Recognizing our prism

The world is agog – once again – of American-style democracy. That America can turn on a dime inspires the better angels in people.

Indeed, memories fade – and they disappear quickly – given how the world embraced the unspoken schadenfreude, with China on track to become the largest world economy.

And that we in the Philippines welcomed – and turned our back to America – the overtures of China despite its “nine-dash line claim and accompanying claims to historic rights having no validity under international law.”

Of course, we later hedged on the VFA. We also looked at better trade relations with Russia. In other words, we signaled that America is now an afterthought. 

Yet, the world can learn from the Americans. But it is not a cakewalk because democracy presupposes self-government. And it translates to personal responsibility to pursue the common good.

It means within the enterprise; people must subordinate their instincts to that of the nation at large. The crab mentality is a no-no. That is why the Preamble of the US Constitution sets a very high bar, “to form a more perfect Union.”

And given Trump appealed to the extreme far-right of the population, he failed to re-elect despite their number.

In a focus group, “swing voters that used to support Trump say he should never hold office again.” [Axios] That must be why pillars of the conservative wing organized themselves into the Lincoln Project and campaigned against Trump. 

Moreover, self-government must be manageable, and that is why it is also a representative government, as in institutions. And it connotes the imperative of leadership. But that is where Juan de la Cruz falls flat on his face.

Leadership is not the value of hierarchy and paternalism – which implies abdication – as in there is no free lunch.

Hierarchy and paternalism shun transparency and integrity. Scratch my back, and I will scratch yours. And why corruption cum a culture of impunity defines us.

Still, the reality is American democracy – and free enterprise – is too far-advanced for us Filipinos to establish as our benchmark. There are 156 years between Biden and Lincoln. 

That is why the blog keeps speaking to our neighbors, starting with the Asian Tigers, then China, and most recently, Vietnam.

But why can’t we focus on our neighbors? Put another way, how do we recognize our prism to establish the right model in our efforts to move the Philippines forward?

Recall our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity. Yet, this administration can't figure out why poverty persists, manifested by the drug menace and insurgency.

On the other hand, our neighbors demonstrated that Western-style democracy is not a perfect model and can be improved. And the world applauded as they showed what economic miracles are. Translation: poverty, drugs, and insurgency are foreign to them.

But we like to believe we know the Western model better than our neighbors that we didn’t bother to figure out how they traversed poverty to prosperity. 

And that is another of our failings. We are the regional laggard.

Despite our Western orientation, our prism is that of a failing economy. Translation: Our underdevelopment limits our world view. In other words, we never ask ourselves, how do we benchmark?

Enter neuroscience. It is called confirmation bias. Given our Western orientation, we assumed we know how to drive the economy, i.e., via a service-consumption economy. Look at New York, once a haven of manufacturing, is now a service economy.

And we also know what export-processing zones are – and we have them.

There go our strings of failings.

From Japan – with their Japan Inc. – all the way to Vietnam, our neighbors are among the world’s top exporters.

That is why the blog speaks to benchmarking our development efforts against (a) our neighbors’ export-orientation (b) supported by the requisite ecosystem, with the Pearl River Delta economic zone as the best-practice model.

But how do we overcome the confirmation bias? Simply put, we must study the export prowess of these neighbors and the magic of Pearl River Delta with an unfrozen mind – or if we want to be biblical about it, as innocent as a child.

For example, our think tanks – in support of our economic managers and legislators – must proclaim that they studied these neighbors to the nth degree that we know about their efforts more than they do.

Why is that important? If we are to be better than the competition, we must know more about them than they do. That is practitioner-speak, not academic-speak. 

Beyond fiscal and monetary interventions, we can have a mental model that mirrors an ecosystem’s gold standard, the photosynthesis phenomenon.

Gising bayan!

Defining “reality” in this dynamic universe

The universe is a 24/7phenomenon, yet this reality doesn’t inform worldviews. 

Recall George, Fr. George Gorospe: “No human formulation of reality, no philosophical explanation of human experience can say: ‘I have grasped the whole of ‘reality’ and crystallized it in an expression or system that exhausts all its meaning. Reality is too rich and is continuously changing; it can’t fall under a set of categories.

“Hence, there is need today of a more dynamic and more existential philosophy inspired by the Neo-Thomist revival of the authentic thought of St. Thomas, i.e., it is not a ‘closed system’ but remains ‘open’ to the valid insights of other philosophies. For example, to the contribution of contemporary phenomenology and existentialism.” [Christian Renewal of Filipino Values, Vitaliano R. Gorospe; Philippine Studies vol. 14, no. 2, 1966; Ateneo de Manila University]

Whether it’s Cha-Cha in the Philippines or the GOP’s future – post-Trump – if not the US, worldviews are held by individuals without the consciousness of the “reality” of this universe.

