Parochialism: the eye of our perfect storm

Parochialism lulled us into believing we are the center of the universe. And it is manifested by our caste system.  

Why disturb the apple cart when hierarchy comes with paternalism? Unsurprisingly, we never understood dynamism and remained an “adolescent” – i.e., an underdeveloped economy and nation. Our worldview is so ingrained that our “reality” continually shrinks.

“The individual who feels secure and comfortable with the status quo sees no need for change.” [Fr. George Gorospe, SJ]

Here’s a breath of fresh air: “Reforming, rebuilding and recalibrating;” Gerardo P. Sicat, CROSSROADS TOWARD PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRESS, The Philippine Star, 21st Oct 2020.

“We must recognize the mistakes or inadequacies of the past and tackle them with a fresh approach.

“There is no substitute for a more direct assault on the issue of reducing constitutional impediments to foreign investors if the country wants to move faster on the subject of foreign investment attraction. Such an effort will give substance to recalibrating the country's desire to be competitive with neighbors.

“Therefore, the nation’s leaders must find a way to address the issue of this ‘original sin’ in the investment laws through an amendment that softens or transfers the specifics of restrictions to national-law making.

“In short, the subject ought to enter the realm of parliamentary legislation, not constitutional prescriptions. It is the best expression of intent to simplify many foreign investment rules in the country.”

Understandably, our economic managers must assure us that we are doing the right thing to deal with the pandemic’s economic impact.

We know that we remain a service-consumption economy and getting a free lunch courtesy of over 10 million OFWs. The status quo is not good enough. We must rapidly move up to an industrial-investment economy. Even our neighbors have shown concern that they want us to heed their advice and examples.

Those familiar with the blog know it often speaks to the Asian Tigers. And that Lee and Mahathir advised Deng to beg for Western money and technology. The writer was a regional manager when this was all happening and himself, representing his old MNC-company, negotiated JVs in these countries, including China and Vietnam.

“When the coronavirus pandemic fades, I expect the Philippines to be an economic champion, outperforming other emerging economies in its class.

“But we are not out of the woods yet,” the BSP chief cautions.” [A better economy, Tony Lopez, Virtual Reality, manilastandard.net, 23rd Oct 2020]

With due respect to the BSP chief, we have been an emerging economy for the longest time. Our neighbors have left us behind. We cannot take our eyes away from the ball.

Consider: “Myron Scholes is the co-originator of the Black-Scholes options pricing model. He was a key player in the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, one of the biggest hedge fund disasters in history — just after he and Robert Merton won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on options pricing.” [Myron S. Scholes, by Will Kenton, Investopedia, 7th Jun 2018]

Perfection is not of this world. The Markov model comes to mind every time the writer hears predictive exercises. It is an excellent model. But there is always a caveat. And that is how he guided the Ph.D. candidate in her dissertation. She does not disappoint, navigating the real world, rapidly ascending the corporate ladder, managing one of the world’s most popular brands.

This universe is dynamic, not static.

“When we think of problem solvers, many of us tend to picture a poised and brilliant engineer. We may imagine a mastermind who knows what she’s doing and approaches a problem with purpose.

“The reality is that most good problem solving has a lot of trial and error; it’s more like the apparent randomness of rugby than the precision of linear programming.

“We form hypotheses, porpoise into the data, and then surface and refine (or throw out) our initial guess at the answer.

“They require an embrace of imperfection and a tolerance for ambiguity—and a gambler's sense of probabilities.

“The real world is highly uncertain. Reality unfolds as the complex product of stochastic events and human reactions.” [Six problem-solving mindsets for very uncertain times, Charles Conn and Robert McLean, McKinsey Quarterly, 15th Sep 2020]

Sadly, beyond the challenges of a dynamic universe, we like to shoot ourselves in the foot.

Consider: “A 42-year-old man with hardly any experience in any national government heading the House intrigues. Or a Prez without just sending a messenger to tell Allan, Alan and All: ‘The Prez wants this,’ and hears, ‘Oo, and what else can I do for him (or Mayor Sara; in one speculation,’ the new speaker is her choice).

