Friday, March 16, 2007

Response to Tony Abaya's Most Corrupt Country (Phils)

Depressing, but it indicts all Filipinos, which is wrong. The most corrupt are the gatekeepers in government who use their position to enrich themselves. The other side of the coin are the businessmen and elite who do business with them. The average Filipino is not even on any side of the coin. The average Filipino suffers and struggles. They have been shut out. The rent-seeking elite, professional politician, and bureaucrat are a minority. However, they are a powerful minority. How do we solve this? Support social movements that promote moral renewal, i.e. Gawad Kalinga. Encourage and support initiatives that provide financial and social services to the poor that will uplift them. Support initiatives that make it easier to do business in the Philippines. One specific initiative is the Hyperwage Theory being espoused by the StreetStrategist, aka Thads Bentulan. Another is the Universal or Basic Income Guarantee movement. We need to redistribute economic oportunities...If the elite don't change and reform (or the working rich don't push hard enough the rent-seeking rich to reform), then change will have to come from the base of the pyramid.