Recall the two operating systems in the brain from Behavioral Economics – System 1 (automatic) and System 2 (conscious) – and we will appreciate why America, if not the world, is polarized.

Even the Catholic Church has a conservative and a progressive wing. That is despite Christ walking the face of the earth to denounce binary thinking – as in dualism, best exemplified by his battles with the scribes and Pharisees. And his Two Great Commandments.

“The shameful participation of Catholic leaders in Trump’s attempt to steal the election,” The Editors, America Magazine: The Jesuit Review, 12th Jan 2021.

“To make matters worse, some of those involved are claiming the warrant of the Gospel. That praying for attempts to disenfranchise the populations of entire states to succeed and pretending that they are doing God’s will in supporting Mr. Trump’s assault on the integrity of American elections.

“They have convinced themselves of the truth of Mr. Trump’s fabrications about the election being ‘stolen’ from him. That does not reduce their culpability; it underlines their devotion to Mr. Trump; and drew them away from the facts and the truth.

“The riches of the Gospel are being diverted into one of Mr. Trump’s bankruptcies.

“The danger in such an idolatrous use of the Gospel for nakedly partisan ends is not primarily that it will succeed in overturning the US election. At least at this juncture, the guardrails of the American republic seem to be holding.

“The danger, instead, is that the association of Christian faith with the corrupt project of installing Mr. Trump in a second term by any means necessary undermines the credibility of the whole church’s efforts to evangelize.

“While drafting this editorial, Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Tex., is scheduled to speak by video at a rally after a march on Saturday in Washington, DC, dedicated to ‘praying for the walls of corruption and election fraud to fall.’

“Several other Catholic figures are scheduled to appear as well. Bishop Strickland’s choice to lend episcopal support to this effort brings disrepute upon his office. We hope and pray that his brother bishops may exercise a ministry of fraternal correction by publicly clarifying for the faithful that the American bishops as a whole have not taken sides against the will of the voters in our democracy.”

Let’s bring it closer to home: “Trying to understand Filipino-American Catholics who voted for Trump,” Christian Seno, Rappler.com, 8th Jan 2021; Seno is a former Franciscan friar who left religious life after writing about racism in faith communities following the 2016 US presidential election.

“How could Filipino-Americans continue to express support for an administration that has demonized immigrants, flouted the advice of the scientific and medical communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and actively undermined American democracy through voter suppression and dismantling the United States Postal Service? I am exceedingly perplexed to find some of these Trump supporters in my own family, a family of faithful Roman Catholics, immigrants (both documented and undocumented), nurses, and postal workers.

“It's been tough to pinpoint exactly why some Filipino-American Catholics, including my parents, support Donald Trump. Political conversations in the United States have grown increasingly polarized. I am often guilty of being unable to hear, much less understand why Trump supporters feel as they do. And yet, when I have tried to enter into conversations with family members who support Trump, I am often met with nothing more than talking points parroted from Fox News or other conservative media outlets.

“Family members have stated that their support of Trump hinges on several key issues: abortion and immigration. As faithful Catholics, some in my family point to abortion as the primary issue that influences their politics. They believe that the Republican Party is pro-life and anti-abortion and that the Democrats, conversely, are not. Of course, my family’s view against abortion reflects the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who consider abortion a ‘preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself.’

“Yet, I think part of the political and cultural crisis we find ourselves in is because of this reductionist approach towards the issue of abortion. Because the Catholic bishops treat abortion as a political issue, it naturally relegates other social and political issues to the back burner. What about racism, poverty, environmental degradation, police brutality, capital punishment, immigration, education, health care, and the myriad of other issues that affect human life and dignity?

“Because of the USCCB’s singular focus on abortion, some Catholic voters look past these other issues and cling to the political propaganda that to be anti-abortion alone is sufficient to be pro-life. The migrant children separated from their families? The homeless on the street? Black victims of police brutality? They’re merely collateral damage in the Bishops’ single-issue crusade against abortion.

"The issue of immigration is one of the most glaring examples of the corrupted Christian witness that results from a myopic understanding of what it means to be pro-life. For example, I asked my family why they support the Republicans’ anti-abortion stance but not challenge the past four years’ xenophobic immigration policies. And the response is ‘illegal immigration is harmful to the people who came here legally’ and that ‘Obama also locked up children.’ It is a type of cognitive dissonance that categorizes one kind of evil and excuses another, or at least rationalizes, i.e., it is not new.”