“When I was still in grade and high schools, those in government, politicians, judges, the military, and other civil servants were professionals. The Marcoses managed to harm, minimize, or ruin our values, institutions, and processes in 20 years. I don’t know if and when we can recover, but how the House resolved the speakership issue is unpromising.

“The House, as an independent body, can pick a speaker any time. The President has no business openly flaunting whom his choices are without caponizing the House.” [Savagery, civilization, decay; Rene Saguisag, The Manila Times, 23rd Oct 2020]

But let’s get back to dynamism.

And here is a question to us in the chattering classes: Why are we not promoting big time the imperative to move up to an industrial-investment economy? Why did we drop the ball on Arangkada, for example?

“The proper medicine to redirect the issue of Philippine human resources going abroad for work is to build an economy based on labor prosperity right at home, where domestic and foreign capital add to the economy’s productivity. Such policies would have a higher multiplier impact on the domestic economy than workers finding jobs in other countries.

“If we attract foreign capital more into our shores and make them more substantial here in our country, domestic investments will also prosper since the economy would be enlarging. Such is the story of progress in many East Asian success stories. It is not the original fear that foreign capital would displace domestic capital.

“In such a midst, many success stories in Asia consist of the founding of domestic businesses flourishing within the prosperity built by an open economy. In this way, quality jobs are made at home to absorb the available domestic labor in employment.

“Taking a close look at our political system, the country’s decision-making from administration to administration has produced little to lift us out of our problems. In the course of our almost eight decades of independence, here is what it has achieved for us:

“At the birth of our independence – as the world awoke from the destruction of World War II – we were ‘the most likely to succeed among many developing countries in the East Asia region.’

“For decades, we have struggled to keep pace with some of the more prosperous economies in the region. And lately, we are still being surpassed by latecomers to the development game.

“We were among the first democracies in the region. Today, because of our economic experience, we are still struggling to become a better democracy, while some of us suspect our democracy is failing us.” [Sicat, op. cit.]

That’s the macro view. What about the micro, e.g., MSMEs?

Those familiar with the blog will recall that the writer’s presence in Eastern Europe, arranged by USAID, assists MSMEs. While his career in a Fortune 500 company equipped him for the challenge, what it boils down to is the size of an enterprise does not alone explain why MSMEs, especially in the Philippines, cannot pull their weight.

Consider: ‘Most people never call and ask. And that’s what sometimes separates the people who do things from those who dream about them. You got to act. You got to be willing to fail. You got to be willing to crash and burn. If you’re afraid you’ll fail, you won’t get very far.’

“That was Steve Jobs in a 1994 taped interview.

“He’s right. The fear of failing can paralyze us – cause us to do nothing and keep us from getting very far. Some causes include:

“A reluctance to experiment with new ideas and try new things.

“Procrastination. You fear failing, so you avoid following through with goals.

“Low self-esteem or self-confidence. Example: ‘I’ll never find success, so I may as well go back and get a real job,’ or ‘I’m not smart enough to start a business.’

“The good thing about the fear of failure is that it’s entirely up to us to decide how to look at it. Perspective matters. We can choose to see ‘failure’ as the worst-case scenario and toss in the towel, or as a learning experience that helps us bounce back, grow, and become even better.

“1 sure way to reduce your fear of failing. Facing failure head-on and embracing it is pretty courageous. But if you’re not quite ready to make that leap, there is one sure way you can reduce the fear of failing: Squashing the negative dialogue in your head.

“To quiet the voice of criticism, doubt, or fear, you have to catch negative thinking. Blaming yourself or believing you won’t succeed is a recipe for passivity and depression.

“So, challenge the inner monologue in your head by reframing. For example, write down three alternative ways of viewing a situation. Go to work tomorrow and act as if at least one of those alternatives is correct.

