Category: Poverty

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rePost::The End of Poverty

Some good news, finally.

Some thought-provoking new research argues that, absent catastrophe, and despite continuing population growth, we will never see a billion people in poverty worldwide:
World poverty is falling. This column presents new estimates of the world’s income distribution and suggests that world poverty is disappearing faster than previously thought. From 1970 to 2006, poverty fell by 86% in South Asia, 73% in Latin America, 39% in the Middle East, and 20% in Africa. Barring a catastrophe, there will never be more than a billion people in poverty in the future history of the world. [Emphasis mine]
via The End of Poverty.

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rePost::How America Lost the War on Drugs : Rolling Stone

frankly drugs scare me, it’s just that people on drugs cannot be reasoned with, they will probably kill you even if you do not have any plans on trying to fight back when being mugged, or the like. It’s like in poker, I actually don’t fear the rational players, it’s the irrational players who doesn’t have a lot of logic in their playing that is very hard to beat. This is because you get beaten by hands that you assume wouldn’t be possible because they would have folded already with such.
This is something concrete that can be asked to Presidential Aspirants. Do they even know of these almost 20 year recommendation? The Drug problem in the Philippines is worsening because poverty is worsening, producing a spiral of crime-poverty-addiction. We are a poor country and to not know what the most cost efficient way to combat the Drug Problem is a big question mark in any Presidential Candidates armor. We must be asking these questions.
PS: Legalize marijuana now!!!!
PSS: Notice that in a lot of our problems the Pareto Principle is at work 80-20 90-10;. For me at least someone worthy of leading our beautiful and somewhat seemingly damned country should know the those places where we could put the Pareto Principle to work.

“If you had asked me at the outset,” Everingham says, “my guess would have been that the best use of taxpayer money was in the source countries in South America” — that it would be possible to stop cocaine before it reached the U.S. But what the study found surprised her. Overseas military efforts were the least effective way to decrease drug use, and imprisoning addicts was prohibitively expensive. The only cost-effective way to put a dent in the market, it turned out, was drug treatment. “It’s not a magic bullet,” says Reuter, the RAND scholar who helped supervise the study, “but it works.” The study ultimately ushered RAND, this vaguely creepy Cold War relic, into a position as the permanent, pragmatic left wing of American drug policy, the most consistent force for innovating and reinventing our national conception of the War on Drugs.
When Everingham’s team looked more closely at drug treatment, they found that thirteen percent of hardcore cocaine users who receive help substantially reduced their use or kicked the habit completely. They also found that a larger and larger portion of illegal drugs in the U.S. were being used by a comparatively small group of hardcore addicts. There was, the study concluded, a fundamental imbalance: The crack epidemic was basically a domestic problem, but we had been fighting it more aggressively overseas. “What we began to realize,” says Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studied drug policy for RAND, “was that even if you only get a percentage of this small group of heavy drug users to abstain forever, it’s still a really great deal.”
Thirteen years later, the study remains the gold standard on drug policy. “It’s still the consensus recommendation supplied by the scholarship,” says Reuter. “Yet as well as it’s stood up, it’s never really been tried.”
To Brown, RAND’s conclusions seemed exactly right. “I saw how little we were doing to help addicts, and I thought, ‘This is crazy,'” he recalls. “‘This is how we should be breaking the cycle of addiction and crime, and we’re just doing nothing.'”
The federal budget that Brown’s office submitted in 1994 remains a kind of fetish object for certain liberals in the field, the moment when their own ideas came close to making it into law. The budget sought to cut overseas interdiction, beef up community policing, funnel low-level drug criminals into treatment programs instead of prison, and devote $355 million to treating hardcore addicts, the drug users responsible for much of the illegal-drug market and most of the crime associated with it. White House political handlers, wary of appearing soft on crime, were skeptical of even this limited commitment, but Brown persuaded the president to offer his support, and the plan stayed.
via How America Lost the War on Drugs : Rolling Stone.