And the culture war has many facets.

“DHS draft document: White supremacists are the greatest terror threat,” BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN, POLITICO, 4th Sep 2020.

“The threat from white supremacists as the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the US, listed above the immediate danger from foreign terrorist groups.

“Foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for Homeland attacks but probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year.”

Unsurprisingly, reports the Los Angeles Times, 15th Jan 2021, “Why veterans of the military and law enforcement joined the Capitol insurrection,” by Jaweed Kaleem and Kurtis Lee.

“The deadly riot in the US Capitol on 6th Jan attracted a variety of far-right extremists who shared a devotion to President Trump and his insistence on a false belief that the November election had been stolen – from him – through fraud.

“Many rioters had something else in common; they sought to upend the American government in an insurrection. And they bristled with Confederate flags, racist symbols, and conspiracy theories: They were ex-members of the military and police or actively employed by the armed services and law enforcement.”

Here’s a bit of American political history: “In American politics, the Southern strategy was a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans.

“The civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s visibly deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States. Republican politicians such as presidential candidate Richard Nixon and Senator Barry Goldwater developed strategies that successfully contributed to the political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party. It also helped to push the Republican Party much more to the right.” [Wikipedia]

But let’s get back to the challenge of defining “reality” in this dynamic universe.

Consider:  “Thanks, but no thanks: Energy companies give the Arctic the cold shoulder,” The Economist, 9th Jan 2021.

“TO THE Gwich'in people, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is ‘the sacred place where life begins.’ It is a rare habitat that must remain protected to environmental campaigners, home to caribou, polar bears, and migratory birds from six continents. To President Donald Trump, it is a promising source of oil wealth and American energy security. To energy companies, it is a risk not worth taking.

“On 6th Jan, after four decades of fighting over whether to allow drilling in the refuge, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held an auction for oil leases on the coastal plain. The state of Alaska and two small local companies were the only bidders.

“It is a fitting final chapter in Mr. Trump’s campaign to unleash drilling on federal lands, characterized by maximum bravura and mixed corporate impact.”

In other words, this supposed uber businessman is not the dynamic president America needs despite his claims – and how his base responded, Amen.

For example, the family has a pied-à-Terre in Manhattan, and power comes from wind and solar. And the following information came with the December electric bill:

“More than 100 million Americans now live in places committed to 100% clean energy. More than 170 cities, 13 counties, and eight states in the US have committed to transition to 100% renewable energy. In April, the Virginia Clean Economic Act's passage marked a significant milestone: 100 million Americans now live in communities committed to clean, renewable energy. That’s nearly one in three Americans—and will have the same impact as taking 66 million cars off the road!

“Renewables surpassed coal and set records in several countries. April was the first month in US history during which renewable sources generated more electricity than coal on each day of the month. This spring, the UK went an entire month without using coal power for the first time in 138 years. Additionally, renewable sources provided the majority (nearly 53%) of Germany’s energy for the first nine months of this year, with wind accounting for nearly 27% of the country's total."

Put another way, given the dynamism of the universe; industries come and go. Darwin is a more pronounced reality in the 21st century, defined by innovation and global competitiveness.

Humankind can’t stick to the past. We are witness to how the world is changing at warp speed. The problem with us Pinoys — thanks to our caste system — is we’re still in the jeepney age. And wittingly or not, we view and measure the world through our prism. Unsurprisingly, we pay a heavy price being the regional laggard.

Over the last dozen years, the life of this blog, how much have we in the chattering classes experienced shifting our paradigms? Are what we are saying Today any different from what they were twelve years ago?

Vietnam has overtaken us as an economy over that period, yet we keep whining because poverty, corruption, and tyranny continue defining us. We can’t continue to sulk because self-government says the buck stops with us, the Philippine elite class.

What else is going on?

“FOR MUCH of the past decade, the pace of innovation underwhelmed many people—especially those miserable economists. Productivity growth was lackluster, and the most popular new inventions, the smartphone and social media did not seem to help much. Their malign side-effects, such as the creation of powerful monopolies and the pollution of the public square, became painfully apparent. Promising technologies stalled, including self-driving cars, making Silicon Valley’s evangelists look naive. Security hawks warned that authoritarian China was racing past the West and some gloomy folk cautioned that the world was finally running out of useful ideas.