“Happiness and success are ignited when our internal environment is free from negative assumptions. Countering destructive thoughts makes us better friends to ourselves and more desirable partners, colleagues, and coworkers.” [Steve Jobs: 1 Thing in Life Separates the People Who Do Things from Those Who Dream About Them; Marcel Schwantes, inc.com, 24th Oct 2020]

Let’s get back to parochialism.

The blog often speaks to forward-thinking. In today’s globalized world, that means even if one starts an MSME, to succeed means to be prepared to take on all comers, including Western giants.

The starting point is not to whine that there is no access to financing. That is precisely what Steve Jobs shot down in the above interview.

The writer chose the challenge to help his Eastern European friends because they had very little capital in a small market (of less than 10 million) yet facing competition from global behemoths.

And they had lost money for eight years. After the writer arrived, they still lost money for three more years. But with the writer, they developed a game plan to become a one-hundred-million-dollar enterprise. And they did and why the EU recognized them as a model.

Today they are far more prominent – being themselves an MNC – and matching Fortune 500 companies in profitability, despite the pandemic. They are a more formidable competitor to these Western giants because of the innovation culture, investing aggressively in capital expenditure, including robotics, and marketing and paying factory people in the 75th percentile of comparable companies, including MNCs.

Recall what the blog keeps saying, “inequality” is not addressed by paternalism but by the commitment to the common good. 

Forward-think, think “ecosystem.” 

But first, recognize our mistakes and inadequacies. 

Then act!

“Most people never call and ask. And that’s what sometimes separates the people who do things from those who dream about them. You got to act. You got to be willing to fail. You got to be willing to crash and burn. If you’re afraid you’ll fail, you won’t get very far.”

Gising bayan!

“Here is a land in which a few are spectacularly rich while the masses remain abjectly poor. And where freedom and its blessings are a reality for a minority and an illusion for the many. Here is a land consecrated to democracy but run by an entrenched plutocracy, dedicated to equality but mired in an archaic system of caste. 

“But the fault was chiefly their own. Filipinos profess the love of country, but love themselves – individually – more.” [Ninoy Aquino, Foreign Affairs magazine, July 1968; Stanley Karnow, New York Times Magazine, “Cory Aquino’s Downhill Slide,” 19th Aug 1990.]

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, 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]

“True social reform has little to do with politics. To unmoor ourselves from the burdens of the past, we must be engaged in the act of continual and conscious self-renewal. All men are partially buried in the grave of custom. Even virtue is no longer such if it is stagnant.

“Change begins when we finally choose to examine critically and then recalibrate the ill-serving codes and conventions handed down to us, often unquestioned, by the past and its power structures. It is essentially an act of imagination first.” [David Henry Thoreau; American essayist, poet, and philosopher; 1817-1862]

“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]

“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]

Forward-think, think “ecosystem.”

Were Lee and Mahathir engaging Deng in forward-thinking when they advised him to beg for Western money and technology? Were they likewise manifesting they had moved up in human development that they’re beyond dualism – either/or – and into relativism?

Consider: “Lee skillfully navigated Singapore among the world’s great powers. He recognized that in this globalized, interdependent world, small countries’ survival relied on big ones’ stability. With China rapidly rising into a significant regional power, the traditional power division between the US and China is losing balance and has become Southeast Asia's biggest concern.

“Lee took the lead in negotiating between China and America, in the best interest of his country as well as regional security.” [Lee Kuan Yew’s Legacy for China-Singapore Relations, Chen Nahui, and Xue Li, The Diplomat, 5th Dec 2016]

Lee’s worldview engendered his ability to forward-think and recognize this globalized, interdependent world.

Let’s stop right there.

Will we Filipinos ever figure out that we are not the center of the world? We are a subset of a more significant set, aka divine oneness. And if we believe in the Creator, it was meant to be.

That is why the blog speaks to the dynamism of creation, and nature manifests it 24/7 via the photosynthesis phenomenon. It is the heart of human development and why people and nations move up from dualism – either/or – to relativism.

