I don’t buy this argument of other cultural traits counterbalancing the bad ones. It’s rubbish.

My simplistic mind tends to the simplest answer i can find and that is OVERPOPULATION and the social inequality that goes with it.

That’s too bad, nash. Cultural traits as the ultimate source of the wealth or pathetic poverty of a society is a FAR SIMPLER and COHERENT explanation.

Overpopulation for example is an outcome of religious beliefs, ignorance (in the face of modern-day options for women), and cultural taboos. And as a matter of fact (this is your lucky day!) population is a key concept on my simplistically elegant take on poverty; i.e., we are poor SIMPLY because:

We locked ourselves into commitments beyond any inherent ability in us to honour them.

(I first mention the above koan in my brilliant piece “Poverty is a simple issue. Really“)

Pro-creating is a commitment on our part to produce what our offspring will consume. As a people we are world-class performers in the first part of the equation but utterly pathetic laggards in the latter half of it.

It’s simple, really™ ;)

But it’s good that you are actually thinking this through, dude. At least you don’t let dubious “expertise” get in the way of basic thinking.

I think Bencard puts it a bit more succinctly than I do:

i think the “value” of an idea is in the idea itself, not outside of it. it is objective, not subjective, i.e. its merit doesn’t depend on the acceptance or judgment of anyone. to paraphrase lincoln, what is valuable is so, and 10,000 angels saying it is not, will not make a difference.

Just because a sensationalised topic is discussed to death (and therefore a hot shawarma topic) doesn’t necessarily make it relevant. After all, that’s what “experts” do best — quibble on the minute details that fall within the comforts of their respective zones of “expertise”. :D

Your answer is not the solution but the problem.

Aside from the RH bill, what are other solutions out there if you happen to be the policymaker? Let’s see how you brain work to share two simple answers, focus on employment. if you need a hint, ask benigno and jcc.. ok :)

My simplistic mind tends to the simplest answer i can find and that is OVERPOPULATION and the social inequality that goes with it.

FV was a good experiment on collaborative blogging but sadly it’s now a vassal state for getrealpelefins and powerpoint slides….the main page is practically benign-zero’s comment box… – Nash

Benign0 is merely a symptom of the elitist mindset which is common among the Filipino middle class and FV, after all, represents Filipino middle class thought.

Your rebuttals are way too sexy ;)

So what if the majority of natives on these islands are of a dependent culture. It makes life for those with wealth a lot easier.

The Pinoys who do not have the means to enjoy the benefits of the economic/political system and are abroad, sorry na lang.

Life is not fair… Life is what you make of it.

This thing called democracy is a complicated process.

Those who have the means naturally will enjoy the perks of the many who don’t.

Some wise men wrote some time back that power comes from the power to command labor.

Look at pacq

and so please expound why these cultural quirks you like to zoom in on (that are indeed universal) contribute to our our malady when it is not so for others? (I have a ready answer and it is quite obvious for a cerebral like you)

Such cultural “quirks” do also contribute to undermining progress in other societies as well, nash. The only problem is that in the Philippines:

:D These “quirks” are present and more prevalent as a proportion of what drives our behaviours.

:D The virtues in our society to counteract these quirks (those that generally require thinking) are so underdeveloped that they are completely swamped.

Kung baga, even if these quirks exist in, say, the U.S., they are more than sufficiently counter-balanced by other cultural traits that produce positive results. The net effect (taking into account both the forces of degeneracy and the forces of progress) is progress in the advanced world and degeneracy in the Third World due to differences in this balance I speak of.

and please answer my question on who or what puts value or merit to an idea in a democracy. i would like to know your thoughts on that.

In a democracy it is the people‘s “will” (channeled of course via the right procedures) that wins the day.

Whether or not said “will” holds value or merit is a separate issue (as we are finding out now that we are seeing the behaviours of those who are outcomes of said “will”).

Garbage in = garbage out as the old cliche goes.

(do share this cerebral knowledge so that it may trickle down on us juveniles (who are not convicted extortionists) who just don’t get it.)