“Today, the dawn of technological optimism is breaking. The speed at which covid-19 vaccines came about has made scientists household names. Breakthroughs, a tech investment boom, and the adoption of digital technologies during the pandemic combine to raise hopes of a new era of progress: optimists giddily predict a ‘Roaring Twenties.’ Just as the pessimism of the 2010s was overdone—the decade saw many advances, such as in cancer treatment—so predictions of technological Utopia are overblown. But there is a realistic possibility of a new era of innovation that could lift living standards, mainly if governments help new technologies to flourish.

“In the history of capitalism, rapid technological advance has been the norm. The 18th century brought the Industrial Revolution and mechanized factories; the 19th-century railways and electricity; the 20th-century cars, planes, modern medicine, and domestic liberation thanks to washing machines. In the 1970s, though, progress—measured by overall productivity growth—slowed. Women piling into the workforce masked the economic impact, and then a burst of efficiency gains followed the adoption of personal computers in the 1990s. After 2000, though, growth flagged again.

“There are three reasons to think this ‘great stagnation’ might be ending. First is the flurry of recent discoveries with transformative potential. The success of the ‘messenger RNA’ technique behind the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and bespoke antibody treatments shows how science empowers medicine. Humans are increasingly able to bend biology to their will, whether to treat disease, edit genes, or grow meat in a lab. Artificial intelligence is, at last, displaying impressive progress in a range of contexts. A program created by DeepMind, part of Alphabet, has shown a remarkable ability to predict the shapes of proteins; last summer, OpenAI unveiled GPT-3, the best natural-language algorithm to date; and since October, driverless taxis have ferried the public around Phoenix, Arizona. Spectacular falls in renewable energy prices are giving governments confidence that their green investments will pay off. Even China now promises carbon neutrality by 2060.

“The second reason for optimism is the booming investment in technology. In the second and third quarters of 2020, America’s non-residential private sector spent more on computers, software, and research and development (R&D) than on buildings and industrial gear for the first time in over a decade. Governments are keen to give more cash to scientists. Having shrunk for years, public R&D spending across 24 OECD countries began to grow again in real terms in 2017. Investors’ enthusiasm for technology now extends to medical diagnostics, logistics, biotechnology, and semiconductors. Such is the market’s optimism about electric vehicles that Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, who also runs a rocket firm, is the world’s richest man.

“The third source of cheer is the rapid adoption of new technologies. It is not just that workers have taken to videoconferencing and consumers to e-commerce—significant as those advances are, for example, easing the constraints on job seeking posed by housing shortages. The pandemic has also accelerated the adoption of digital payments, telemedicine, and industrial automation. It has been a reminder that adversity often forces societies to advance. The fight against climate change and the great-power competition between America and China could spur further bold steps.” [The new era of innovation: Why a “dawn” of technological optimism is breaking, The Economist, 16th Jan 2021]

In other words, the universe is a 24/7phenomenon, yet this reality doesn’t inform worldviews. 

For example, coal is a sunset industry despite the promise of Trump to the coal miners.

“Like historical fascist leaders, Trump has presented himself as the single source of truth. His use of the term ‘fake news’ echoed the Nazi smear Lügenpresse (‘lying press’); like the Nazis, he referred to reporters as ‘enemies of the people.’

“Like Adolf Hitler, he came to power at a moment when the conventional press had taken a beating; the financial crisis of 2008 did to American newspapers what the Great Depression did to German ones.

“The Nazis thought that they could use the radio to replace the newspaper’s old pluralism; Trump tried to do the same with Twitter.” [The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder, The New York Times, 9th Jan 2021; Snyder is the Levin professor of history at Yale University and the author of accounts of political atrocity including “Bloodlands” and “Black Earth,” as well as the book “On Tyranny,” on America’s turn toward authoritarianism.]

Is the world going down the road of fascism?

“The clown ceiling: Far-right parties in Europe tend to rise—and fall,” The Economist, 9th Jan 2021. "The EU has the good luck to be opposed by mostly inept critics.

“A clown ceiling exists in EU politics, which has kept Eurosceptic parties such as VFD from gaining too much power. Such parties tend to proliferate before collapsing, often due to their risible ineptitude. The pattern repeats itself across Europe: a rapid ascent and a swift retreat. In Germany, Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged in 2013. By the 2017 election, AfD was the biggest opposition party in parliament. Since then, far-right extremism and infighting have undermined it.

“In Europe, those who are most willing to lead upstart movements are often the least suited for the long-term task.