And humankind is equipped accordingly, as in the hierarchy of human needs. And it is central to the 21st century’s demands of innovation. But that is why Padre Damaso is a pariah.

Are we surprised why innovation and global competitiveness elude us?

From Lee, let’s go to Mahathir. Consider what he said to us Filipinos. “He stressed the importance of industrializing. Industrialization became necessary because agriculture could not create enough jobs for the growing population.

“Government must welcome more foreign direct investments, and help businesses. ‘At a time when newly-independent countries were nationalizing foreign-owned industries and businesses, we decided to invite foreigners, including the former colonial masters to come back and invest in industries in Malaysia.’” [Mahathir questions Filipino-style democracy, RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News, 11th Jul 2012]

These Asian leaders weren’t parochial and insular.

Let’s take Deng and Zhou Enlai. “Here in Paris, it is impossible for any China observer not to reflect on Deng Xiaoping and his student years in France, a period which marked him, and thus China’s history, with immeasurable impact.

“It is a bedrock portion of Deng Xiaoping’s apocryphal story that he studied in France, and was deeply impacted, both personally and ideologically, by the experience.

“Lesser emphasized outside of China is that Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong’s enigmatic yet charismatic premier and minister of foreign affairs, who played the pivotal role in the negotiations that led to the rapprochement of relations between the People’s Republic and the United States, was also a student in France.” [How Post-WWI France Helped Shape Revolutionary China, Bonnie Girard, The Diplomat, 22nd Jan 2019]

These Asian leaders engaged big nations while we wanted to burn bridges and disengage from the US because we’re still at the dualism level? But did the South China Sea imbroglio wake us up?

The acid test will be: To demonstrate that we can forward-think and create for this beloved nation, the ecosystem that will mirror the soul of creation. Think of the photosynthesis phenomenon.

Sadly, Padre Damaso consigned us to blind obedience. Consider our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism that we rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Unsurprisingly, forward-thinking is not our cup of tea.

Here’s Lee again: “One of the most important lessons which he drew from the British – and one which, sadly, is seldom recalled today – is that independence neither required a complete break with the old colonial power nor was an automatic ticket to prosperity.

“British sense of fair play and Britain’s openness to foreigners were qualities that Mr. Lee always praised about the British. Yet, he had an irresistible desire – to criticize the British whenever he thought they were erring.” [Mr. Lee Kuan Yew had close ties with Britain, but was never a ‘colonial nostalgic,’ Jonathan Eyal, The Straits Times, 27th Mar 2015]

Do we see the similarities in worldviews between Lee and Mahathir? And do we wonder why our neighbors left us in the dust?

Consider: “AmBisyon Natin, 2040. By 2040, Filipinos enjoy a strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life. In 2040, we will all enjoy a stable and comfortable lifestyle, secure in the knowledge that we have enough for our daily needs and unexpected expenses, that we can plan and prepare for our own and our children's future. Our family lives together in a place of our own, and we have the freedom to go where we desire, protected, and enabled by a clean, efficient, and fair government.”

Compare our vision of the future against how Malaysia expressed theirs: “Vision 2020. The aim is to turn Malaysia into a fully industrialized country and quadruple per capita income by 2020. That will require the country to continue ascending the technological ‘ladder’ from low- to high-tech types of industrial production, with a corresponding increase in the intensity of capital investment and more excellent retention of value-added (i.e., the value added to raw materials in the production process) by Malaysian producers.” [http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Malaysia/sub5_4a/entry-3627.html]

Unmistakably, Malaysia’s vision is much far-reaching and better mirrors the photosynthesis phenomenon.

Forward-think, think “ecosystem.”

Do we recognize the folly of celebrating the OFW phenomenon? 

What about paternalism? Does it mirror an ecosystem?

“Lee admired Britain’s National Health Service, the prototype of a state-funded welfare system copied by most other industrial nations, and recounted his surprise when, during his Cambridge days, he received a pair of spectacles and dental treatments for free.

