Weekly Brief
As politicians squabble, the Philippines progressively trails its prosperous neighbours.
In review and in prospect
What sorts of help do the West have to offer impoverished countries like the Philippines to rescue them from their poverty? You guessed it: more foreign technology.
The same problem besets the Philippines’ ability to generate enough electricity for itself. The Philippines relies on externally-supplied power generation facilities and fuel. Because its domestic currency (a rough reflection of its domestic production prowess) is weak vis-a-vis world-standard currencies, it will likely forever struggle to keep its citizens electricity-happy. An electricity-enabled lifestyle, suffice to say, remains an alien lifestyle in the Philippines. And those who enjoy it to the fullest are really a small elite dependent on something not inherent to their society. Until the Philippines can produce its own fuel and power generation technology and facilities, it is at the mercy of foreign markets and even its most elite citizens at high risk of catastrophic lifestyle failure.
Trying to solve a problem created by foreign technology using more foreign technology is like trying to pay off debt by borrowing more money. It’s a fool’s way of life.
Albert Einstein once said:
You cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created it.
Foreign capital (of which “technology” as we define it is one form) will not cure the poverty of societies that remain inherently unable to embrace, absorb, and embed, foreign capital to productive (as opposed to consumerist) ends. Living within one’s means involves aspiring to a living standard commensurate with one’s inherent ability to produce economically valuable stuff to sustain that living. The Philippines, like many Third World countries aspire to live to a standard way beyond that inherent ability. And that is why the Third World remains poor despite the First World’s “best efforts”.
Last week's blog posts
Social Media Sucks… So Does Search… and Anything with AI Too
December 13, 2024 by P. Farol
"There comes a time in people’s lives when authenticity becomes more valuable than social media attention and as soon as one comes to this point, the next step should be to just disappear from it."
December 10, 2024 by Ramon Ortoll
"The Philippines is playing a dangerous game. Hosting U.S. missiles, dealing with Russian attack submarines and China’s ICBM might look like power moves, but they come with risks that could hit Filipinos where it hurts..."