“Some parties have managed to punch a hole in the clown ceiling, but not one big enough to breakthrough. Traits that lend themselves to insurgency do not translate well into governance. The Northern League, an Italian hard-right party, took power in 2018. A year later, while riding high in the polls, Matteo Salvini, its leader, brought down his coalition to trigger an election. It backfired, and Mr. Salvini found himself back in opposition with his party’s polling dented. Sometimes, the failings are ones of character. In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party was in power before footage emerged of its leader lounging on a sofa offering state contracts to someone he thought was the niece of a Russian oligarch. A jester in government can swiftly look out of place.

“Fortunately for the EU, hostile parties outside it often seem just as clownish. Britain mucked up, leaving the EU so badly that no other country looks likely to copy it. In 2016 EU officials feared Britain’s exit. They worried that Britain could be a nimble, efficient state on its borders. Instead, it became a big, flailing one. Britain needed four years, three prime ministers, and two elections to fully leave the bloc. Rather than striding out a proud independent state, it waddled out of the EU with its foot in a bucket. In the eyes of some of its European peers, Brexit has turned Britain into a clown state.”

What else is moving forward and not standing still?

“General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Mary Barra revealed that the company would offer 30 all-electric models globally by mid-decade. Forty percent of the company’s US entries will be battery electric vehicles by the end of 2025. Barra also announced an increase in GM’s financial commitment to EVs and AVs Today to $27 billion through 2025 – up from the $20 billion planned before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“’Climate change is real, and we want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an electric vehicle,’ said Barra. ‘We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength, and we’re focused on growth. We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience.’” [GM website]

The universe is a 24/7phenomenon, yet this reality doesn’t inform worldviews. 

Can we Filipinos ever internalize reality?

Consider our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Do we recognize a Marcos or a Duterte – or a Trump in the US’s case – isn’t the answer to this universe's dynamism. It explains why we’re the regional laggard.

But will we ever come to grips with reality? Recall Fr. George Gorospe.

Can we undo our instincts? What does the universe tell us about how to thrive in its dynamic milieu?

Recall the photosynthesis phenomenon we learned in grade school: By taking water through the roots, carbon dioxide from the air, and energy from the Sun, plants can perform photosynthesis to make glucose and oxygen.

In other words, how do we create an ecosystem that will make Juan de la Cruz traverse poverty to prosperity?

It is beyond binary thinking.

It is not about leader dependency but self-government. It is nation-building and beyond any one discipline. 

It is beyond the Constitution or “CREATE” — even the war on drugs. It is beyond Marcos or Duterte — even Trump, in the case of America.

Gising bayan!

Reinventing ourselves

The blog is now a dozen years.

Here’s its genesis: “I started writing to engage columnists and newspaper editors at the end of a trip to the Philippines over Holy Week in 2008 – to echo the frustrations expressed by friends and relations that were much louder and more intense than previous trips.

“My first thought was: with so many talents and skills, how could the country be the basket case of Asia? Are we too nice as a people?

“Since then, I have kept abreast with local news and opinions.”

The title itself would make Juan de la Cruz squirm because it connotes criticism, and people don’t like them.

Sadly, the status quo bias is devoid of Darwin; we can’t but be in sync with this dynamic universe.

Should we pause and ponder our “reality” — with a little help from George, Fr. George Gorospe?

Given people’s frustrations and how the Philippines has become the laughingstock of the region, if not the world, I chose to share the postings with about 50 columnists and journalists.

And what happened? The following blocked my emails: (a) two economists; (b) a professional organization; (c) an avowed Christian; and (d) a marketing professor. There may have been more. But those were the ones where I got the prompts.

On the other hand, some were encouraging – sending words to the effect – and would quote from the postings.

And where is the Philippines twelve years later? Recall in the “Genesis of the Blog,” I compared the Philippines against Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. We were still ahead of Vietnam then, and today even Vietnam has overtaken us.

And with the pandemic courtesy of Covid-19, we find ourselves lagging further behind. For example, we allocated the least to combat the economic downturn. Why? We want to be prudent and preserve our fiscal standing.

We can argue with our economic managers, but if we get down to the core of our problem, that posture is a consequence of our financial backwardness compared to our neighbors.

Indeed, there is a fire, and we must deal with it – within our capacity. Is it from the trauma of the Binondo Central Bank that our economic managers want to be prudent?

What would happen if we overextended ourselves financially? Would we lose our credit ratings? So, what if we again pay higher interests? Did the Philippines go under when we were paying those high interests?

What is our frame of reference? That is why it boils down to our financial backwardness.

Let’s hold it right there.