“But concluded that the system is unaffordable and that it discourages economic enterprise. Britain’s political experiments inspired him, yet also served as a warning.” [Eyal, op. cit.]

In other words, there’s no free lunch. The answer to “inequality” is not “paternalism” but the commitment to the common good. That’s a quote from an earlier posting.

So, where are we?

“Vietnamese set to get richer than Filipinos this year — IMF,” Ian Nicolas Cigaral, Philstar.com, 14th Oct 2020. “Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua did not respond to request for comment.”

Will we ever want to learn from others? How come to benchmark is Greek to us?

Consider: “According to Bill Gates, Asking These 2 Questions Will Make You a Better Leader,” Jason Aten, inc.com, 18th Oct 2020.

“Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve tackled every big new problem the same way: by starting with two questions. I used this technique at Microsoft, and I still use it today.

“Here they are: Who has dealt with this problem well? And what can we learn from them?”

“It’s reasonable to acknowledge that Bill Gates has figured some stuff out. The company he started, Microsoft, is one of the three most valuable in the world. His foundation has donated billions to public health research, among other things, eradicate polio and fund vaccines for Covid-19. You don’t typically think of him as someone who has to look elsewhere for answers, but he does. More important, he’s not afraid to say that he does.

“Which is maybe the most significant indicator of the quality of someone’s leadership – their willingness to ask those two questions. Here’s why I think they are so powerful:

“First, it requires you to acknowledge that you don’t have it all figured out. Regardless of what you are building, there’s a pretty good chance someone else has information that would be helpful to you. There’s a good chance that someone else has already had success in that area, and the smartest thing you can do is figure out who they are.

“Second, ask yourself what they’ve done that you can learn. Take the best of what has been accomplished and improve on it. Instead of inventing something, you can devote your resources to innovating and refining what has already worked and made it your own.

“The two most important aspects of leadership are setting the direction and influencing people to work in that direction. Those two questions make you better at both since it gives you a better sense of which direction will give you the best chance of success, and the information and experience you need to get there.”

The challenge Juan de la Cruz faces seems to be above his head? See above; Vietnamese set to be more prosperous.

Let’s start with national leadership. We never had one like the Asian leaders referenced above.

Yet, that is not surprising when we recognize that the leaders we’ve elected reflected the worldview of Juan de la Cruz: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism that we rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

We must create an ecosystem that will negate these instincts. Recall the demands of democracy, i.e., self-government, personal responsibility, and the common good.

How do we make AmBisyon Natin 2040 more dynamic?

Consider: “The aim is to turn Malaysia into a fully industrialized country and to quadruple per capita income by the year 2020.”

Like a broken record, the blog repeatedly raised the imperative to traverse poverty to prosperity. And given we’re a service/consumption economy, we must move up to an industrial/investment economy.

Let’s continue with the vision of Malaysia: “To be industrialized requires the country to continue ascending the technological ‘ladder,’ i.e., from low- to high-tech types of industrial production, with a corresponding increase in the intensity of capital investment and more excellent retention of value-added (i.e., the value added to raw materials in the production process) by Malaysian producers.”

How to do that? Consider what Mahathir said to us Filipinos. “He stressed the importance of industrializing. Industrialization became necessary because agriculture could not create enough jobs for the growing population.

“Government must welcome more foreign direct investments, and help businesses. ‘At a time when newly-independent countries were nationalizing foreign-owned industries and businesses, we decided to invite foreigners, including the former colonial masters to come back and invest in industries in Malaysia.’”

And here’s again a quote from an earlier posting: “Let’s get back to Vietnam and how they surprised the rest of the world, no different from the Asian Tigers before them.

“That is why the blog teed up two concrete initiatives for the Philippines to consider.

“Since our most significant exports are similar to those of Vietnam (a) to lure the most significant global brand in electronic devices and offer an aggressive tax regime, and (b) to mirror the development of the Pearl River Delta Economic development zone.

“That is how we get the biggest bang for the buck. We have been kicking around lots of the ‘trivial many’ that we miss the ‘vital few.’

