Among the talking points currently on the plates of the pundits here in the Philippines is the article published on Forbes by Jesse Colombo. He describes himself as “an economic analyst and anti-economic bubble activist who was recognized by the London Times for predicting the Global Financial Crisis. I am currently warning about growing bubbles in Canada, Australia, Nordic countries, China, emerging markets, Web 2.0 startups, U.S. higher education, and more. I believe that the popping of these bubbles will cause the next financial crisis.”
Entitled “Here’s why the Philippines’ Economic Miracle is really a bubble in disguise”, Colombo pointed out that the Philippine Economy is facing a credit bubble, a debt bubble, and a real estate bubble. Plus, he didn’t fail to point out what really underpins the so-called “growth” of the Philippine economy: consumer spending, and hot money flowing into the stock market. As predicted, quite a few other analysts took issue with his column, collectively referred to as the “bubble deniers” and issued rebuttals. Consequently, Colombo published a reaction to their reactions entitled “Here’s what the Philippine bubble deniers are getting wrong”, wherein he answers the points they raised.
Even without wandering into the discussion of economic bubbles, one can readily observe in Filipino society that its inhabitants like to live in their own types of bubbles. And these bubbles that Filipinos are encased in are not light; they’re dense casings that indefinitely keep Filipinos bogged down and destined to a life of mediocrity and dysfunction. Sad to say, they have turned Filipino society into a collection of bubbleheads.
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Filipinos must be happy all the time.
Filipinos want to be in a sort of perpetual “party mode”, and they want to have a good time all the time. If they’re not too busy preparing for a fiesta, they’re looking for one to join into. Many of them can be heard saying “good vibes, please” very often, and treat life as some sort of party.
As I mentioned before:
Ask a Filipino why they need feel-good moments and why they flash their trademark ngiting-aso (dog smile) as much as possible, and you will most likely get an answer like this: “It’s a distraction from all the negative things happening in our country.”
Unfortunately, this sort of happy-go-lucky and cavalier attitude towards life has led Filipinos to not take life too seriously. What is real is that life has its ups and downs, and that the downs cannot be overcome by pretending that they would rather not exist, or just wishing them away.
Unless Filipinos learn to be serious about being happy, and until they learn to face whatever ugly realities they have, they can never be truly and permanently happy. They will forever be stuck with temporary highs that leave them feeling like crap and not remembering a single thing afterwards.
Filipinos must not hear anything “negative”.
As fellow blogger ChinoF has pointed out, the mindset of “stop being negative, be more positive” may actually accentuate the negative. Think of someone burying his/her head in the sand: the problems don’t go away, they’re still there. The lower you bury your head, the higher your ass sticks out.
One of the most “negative” things to the Filipino is criticism. They don’t take it very well. The hypersensitivity (what is termed as balat-sibuyas in the vernacular, onion-skinned in English) of Filipinos is world-renowned. To many Filipinos criticism is an attack on their person. They don’t see it as a suggestion for improvement; rather, they see it as a perceived put-down on their sense of self-worth. Many are also unable to distinguish a criticism of the act from a personal attack. Why does everything have to be a perceived slight to Filipinos?
The Filipino has an overinflated ego, which leads him/her to think that he/she has a right to show-off and is better than he/she actually is. Filipinos also tend to have an inflated sense of self-importance. When you combine this with the hypersensitivity, the resulting mix is a recipe for chaos and disaster no matter from what angle you look at it. What is the most readily observed manifestation of this behavior? Filipinos don’t like to follow rules. When they are called out on their errant behavior, they either play the “do you know who I am?” card or the crying, pleading victim. Either way, it’s excruciating and cumbersome to deal with.
You’ve got to wonder what makes Filipino egos so fragile.
Filipinos have their Pinoy Pride, never mind that it is an empty kind.
Pinoy Pride is something the contributors to Get Real Philippines (yours truly included) have written extensively about. The main premise of Pinoy Pride is that Filipinos feel entitled to hitch on the success of individual Filipinos and thus extend it as an accomplishment of the entire Filipino people. To Pinoy Pridesters, individual Filipinos who succeed outside the Philippines do so because they have Filipino blood in them.