Yet, and it’s a Big YET, we are not doing the heavy lifting demanded by this backwardness. 

We are still looking at the future with an economy driven by OFW remittances and the BPOs.

Of course, there is CREATE and a host of other fiscal policies before the legislature. But then again, have we benchmarked against Vietnam, for instance?

With due respect to our economic managers and legislators, these proposed policies are indeed in the right direction. They are logical and will generate incremental outcomes. But how much out-of-the-box are they to develop a quantum leap?

Why a quantum leap? A 6%-7% GDP growth is too meager for the Philippines to overcome poverty in Vietnam’s timeframe.

That is why the blog continually plays Juan de la Cruz’s instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Let’s hold it right there and recap the other continuing themes of the blog: (1) Our caste system – the permanence of hierarchy and societal order; (2) Paternalism – submission to authority, assumed to be benevolent; (3) Human (cognitive) development – from dualism to relativism; (4) System 1 and System 2 Thinking – automatic vs. conscious; (5) Linear (logical) and incremental thinking vs. Lateral and creative thinking; (6) Context: the creation story and the dynamism of this universe; (7) Christianity and democracy being mirror images.

The above would sound too pedantic, and that’s why I keep stressing I am not an academic but a practitioner. And in the real world, where we encounter Darwin all the time, one has to do his or her homework.

And that goes back to when I decided “what I wanted to be” – and stop being a lazy student.  And to make up for a lost time, I had to get credits from three universities, following the curriculum I put together myself. And instead of religiously attending classes, I would use the syllabus to guide my self-study in the library. I only attended classes where the professors would insist on my attendance.

The experience got me interested in neuroscience, and I realized the power of the subconscious mind. Even a lazy student would recall the fundamentals of a course or subject, including those from grade school.

For example, we are not a multi-trillion-dollar economy that the US should be our model and mirror their fiscal and monetary policies. But our economic managers and the administration can educate Juan de la Cruz to buy-in to the exercise we call economic development.

He knows that while economists celebrate a 6%-7% GDP growth, he still sees himself as abjectly poor. Recall the blog presents a different economic goal for the Philippines, to raise GDP by $200 billion – instead of a 6%-7% growth – and beat the hell out of our neighbors, including Malaysia. 

Yet, it comes from grade five math. But by turning the challenge on its head, we open our eyes to a more significant playing field that will nudge the imagination.

For example, by setting a tangible and meaningful goal, we will most likely ask how?

That will impel us to forward-think: We need – and must get – our GDP up to our neighbors’ levels. Why? 

We must become a wealthy economy by traversing poverty to prosperity. 

The war on poverty does not address the challenge of being prosperous. It is not materialistic. It is what nation-building is. The development comes with treasure – so we can address Juan de la Cruz’s wellbeing instead of merely keeping body and soul together. 

But we don’t get that because we assume the system — capitalism — doesn’t work. That socialism is the answer. We have had “socialism” since we introduced LGUs. And we want to do more despite undermining the laws of physics? It is a glaring demonstration of the crab mentality. 

That is why the blog keeps asking, will we ever learn how to benchmark? 

We knew the word in our laboratory class in high school. That first experiment is still fresh to this septuagenarian: air has weight and occupies space. I cannot credit it to supervising the pharma unit of my old MNC-company and developing a breakthrough product.

Consider: Our neighbors are beyond poverty and have the luxury of doing more forward-thinking. That will ensure they keep us in the rearview mirror. 

Benchmark. Benchmark. Benchmark.

Many years later, I would break into a grin working with advertising agencies on Madison Avenue, that their guiding principle is to communicate to a grade five pupil. If she doesn’t get it, forget it.

The blog also speaks to big data and analytics. Again, it is not an academic exercise. Every working day, I do the “exercise” to demonstrate to my Eastern European friends how to figure out the “vital few” so they know where to focus efforts, resources, and investment — to (a) get the biggest bang for the buck and (b) overcome competition. 

They sell in as many as 70 countries and have 18 active brands, each with their respective variants. They know what big data is, not just the theory, but the reality. 

Let’s pause once more because growing an undertaking or an enterprise or an economy demands respecting physics as in the economies of scale. It requires setting priorities as in the vital few or Pareto. Conversely, the Pinoy crab mentality is a self-defeating exercise.

And because I have been doing big data and analytics for decades, despite the lockdown, we could do business and budget reviews while I was WFH. During my time at the MNC-company, I had to travel the region, if not the world, to do the activity.

