What inclusive growth?

Government is supposed to level the playing field between those who have and those who have not. This is the rationale why men established governments. Governments are supposed to moderate the greed so to speak, of those who were born rich and those blessed by monies which they invest. Those whose fates are extricably linked with inherited poverty, tend to stay where they are, hoping that they break the cycle of poverty, and at an old age, realize that the system is simply not kind to those who struggle.

Capitalism is not the best economic system around. For it to be beneficial to humanity, capitalism must either be destroyed utterly and changed into a socialist one, which proved disastrous to the Russian federation, due to their big economy or synthesized with socialist mechanisms to allow the spillover of economic gains to benefit the rest of the population.

In our case, workers should not expect anything from this government simply because this government thinks of the capitalists rather than the worker. This government is pro-Capitalist. This government is pro-Corporate. It thinks corporate and therefore, acts like a corporation.

The "inclusive growth" that this government is propagandizing applies only to those within its circles. Yes, there is growth but this growth is limited to those who manage or control the very resources of this country. And because there is uncertainty, the very limited gains are being kept very close to their chests by those who are blessed by opportunity and birth.

For the Filipino worker, the necessity of the time is for it to seize the means of production. It can only do so if it transforms the very state superstructure with a system that favors those who labor rather than those who only toy with their money and gain from it.

Dominance of political dynasties is direct cause of poverty

For telling us the truth, NEDA secretary general Arsenio Balisacan was asked not to accompany President Noynoy Aquino in his one day trip to Brunei. Balisacan was the one being blamed for releasing official government figures validating the fears of many---that these three years under Noynoy gave nothing but misery to the people.

Why is it that the condition of our poor brothers and sisters remains in critical state? The answer is quite evident---government serves the wiles and caprices of the rich instead of acting as the foremost class equalizer.

Under a capitalist system, government is supposed to serve the function of providing stability or equilibrium among and between classes. Policies are supposed to be implemented to level the playing field.

What is happening is this administration paved the way for the strengthening of the economy, making it attractive to capital at the expense of the people. Its neo-liberal policies are being used for profits by Big Business at the expense of the poor. There is a wide gap between the rich and the poor because existing policies favor those who have capital and those without are left in the trenches.

Yes, the Philippine economy is becoming a promising investment haven. It remains so, because growth has shifted from the West to the East. European and US markets are unpalatable to the eyes of investors because they offer them nothing.

Obviously, monies of the rich would flock to economies like the Philippines because it is in the state of development. As it slowly modernizes itself, opportunities abound in the investment sector. However, what is happening is most of the investments came from local sources, while foreign direct investors shun away from us and instead of injecting capital for growth, they invest what most call "hot money" which are investments made on a short-term basis.

These investments are being spent in the stock and money markets; meaning, capitalist money is being made to produce more capitalist money through trading and speculation. That explains why gains are being made in the stock market but not in the real economy. Capitalists refuse to give out more capital to invest for their growth in the market because most are still uncertain about the future of their investments in this country and other factors.

One such factor is the perception of prevailing or worsening graft and corruption and the perception of a still unequal or uneven playing field in the business sector. Rumors that certain classmates of the President are being made to run businesses and use their cloat to defeat their competitors abound, leading to a less than favorable perception of businessmen or capitalist in this government.

Now, again, why are the poor remain in their deplorable state? Most of the nearly 30% of poor Filipinos is jobless or are not earning enough from the informal economy.

Poverty is not a problem---it is a direct consequence of the true problem which is the dominance of a few families with economic interests in governance.

Why poverty remains? Poor people are growing by the numbers and by the day because existing conditions favor the rich instead of the poor. Why are conditions favorable to capital instead of the poor masses? It is because the leaders of this country belong to the elite groups whose interests lie paradoxically opposite those of the poor. If the poor aspires just for a comfortable life, the rich aspires for something higher--dominance and ownership of all things. The rich are predatory while the poor are not.

Government is supposed to mitigate or manage the greed. Government is supposed to provide equal opportunities but no.

