Breakdown Leads to Systems Loss

There's a noticeable increase in crime rate over the past few weeks. This phenomenon validates an earlier PNP intel report which predicts a sharp rise in crime due to the food crisis. However, I do believe that things will turn from bad to worse given that oil prices are starting to get unreasonably high. A higher oil price means higher commodity prices. Higher commodity prices means greater impact on inflation, which affects overall economic growth.

In Indonesia, people are starting to rise up against high fuel and food costs. In some countries in Africa, riots have broken out. In the United States, a rise in property-related incidents have been observed.

Some would say, this is inevitable since the crisis has now reached global proportions. Local market reactions do reflect current global sentiments. However, compared with the handling of our neighbours, we pale considerably especially in food and energy security.

We have the resources and the wherewithal to weather this crisis. We were insulated from the Asian financial crisis during Ramos time. This time though, too much government inaction to fundamental flaws in the system have weakened our state considerably. Too much legislation but too little implementation have exposed us to these dangers. We now face the prospect of an economic breakdown of the entire state economic apparatus. This could lead to a systems loss.

Imagine a situation where people can't buy enough food because of low wages. I expect a widening gap between the rich and the poor. I expect a situation where more and more members of the middle class going down the social stratum due to high inflation.

More than ever, we need a strong government that promotes national welfare instead of a few aristocratic interests. We need a government that creates rather than destroy enterprises. We need a government with a strong political will that will fight the enemies of the state with the full force of the law.

Sadly, our system right now is a decrepit one. Its nature is that of a patronage system where the rich enjoys more privileges than the rest of Filipinos. Whatever other theorists might say, this system can be described as semi-capitalist with neo-feudalist tendencies. Aristocrats hold too much power, which affects the democratic processes.

There's a big chance that an implosion might occur in the immediate future. Implosion means internal forces gobbling up the state. This, surely, will result to a system-wide breakdown. If diesel prices reach 50 per liter leading to higher food costs, expect subtle yet dangerous forms of dissent showing up in the crime rate radar.