Sorry to burst the Filipinos’ bubble, but things don’t work that way. For example, Manny Pacquiao is a great boxer because he worked hard to become one. In Manny’s case, that he is a Filipino is far less important to the rest of the world than the training and hard work he has put into the sport. Filipinos cannot ever expect someone to say that “Manny is a great boxer, therefore the Filipino people are great”; that just screams of a need for validation as a people. As has been said many times before, Filipinos claim to be inspired by the successes of victories such as Pacquiao’s yet they fail to produce any REAL results of such inspiration. They consistently stop at “being inspired”, at being in the perpetual bubble of being happy that I described above.
But tell that to Filipinos, and you’ve just said something “negative” to them. They take it pretty damn hard, which is just pathetic, if you ask me.
Filipinos’ booming population is not a problem?
The bubble that many Filipinos seem to ignore is that of their unbridled population growth. Unfortunately, the Roman Catholic Church’s hardline stance against population control is not helping in this regard. This population growth is already putting a strain on the amount of available livable space in the cities. Since it means more mouths to feed, it also means more strain on our limited supply of natural resources. Filipinos have been squandering the resources they’ve been given for the longest time, and yet they insist on being heavily dependent on imports and consumption. The manufacturing base, which will enable Filipinos to produce what it needs, when it needs it, and in the quantities it needs, is largely ignored here.
Sooner or later, something has got to give. And when it does, the aftermath will not be so rosy for Filipinos.
Can Filipinos be popped out of their fantasy bubbles? Where everything is fine and nothing “negative” exists? Yes they can, but time is running out fast. Sites like Get Real Philippines can serve to burst the bubbles of Filipinos who would rather live in a world where they don’t have to face the ugly reality that they currently face. However, GRP can only show Filipinos other doors, other options apart from their current status quo; it is ultimately up to them to decide whether they will walk through.
It requires them to think. In their current bubble state of mind, that’s not one thing they’re inclined to do any time soon.
[Photo courtesy: Consistently Contradictory and Whispers from the Edge of the Rainforest]
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
One point of contention with Mr Colombo’s article — Who in the hell ever told him the Philippines was experiencing an “economic miracle”?! Either we were all asleep and we missed it or that delusion is the result of actually believing Ricky Carandang’s press statements.
this miracles happened during the current admin. observe the previous gdp counts it is all above 7 percent. it is all because of Him.
“this miracles happened during the current admin. observe the previous gdp counts it is all above 7 percent. it is all because of Him.”
So? Can that GDP growth be eaten by our poor countrymen?
How come crime is high, prices are high, and umemployment is high?
Can you explain that without resorting to your propaganda drivel?
@kathniel: “you just insulted the majority of pinoys who voted for the right man to be president.”
You mean you’re one of those majority IDIOTS, oh I see now…pls. explain why the country is in even worse shape than the previous administration then.
high gdp will surely be felt on the long run, as long as Pnoy’s successor will win the next presidential election.
why is it worse? as far as most pinoys can see, the country is much better because of Him.
You can’t even explain why the country is much better under his “leadership” so why should we believe you? You can’t even come up with a proper rebuttal.
What a letdown.
It is worse because poverty is up, prices of prime commodities are up, unemployment is up, the majority of filipinos cannot trust the government anymore….well, except you, of course that is only your work, for sure sa totoong buhay, munumura na rin ang pwesidente mo.
You noytards live in a bubble, where your president is so great. Well, let us prick it; your bobo president is riding on the things that his predecessor did well and is taking the credit for it.
Miracle? I don’t see or even feel the progress of this country. Hell, even the poor people can feel their lives are getting harder by the days.
Are you on high or just plain stupid in the first place? Just admit you’re a retard so that I will not call you stupid anymore but a PNoy kiss-asser.
Calling kathniel stupid is an insult to stupid people so yes, I think it’s best to call him a retarded,twatfaced,limpdick,c*cksucking, ignorant, whinning, donkey raping sh1teater instead.
