Can Juan de la Cruz lift himself?

Same old, same old – as far as Juan de la Cruz is concerned – equates to learned helplessness. Yet, it is unsurprising given that our neighbors turned us into the region’s basket case and perennial laggard.

“Learned helplessness occurs when an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances, even when they can.”

Have we resolved the car registration-plate fiasco from several years ago? How do we justify the constantly expanding “pork barrel” allocated to legislators? Why would agri products be a goldmine for smugglers and hoarders?

Silence is not golden when it perpetuates bucking personal responsibility. And then we turn around to question freedom and democracy. And for good measure, we point to the Western model.

We are no democracy – and are not free – when we disavow personal responsibility. Yet, given rank and privileges, we in the Philippine elite and chattering classes are the loudest voice against our shortcomings. Sadly, we don't even own up to our failings. And would want to point to a culprit.

Why did the blog relate the “organized confusion” so present in merely driving around Metro Manila? It is the microcosm of the life of Juan de la Cruz.

“Learned helplessness typically manifests as a lack of self-esteem, low motivation, persistence, the conviction of being inept, and ultimately failure.”

We keep plugging along and putting up more and more PEZA ecozones as though the over 400 haven’t demonstrated our insanity. Doing the same thing over again, expecting a different result, is how Einstein defined insanity. Ours is for the books, to the nth degree.

“The concept of learned optimism: By explaining events to ourselves constructively and developing a positive internal dialogue, people can break free from their cycle of helplessness.

“People can push back against learned helplessness by practicing independence from a young age and cultivating resilience, self-worth, and self-compassion. Engaging in activities that restore self-control can also be valuable.” [Learned helplessness, Psychology Today]

Given our sheltered upbringing, do we wonder why Juan de la Cruz – unwittingly – could personify Juan Tamad or Bondying?

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

The blog has repeatedly discussed the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept.

If we want to explain to Juan de la Cruz constructively the value of developing a positive internal dialogue – to address our challenge – what would that entail? Could it be that we’ve had a negative “internal dialogue”?

For example, isn’t our default challenge overcoming poverty? And in the process, we took the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept for granted. Unsurprisingly, we’ve been a disaster waiting to happen.

We have institutionalized the “crab mentality” and tossed the “common good.”

In other words, because we value the “trivial many” instead of the “vital few,” our economic development has been stunted.

To preserve rank and privileges, when we are higher in the hierarchy, we respond to the expectation of paternalism. And that explains how we consigned Juan de la Cruz to the bottom of the pyramid, pulling him farther away from practicing and developing independence.

That explains, too, why ours is no democracy. We don’t need the ICC because we are sovereign and adhere to the rule of law.

And did we say that with a straight face? Or are we living out our caste system? See above; the car registration-plate fiasco and beyond.

We are among the most corrupt in the world. And we know we're down the pits – of learned helplessness.

Our economic managers, legislators, and think tanks better set the example. Constructively, develop a positive internal dialogue – to address our challenge. For example, start with the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept.

And that means tossing the sacredness of the 6%-7% GDP growth metric. That will take a generation to move us up incrementally. And that means to recall and not fall into the “manufacturing uptick” prognosis of several years ago.

And not to keep putting up more PEZA ecozones and instead learn from our neighbors, the Pearl River Delta Economic Zond and the Samsung Vietnam partnership.

During the Duterte administration, a BOI official asked me how Pareto works in the real world. And this was a person that came up the STEM route at UP. It confirms that the academic world falls short of the real world.

And so I narrated the story of my Eastern European friends to demonstrate that a losing proposition of eight years, even in an MSME, can snowball to be a significant global player in the industry by focusing on the vital few. And for added measure, I narrated how my former Fortune 500 company had to sell over a hundred brands and purposely cut revenues in half to focus on the vital few.

Moreover, the blog has narrated numerous other examples. That is not to embarrass UP. It demonstrates the limitations of the “quant” approach, i.e., it is not the be-all and end-all in decision-making and the real world.

I’m back in New York, and the first email I got was from a Philippine executive, the company’s president. It’s his second stint as president. “Please keep sharing models; even our ExCom falls into the trap of the trivial many.” And he was educated in New York, had worked in a major US company, and was tapped by a Philippine company because of his credentials.

Jeff Bezos pointed out that even at Amazon, they don’t employ higher math in their algorithms. And we know how algorithms compromised the model used by social media behemoths like Facebook and elevated the monster that rewarded trolls. And when Maria Ressa won the Nobel prize, that was central to her argument behind the success of Rappler and why she faced countless suits.

And I have been an analytics practitioner for decades, and I develop my algorithms, not attracted to higher math models. And that’s how I set a different direction at my former Fortune 500 company’s planning, budgeting, and restructuring efforts. And that includes acquiring an outside technology to beat the competition in the race for “the next generation” product for our most significant brand. And it works even in the dissertation of a Ph.D. candidate that I assisted.

Still, in all cases, the lesson is the dynamism that is the character of this universe. And consistent with the elements of cognitive development. 

Iterate. Iterate. Iterate. 

It is not binary thinking or the search for the correct answer, as in perfection. It only happens in the classroom to ace an exam, but no currency in the real world.

But then again, as the Singaporeans recognized, the public sector is handicapped by the absence of the profit motive and hence does not have the body of knowledge regarding the advances in knowledge management. For example, in pursuing economic undertakings, it is critical to distinguish the “drivers” from the “enablers.”

TRAIN and “sustainable consumption” are enablers despite their elegance. And the Ang Bulacan initiative beyond the Bulacan airport is a “driver” because it will raise exports to $200 billion, enough for us to catch up with Vietnam, for example.

Moreover, “quick hits” – as in the vital few – enjoy the benefits of the compounding effect, on the one hand, and the trivial many do not – as in devolution, on the other.

Can Juan de la Cruz lift himself?

Not if he keeps pointing at a culprit instead of recognizing and accepting that “personal responsibility” is the cornerstone of freedom, democracy, and the free market. 

And how our neighbors awed the rest of the world as Asian Tigers.

Gising bayan!