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Best Read::Nicanor Perlas and the Dreams of an Ordinary Citizen | Filipino Voices

Millions share his vision because they see, and feel it. Perlas is someone crying out in the wilderness and asking people to come to him and share his vision for the Nation. Perlas wants to unite people and fight against poverty. Perlas wants to eradicate graft and corruption. Perlas will exercise strong political will to fight the forces that weaken the Motherland. And Perlas will see to it that those who have committed grave injustices against the People are put behind bars.There is something terribly wrong when people like Nicanor Perlas who once lived peacefully in their rich hamlets are suddenly seen in the streets, preaching the Gospel of Salvation from poverty and wants. When people who hate politics are suddenly going around town, preaching of “New Politics”, that’s surely a sign that things have turned for the worst.It just means that the exploitation, the degradation, the immorality, the amorality, the misery of the human condition, has seeped into the comfort zones of those who are not of the hungred kind.And I laud Blogwatch.ph and the Vibal Foundation for allowing me to partake of Nicanor Perlas’ vision even for an hour. Meeting him just makes me realize that the end is definitely not near, because there are still a few good men left who will sacrifice everything, just so that others may live better lives.
via Nicanor Perlas and the Dreams of an Ordinary Citizen | Filipino Voices.

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rePost::ABC The Drum Unleashed – Prioritising life

When will we get our priorities right, and learn how useless the free market is in dealing with tsunamis, earthquakes, Aboriginal health, African AIDS, Middle Eastern pogroms, Chinese tyranny and the sort of shameful poverty that breeds terrorists everywhere and sends them walking in explosive underpants out of universities into airline waiting rooms? When will we understand that twenty dollars a week is better spent on tax-funded air ambulances and Elvises and hot rocks and wind power and stem cells and solar cars than on oil magnates who are killing the planet as we speak?
…..
Why don’t we get our priorities right? Why don’t we do our sums? We could spend five billion dollars on aid that civilises East Timor and ten billion dollars buying up Indonesia’s forests and a billion buying eighty Elvises over three years and the cost per week per taxpayer would be nine dollars fifty, the price of an hour’s parking or two Toblerones. Why don’t we do this?
via ABC The Drum Unleashed – Prioritising life.

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rePost::“A Message of Modern Politics” by Randy David | Filipino Voices

This was an excellent write up of a speech/lecture? Prof Randy David gave. It’s an interesting read!!!

Quest for political stability
David observes that Filipinos are “sick and tired” of politics. In other societies, people are not overburdened with politics. And normally citizens think only about it during elections. The fact the politics consumes much of our national imaginary has both good and bad effects, he says. It is good in that citizens are kept informed. It is bad in that the constant politicking leaves little room to do much of anything else. It is time spent away from thinking about ways to improve education and health, growing businesses and the arts.
He says in the region the Philippines has had the longest experience with elections and yet we cannot seem to get it right. Elections are a good way of making the transition from a ‘traditional’ to a ‘modern’ society.
Here he gives quick yet unerring definitions of these broad concepts. A ‘traditional’ society is one of hierarchies. One might also call them ‘feudal’, ties and associations based on families. He also calls this society ‘limited-access’ in that only certain people enjoy monopolies of power and influence. A ‘modern’ society is ‘open-access’ and allows associations not based on familial or personal ties but through functions. They are ‘functionally differentiated’, allowing for clear divisions between politics and business, politics and religion, politics and other public realms. One might argue that a modern society is also more democratic.
David then makes an astonishing claim, one that many of us will probably instantly recognize but which we have not yet articulated, most of all to ourselves. I know I was struck by it. David claims we cannot seem to make that transition from being a ‘traditional’ (i.e. hierarchical, monopolistic) society to a ‘modern’ (i.e. truly democratic) society. We are stuck somewhere in the middle, exhibiting characteristics of either model. And here is where David makes a crucial point. He asks, why is it important to modernize?
via “A Message of Modern Politics” by Randy David | Filipino Voices.

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Praise::RP pays it forward to Haiti with medical teams – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

RP pays it forward to Haiti with medical teams
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
MALAY, Aklan, Philippines—Citing the country's own disasters and the outpouring of international assistance when a series of calamities ravaged the country, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday said the Philippines would be sending aid to earthquake-devastated Haiti to help hundreds of thousands of victims.
“I had instructed the (Department of Health) to send medical teams to Haiti to help the earthquake victims there. And I instructed the (Armed Forces) to put our reserve peacekeeping company on standby in case the US asks for additional troops,” the President said in a speech during the launching of the P2.5-billion Caticlan Airport Development Project here.
“Why? Because we are more than ready to give a helping hand as we were victims ourselves (tropical storm) ‘Ondoy,’ and (typhoons) ‘Pepeng’ and ‘Frank’ a few months ago and a year ago,” she said.
“We have also been a recipient of international assistance. Now it is our turn to do that,” she added.
She said that in past, the country's worst typhoons—including Reming, Ondoy and Pepeng—claimed almost a thousand lives each but in the earthquake in Haiti, at least 100,000 were casualties.
“If we suffered that way we can imagine their suffering a hundred times,” Ms Arroyo said.
She said Haiti is “especially close to our hearts” because of the Filipino peacekeeping troops “who are doing a good job there and who have once again risen to the occasion as they (done) here in the Philippines each time.”
via RP pays it forward to Haiti with medical teams – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

When all countries enjoy an acceptable level of wealth then I will say that Nationalism Is Bunk, till then we must continue to belong to a community of nations, where we have a duty to help our friends in need. These are the few times I wish I was rich enough to help.

