“Zamboanga del Norte has a poverty incidence of 51.6%.” That’s from “The tale of two Mindanao regions,” Rolando T. Dy, M. A. P. Insights, BusinessWorld, 12th Mar 2018.
And here is a picture from rural America: “The 2010 US Census listed Owsley County [in Booneville, Kentucky] as having the lowest median household income in the country outside of Puerto Rico, with 41.5 percent of residents living below the poverty line.” [A Princeton sociologist spent 8 years asking rural Americans why they’re so pissed off, Sean Illing, vox.com, 13th Mar 2018]
Recall this comparison of GDP or income per person (purchasing power parity) in US dollars: Philippines = 8,200; Singapore = 90,500; United States = 59,600.
In other words, the US on a per person basis has humongous capacity to provide a social safety net, if you will, compared to PH. And since it is a federal system, beyond the ability of each state to tax its people, the federal government also supports poor states. On the other hand, richer states contribute to the federal coffers.
And New Yorkers aren’t shy ever to express their perspective: “New York State pays big in federal taxes, but doesn’t get as much in return, says Controller Thomas DiNapoli,” Kenneth Lovett, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 27th Oct 2015.
“New Yorkers are givers, not takers. The state gets only 91 cents in federal funding for every dollar it sends to Washington — one of just 11 states that give more than they get.”
While poorer states are more federally dependent. “2017’s Most & Least Federally Dependent States,” John S Kiernan, wallethub.com, 21st Mar 2017. Of the most dependent states, No. 1 is Kentucky, No. 2 Mississippi and No. 3 New Mexico.
How should we then address our own challenge? Here’s a point of view: “[D]uring a hearing by the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes … [the] League of Provinces of the Philippines executive director Sandra Tablan-Paredes … read their resolution declaring their full support for the shift to federalism as a way to accelerate local development and spread economic gains throughout the Philippines.
“[S]he stressed the need to increase the Internal Revenue Allotment, which currently amounts to 16% of public spending.” [Expert warns: Charter change a classic strategy of autocrats, Tricia Aquino, InterAksyon, BusinessWorld, 13th Mar 2018]
But then again, see above re the US GDP or income per person vs. PH and the 41.5 percent poverty rate in Owsley County, Booneville, Kentucky; and the number one most federally dependent state.
In other words, poverty cannot be eradicated by taxation and safety nets even in a federal system in the wealthiest nation in the world. [Let’s hold our horses: are we a perception-challenged people? Recall what nations can learn from the innovation phenomenon of Silicon Valley, i.e., there are no sacred cows.]
On the other hand, why is Singapore wealthier per person than the US and more competitive? Precisely why the blog has argued, the Asian Tigers have a sense of foresight and the leadership that figured out how to traverse the journey from poverty to prosperity. That is, they begged for Western money and technology and pursued industrialization and export development rapidly and likewise went full speed ahead with infrastructure development.
While we Pinoys are so fixated that America is the big brother, “materiales fuertes.” Such that we feel inferior and didn’t want them looking over our shoulder nor be in our backyard that we kicked out the US military.
Very much like an adolescent, we’re neither here nor there – creating a vacuum that invites tyrannical rule if not foreign intrusion. What we thought we eliminated is back with a vengeance, i.e., beholden to one country if not another.
The blog often talks about the instincts of Juan de la Cruz and our static tendencies. And unsurprisingly, we take our culture as a given, cast stone: We are parochial and insular; we defer to hierarchy in return for paternalism; we value and rely on patronage, and political dynasties and oligarchy.
And why Rizal says we love tyranny – which can translate to a dictatorship if we continue to play with fire.
Many postings ago, the writer related an interaction he and friends had with a Singaporean. Instead of sitting on their laurels, this Singaporean and her peers worry about the next generation. That they may not have the fire in their bellies given the prosperity they were born into.
Consider how we Pinoys take pride in our “resilience” which is a euphemism for “pwede na ‘yan”? How often do we complain about Metro Manila traffic when we’re 50 years behind in infrastructure development? To us action is nibbling around the edges – i.e., we’re so focused on the symptoms but not the cause. We can’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time.
And does corruption rear its ugly head and thus a barrier to Build, Build, Build? A recent editorial asks if the rule of law has a direct bearing on development. If in fact it means a culture of impunity then it does?
On another but related subject, the writer skipped a beat when he read the article “Why do consumers buy(?),” Jose Luis C. Legaspi, The View From Taft, BusinessWorld, 7th Mar 2018.
“The Rolling Stones probably contributed to making Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs popular … A lot of marketing research has been devoted to answering the million-dollar question: ‘Why do consumers buy what they buy?’
“The topmost level in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization. In my opinion, no product falls under this category. No good is enough to forever satisfy a consumer.”
With due respect to Prof Legaspi, his expressed opinion misses the basic premise of the hierarchy of human needs. It is a continuum, it is not static but dynamic.
And in the article the professor acknowledges that: “I read somewhere that the birth of a baby is self-actualizing for a husband and a wife because they become parents. My beautiful wife Jen is four months pregnant with our first child. Our baby’s birth will be the start of a different rock ’n’ roll. I should know by late August if the occasion will indeed satisfy my need for self-actualization.”
How do we educate ourselves to be dynamic not static? That poverty is not destiny. Every nation started out poor. And in a democracy, we cannot be simply leader-dependent. Eradicating poverty is not the war on poverty but the pursuit of rapid development and nation building. And that is beyond the sole responsibility of leadership.
To quote from an earlier post, “The … enterprise calls for: (a) a forward-looking leadership with a strong sense of foresight; and (b) a people that is committed to the responsibility and accountability inherent in freedom and democracy, including active involvement in institution-building.
The writer is sorry to reference the professor. Consider: He has assisted his Eastern European friends over the last 15 years in their pursuit of innovation and global competitiveness – because they’ve demonstrated dynamism despite being subject to Soviet rule for decades. And Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs to them is Innovation 101, precisely because it is a continuum – that it is dynamic not static.
Another element of self-actualization that is misunderstood is it is confined to self. Yet humans can choose to be good as in being upright and values-driven.
Sadly, Padre Damaso saw the Indios as dumb that must be made passive and subservient. And Marcos and today Du30 lifted a page from his book that critics instead are the ones they take as dumb.
The outcome? Juan de la Cruz is yet to learn community and the common good.
One can be self-actualized and embrace the responsibility and accountability inherent in freedom and democracy and not be inward-looking – and ruled by crab mentality. And the latter in more ways than one explains our static tendencies.
On the other hand, if wealthy and highly competitive Singapore worries about the next generation, the rest of the world can only contend with a nation that is truly dynamic. Because they don’t want to leave something behind that is worse off. Where does that leave Juan de la Cruz? Sadly, the world has left us behind.
“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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