The people are being taxed to pay for loans that government incurs in projects that the rich gets so much gains from. Mechanisms against poverty are not being implemented because these directly affect and oppose the interests of the rich and powerful.

Tax the elite more, create a stronger middle class

An Agence France Presse published an article which I believe we know already. While, admittedly, the economy right now is pretty much functioning as expected, the gains this economy is amassing is not trickling down to the basic sectors of society. Seventy six percent of this goes to a very small group of elites who are not even one percent (1%) of the 90 million plus Filipinos on this planet.

Fact is, six percent of that wealth goes to two familiar names--Henry Sy of SM and Lucio Tan. Their combined wealth is estimated at about US$ 13 billion.

Credit that to a decrepit system, says Cielito Habito, respected economist. Habito admits that we have a defective system, and even if we improve further, chances are, little will these changes impact on the lives of the people.

Habito is saying that the present system of capitalism does not allow the wealth of this nation to trickle down to the masses. Why? Honestly, one of the sure fire way of getting that wealth out, and into the hands of government unto the basic sectors of society is taxation. We tax those who profit more. The thing is, our system is still very much corrupt, and we don't collect taxes. Lucio Tan, for example, is known to evade payment of his taxes. NUmerous cases were filed against him, and eventually, yes, the government did collect but it was billions of pesos lower than it expected.

And where did government spend all those monies collected? A fraction goes to line up pockets of the corrupt, another fraction to fund projects that are overpriced and another fraction goes exactly where the needs are, yet, came so late that the problem has already ballooned to twice the size it was several years ago.

The solution is simply create a stronger and more financially capable middle class that will try to wrestle all these wealth out of the hands of a privileged few. As the economy grows, opportunities abound yet these opportunities are limited only to those who have enough funds.

Government intervention must happen. Government must fund business ventures of the middle class so that it widens or expand the numbers of the middle class. Because as it expands, it widens opportunities still for those who belong to the lower classes to fight they way up the ladder.

Three things: we need to work out a more effective taxation system, get government and the private sector involve in funding business initiatives and create opportunities for the people: more jobs and more credit facilities, so that entering or going into business is not as prohibitive as it is right now.

Obama-Romney tied in Presidential Race: Romney still hopeful

The fact that it is a 50-50 tie between incumbent US president Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney tells you much about how Americans regard the Obama administration. Obama, whose meteoric rise to the Presidency, was perceived as a mythic figure by most Americans in the 2009 elections, so much hype has been heaped upon him, that expectations went over the roof during that elections. Obama won on his continued critique of the economic policies of the Bush administration, which he blames for the present financial crisis bedeviling the nation.

Now, Romney accuses Obama with the same sins as that of Bush. The financial crisis which is still a major concern among Western powers, remains a crucial factor in this year's US elections. Obama's economic prescriptions proved insufficient in solving problems such as unemployment and closure of small and medium enterprises. Some analysts say, the problem is beyond Obama, which I agree. The global financial slump really happens as part of the cycle of capitalism.

The solution really lies not on America but on external factors such as the continuing redefinition of the world's capital and labor configuration. The nexus of production has shifted from the United States to the East, specifically, China. China is reaping the economic rewards of being at the midst of global production, and it remains stable because China, by itself, is both a market and at the same time, a big production house.

The world waits with bated breath as the polls close in. CNN has just reported wins in favor of Obama in New Hampshire, a place where Romney calls home. Romney lags for about 15,000 votes behind Obama in Florida, with 86% of the votes in. If Romney loses Florida, he's toast, says Pierce Morgan of CNN.

Sandy wrecks America

Eleven people died when Hurricade Sandy slammed into the towns and cities of West Virginia to North Carolina and Connecticut in the United States. In what was dubbed as a monster hurricade, Sandy is now a tropical superstorm, a tad lower than expected. Inspite of the downgrading, Sandy still packs 80 kph winds and tons and tons of rain, bringing most of Manhattan and New York under water.