Recall I also changed the planning and budget system of a 200-year-old MNC — to articulate the exercise parameters, numbers must mean or represent something.

To fight a takeover attempt by a dissatisfied investor, we went through a restructuring program and cut revenues by half to focus on our most significant businesses. And so, the planning and budget process must define and aggressively drive (1) revenues – to regain prior total company sales, (2) margins, and (3) efficiency.

I know we Filipinos are proud we created SGV. But this MNC hires from the best schools, including the Ivies, and the most prominent audit firms in the US. In short, these people know their planning and budgeting. However, they are also experienced in global competition and know that competition can come from anywhere in the world. America does not have all the answers.

That’s what I told my Eastern European friends when I first met them. “Can we even compete against these Western behemoths?” That was the question. And that is why “Don’t expect answers from me. I will teach you the principles, but you have to practice and practice and practice to learn the tricks of the trade.”

Did they make mistakes in the process? Of course, and I would tell them after the fact that I knew based on my own specific experience that they would. For example, there were years when they could have done even better. But the real world and authentic learning don’t come with paved roads. And the value of the experience is much greater than the cost of the error.

And we know that as part of growing up. We survived adolescence despite our youthful indiscretions. 

There are always exceptions. I will disagree if they put themselves into a disaster waiting to happen. For example, when we developed the first premium product, I did not even look at the mediocre supplier’s equipment offer. “This is lesson number one on the execution of this project. The mindset will shift from mediocre to premium, period.”

We had to borrow a ton of money from a Western bank, and the rest is history. Three of the brands, benchmarked against the world’s best brands, are giving Western giants a run for their money. Moreover, they know this once tiny enterprise from the poorest country in Eastern Europe is coming down the pike — with several more, like fifteen more. Think of Pareto and how they will prioritize to raise their firepower and go head-to-head against the West.

Recall how the Philippines’ most prominent companies bought into the mantra of catering to the “bottom of the pyramid.” Do we wonder why innovation is not our cup of tea and why we can’t match our neighbors export-wise?

It gets back to dualism versus relativism. 

The bedrock of innovation and product development is Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Call it inclusive if you will. The challenge for enterprises is to cater to these needs. It is not about consumerism but raising humankind’s wellbeing.

But we don’t get it because it goes against our instincts — to perpetuate our caste system and value hierarchy and paternalism.

What about capitalism versus socialism? I’ve lived in the heart of capitalism and the bowels of socialism. And “experience is the best teacher” — and paves the journey from dualism to relativism.

The acid test is: How does our effort play out in the real world? For example, we Filipinos cannot brush aside the reality that we are the regional laggard. We may be the Philippine elite class, but our “reality” is for the world to see. Translation: We did a disservice to capitalism and free enterprise. See above; Christianity and democracy are mirror images.

Consider: What case studies do we assign to our graduate business students? Western? That works in the West because they can be interns in these companies. But we have our eight top companies? That explains why we perpetuate monopoly power, political patronage, and oligarchy. They are not exposed to Samsung Vietnam or AirPods Vietnam, for example, to understand how one enterprise can outdo our top companies combined.

Recall our top exports, over 64%, are in the same product categories. But benchmarking is alien to us. And so is Pareto. Why? It’s the Pinoy crab mentality. And that brings us back to our instincts — from parochialism to a culture of impunity.

The blog is a story of my real-world experiences with one caveat: While people acknowledge my expertise, I continue to preach principles, not hard-and-fast rules. Why?

(1) American higher education failed the nation; it did not hold the keys to the future, i.e., clueless about Japan, Inc., and (2) the most outstanding product idea one can think of will be passe sooner if not later. Why? This universe is dynamic. 

Today, even capitalism is under siege. But then again, it is only a subset of a more significant set. Yet, people seek refuge in a playing field that keeps shrinking. Recall the paper and pencil puzzle to test one’s ability to think outside-the-box and connect the dots.

Recall that beyond the local and even the global markets, the Creator’s genius is for everyone to see. Humankind has this universe to be a co-creator in the creation story. I’ve shared the “photosynthesis” phenomenon — that we learned in grade school because nature demonstrates how to create and sustain a product or an undertaking  — with countless, and perhaps because of proximity, the daughter echoed it in a conversation with the wife.

Not a surprise; she’s a philosophy product of Brown. I don’t have her IQ and won’t qualify for an Ivy – except in an executive education program. And this was confirmed when I could not proceed beyond page one of a book she was reading. It was Greek to me. 

That’s why I bask in the glory of experience being the best teacher. That bodies of work confirm the story of my real-world experiences.

