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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2012 : 16:03:05 [Permalink]
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| Wow, we've made so much progress here in the West. Not to rest on our laurels, as there has been an effort to a "race to the bottom" in the name of unbridled capitalism. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2012 : 21:35:39 [Permalink]
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The Philippines defies simple explanation. (Complex explanations are way beyond me.) In face of that defiance, I'll just make a few observations.
The wildly unbridled capitalism here is something I just had to eventually remark upon above, using the fake story about the opposition to a maximum hours ordinance by the Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, this is wildly fictional: There's no such ordinance being considered. But the horribly long working hours are real. And the reaction above to such a hypothetical regulation is about what I'd expect.
The Philippines should have been visited by a Charles Dickens. It's positively Victorian in many ways. Business works here almost without restraint. Regulations are typically imposed only after many people are killed. (And not by quietly dying in droves from overwork.) Even then, such public outrage is often rather muted, due to the palpable effect of the acceptance of "karma" in Philippine life.
Assuming regulations are somehow pushed through, then the first question is: How much will it cost to grease the hands of the person in charge of enforcement? And if that fails, how much does a judge charge for the rental of his services?
Corruption thus enforces the poverty of those at the bottom, but it also limits the wealth of the elites by keeping the Philippines a backwater of the global economy where international investment fears to tread.
Corruption is indeed endemic here, and it runs deep, with symbiotic cultural ties to the family patronge system. There are a great many Filipinos who are honest, and would never take a bribe. Fighting the age-old corruption seems to be the main political wish among the Filipinos I've spoken to. They generally feel they have their best chance ever to reduce corruption under the administration of President Aquino. Most of the taxis I've ridden lately have had their radios tuned to the Senate impeachment trial of the Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, who may be ousted for corruption.
The will to defeat it seems to be there, but corruption is deeply entrenched. I suspect that only when the elite families realize they'll actually get richer (along with the entire nation) in a global market without it, will it be defeated.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/10/2012 21:36:47 |
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Baguio, Philippines Star-Sun newspaper
