Social Media Gossipers Make Terrible Economists

Soft Icons

I guess my frustrations today aren't so easily vented, right? Some time ago, I wrote about how social media gossipers make terrible financial advisers. Just reading comments on Facebook about the Philippine stock market makes me cringe. That's why if you want to listen to someone for financial advice--make sure that person knows finance better than you such as Lucio Tan Sr., Tony Tancaktiong, the late Henry Sy Sr., and the late John Gokongwei Jr. If there's another area worth thinking about--it's about how social media gossipers also make terrible economists. I guess the two blue birds that are gossiping above this paragraph should tell you how much I can't take IBON Foundation seriously (read here).

I could remember reading social media posts on Facebook when it came to several economic reforms. Similar gossip was written during the terms of two former Philippine presidents--the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and Rodrigo R. Duterte. Aquino III had invited some investors over in certain sectors. Later, Duterte signed the Public Services Act of 2022. The two former presidents weren't spared from social media gossipers who know nothing about practical economics. Sure, one can even get a bachelor's degree in economics but still fail in life. I can go ahead and study for a Ph.D. from the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at the University of San Carlos (USC) and still be a fool. Though, I think the other gossipers are graduates of non-business-related courses. Then again, even a non-business graduate can still try and understand economics.

The gossips were really that stupid. I could start to talk about interactions on various Facebook pages that I've run into. I won't be too busy screenshotting all of them. Instead, I would actually start to summarize the gossip into what's commonly found:

The common series of lies that opening the country to foreign direct investments (FDI) means the following: we're allowing our national sovereignty to be lost, we're neglecting our local industries, we're allowing ourselves to be exploited by foreigners, and only FDIs will get rich if you let them invest here, and the long list can go on.
First-world countries didn't develop by accepting FDIs but by protecting their local industries. That's why we should develop our national industry first before opening up the country.
The Public Services Act of 2022 is Duterte's gift to China! If I remember correctly, they also said the same thing when Aquino III also tried to invite Chinese investors. Maybe, I should thank Aquino III that Xiaomi is in the Philippines. Xiaomi was opened in 2010 which was during the reign of Aquino III.
Singapore only accepted FDIs because they're not rich in natural resources, unlike the Philippines. This is yet another dumb response. They say that the Philippines has natural resources and should just self-industrialize.

Right now, my headache is triggered just trying to summarize the long list of nonsense that's been written by the social media gossipers. I try to explain to them over and they would give rebuttals from "think tanks" like IBON Foundation and Bayan Muna. Their other favorite sources are Christian Monsod and his wife Solitas "Winnie" Collas-Monsod. I try to present arguments such as Singaporean-Indian Kishore Mahbubani's famous quote from The Singapore economic model - VPRO documentary - 2009 about foreign investments. Mahbubani, like Hilario Davide Jr. was a longtime, multi-awarded United Nations (UN) diplomat (read more about here). What I tried next was to cite other sources such as the late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First. They may start to give out excuses like such as that Singapore has no natural resources but the Philippines has them. I can cite the late Deng Xiaoping's achievements with China. I can even go get as many sources as possible. However, these people can be very close-minded one way or another.

Maybe, one annoying rebuttal these social media gossipers can speak in Tagalog is, "Bakit puro foreigner ang sources mo? Bakit walang Pinoy" (Why is it all your sources are foreigner? Why no Filipino or Pinoy?) That again becomes another source of annoyance. Why am I citing from non-Filipino sources like Mahbubani and Lee? It's because they helped build Singapore from a third-world country into a first-world country. Though, even if I cite Filipino sources, these people may throw whatever Ad Hominems and name callings they can. That so and so is a "traitor". All the while, the irony is that they're actually arguing it on Facebook or Twitter which are American-made platforms.

In short, these social media gossipers will just ignore the evidence if it doesn't suit them. I guess they don't care how contradictory they are to using capitalist-made gadgets while whining against capitalism. They will just say, "We're forced to participate in it." or "The last capitalist we hung is the one who sold us the rope." If they care about workers' welfare (which I feel is just an act) then why buy capitalist products that are supposedly exploiting all the working class? That will give the companies more power. Instead, any real capitalist values their labor which adds value to their capital. Workers own their salaries but only according to contribution. Some of them are also anti-American but they're using American-based platforms such as Google and WordPress. It's really funny how they only know how to use things but do not appreciate them. Hence, all their self-contradictions even further verify how they make... terrible economists.