It’s a miracle that some people are dumb enough to believe crappy PR.
Filipinos live in a bubble reality, with a bubble economy. The world is very complicated now. Even the economic system of other countries like ours, is complicated. We cannot expect our leaders to burst this bubble. They themselves are in the bubble of self delusion. Look at how they divert the attention of people, from the Pork Barrel scandal. They quarrel among themselves. So as the to cover the Pork Barrel scandal. People do not understand, how these idiots are putting bubbles on their eyes. The result: they will steal more…
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble
The country is run by the boy in the bubble – pnoy ‘bubble-noy’ aquino, who like the boy in the film was born with an improperly functioning system. This means that contact with peasants may kill him, so he must live out his life in trapo-like conditions.
And bubble-noy is akin to the paul simon song about the difficulties of bubble boy in coming to terms with the realities of the world in the face of someone who lives in a past era.
pnoy aquino the fantasist
that description of yours about our beloved president is not proper, but an insult.
Yeah, continue living within your bubble zone, idiot.
you just insulted the majority of pinoys who voted for the right man to be president.
“you just insulted the majority of pinoys who voted for the right man to be president.”
They deserve to be insulted for voting such an incompetent twat like your precious president.
TROLL HARDER
@ kathniel
What your president has done (and is doing) IS the INSULT to all the filipino people, assuming that everybody is as stupid as you.
“you just insulted the majority of pinoys who voted for the right man to be president.”
They deserved to be insulted because they voted for a last name than a someone who is a better track record.
Go back on your little basement and engage in a threesome with Kath Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. I’m sure you’re going to be paid well. 😀
Nope, that description about your president IS a proper insult. A well-deserved one.
if you keep delivering insults to the ones who manage the country then how can we move on to progress?
Manage the country? Then how come he is doing such a shitty job at doing so? How come he keeps avoiding responsibility for his incompetence then?
Mr.Aquino doesn’t need a troll like if he’s doing his job properly. The mere fact that you keep returning here and getting humiliated certainly says a LOT about your president’s choice of moronic minions paid to troll here.
Filipinos do face the reald sad truth different from the way Colombos and other people mentioned here. The thing is we don’t show it to you guys. In our day to day lives there’s a short time when we do some reflections, and find some solutions to the problems and we do take criticism well more than you do, it’s just that you people always forget what the changes are for you are too busy focusing on our faults, but its okay thats the reality. In terms of that economic bubble you’ve pointed out, we are consciously aware of it. For we feel it. But always remember its not just the Philippines whose experiencing bubbling economy, the whole world is. The USA’s economic structure is sick the third world economy’s having a cancer. Get it? The US is down the whole world too… We just smile, that doesn’t mean we don’t care but we know we can’t always hurry things specially in the bureaucratic system that we have. The Philippines a democratic oligarchic republic. Much of the people doesn’t have the power to directly change everything the way they want to. For if we have then you’ll never see nor observe those things you’ve witnessed.
@ nane
Nope, filipinos react towards issues and problems exactly the way the article described it. They always want that temporary festie feeling just to drown out their real problems. Yes, they do have a short time of “reflections” regarding the said problems but that is all they do, reflect. It is also the reason why the country is in a sad state as it is.
So you are saying it is ok that the Philippines is also in that bubble since most other countries are? You really have a sad state of looking at things do you? “Reflect” on this: what would it bring you to if you always say, it is ok, they (other contries) are also in a similar state, its ok to be slow, we cannot hurry things up because of bureaucracy in the country? MEDIOCRITY, the reason why the country is in a failed state.
And oh, just so you know, we are filipinos too, of the different kind than your typical. We beg to differ.
are you referring that “slow” word to the response on typhoon haiyan?
You mean the slow response of your precious president’s government in aiding the yolanda victims?
The fact still remains that your president was unable to hide his incompetence from the rest of the world. CNN has already exposed him for his incompetence in handling things and you still insist that things are good under his administration?