“And that is a function of the lack of human development experience.

“The answer to ‘inequality’ is not paternalism but the commitment to the common good.”

See above; “the Asian leaders referenced engaged big nations while we wanted to burn bridges and disengage from the US because we’re still at the dualism level? But did the South China Sea imbroglio wake us up?

“Have we learned the lesson? The acid test will be: To demonstrate that we can forward-think and create for this beloved nation, the ecosystem that will mirror the soul of creation. Think of the photosynthesis phenomenon.”

Do we recognize that we struggle to forward-think?

Gising bayan!

“Here is a land in which a few are spectacularly rich while the masses remain abjectly poor. And where freedom and its blessings are a reality for a minority and an illusion for the many. Here is a land consecrated to democracy but run by an entrenched plutocracy, dedicated to equality but mired in an archaic system of caste. 

“But the fault was chiefly their own. Filipinos profess the love of country, but love themselves – individually – more.” [Ninoy Aquino, Foreign Affairs magazine, July 1968; Stanley Karnow, New York Times Magazine, “Cory Aquino’s Downhill Slide,” 19th Aug 1990.]

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, 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]

“True social reform has little to do with politics. To unmoor ourselves from the burdens of the past, we must be engaged in the act of continual and conscious self-renewal. All men are partially buried in the grave of custom. Even virtue is no longer such if it is stagnant.

“Change begins when we finally choose to examine critically and then recalibrate the ill-serving codes and conventions handed down to us, often unquestioned, by the past and its power structures. It is essentially an act of imagination first.” [David Henry Thoreau; American essayist, poet, and philosopher; 1817-1862]

“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]

“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]

Inequality and the common good

The answer to “inequality” is not paternalism but the commitment to the common good.

Translation: “Robbing” Peter to “pay” Paul doesn’t pass the “common good” test. Yet, because it is easy to mouth “inequality,” and given we equate paternalism with compassion, we believe we are model Christians – and patriots – by doing so.

Recall the consistent themes of the blog: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism that we rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

What are we dismissing? There is a parallel between Christianity and democracy. Take maturity and authenticity. They are the converse of hypocrisy.

In other words, democracy demands self-government, which translates to personal responsibility – that as a people, we strive for the common good.

Neither Christianity nor democracy is spoon-fed and self-absorbed. There is no free lunch. And that is why we have the choice to reject both. Recall “Love they neighbor as thy self.” Or in popular culture, “The Golden Rule.”

Consider: Because of our value of hierarchy and paternalism, we elevated political patronage and oligarchy to a superior position, beyond transparency – to answer the question, “What’s in it for me”?

Who cares if we are the pariah nation? In other words, after Marcos and after Duterte, we will breed more of the same. Did we not, in the elite class, applaud Marcos – and more recently – Duterte?

To buy into autocracy is an insult to Juan de la Cruz that we are consigning him to blind obedience and taking a pass on self-government, personal responsibility, and the common good.

In short, we have rejected democracy and become the “Bondying” nation. That is why Trump, given he never takes personal responsibility, is called a narcissist.

We trumpet PH as a fast-growing economy because of the OFW phenomenon and the BPO industry. We are taking credit away from over 10 million Filipinos whose families pay the social costs to keep this country afloat.

We can only look inward, not award. Otherwise, we should have known decades ago that we were on the wrong trajectory as a nation. To add insult to injury, we keep blaming others instead of ourselves.

Consider: “Amid these urgent and troubling times, the congressional intramural in the Philippines that has interrupted needed budget deliberations only serves to exacerbate our helplessness in the fight against the pandemic. The politicking will produce disturbing social implications in its selfish and shameless aftermath.” [Inequality and inclusive prosperity, Diwa C. Guinigundo, Signs And Wonders, BusinessWorld 15th Oct 2020]

Indeed, politicking has no place in these urgent and troubling times. However, beyond this urgency, we have a far more significant structural challenge beyond this year’s budget deliberations.

