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Social Media Gossipers Make Terrible Economists

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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:
  1. 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. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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. 
  4. 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)

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