::Sunday, April 10, 2005::
DECONSTRUCTING THE "POPULATION TIME BOMB MYTH"
.. Is controlling the exploding population of the Philippines the solution to poverty? Is it really a simple question of arithmetic where less mouths to feed mean more money in the pocket? I doubt it's as simple as that. This is a clear example where"zero-sum" theory - gains made by the winners in an economic transaction equal the losses suffered by the losers - does not apply. There are no clear winners and losers in this argument. There is the ancillary argument that the predominantly American-media and the West are barking on the wrong tree when it comes to defining "economic value", quality of life and even happiness (I'm guilty of empirical heresy here.) If the federal poverty line threshold expressed is $18,400 annualy for a family of four (minimum wage of $5.15 an hour for a single income earner in a family of is technically not enough to hurdle the poverty threshold), this is not true in third world countries where two-thirds of the people subsist on $2 a day living and $5 an hour is 30 times greater than the prevailing hourly wage in India for example.
In a happiness survey conducted a few years ago in different countries around the world, most of those in the top ten most happy were from developing countries and conversely, the unhappiest people on earth were mostly from western-capitalist countries. It is a fact that economic value is relative and we should not equate it with economic cost. The cost of feeding 60 million Filipinos is not the same as the cost of feeding 60 million Americans due to differences in the standard of living. It's a bit condescending to tell people from the thirld world how to live and define for them "quality of life" in purely economic terms. That being said, greater emphasis should be pointed to the failure of government to improve the lives of the poor by creating wealth and opportunities for employment. Corrupt officials and the failure of the law to curb them is symptomatic of the "feudal" mentality and political chaos of poor Catholic countries such as the Philippines and mostly in Latin America.
The church, time and again, has been a convenient excuse for politicians and economic policymakers.
Link
In a happiness survey conducted a few years ago in different countries around the world, most of those in the top ten most happy were from developing countries and conversely, the unhappiest people on earth were mostly from western-capitalist countries. It is a fact that economic value is relative and we should not equate it with economic cost. The cost of feeding 60 million Filipinos is not the same as the cost of feeding 60 million Americans due to differences in the standard of living. It's a bit condescending to tell people from the thirld world how to live and define for them "quality of life" in purely economic terms. That being said, greater emphasis should be pointed to the failure of government to improve the lives of the poor by creating wealth and opportunities for employment. Corrupt officials and the failure of the law to curb them is symptomatic of the "feudal" mentality and political chaos of poor Catholic countries such as the Philippines and mostly in Latin America.
The church, time and again, has been a convenient excuse for politicians and economic policymakers.
Link