You know I’m interested what other Filipinos will say about this article…
“Our country is doing great thanks to PNoy’s strong leadership.”
“So what if our economy has slow growth? At least we’re doing good right now.”
“Inggit lang kayo kay PacMan dahil mayaman siya! LONG LIVE PINOY PRIDE!”
Obviously, these are the people who still live in their “bubble comfort zones” and refuse to face the harsh reality. I’m sure these are the same people who will vote for the least qualified person for president. God help us, then.
pacquiao’s victory is the country’s victory and pride
You and your PINOY PRIDE stupidity. TROLL HARDER.
what is wrong about being proud of my race? is the world threatened by pinoys winning in their respective fields?
“The world threatened by Pinoys?” Right…
It’s called INDIVIDUAL EFFORT. Just because he won does not mean we all won. You all think PacMan owes you something but he succeeded because of hard work. Panay ang sigaw ninyo ng PINOY PRIDE kapag may nananalong Pinoy sa ibang bansa pero kapag tag-hirap na…bakit hindi na kayo nakatindig?
Your thick skull won’t obviously get it because you’re too busy kissing your president’s ass.
do you even watch manny’s matches? he always say that he box because of who supports him, the filipinos.
Halata halata ka naman na nakiki ride on ka lang sa pagkapanalo niya, tanga.
Pacquiao won because he is good at it, because of his efforts and not because he is a filipino.
Support him? Sige nga paliwanag mo nga kung ano sinusuporta mo sa kanya? Nakakasawa na marining yang “suporta” na yan. Ano ba yan, nakakain ba yan?
Filipinos are not a race.
psssttt…. being a Filipino is not a “race”. it’s a nationality. (Filipinos are now mostly a mixture of different races)
being an idiot, on the other hand, could be considered belonging to that particular race. there are still many of you out there.
Then why is the BIR chasing him? Not proud, are they?
How many times does it need to be emphasized? The Philippine economy is driven by consumption fed by external stimuli – a flood of imports from China and a steady flow of remittances from OFWs primarily. It’s a bubble in the real sense. Nothing on the inside.
As many times as needed. Filipinos will quite simply, never get it that the way their economy is built up currently is unsustainable.
the president is doing his job for it to be sustainable.
Your president had 3 years to do so but it seems that he clearly failed.
Your propaganda is powerless,give up now.
Nice sugarcoating, jackass. -_-
If your “dear” president can initiate programs to start real economic growth within the country and stop relying on ofw remittances, then I believe we don’t live in a bubble economy. Otherwise you’re surely locked in your own delusional world 😉
Can we just ban kathniel please?
I doubt it, he may be removed eventually but he will definitely return to spread the YELLOW RIBBON PROPAGANDA again and again.
It would actually be easier if you guys simply didn’t respond to that idiot.
The problem with not replying to him would be if other people read his comments and would actually agree with him. Hence, the tireless replies to the idiot. Maybe I should have a ready answer for him all the time, just ctrl c and ctrl v?
I guess GRP’s mod can simply delete the troll’s comments. After all, they don’t offer of any substatial value in the discussion.
I agree.
Pnoy aquino is the stupid persons idea of a clever person, and a clever persons idea of an intellectual black hole.
he is not stupid because he jailed the corrupt people in government, past and present.
Oh really? 3 years of going after corrupt people, and yet corruption is still there?
He is either stupid or incompetent, if that’s the case. Which one is the lesser evil for you, hmm? Aren’t you Noytards fond of using that phrase?
we have to remember that there are 3 more years for Him to do His job.
That 3 years that you are referring to might end sooner than you think if he decides to make things worse for his presidency.
Correction, just about 2 years. Which makes one wonder, how can he deliver his empty promises now with just 2 years? The Philippines has suffered enough under him and his allies, filipinos should wake up and take a stand, let them fear us.
I noticed that most of the time kathniel capitalizes the words He, Him and His when referring to BS Aquino.
Elevating an incompetent president to godhood, I presume?
Oh really? Then why are his corrupt KKK still running loose?
