That is to build on this article, “Do 4Ps recipients get lazy (?),” Cielito F. Habito, No Free Lunch, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 23rd Feb 2021.
“No evidence exists that CCTs induce more spending on ‘temptation goods’ like alcohol and tobacco. The available evidence implies that cash transfer programs do not induce the ‘bad’ behaviors often attributed to the poor.
“My take? I think the poor deserve more respect than what they seem to be getting from the rest of us.”
Amen.
But how do we build in respect for Juan de la Cruz and bury it in the Filipino ethos?
Recall the “oneness of the universe” and the Harvard Business Review’s article, “Innovators DNA.” To help appreciate the admonition from Ciel, we can relate it to the Japanese “quality ethos” that the world learned about during the heyday of Japan Inc.
Japanese quality sank corporate America and impelled them to dissect the failings of US higher education. Recall that was when my old MNC-company relocated the family to New York to expand my regional manager role.
The secret of Japanese quality is “they build quality in the process.”
“Lean manufacturing companies will have quality built in their processes as much as possible. By building quality into your process, you prevent unnecessary rework and scrap, i.e., your machines are capable of detecting abnormalities (jidoka), and your fixtures have ‘mistake-proofing’ to avoid ‘mis-assembly’ (poka-yoke).
“When considering quality built-in, the main aspect that should come to mind is ‘automation with a human touch’ or jidoka. That is one of the main pillars of lean manufacturing.
“The original concept was born when Toyota developed a loom that would stop when a thread breaks. That eliminates the need for a person to stand there and monitor each machine. Hence the term, automation with a human touch.” [Quality Built-In (lean-manufacturing-junction.com)]
How does that relate to respect for Juan de la Cruz?
We know about the Indian caste system and who the “untouchables” are. We have our caste system. And in fairness, even the Americans do. Recall the “southern strategy.”
“The civil rights movement and dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the 1950s and 1960s deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States. And 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]
In other words, the current far-right wing of the Republican Party is not new. It is decades old.
Then think of the Philippine caste system, and it comes from 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.
Instead of traversing poverty to prosperity as our neighbors have done, the poverty war is our be-all and end-all. Is that what our faith teaches, or is it a reflection of our value — hierarchy, and paternalism? Whatever happened to the oneness of creation — as in the common good?
Consider our reality: “Unctad rates poorly PHL capacity to tap resources,” Elijah Felice Rosales, BusinessMirror, 10th Feb 2021.
“THE Philippines has scored dismally in a United Nations index that measures the capacity of economies to take advantage of their resources to produce goods and services.
“The Philippines was rated 122nd out of 193 economies in the Productive Capacities Index (PCI) published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
“The country scored 29.81 on a scale of up to 100, as it struggled to compete in the areas of information and communications technology, transportation, and structural reforms.
“According to the Unctad, the PCI surveys the productive resources, entrepreneurial capabilities, and production linkages that together determine the capacity of a country to produce goods and services and enable it to grow and develop.
“The Philippines flunked in these categories: institutions, 47.07; human capital, 43.99; energy, 27.86; structural change, 20.02; transport, 12.82; and ICTs, 10.35.”
On the other hand, how come poverty is now in the rearview mirror of our neighbors?
We are trumpeting CREATE when its greatest beneficiaries will be our eight top companies.
That is not to single them out. The blog has repeatedly spoken to the “economies of scale.” Ergo: the largest companies will yield the most remarkable outcomes from significant initiatives, e.g., CREATE.
In the meantime, because we are focused on the poverty war – e.g., create more jobs – we are pursuing several industry road maps with no regard for the unintended consequences.
Translation: We cannot overcome the crab mentality if we don’t learn to prioritize. The blog does not suggest that these road maps are wrong.
We need leadership that will not feed our love of tyranny – and populism and our socialist bent. They have brought us misery and are now in the company of impoverished neighbors, i.e., Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar, while the rest have left us behind.
Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: “Over 64% of Philippine exports comes from (a) electrical machinery, equipment, and (b) machinery, including computers. In the next category are fruits and nuts at 3.7%.”