References

Books

"From Third World to First--The Singapore Story: 1965-2000) by Lee Kuan Yew

Harpers Collins Publishers

Videos

"The Singapore economic model - VPRO documentary - 2009" by VRPO Documentary (September 8, 2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipQo3b2NU98&t=19s

Comments

Don't Complain About the PHP 500.00 Noche Buena Remark While Supporting the Filipino First Policy

It's that stupid when I read the remarks of DTI secretary Cristina Roque made a really tactless remark . Sure, the remark had people angry because, in reality, the whole noche buena at PHP 500.00 for a family of four will not match, given these ingredients: ham, P170 to P945; fruit cocktail, P61.76 to P94.41; all-purpose cream, P36.00 to P72; “nata de coco,” P52.50 to P62.50; “kaong,” P76.50 to P84; “queso de bola,” P210 to P470; cheese, P16.50 to P310; and mayonnaise, P20.40 to P245.85. /dda As I read through the list above, I'm reminded of how much I don't like December because it's the season of abounding toxic positivity . The song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is in full blast, even after Andy Williams died of old age in 2012 . I tend to drive the road and when traffic hits, I always think about the problem of last-minute Christmas shopping , and scream it, "Isn't it any wonder why the Philippines doesn't improve?" It...

Accepting Foreign Investments Isn't About Relying Solely on Foreigners

One of the biggest common mistakes about foreign investments is that it's all about "relying solely on foreigners" or "it's not going to develop the national industry". I agree that relying solely on foreign investments is not good. It's because if there are no local suppliers of local raw materials--foreign investments may have to rely purely on importation which isn't a good thing. Meanwhile, a nation will develop its agriculture and the like to provide raw materials for all kinds of buyers. It's pretty much a two-way street when it comes to investment. The late Lee Kuan Yew also talked about greening up Singapore along the way before it progressed. Singapore accepted foreign investments while it was still a third-world. However, it didn't neglect its own local industries. Reading through Chapter 4 of From Third World to First will tell us lessons about foreign investments. Lee saw them as the opportunity to bring in jobs, teach new skill...

Profood International Corporation's Calamansi Ginger Grean Tea Concentrate

I'm someone who always buys local and imported food products. However, I tend to buy local where I go because eating local is usually more beneficial. I was buying some stuff last Sunday. I found this product which I haven't heard of yet. It's called Calamansi Ginger Green Tea. If South Koreans have their Honey Citron, then maybe we can say Filipinos have Calamansi Ginger Green Tea concentrate, which also contains honey. I gave it a shot, and it gives some relief for the throat. I drank Ginga Ginger Brew after I caught Omicron. That was the time when COVID-19 would eventually "get us all". I was looking for Ginga ginger powder but I wasn't able to find it. Fortunately, this food product ws available and it's helping me. I tend to get throat problems whenever the weather changes too much! I would drink it either lukewarm or cold, due to the weather conditions. The combination of ginger and calamansi helped me feel better. I would like to recommend this foo...

Are People Complaining About Inflation in the Philippines Because They Feel the Need to Celebrate Christmas LAVISHLY?

Philippine Star Christmas is just in a few days, right? I'm reading Facebook comments about the ongoing inflation. There are those so-called thought leaders like Silent No More PH that have been putting, "Merry Christmas" while addressing inflation. It's no secret that the prices of noche buena (Christmas dinner) items have been increasing. There are a lot of virtue signals on Facebook which makes me wonder, "Do they realize that inflation has many factors ?" Do those whiners realize that prices in the grocery are more expensive than if you bought in the public market? I feel that those people complaining over social media about price inflation may have felt the need to make their Christmas celebrations lavish or it ain't Christmas. I could remember how prices soared after the Odette disaster. The simple answer is all on supply and demand . The prices of distilled water increased. The prices of vegetables increased. The storm destroyed a good supply of i...

Kabataan Partylist Seriously Needs to Learn ECONOMICS from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union

Vietnam National University, Hanoi Kabataan Partylist, is that you? No, it's actually the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (Đoàn Thanh niên Cộng sản Hồ Chí Minh), or alternatively, it can be called the Vietnam Youth Union . The color blue may remind some of Kabataan Partylist. Both Kabataan Partylist and the Vietnam Youth Union are involved with recruiting youths into the organization. However, there's a crucial difference between Kabataan Partylist and the Youth Union in how they view economics. The Kabataan Partylist Laguna's blog even writes this: It believes that the Philippines, as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, is plagued by a system which allows foreign and big business interests to dominate, while the majority of our countrymen are left poor and hungry . We are living in a society where foreign subservience, peasant landlessness, and rampant corruption are the top three ills. To that end, Kabataan Party-list strives to galvanize the Filipino youth in u...