Why is corruption still rampant 3 years after he was “elected” by the people?
Don’t try to say that it’s gloria’s fault since gasgas na gasgas na yang palusot mo.
Your president had a lot of time to prove himself but it seems that time is running out for him.
The people are already waking up from this yellow media induced brainwashing.
Your propaganda is powerless to stop the inevitable.
there is no such this as kkk, it is just a petty attack of the opposition to the administration to take them down.
Yeah right, it’s already clear that you are running out of ammunition.
His KKK/Cronies were already referred to countless of times.
His mom also had KKKs during her disasterous stint as a president.
Troll harder faggot
Clearly you and your stupidity are a source of pinoy shame.
Spend some time learning rather than displaying your monumental lack of knowledge and naivete.
I have heard of dumbing down but i think it would necessitate subterranean excavation in your case
If you have nothing to say other than mindless slogans and meaningless motherhood statement, then i suggest you keep your ar$e shut and stop polluting cyberspace with infantile mind farts.
you are you to tell those words? are you living in the philippines or you are abroad and just telling us those because you think you are above us?
Looks like someone is losing his cool. Resorting to that lame argument won’t save you,TROLL.
You should just go back to your lover, Mr. Aquino and just suck his tiny c*ck.
What about the pork barrel scandal? I’m sure you are familiar with that. It exposed the corrupt politicians under his “benevolent rule.”
So the notion of “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” is just a useless phrase for many people nowadays. If he truly despises corruption then those politicians responsible for abusing their pork barrel should be in jail right now.
Again, your words reek of crap.
remember that the pork barrel scam was exposed during the aquino administration so that is plus one for Him. and let us wait for the batches of cases that doj are preparing.
The porkbarrel scam has only exposed more corruption under his administration.
Your argument is invalid.
Troll Harder, Aquino’s C*cksucker.
Just accept the fact that your username is a joke, kathniel. You just love to suck Daniel Padilla’s cock. 😛
BTW, stop your propaganda nonsense due to the fact that you worship Noynoy as a god. May the true living God will punish you for your sins.
Recent events such as his mishandling of the yolanda crisis certainly shows that your president isn’t fit to lead the country. It will only be a matter of time before your president tastes the humiliation of being kicked out of malacanang.
You malacanang trolls are a joke just like your boss in malacanang.
it is the mayor of tacloban is at fault here. different agencies already warned them that the storm will have very huge impact to them. note that haiyan was a super typhoon and that alone they must have prepared even more.
He warned them, ONE day before it hit.
You can’t place the blame on the LGU of tacloban since they were also victims to the storm. Pinning the blame on the mayor of tacloban isn’t helping your case here since your argument is invalidated already the moment you opened your stupid mouth.
Can you give me the names of these people in government that he “jailed”? As far as I know the big-name government people he accused as corrupt aren’t where you said they would be.
@ MH
A god to kathniel at least.
Reminds me of the old TVJ movie, forgot the title….. ANITO!!!!!! and all reply…..SAMBA!!!!
If there’s one major fault this country has, it’s the mediocre public educational system we have in place. For one thing it does not encourage critical thinking, especially of our leaders and society. What’s even more sad is how difficult it is for many to grab even the barest of education.
If that can be fixed, I think we’ll have a less insulated and delusional citizenry, i.e. people trapped in plastic bubbles.
there is no need of adjustments when it comes to the education system, it just need more classrooms and books. one thing that we could add however, is the effects of martial law in the country.
You only want martial law in this country so that critics of this pathetic administration will be silenced.
What a pathetic moron you are.
You don’t want to improve the state of education?
You clearly want things to stay mediocre. You don’t want people being aware of your
president’s mediocrity that’s why you don’t want people becoming intelligent because you only want incompetent twats like your president to stay in power.
Idiot. What use are those classrooms and books if the information presented to the children are outdated? That is what’s happening right now.
You know what your president can do? Increase the pay of teachers, give them proper teaching tools so that they can properly train the future leaders of the country on critical thinking and problem solving skills.