People are blaming global warming as the cause of this superstorm. The earth has heated so much since the turn of the century that disturbances such as these are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Yet, if you look at history, you"ll definitely say that stronger storms and earthquakes happened not in the 20th but in the 19th century. Devastating storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occurred during the late 18th and 19th centuries. These natural disturbances literally wiped away cities and towns from  the face of the earth.

It was during the height of the industrial revolution that freak storms, weather disturbances and geoseismic disruptions occurred. The earth is reacting to the continued existence of an economic system that threatens to destroy life as we know it, here on earth.

Capitalism is a destructive economic system that produces waste. This system forces us to live in a brutal and barbaric state, caused by the very nature of this system, which is exhausting natural resources to produce things which we deemed valuable because we are being continuously kept in a state of consumerism.

I urge my friends to pray for our American friends and relatives living in the United States.

Will the American electorate vote Obama out of office?

US President Barack Obama's voting numbers are the same as that of Republican bet Mitt Romney, a clear set-back already for the First Black American president. Three years ago, Obama's numbers were astronomically high, compared with his nearest competitor. The American public was caught with the Obama bug.

Now, with the economic downturn and the rising pessimism within American society, Obama's star waned and is on the brink of death. There is not enough "Obama-nisms" to counter Republican accusations of economic and external affairs mismanagement. The public is not enamored anymore with stirring speeches reviving the American dream nor talks about overcoming the present problems being encountered by the capitalist giant. With the global recession entering its sixth year, and economic analysts predicting another financial winter coming, there is simply no words anymore fit to reduce anxieties and worries.

Many Americans are realizing that these problems are direct results of the genetic ills of a capitalist state. Overproduction has resulted to stoppage of production in small and medium sized enterprises, the bedrock by which capitalist America depended on for so many years. With the death of SMEs came the rise of giant corporations which knows no race, no nation, and no government when it comes to cutting down costs of production. The locus of production has shifted from American factories to China's million man production crews. This translated into Chinese having jobs, while Americans were left in the lurch.

The middle class, the vanguard class of the American state and society, has dwindled, while the numbers of America's billionaires ballooned. Resources have all been centralized and controlled by a few. With a global downturn, these resources remained under close control and management of a remorse-less elite.

Obama's re-election depended on the fulfillment of his promise of making life more comfortable for Americans. His administration, however, even failed in pushing for substantial legislation which would have eased the hardships being experienced by Americans. Peace and order worsened, and the economy remained in the doldrums.

Will the American electorate negate Obamanism and usher in an iron-fisted Republican crew to save them and their economy from further damage?

Why things don't change under Aquino

Six percent growth, that is one of the things President Benigno S. Aquino III says is one proof that progress and development has been achieved in the two year administration. Yes, we are seeing an expansion in the economy, but the thing that many people are really asking and want to have proof is---why is there no change in the economic condition of many?


The answer is simple--our system is not a compassionate one. Capitalism hinders the flow out of capital from those who control and manage it to those who are not. Capital remains in the hands of capitalists, and when they gain profit, profit stays where it is. 

Yes, capital is created by workers, yet, that creature profits the workers not. 


For the system to work, workers and majority of the people are relegated to function as consumers of the very things created by workers. Without consumption, products remain valueless. There is no profit because the value of the thing created stays without exchange. Value happens when exchange happens. Without exchange of the thing created, the cycle that completes production does not occur.


What we are seeing right now is big-time capitalists transforming their profit into expansion projects. Most Philippine companies are diversifying and entering into various industries. San Miguel Corporation is one primary example; PLDT is another. 


When profit stays at the top and no spillover happens, growth is therefore limited. Transformations occur in the top while below remains the same. 

When the economy stays as a consumerist one, and no change in the condition of the workers, that kind of economy will grow slowly and not by spurts. As capital accumulates without vigorous exchanges, value remains the same.


President Aquino will trumpet the alleged "gains" of the Pantawid Pamilya program or PPP of his administration. Aquino will say that the program added almost a million families more into the program. 


This PP program is supposed to augment incomes and ameliorate poverty. Instead, it is becoming more of a tool to perpetuate a patron-client relationship between government and those who are too poor to be called poor.