Four Basic Chinese Conversational Questions, Grade 1 Style

I could remember how useless the Chinese classes were, not because Chinese is a useless language (there are actually over a billion speakers worldwide), not because the Chinese teachers were stereotypically very strict (Grade 2 was strict, Grade 3 was even stricter than Grade 2, Grade 6 was said to be the strictest ), but because of the way Chinese was to be taught. That's why I got encouraged to write about learning Chinese through meaningful conversations, not parroting . Fortunately, those old Sinjiang textbooks are no longer available except for museum purposes (read here ). Just looking at this question and answer sweet from Ling Ling Mandarin's Instagram account--I remember what my Grade 4 Chinese teacher said, "If you want only one bon toi (question and answer), go back to Grade 1. But I don't think Grade 1 only has one bon toi." The problem with the old class was that we had to learn Hokkien before learning Mandarin. I confess my Hokkien is really bad. Th...

I'm Trying to Understand the Recent PSEi Decrease from 7,000+ to 6,800+

Business World Online The Philippine Stock Market Index (PSEi) has had another decrease. The score reached 7,000+ and I was getting pretty excited. I was thinking, "Should I sell my stock index or should I continue averaging into it?" I'm still holding some funds because I'm going to invest more in the long term than do day trading. I agree with Charlie Munger that day trading is nothing more than a speculative orgy . I got through Google News and found some factors that caused the recent decrease. I'd like to do this not as an analyst but as a lay investor and blogger. Profit-taking before key data The Business World website sites that there was profit-taking before key data . I was reading through and found out that there was indeed some profit taking The score that went from 7,000+ to 6,800+ can be affected. Here's an excerpt of the report which caught my attention: “Philippine stocks were sold ahead of the January inflation print tom...

My Personal Opinion on the Recent Universal Robina Incident

I was doing some news readings and I found out about the death of a certain Stephen Corilla. The incident happened in the Universal Robina Corporation's factory in Mandaue a few days ago. It really chilled my bones to read these details which I'll share from Sunstar : POLICE are set to investigate a food and beverage plant in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City after one of its workers was killed on duty while cleaning a pulverizer machine Thursday afternoon, June 2, 2022. Cpl. Glenn Bordalba of the Mandaue City Police Office Station 3 in Barangay Basak who is leading the investigation told SunStar Cebu Monday, June 6, that they will visit the Universal Robina Corp. (URC) Mandaue City plant in Tabok on Tuesday, June 7, to investigate the matter. Bordalba added that they have not started the investigation yet as they were not allowed entry to the site by the URC management after the incident was reported to them. An approval from the corporation’s consultant is needed for the police to...

Instead of Hating Successful Chinese-Filipinos, Why Not LEARN from Their SUCCESS Instead?

It's Chinese New Year and I can remember some crazy stuff back in my childhood. Right now though, there are still some Filipinos of brown descent (either Malay or Indonesian) who still have their typical bitter attitude towards successful people. I was reminded of someone who blamed the rich, rather than their poor attitude towards money, as to why she had to work as a working student. There are still some who have their attitude of hating the rich for simply being rich . I don't deny that some rich people deserve hate. But why hate the rich person who has gotten rich through honest gain and hard work? Why not learn from good rich people who can offer sound advice instead of being bitter about their success? Some Filipinos of non-Chinese origin may feel too proud about their being "Pure Filipino". However, any study of Filipino history will reveal that their brown skin isn't too unique. We can see Malaysians and Indonesians tend to have brown skin. Some of the ea...

Blaming the Rich for One's Poverty Will NEVER Improve One's Financial Condition

Previously, I wrote about how the Philippines can never get rich by blaming its richer Asian neighbors . Right now, I think I want to write this new short where I'm talking about the anti-successful people mindset. I remembered a couple of people I met in college who had this bad habit of saying, "It's the fault of the rich that we're poor!" I was often told that I "bullied" them because I was one of those whom they call "may kaya" (those who are better off). Such statements happen when I also mention something like, "Do you people wonder why you have little to no money?" I must "applaud" the stupidity of the argument that says, "It's the fault of the rich that we're poor!" Why is it common for some poor people to rudely generalize the rich as insensitive people while they're the victim? Psychology Today presents this on why some people will always blame others . It's really something when you th...

Business & Economics Perspective Blogger

Search This Blog