And please don’t tell me your president is doing something about this problem because obviously, he doesn’t.
If you think the current educational system is adequate for you then you’ve failed this country…hell, you’ve failed already when you voted for PNoy when we’ve had more competent candidates for presidency.
“It takes an idiot to know an idiot.”
Good points here, Ian! Glad you told kathniel these…. I’ve spent a good many years in the field of education and I can tell you that Philippine education needs a major overhaul, including the minds and attitudes of the ones running it, but it exasperates me to no end that people don’t get it or are fooling themselves into believing all’s well. The Philippines will never move up unless we do something about our educational system, among other things.
What an odious and obnoxious comment.
The philippines has one of the lowest average iq’s in the world – 86 – as you ably demonstrate.
Result – high unemployment, 10 million ofw’s, child labour and trafficking, poverty, et al.
And you have the temerity and stupidity to say all is ok.
Look in a mirror and you will get a picture of why the country is in a mess, and then slap yourself in the face for being a waste of space, and time-waster.
No wonder you can only get a job as a troll. As if any decent company would employ such a buffoon.
Even I wouldn’t hire kathniel to work for my company since he is clearly too stupid to think for himself.
Really pathetic that the only thing you,kathniel, can get hired for is to post stupid flawed arguments on the internet.
It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
Reminds me of something like this FallenAngel:
Hahaha. “Do you believe in magic?” – how apt for Noynoy’s supporters, indeed.
Now it’s the time to break the myths of stupidity and accept the reality of tragedy. How long are we living under the bubble of insanity?
@ FallenAngel, well said and it must be agoninzing to keep repeating the same things over and over again to people who are just so fuckin dense that they will NEVER change until everything comes crashing down upon them and then they won’t change either. They will get to play the victim one more time. The culture of the fail-ippines is soooo screwed up it is actually ir-reversible. it will not be changed and it is probably impossible at this point to even try. Every single thing that you pointed out above is true, all of it. and it is surely pathetic. I have never seen anything quite like it, not even in other 3rd world countries. Although there are some similarities between 3rd world countries. Example: a poor person in the 3rd world will spend his last $300/P12,000/600BZD to prove that he is just as good as anyone else. The Filipino will go the extra mile though and spend P15,000 on a gaddamm cell-phone just to be ‘as good’ as their neighbors! even though that P15,000 is the entire amount of money they will make in two months the Filipino will just have to have it because they are just as ‘good’ as anyone. To me? if I made $300/P12,000/600BZD-per month the last thing I would spend all of that money on would be a cell-phone (dying would be a good idea if I made $300/month) as all I need the damn thing to do is send a text or ring a phone#. There is not a phone on the planet worth more than $50 bux to me, but Filipino’s? wtf. u get the point imma sure.
Some Filipinos, especially the people rubbing elbows with the current administration, believe life is best lived in their own bubbles that are detached from reality.
Mr. Aquino has imported some foreign “Research and Development” Scientists. They experimented on some “YellowTards”, to become Androids (brain is half human, half computer chip). They are now part Robot and part Human. To “sing” praises to Mr. Aquino. At saka guluhing ang GRP website, at ang mga isip ng mga Bloggers… wala na kayong laban diyan, ginamit ang Pork Barrel fund niya sa gastos…
Judging by the quality of Filipinos I get coming thru the door when I advertise a job opening, The Philippines is a LONG ways away from anything notable except being famous for the Filipinas sexual skills.
Its so easy to succeed in the Philippines because most Filipinos are such dumb ass people. If you are hard working and innovative your neighbors will call you “epal” or some sort of nonsense, and when you are successful they will try to leech off you.
Keep watching ABS-CBN and GMA my loser neighbors.
That’s telling them!!!Boy!!!We have highly educated Filipinos in the U.S., Europe, etc… Not all are good sexual machine or sexual toys…
I agree very much to everything you said here, FallenAngel, except for this: “…the Roman Catholic Church’s hardline stance against population control….”
