Mired in the status quo

Why are we? Over the course of the blog, going ten years and counting, if it isn't apparent yet, the postings talk about our world view, instincts, and values.

Why do they matter? Being the regional laggard should tell us that our peers in the region have a leg up, and this handicap can only diminish if they are standing still. Those of us that travel the area know that no one is standing still because leaders have an inherent advantage given experience and the compounding effect on accumulated output.

Our inexperience can only blindside us as we celebrate incremental gains. That our per capita income stays a mere fraction of the weakest of these peers should alert us that in the bigger scheme of things, the regional and global playing fields, we appear stationary.

First and foremost, we must recognize and overcome our parochial and insular instincts so that we can internalize the imperative to benchmark – to look outward and forward and learn from others like our neighbors – and figure out how to traverse the development journey – from poverty to prosperity.

The blog has borrowed a Rizal creation, Padre Damaso, to illustrate why we are parochial and insular. Unwittingly, we view the world like a Padre Damaso, in absolutes. Earlier on, the blog talked about our “materiales fuertes” culture.

Beyond our failure to benchmark is our penchant for being critical of the West, no different from how Putin views the West. Not that the West is the epitome of perfection, but they have been there and done that. They came ahead and traversed the earliest roads of civilization, as in progress and development. Unsurprisingly, Lee and Mahathir counseled China and likewise us Pinoys, to beg for Western money and technology.

Recall the blog introduced the concept of “perceptive judgment” to stress that extremes can’t be the be-all and end-all. It starts with the story of creation. If Eden was the be-all and end-all, why were Adam and Eve banished? It was also the first story of greed. Alternatively, it is also the first story of personal responsibility.

For humankind to rule over God's creation, we must be dynamic. Because the universe is active, the runaway universe as scientists call it.

So, can absolutes thrive in a continuum? There is no "absolute" system of governance, for example, but only a continuum – across autocracy and democracy. Consider how the USSR went kaput while China opted to be dynamic. Can China keep its dynamism though given the challenge posed by Hong Kong?

There are 193 member countries in the UN. There are 28 or going to be 27 in the EU. There are 10 in the ASEAN. To those involved in statistics or see value in a more significant playing field or market, a collection of countries mirrors the phenomenon of distribution as in a scattergram.

It is not about "absolutes" but the ability to be dynamic. Because the needs of nations or the people also reflect Maslow's hierarchy of human needs.

Since the Great Recession of 2008-09, following the global financial crisis, many countries that benefited from the post-cold war era of a globalized world began to entertain doubts in the supposedly new order. The two Anglo-Saxon countries included.

While greed may be the proximate cause of the crisis, i.e., the Ponzi scheme concocted by bankers via the instrument they called derivatives, the subprime loans, packaged into derivatives, were a response to the challenge of housing for the poor. Bill Clinton's name appeared not a few times for the financial community to address the problem. It is a classic example of a good intention blowing up in one's face.

In the case of the UK, because of the EU and the credibility of their system akin to that of the US, the financial services sector became like the gold rush of old. Everyone set up shop in London that it became the center of finance. That is now in peril because of Brexit.

So, where are we? Here’s a perspective: “In the United States, the widespread perception that institutions have failed to address issues such as inequality has been eroding public trust in major institutions since the 1970s. After failing to anticipate the 2008 financial crisis, US policymakers are now struggling to regulate (and tax) new ‘mega-firms’ like Amazon and Facebook. They are also seen as having dropped the ball with respect to globalization and the effects of the ‘China Shock’ on local labor markets.

“Similarly, in Europe, increased labor mobility and rolling refugee crises are widely seen as having surpassed European Union (EU) institutions’ carrying capacity.” [How do populists win (?), Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, Project Syndicate, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29th Jun 2019]

What is their prescription? "[We] need more democracy and representation—including, possibly, referenda—so that voters feel as though their concerns are being taken seriously."

They're talking about the US and Europe, the two biggest economies. Given the phenomenon of distribution, how does this prescription apply to other countries like the Philippines, in particular?

Between the LGUs and the party-list system, don't we have more representation to take the concerns of voters seriously? Is it another good intention turned sour? Still, they don't mean our brand of democracy where we submit to tyranny?

Here’s a brand of democracy which we Pinoys have yet to learn: “The values war is the real war. For the West to prevail, it must support the tiny little corner of China where its virtues now operate: Hong Kong. These values may be a legacy of Western rule, but for Hong Kongers who have grown up with them, they feel as natural as any part of our Chinese heritage.

"Our struggle with Beijing, if successful, can help China's leaders begin to accept the need for authority earned through the moral admiration of the world, not through the barrel of a gun. However, if Beijing's approach prevails, when China becomes the world's biggest economy — which it inevitably will — the West will face a far greater monster.

“The West’s moral authority is its most powerful weapon. Moral authority is where China is most vulnerable to humiliation, at home and abroad. Beijing has no weapons save for force, which gets harder to rely on, the more the world can see that for itself.” [What the Hong Kong Protests Are Really About, Jimmy Lai, The New York Times, 1st Jul 2019]

We Pinoys will continue to speak in absolutes given our value of hierarchy and paternalism. Instead of internalizing personal responsibility, we like to point fingers tacitly acknowledging that we don't hold the future in our hands but some external force if not homegrown tyranny.