How are we then going to thrive in this universe, given our instincts?

We don’t appreciate how our caste system nailed us down, unable to progress. It is not a debate about conservatism or progressivism. Even the Vatican, a Roman empire product, through Pope Francis has eschewed hierarchy. It is too archaic to even be a reality in the 21st century.

That is why the world supported Prince Harry for opting to leave royalty. But we Filipinos can’t shed our rank and privilege.

What about paternalism? It is an insult to human dignity. In other words, we like to argue that Western-style democracy is not for us. Indeed, it is not for us because we can’t forego paternalism. The evidence? The 91 percent approval rating we gave Duterte despite the war on drugs condemned by the free world.

And we take it as a virtue and why we borrow hundreds of millions (dollars) to keep the 4Ps going. Yet, we play blind that our neighbors took a different path to overcome poverty. 

Will we ever learn to benchmark?

Should we again pause to ponder the question?

Those of us in higher education must be familiar with William G. Perry, Jr. “He was a well-known educational psychologist who studied the cognitive development of students during their college years. He was a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and founder and longtime director of the Bureau of Study Counsel. While at Harvard, he developed his college-age students’ intellectual and cognitive development theory through a 15-year study during the 1950s and 1960s. His work was very influential in the field of student development.

“Fundamental to the Perry scheme is the nine stages of student development – from dualist to relativist.

“The nine positions of the Perry scheme has three broader categories, which Perry identified as 1) dualism modified (or dualism + “multiplicity”), 2) relativism discovered, and 3) commitments in relativism developed.

“The Perry scheme addresses issues distinct from those commonly discussed under the rubric of ‘critical thinking.’

“Critical thinking can be understood as the ability to weigh evidence, examine arguments, and construct rational bases for beliefs. Or how do we arrive at our reasoning? Is it relevant and adequate?

“However, Perry’s scheme speaks to epistemic issues underlying critical thinking: students’ assumptions concerning the nature and acquisition of knowledge (or truth.) [Wikipedia]

In other words, critical thinking is elusive if we’re stuck at the level of dualism.

What about System 1 and System 2 Thinking – i.e., automatic vs. conscious – from behavioral economics? We are yet to get ourselves into this branch of economics.

The two systems also explain why populism appeals to people. People react automatically to something they see as responding to their needs. In the Philippines, we know this as retail politics.

It also explains why Trump beat Hillary. He appealed to the basic fear of the average Joe. Trump tried it again — with MAGA — for his reelection yet failed. 

More people than his base have moved from System 1 to 2 thinking, i.e., more conscious of what he was all about. A fraud or a Russian agent? Only Putin is enjoying the spectacle without investing more for his KGB colleagues.

Then think of why populism didn’t soar like a rocket? Because the Emperor had no clothes?

Put another way, it is easier to communicate at the dualistic level and why it is not easy to move up to relativism. Or why Christ had to die on the cross.

Or it is easy to be Fox News than the New York Times.

And in our case, as Filipinos, “innovation” is way beyond Juan de la Cruz’s basic needs — that we are yet to recognize the challenge of “innovation.”

Innovation will not go away and continue to raise the bar for us. Yes, also for the average Joe, i.e., the next Trump is not the answer to the developed world’s post-industrialization era.

Why? To thrive in this dynamic universe, human need can’t be but dynamic. See above; the bedrock of innovation is Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs.

The good news is the 21st century is not about technology, per se, because everything comes from the mind. Technology is beyond 5G that we like to talk about — or STEM. 

Recall in my old MNC-company, it was not the central tech center where we had a thousand scientists that discovered the breakthrough product, but a small private R&D lab ran by two Ivy professor-scientists part of the network of the pharma unit. It is classic out-of-the-box.

As a first step, we Filipinos must learn how to think across disciplines to leverage Filipino brainpower. For example, nation-building is beyond economics.

And because religion is at the very heart of our psyche, we must learn from the Harvard Business Review’s article – “Innovator’s DNA” – to appreciate George or Fr. George Gorospe’s treatise on “reality.”

We must be able to practice “associating –  the ability to successfully connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas from different fields, being central to the innovator’s DNA.”

It’s a New Year, again. It will not be easy to move the Philippines forward if we don’t step up to the plate.

Consider our leader-dependency. It blocks us from recognizing that democracy demands personal responsibility to pursue the common good like Christianity. It is self-government, not leader-dependency.

That is why we created a Marcos and then a Duterte. And we want another one?

Or do we want to reinvent ourselves?

Gising bayan!

[Happy New Year!]