I guess there’s so much misunderstanding about the Catholic Church’s stance on population control. It’s not against population control; what it’s against is the use of artificial contraception and abortion as means to control population growth. It in fact promotes responsible parenthood, which advocates natural means of planning even the size of one’s family if the parents don’t have the means to support a large family. As for its stance against the use of artificial contraception, the Church is against such practice primarily because (1) it promotes the license to engage in an act that’s pleasurable without accepting the natural consequences of the act (hence, the Church advocates the rhythm method, or sexual abstinence during the time that the wife is fertile); and (2) most, if not all, the artificial contraceptive means that are available are also abortifacient, or actually do not prevent the fertilization of the female ovum or egg but kill the already-fertilized ovum, which even scientists say already has life (as per the latest statement based on scientific researches; also, I don’t think anyone will deny that anything that has the capacity to grow — as does the fertilized egg, which grows into a zygote, fetus, and infant — must be alive). To wind up, I understand that it’s hard for men to control themselves from engaging in the sexual act with their wives when they feel like doing so and their wives are fertile, but if the Filipinos would control themselves in this way, they would be able to develop immense self-control that will spill over to everything else that they’ll do in their lives, and that will ultimately redound to the good of our society. I think it’s about time we do something about our hedonistic lifestyles because it’s destroying our world even faster than nature’s destroying it. This is the great lesson of the ancient Roman Empire and of practically every other great civilization the world has ever had, in the past and even at present (the U.S., Europe, etc.). It’s about time we learn.
I like GRP. A very different perspective, but the overabundance of juvenile and vulgar personal attacks on someone with a different opinion in the comments section is depressing.
My parents used to live in the Philippines before leaving for the US in the 1980s and they didnt have an easy life however they tell me that despite having to work dependently, at least the problems in the PH are not there to hold them down. Perhaps the ability to seek individuality has not sunkin in yet, we can learn from our counter parts from Japan and China or even the US. We see this “success” thing with BS Aquino who piggyback rides his family name and runs it to the ground. To be honest, if we had all the competent people in the Philippines moved to places like the US and have the rest just sort out their problems ( or just kill each other) then we can rebuild it again from scratch but with people who know how to do their shit well. Or we can nuke, that works too. Bottom line, the people are as equally short sighted and incompetent as the people they select in gov.
“Since it means more mouths to feed, it also means more strain on our limited supply of natural resources.”
Another idiotic premise inherited from past narrow-minded economics.
There is such a thing as temporary resource depletion, when limitations are reached relative to population demand and the population’s ability to synthesize what it needs because of the systems and technologies it has chosen to live-by. So far, this planet was built to withstand a population several times greater than its current (let’s put that at 6,000 times greater, although that number has not yet been properly verified yet but it seems plausible with efficient use of space and technologies.)
A capitalist system however cannot properly address that number which is why we are experiencing so much strain on every aspect. The past generation has also failed to prepare well (in terms of systems, institutions and manufacturing) for the next generation and its progressive expansion/population size. That is the reason.
But to oversimplify that sheer population size is the problem relative to “limited resources” is not only cliched but downright flawed.
We must be reminded that we cannot grow properly with a relatively small population. We would run out of viable people to accomplish certain offices and functions. Even if we build enough technologies to render human intervention obsolete, still we would need humans to build such things. We have not yet crossed an age where everything is already run by machines.
I agree, Setting It Straight. Another way of putting it is that people should be seen as minds and wills that can create rather than as only mouths that need to be fed. Of course, that will be true only if people are educated and raised well, which presupposes that couples beget only as much children as they can raise well with hard and dedicated work (using natural family planning methods like abstinence when the wife is fertile, which will promote self-control that’s very much needed in our society rather than artificial contraception, which can further promote the hedonistic lifestyle that’s causing many of our problems at present). All these really point to one very important thing: the need to improve our educational system so that young people will grow up to become contributing members of the society and not headaches and parasites.
This is actually a global problem. The first bubble popped in the U.S., followed by several across Europe, and now Asia.
Prior to that, many in these regions argued that nothing would go wrong.