We must ask the question: We are from what universe? It applies to every nation, including the US and Europe. How many empires have come and gone? Alternatively, think about how the US supplanted Britain's industrial power. Today China is the world's manufacturing center with Vietnam biting around the edges.

The "universe" is a 24/7 dynamic phenomenon. There is no singular ism than dynamism that can be the be-all and end-all. In other words, if there is no unfettered capitalism, there is no unbridled nationalism.

Consider: Why is there no longer a Soviet empire if providing a person or a family’s needs is what nirvana is? The wife and writer were billeted in an old communist-built apartment building when they first arrived in Sofia. By Western or even BGC if not Ayala Avenue standards, they are least desirable. 

It was a month-long experience that gave them insights into the lives of these people for decades. Beyond housing, they had jobs courtesy of the empire as well as lots of freebies like bread for breakfast and free education, free medical care, and then some. 

At the other end of the spectrum is the ten percent of the 1-percent of Americans courtesy of Wall Street. Unsurprisingly, Trump had to come to the rescue. The unwritten social contract is that he had the license to be tyrannical and undermine the very institutions that made America the envy of the world.

Enter: Putin. The latest approval rating of Putin has come down to earth given the sluggish Russian economy. The sanctions by the world community against them after the invasion of Crimea are taking their toll. Even more fundamental is the failure of the leadership to move Russia beyond the extraction industry while dispensing spoils to oligarchy. Like the USSR, while they are a military power, they neglect to develop an industrial economy no different from the Philippines.

In sum, Russia doesn’t guarantee jobs and why it is not uncommon to bump into a Russian migrant in the region as elsewhere, and with the oil wealth pumping less money, the life of the average Russian isn't any better than those of the good old days under the Soviet empire. Still, the two eras have a common denominator: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Is Trump mirroring Putin? Like a despot, Trump wants the display of US military might to celebrate the 4th of July. Not surprising given the gilded facade of the typical Trump Tower and why in a few cases the residents took down the Trump name. Is this display of military might a sign of the beginning of the end of American supremacy? Or will history repeat itself that they can manage contradictions and uphold the rule of law even when the occupant of the White House is imperfect?

What about us in the Philippines? Unlike our neighbors, we opted to replicate the model of aristocracy and autocracy. How? We value hierarchy and paternalism instead of personal responsibility. We are "the most unequal" country in the region. Moreover, our instincts impel us to reinforce paternalism instead of the common good as in development.

So, to us, poverty alleviation is nirvana. Unsurprisingly, we celebrated the OFW phenomenon instead of the pursuit of development. For example, instead of transforming our agricultural economy into an industrial economy, we opted for a consumption economy.

We read about the living wage, and we think of it like nirvana? Wasn't the OFW phenomenon which meant better than a living wage nirvana? How come we have the worst poverty in the region. Because our output per capita is pathetic, we must expect "poverty." We reap what we sow. In other words, we cannot take our eye away from the ball.

Take retail, a major local employer. Brick-and-mortar retailing is a low value-added enterprise unlike a Samsung of Vietnam, for example. So, its profitability is in the low single digits. Compare that to a technology-based enterprise that can command a market value of close to a trillion dollars. 

A living wage cannot come out of the blue. Which is why our farmers are among the poorest of the poor; they don't generate high value-added products. Compare that to the pig industry of Denmark, a global industry leader, geared for world-class productivity because of technology and economies of scale founded on their cooperative ethos.

Now that we are deep into our alternative reality, our default interventions to overcome our woes are to address the need of the moment. It explains why we can’t move from reactive to proactive and the absence of foresight. 

Unsurprisingly, we point not to the success of our neighbors but the woes of "poor nations" like us. Misery loves company. Who are the other "poor nations"? Think of Latin America and Africa, and we will not be hard pressed to identify where tyrants rule and why refugees are escaping the hell that is their country. 

Why are there over 10 million OFWs despite the social cost families pay, and for that matter the Philippines too? [HIV has been arrested as a threat but not in our country. Disclosure: the wife and daughter have taken the care of HIV children as advocacy.]

Moreover, instead of highlighting the mantra that Lee and Mahathir passed on to Deng, we like to point to the shortcomings of the West. It won't cross our mind to beat the West in their own game; for example, Singapore and Hong Kong are ahead of the US in the global competitiveness rankings.

By whatever measure, Juan de la Cruz suffers. 

Sadly, we Pinoys are left behind. When our economic managers continue to say what is good to hear, it confirms we are, indeed, mired in the status quo: no leadership, no foresight, nothing.

Even sadder is that the generation of this writer will not leave the country better off than they found it. It is beyond our being most susceptible to environmental risks; we have long abused the God-given beauty of this country.

Including our God-given talents by surrendering instead of celebrating our reason for being, to rule God’s creation. 

“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]

“You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard and be very determined to achieve your goals.” [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

“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]