[SeaGypsy]

No, but nor is it Chevvy country, even with more than one income per household.
In my view the city is mostly full of dreamers, far less achievers, and yes the countryside even 100 miles from Manila is much kinder than the city.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'N')o, but nor is it Chevvy country, even with more than one income per household.
In my view the city is mostly full of dreamers, far less achievers, and yes the countryside even 100 miles from Manila is much kinder than the city.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '
')
$10 a day per member of a family is not poor by any means. Surely not in Phily. And $1.25 is sufficient to rub into the gums about 20-23 pounds of cooked rice per day, doesn't strike me as a starvation diet if you ask me.

[SeaGypsy]

China, the Philippines and the rest of ASEAN are all in the process of building some kind of a welfare state, pensions and basic health care etc. In the last year or 2 this has become a priority in the region for very good reasons. The flood of desperate poor to the cities in the region is just part of the problem. The biggest cause of endemic poverty is a macro- micro syndrome of people just simply breeding too much and over too much of their productive lifetimes.

[ralfy]

The problem is not just "breeding" but also over-consumption, e.g., something like 12 pct of the world's population responsible for significant levels of resource consumption. Also, birth rates drop as prosperity levels go up, which means gains from lower birth rates are negated by increases in consumption to prop up a middle class lifestyle.

[SeaGypsy]

This is true Ralphy, but you know as well as I that there are some really primitive drivers at play with regards to breeding rates. In the Philippines, as in most of the Catholic world- there is the daft concept that 'God' prefers women to 'Go Forth and Multiply' as much as possible. In many poor places religion is a driver, as is the primal urge to secure a future stake in the gene pool. This is why it is important that efforts like the Philippines RH Bill (Reproductive Health- code for access to birth control for all- against the will of the once all powerful church) go ahead; as much as the basic social security provision and reproductive education being brought forward.

The cultural change required is extremely significant- otherwise social security simply backfires and produces even more overbreeding- as can be seen in the many parts of Africa where religious NGO's have simultaneously been handing out free food and medication whilst banning sex health education.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ralfy', '
')As much as it is easy to assume that people are fine as long as they don't starve to death, you need to understand that that's probably how the middle class sees things, and most human beings will want, if not need, more.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'T')his is true Ralphy, but you know as well as I that there are some really primitive drivers at play with regards to breeding rates. In the Philippines, as in most of the Catholic world- there is the daft concept that 'God' prefers women to 'Go Forth and Multiply' as much as possible. In many poor places religion is a driver, as is the primal urge to secure a future stake in the gene pool. This is why it is important that efforts like the Philippines RH Bill (Reproductive Health- code for access to birth control for all- against the will of the once all powerful church) go ahead; as much as the basic social security provision and reproductive education being brought forward.

The cultural change required is extremely significant- otherwise social security simply backfires and produces even more overbreeding- as can be seen in the many parts of Africa where religious NGO's have simultaneously been handing out free food and medication whilst banning sex health education.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '
')Well but of course they want more. So ? Who doesn't? Greed does not have any boundaries. The poor in Phily don't want to be content with more rice and beans than any fathomable abilities of their digestive tracts, well the poor in US have $200 a month , each, in free food alone and they also want more. No matter what you will give them they will want more.

[SeaGypsy]

I know a lot of women and girls in the Philippines working 6 12 hour days for 900-1200 peso ($22-$30) a month (with zero benefits besides), mostly in retail and internet cafe jobs. Many of these are supporting aged and disabled family members, children. Many families from the provinces have put everything into educating the young (also not free at all) expecting they will 'pasu lubong' (return the favor); only to find that their citified kids abandon them to the wolves (loan sharks) rather than following tradition.

The same kind of thing happens in many emerging economies. This despite minimum wage laws. Virtually every business scams the tax system to the maximum.

Before we married, most jobs my wife held involved doctoring the books at the end of each day- a crime attracting serious jail time- which most businesses expect their staff to do for them. Of a population of nearly 100 million less than 7 million are registered for tax, despite a claimed unemployment rate of around 7%.

At the same time, mobile money, tax haven status for overseas 'investors' has seen a huge boom in credit- hire purchase contracts on such luxuries as 125cc Chinese made fake Hondas and the like. Then people wonder why such countries are rife with prostitution and crime, young girls marrying very old men, men and women taking horrid jobs in the middle east for about double what they get at home, saving and sending money home for years only to find that on their return they no longer have a spouse and the house they have bought has been sold without their knowledge.

Last time I checked, about 70 anti mining activists have been murdered by black ops on behalf of the government in the Philippines in the last 10 years, with more than 20 of these being since the election of the popularly 'squeaky clean- anti corruption' gov of 'Noy Noy' Aquino. There are regular stories of poisoned rivers killing people downstream of mines, fishing grounds stripped bare, illegal logging operations and murdered journalists and local politicians. Government prefers mining to any other business, because it can be monitored and taxed much more easily than any other operation.

My wife's sister told us the local 'Barangay' election build up has begun- my immediate response- 'another killing season begins' as this is what happens every time there is an election season.

Those around here who think Utopianism is a big problem in the west should see what is happening in Asia. Resource equations are meaningless. Most everyone believes that given the right settings the whole place can become like the USA or Europe or Australia, but that these settings are held back by corrupt cronyism- not reality, when in fact it is fully both. Look at Singapore, without a doubt the most straightened country in the region- most people working the Asian standard 6/12 only to hand over most of their relatively fantastic wages to their landlord. Seemingly when there is no longer old style corruption- western style legalized corruption steps in immediately to fill the gap.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ralfy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '
')Well but of course they want more. So ? Who doesn't? Greed does not have any boundaries. The poor in Phily don't want to be content with more rice and beans than any fathomable abilities of their digestive tracts, well the poor in US have $200 a month , each, in free food alone and they also want more. No matter what you will give them they will want more.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '
')No, all I'm saying is that they make a lot more money than they used to 10-15 years ago, and they do. I didnt say that the poor in Phily or similar countries have it nice and easy.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')hina's heavy use of coal is believed to be one of the reasons the capital Beijing recently witnessed its worst air pollution in years. For two weeks, Beijing's air was labeled worse than “very unhealthy” and “hazardous.” Authorities have closed 103 factories and taken 30 percent of government vehicles off the roads, but with little effect.

Air pollution in China hit a record high earlier this month: 30 to 45 times above recommended safety levels. Beijing itself became blanketed in a thick, toxic cloud that grounded flights and forced people indoors.