Even if we double our investment behind fruits and nuts, think coconut, banana, and mango will contribute less than 8% of GDP against the over 64% of our two top exports.
Tax revenues that we all want to disburse via the LGUs, for example, equitably, will not be boosted by doubling our investment in fruits and nuts.
Can we pause right there and ask ourselves if we’re coming or going?
Consider: We will have a windfall if we win over Apple AirPods.
“The AirPods are Apple’s fastest-growing device and are also the top-selling wireless Bluetooth earbuds with a 50% share of the market. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple sold about 65 million units last year; the latter expects 100 million units sold this year.
“Apple will produce millions of its popular AirPods wireless Bluetooth earbuds in Vietnam, i.e., 3 to 4 million units or 30% of total classic AirPods production will come from Vietnam.
“For now, Apple is not moving the assembly of its premium AirPods Pro to Vietnam; introduced last October, the ‘Pro’ version of the AirPods includes noise cancellation to keep outside noises out and transparency mode when users need to know what is going on around them.
“Most of the US companies, including Apple, are looking for non-China production. Some prefer Vietnam and some like Thailand, some in India, some in the Americas, and other Southeast Asian nations.” [“Apple will reportedly move 30% of AirPods production to Vietnam starting this quarter,” Alan Friedman, phonearena.com, 8th May 2020]
Question: Have we let this nation down? Neuroscience and psychology may provide insights.
For example, cognitive development is not the same as intelligence. Instead, it mirrors experience. And Singapore is an excellent example from several perspectives. Because of the continual pursuit of progress and development, it has overtaken the US in competitiveness.
Moreover, they are confident that an open economy does not deliver the nation to foreigners because of this experience. They fortify, not undermine, their independence with foreign investment. While we Filipinos, given our cognitive development level, cannot imagine how an oxymoron can exist. It’s called the real world.
In other words, parochialism and insularity aren’t what this universe is. Think of Texas and why it is in the news. But then, think of Venezuela too. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, yet it turned into an impoverished nation. Texas is the energy state. Was it hubris that turned them parochial and insular? They chose to isolate themselves from the power grids serving the western and eastern sections of the US. And today, they are paying the price of isolation. Does that sound familiar to Juan de la Cruz?
But let’s get back to Japan Inc. and how it sank corporate America and saw the development of the 4Cs of 21st-century skills: (1) Critical thinking; (2) Collaboration; (3) Communication; (4) Creative thinking.
We in the chattering classes have written about these 21st-century skills. Sadly, we are yet to internalize them. For example, the blog has repeatedly said that nation-building is beyond the science of economics. Again, that is not to single out one science but to stress that we have ways to get us on the right footing – to pursue nation-building successfully.
It also explains why “innovation” is not our cup of tea. Nor “competitiveness.”
Innovation is cross-discipline and why the blog has repeatedly raised the “Design Thinking” model that best captures Silicon Valley’s secret.
“Innovation” at its core is problem-solving. And it stems from a human need. And Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a source of insights. Shut it down as the source of evil, and it can explain why we lag in the pursuit of innovation.
For example, Juan de la Cruz’s hierarchy of needs goes beyond the CCT. Yet, we have not articulated a worldview consistent with nation-building, i.e., we must traverse poverty to prosperity.
If that sounds strange, should we take a pause and ask ourselves if we should set that challenge for ourselves?
The blog has also raised our misunderstanding of the value of the Philippine Competition Commission. More than its form is the principle. It must seek to open the Philippine economy, not preserved for our top companies. They represent Philippine political patronage and oligarchy.
On the other hand, “No evidence exists that CCTs induce more spending on ‘temptation goods’ like alcohol and tobacco. The available evidence implies that cash transfer programs do not induce the ‘bad’ behaviors often attributed to the poor.
“My take? I think the poor deserve more respect than what they seem to be getting from the rest of us.”
Amen.
But how do we build in respect for Juan de la Cruz and bury it in the Filipino ethos?
Gising bayan!
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