education.”

But let’s get back to PH. The homily in last Sunday’s mass spoke to Christ and the essence of his teachings: (a) courage; (b) consistency and (c) compassion. But we have always misunderstood compassion [which is meant for the infirm and the handicapped] in the same manner that we have misunderstood jobs for income streams and fascism for nationalism.

Even before that, we have misunderstood the theology of creation. Padre Damaso has no place in our psyche. That hierarchy and paternalism isn’t what Eden is about. It is about the good life and about self-reliance. We were driven out of Eden given we are as good as the next guy – in the image and likeness of the creator.

US military power and MNC power don’t make the Americans better than Juan de la Cruz. It is about community and the common good. But we can’t figure out community and the common good within the community of nations if we don’t first decipher it within PH?

And it gets worse because we in the elite class and the chattering classes sincerely believe we have the goods. We can never have the answer if we are the present-day Padre Damaso.

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists . . . A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]

“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]

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