We can’t keep digging our heads in the sand.

Here’s Fr. George Gorospe, SJ, again, on authenticity and maturity: “The solution to a problem depends to a great extent on one’s awareness of the problem and his attitude towards it. The worse possible attitude is not to be aware of the issue at all.

“Filipinos will make no progress toward a Christian solution until they realize that the problem is severe and urgent.

“We cannot understand Christian commitment without saying a word about Christian responsibility. First of all, to be ‘responsible’ means to respond freely on one’s own independently of others, to be able to think and decide for oneself and therefore answerable or accountable for one’s actions. In this sense, being responsible is identical to accepting one’s status as a free independent individual, with being a person.”

Beyond taking credit away from the OFWs, we lionize our tycoons, yet our top eight companies can't even match one Vietnam enterprise's output because of our inward-looking instincts.

“Vietnamese set to get richer than Filipinos this year — IMF,” Ian Nicolas Cigaral, Philstar.com, 14th Oct 2020. “Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua did not respond to request for comment.

“Beyond public health, Calixto Chikiamco, president of Foundation for Economic Freedom, a group of former finance secretaries, said the Philippines’ slow-moving reforms such as opening up the economy to more foreign investments, put it behind.

“Vietnam has more capable institutions, have been very aggressive in liberalizing rules for foreign investment, and have adopted the correct strategy of focusing on improving agricultural productivity, light manufacturing growth, and exports.”

“After World War II, the ‘Asian miracles’ — first Japan, then Taiwan and South Korea, most recently China — grew their way out of poverty by opening to trade and investment and becoming manufacturing export powerhouses. Now, Vietnam is following the same path, but in an entirely new age.” [Is Vietnam the Next ‘Asian Miracle’ (?), Ruchir Sharma, The New York Times, 13th Oct 2020]

But it is not only in the industry where Vietnam shows us the way. Here’s a quote from an earlier posting.

“South Vietnam, following the Vietnam War, became a rice importer by 1965, but the output did rise in the 1970s. 

“Rice production in the Mekong delta has seen a phenomenal increase in recent years. This increase resulted from the planting of modern early maturing rice varieties, better management, appropriate government interventions.

“Forty-two IRRI researched varieties of rice were grown in the Mekong Delta, and these varieties cover 60% of the irrigated rice-growing area in the delta.

“The Philippines cannot be competitive by enhancing the rice production system alone. Its marketing system must, likewise, improve.”

Let’s get back to inequality. How relevant are the following to the Philippine dilemma?

Let’s start with, “Piketty advocates a transition to socialism. The Economist calls this ‘millennial socialism’ because it involves ‘democratizing’ the economy, transferring control from capitalists and the government elite to ordinary folk.” [Inequality and inclusive prosperity, Diwa C. Guinigundo, Signs And Wonders, BusinessWorld 15th Oct 2020]

And then, “In today’s world, many forms of injustice persist fed by reductive anthropological visions and by a profit-based economic model that does not hesitate to exploit, discard and even kill human beings. While one part of humanity lives in opulence, another part sees its dignity denied, scorned, or trampled upon and its fundamental rights discarded or violated. What does this tell us about the equality of rights grounded in innate human dignity?” [Fratelli Tutti by Pope Francis, Elfren S. Cruz, BREAKTHROUGH, The Philippine Star, 11th Oct 2020]

Of course, they are relevant. But those are motherhood statements that are not actionable as far as Juan de la Cruz is concerned.

The answer to “inequality” is not paternalism but the commitment to the common good.

And that is where we fall flat on our face. The search for the common good is not like that of the Holy Grail. History tells us how nations – and everyone started as underdeveloped –  traverse poverty to prosperity. And if we’re so unlike the Europeans, we have our neighbors to look up and imitate.

In other words, no nation was born on a silver platter.

Let’s restate the principles.

Democracy demands self-government, which translates to personal responsibility – that as a people, we strive for the common good.