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rePost::No contact with Filipino UN peacekeepers in Haiti – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Pray they are well.

No contact with Filipino UN peacekeepers in Haiti
INQUIRER.net First Posted 11:01:00 01/13/2010 Filed Under: Diplomacy, Security (general), Americas – Canada
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Mission to the United Nations has received no word from the Philippine contingent in the UN peacekeeping unit in Haiti, which was just hit by a 7.0-intensity earthquake, INQUIRER.net learned Wednesday.
In an exchange of messages, Elmer Cato, first secretary, peacekeeping officer, and press officer of the Philippine Mission based in New York, said the mission is concerned about the safety of Filipino peacekeepers, composed of 157 troops and 22 police officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Lope Dagoy, as well as the estimated 500 Filipino civilian expatriates working there.
But, he said, “Knowing the Filipino peacekeeper, he will be the first to respond in situations like this. Our contingent is surely involved in search and rescue operations in Port-au-Prince right now.”
via No contact with Filipino UN peacekeepers in Haiti – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

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rePost::Marginal Revolution: The Chait-Manzi debate

This is what bothers me with most people who want to bring change to the country. A lot seem to believe that it is easy to revise the internal culture of our country, rather than to build on what we are really good at, or have a comparative advantage on. I’m looking at you would be industrialist or technologist. We have an abundance of beautiful places, a naturally happy friendly people.

8. Countries have to start from where they’re at. If you’re constructing policy advice, you can either build on what a country is really good at or you can try to revise the internal culture of the country. If you’re going to do the latter, come out and say so. Most of my policy recommendations are based on the former approach, namely strengthening what (the better-functioning) countries already are good at. I’m not suggesting that countries never change, but getting such changes right by deliberate policy interventions is very hard to do. I wish to stress this point applies to the pro-U.S. as much as the pro-Europe side.
via Marginal Revolution: The Chait-Manzi debate.

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rePost::The Rich *Are* Different | Angry Bear

This is an intersting read. What could this bracket be for the Philippines?? Can we even make a similar graph from data BIR has? NSO ?
Sometimes wish a day has 2400 hours.(not too often)

That said, there is an interesting qualitative change in the structure of income that starts to happen around this cutoff for the “rich” which actually suggests that taxpayers above that threshold are rich in most important ways. The most recent (2007) tax stats from the IRS now reflect the peak of the late bubble and show that the $100K-$200K AGI bucket is the last one that more-or-less resembles middle-income categories in their dependence on labor as the all-but exclusive source of income. (Think of pensions and proceeds of retirement accounts as representing deferred wages or salaries.) This graph shows the shares of AGI from some major income sources, and the average incomes for various brackets. (*)
Sources of Individual Income, 2007 SOI Tax Stats
(May be embiggened by clicking here.)
Starting with the $200-500K category, the share of earnings from labor begins a marked decline. By the time you hit mid-six figures, average earnings from income, dividends, and capital gains become high enough to provide middle-class or better incomes without (necessarily) working. Tax returns in the upper-six-figure bucket, on average, show more income from other sources collectively than from salaries, and at the top of the income scale even interest and dividend income exceeds wages and salaries. (**) I suggest that if you can provide yourself with a better-than-average living without working, a very rare luxury indeed, you are in fact rich.
(Revised and slightly expanded.)
via The Rich *Are* Different | Angry Bear.

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rePost:: Farewell – Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney

