One afternoon two well-meaning colleagues recommended a
reading for me. Well, actually there were two reading recommendations. But
after a five-minute discussion between themselves, they settled with Ha-Joon
Chang’s Economics: The User’s Guide published by Penguin Group in 2014.
They must’ve really wanted me to read it because one morning, there was a copy
on my table. Thank you, fellow book lovers.
So, what do I do when someone is kind enough to lend me a
book? I try turning the pages and see what adventures lie ahead. And boy, was I
shocked. I really thought that because there’s “economics” in the book title,
it would be the perfect sleeping pill for those kinds of nights. Yes, mea
culpa, I judged a book by its cover. It was an interesting book about a
subject that you thought was best left to experts and economists.
As stated above, this is not a book review. I haven’t
finished the book yet, but there is one part that has already struck me. In
chapter seven, Chang shared about reading a book published in 1972 saying that
the world will run out of oil by the year 1992. According to him, the book
turned out to be right. You might be thinking, “But there’s still oil available
for consumption.” Turns out that what Chang was referring to is the oil
accessible to 1970s technology. Because of technological advancement, it became
possible and more efficient to locate and extract oil from areas that would have
been inaccessible without the aid of new technology. Advances in technology
have also expanded the coverage of what is a resource, like sea waves, now
being harnessed as an energy source.
Nobody can deny that advancements in science and technology have
done mankind good. But we also cannot deny that these advancements are made to
serve the interests of the powerful few who control the global economy and
their “fairy tales of eternal economic growth” as Greta Thunberg said.
Technology contributed to the efficiency of profiteering. And decades of this
endless chase for maximum profit has resulted in inequality, poverty, and
environmental destruction and degradation affecting everyone – with the heavier
burden passed to the poorest of the population.
So, is technology the culprit? Should we rage against the
machine?
No, technology is not the culprit, and advancement in
science and technology is not bad. But like other things in the economy, its
development and use must be anchored on a program for the benefit of the
majority and not just a few, and oriented towards contributing to genuine
economic development that is sustainable – that is development that does not
compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs while
providing for present needs.
In a recent forum, IBON Foundation launched its People
Economics, May Magagawa campaign to push for doable alternatives to the failed neoliberal
framework that the current administration still pushes. People Economics is
composed of six pillars, one is “Build Filipino Industries” under which it is
proposed that national industrialization should be planned. This entails
reorienting the country from being import-dependent and export-oriented to
building the country’s capacity to produce consumer goods including having
intermediate and capital goods industries. To do this, it is necessary to
utilize or develop appropriate technology.
But wouldn’t this entail the further destruction of mother
earth?
The push for national industrialization recognizes that
resources will be used and that there will still be carbon emissions.
Definitely, there will be an impact on the environment, but science and
technology are crucial in ensuring that this is minimized. For one, cleaner and
renewable energy must be genuinely explored, which mean doing away with coal as
soon as practical.
The prevailing pattern of production and consumption
globally is very beneficial to the few ruling elite but is very unsustainable.
They are also the culprits behind the environmental crisis experienced
worldwide. But they either deny the existence of such crisis, or deny that they
are the ones responsible, or they see that this crisis as another opportunity
to profit from.
The Philippines badly needs economic development if it is to
address the growing inequality and prevailing poverty in the country. And it
can do so sustainably. But as our collective experience proves, the initiative
will not come from those benefitting from this unsustainable production and
consumption.
The push will come
from us, because People Economics is our alternative. May magagawa.
Photo credit: aboveintelligent.com