Neither Christianity nor democracy is spoon-fed and self-absorbed. There is no free lunch. And that is why we have the choice to reject both. Recall “Love they neighbor as thy self.” Or in popular culture, “The Golden Rule.”

Consider: Because of our value of hierarchy and paternalism, we elevated political patronage and oligarchy to a superior position, beyond transparency – to answer the question, “What’s in it for me”?

Owing to our parochialism and insularity, we wasted decades instead of pursuing the common good.

And that is why we lack the experience in human development. And because of this inexperience, we can’t forward-think. For example, why can’t we set ourselves to traverse the road from poverty to prosperity?

“What’s in it for me,” gets in the way. Recall after the Americans gave us independence and elected Roxas president, graft and corruption came hand in glove with the public sector. At the same time, military police abuses in the provinces were rampant.

We didn’t learn authenticity and gain maturity. Our neighbors showed us the way. Instead, we assumed we had absolute knowledge – that we are the fastest-growing economy – forgetting that we are getting a free lunch courtesy of over 10 million OFWs.

If we have experience in human development, we would have known some fundamental givens. To traverse poverty to prosperity, we must know how to prioritize – to get the biggest bang for the buck. It is not “what’s in it for me.”

Vietnam, despite the Vietnam war, overtook us in the pursuit of industrialization and agribusiness. And all they did was replicate the Asian Tigers’ efforts – beg for Western money and technology. They saw that as a priority.

But let’s digress a bit.

How come we erected barriers to foreign investment while our neighbors begged for them?

Our values – i.e., parochialism, insularly, hierarchy, paternalism – undermined our ability to embrace the common good. And beyond our shores, the “common good” is expressed as interdependence.

Consider: Human development applies to people and nations. As humankind adapts to this world’s dynamism – e.g., from living in caves to modern-day homes – moves up from dualism, as in either/or, to relativism.

Think of Germany and Japan and how the allies had to deal with them. Yet, both nations today are paragons of interdependence.

People and nations can learn about common good and interdependence. It took a while despite nature being the manifestation of the very heart of creation, i.e., dynamism. And the best example is the photosynthesis phenomenon.

If we struggle with democracy and its demands of personal responsibility and the common good, how can we embrace nations’ interdependence?

Let’s get back to Vietnam and how they surprised the rest of the world, no different from the Asian Tigers before them.

That is why the blog teed up two concrete initiatives for the Philippines to consider.

Since our most significant exports are similar to those of Vietnam (a) to lure the most significant global brand in electronic devices and offer an aggressive tax regime, and (b) to mirror the development of the Pearl River Delta Economic development zone.

That is how we get the biggest bang for the buck. We have been kicking around lots of the “trivial many” that we miss the “vital few.”

And that is a function of the lack of human development experience.

The answer to “inequality” is not paternalism but the commitment to the common good.

If we are not there yet given our state of development, we better hurry. The world will not wait for us.

Gising bayan!

“Here is a land in which a few are spectacularly rich while the masses remain abjectly poor. And where freedom and its blessings are a reality for a minority and an illusion for the many. Here is a land consecrated to democracy but run by an entrenched plutocracy, dedicated to equality but mired in an archaic system of caste. 

“But the fault was chiefly their own. Filipinos profess the love of country, but love themselves – individually – more.” [Ninoy Aquino, Foreign Affairs magazine, July 1968; Stanley Karnow, New York Times Magazine, “Cory Aquino’s Downhill Slide,” 19th Aug 1990.]

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, 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]

“True social reform has little to do with politics. To unmoor ourselves from the burdens of the past, we must be engaged in the act of continual and conscious self-renewal. All men are partially buried in the grave of custom. Even virtue is no longer such if it is stagnant.

“Change begins when we finally choose to examine critically and then recalibrate the ill-serving codes and conventions handed down to us, often unquestioned, by the past and its power structures. It is essentially an act of imagination first.” [David Henry Thoreau; American essayist, poet, and philosopher; 1817-1862]

“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]

“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]