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Farewell
— By Ambassador Kristie Kenney, 5 January 2010
Although it seems like just yesterday that I arrived in the Philippines, nearly four years have gone by. And very soon it will be time for me to head to the United States to be with my family. It has been an extraordinary honor to represent my country in the Philippines, one of our oldest allies. I have felt very at home in the Philippines, perhaps because our two countries have so much shared history together. Our fathers and grandfathers shed blood together in World War II to protect our freedom. Millions of Filipinos live and work in the United States, and many Americans call the Philippines home. We are so much more than friends — we are family.
Our Embassy in Manila is large and diverse, reflecting the strong and deep relationship between our countries. I am so proud of the work our team does here. Over the past four years, we have seen new veterans’ benefits given to the wonderful and deserving Filipino World War II veterans. Those veterans have been like family to me, and I feel deeply honored to have heard their stories and shares time with them. They are true heroes to all of us. I am very happy that they received their new benefits during my time as Ambassador. And I am proud to have been made an honorary member of the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor although I am well aware that I will never come close to matching their courage and valor. Visiting the site of the Leyte landing, Corregidor, the site of the surrender in Bataan, and spending time at the U.S. residence in Baguio, where the World War II peace in the Philippines was signed, are some of my most cherished memories.
My memories of the past four years are as diverse as the Philippines themselves. I will never forget the rich cultures of Mindanao or the proud traditions of the Ifugao. I have loved the smiling face of every child our education programs have helped. The look of joy and wonder as they experience the Internet for the first time is unforgettable. Or the dedication of the teachers who serve from small rural schools to large Manila universities. (Sorry if my readers have wearied of me talking about education, but I am still the daughter and granddaughter of public school teachers. I always love helping education and those who teach.) In the Philippines, I have seen the wonders of the oceans and become dedicated to helping protect our environment. I’ve snorkeled with whale sharks, been diving in aquariums, tested jeepney emissions, talked to fishermen about sustainable fishing, seen our Peace Corp volunteers energize communities to create marine protected areas, and watched our USAID team design great programs with Philippine partners to promote clean energy and clean waters.
American business continues to flourish in the Philippines. Whether on the retail end where I’ve watched Gap, Banana Republic, and Krispy Kreme (to name just a few) open hugely successful stores or in the business process outsourcing sector, which has American companies in nearly every region of the Philippines now. What an exceptional experience to watch Ford cars be assembled, or Kraft foods test new products, or see “call center” agents talk to American clients from Davao, Baguio, Quezon City or Tacloban. And while I am a fan of Filipino food (especially lumpia and mangoes), I’ve loved being able to eat in McDonalds or get a coffee from Starbucks across the Philippines.
I’ve seen conflict areas where ordinary citizens struggle to provide a decent life for their families and hope we’ve helped give them the infrastructure and education to succeed. I’ve witnessed the bravery of the Philippine Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police as they tackle the tough opponents of terrorism, crime, and worked to combat poverty. In times of natural disasters, our partnership with Filipinos –with the AFP, PNP, LGUs and with NGO groups – helped get relief to those in need whether in Manila, Northern Luzon, Iloilo or Bicol. The resiliency and compassion of Filipinos under the most difficult of circumstances is amazing and inspirational.
On a personal level, it has been a joy to hear the musically talented Filipinos. It has been great fun to share the Filipino passion for sports and to watch great college and professional basketball games. The legendary Filipino hospitality has welcomed me into homes across the country from the humblest provincial dwellings to the grandest Manila homes. I’ve learned from Filipinos to cherish family, no matter how great the distances between family members. I’ve learned from Filipinos to take time to celebrate the big and small moments in life and that in doing so, you create lasting memories.
President Obama has nominated Harry K. Thomas, Jr. to succeed me as the United States Ambassador to the Philippines. Harry Thomas is a career diplomat who has served as the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh and has held leadership positions in Washington, D.C. as well as key positions in U.S. Embassies in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. He is an experienced diplomat who is also a close personal friend of mine. He will be a wonderful United States Ambassador to the Philippines, and I know Filipinos will give him a warm welcome. His nomination is now pending before the United States Senate, which must confirm him before he can assume his duties in Manila.
This will be my last blog post as the United States Ambassador to the Philippines. I thank all who were kind enough to read and comment on my blog. It has been a privilege to represent the United States in the Philippines. I thank Filipinos throughout the world for the kindness and friendship you have shared with me and so many other Americans. And I hope our paths will cross again. Let me close with an old Irish blessing that has always been a favorite of my Irish-American family:
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
via Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney.

I have to confess that in my short life Ambassador Kristie Kenney has been the most accessible Ambassador sent to the Philippines in my view.  She shows in some ways how most future ambassadors have to be. The waning of US economic might means the old ways (hope to read THe End Of Influence to broaden my knowledge in this)  of diplomacy by US Ambassadors must change to a more collegial consensus building way, How equals treat each other. In this way Ambassador K Kenney save for a few blots in her record (subic rape case??) becomes the poster child of the new State Dept. I wish her and her family well, and may she be received in her next assignment , with the same warmth that we showed her, for she has shown that she deserves it. (I know how UGLY the previous paragraph was. I’m just really irked with something work related arrggh)

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