Dad and I had a long discussion about how to adequately describe a city like Manila or a country like the Philippines. We have opinions of both. but are they fair? How does one convey a sense of poverty, mess and run-down buildings as well as endless shopping malls, fast-food chains and smiley people, let alone the areas we have not seen, where the 60 families that own 60% of the country's wealth (or more, apparently) probably live or where the Muslim freedom fighters in the South continue to rebel? Of course China or America have similar problems I suppose.
It is hard to see if the future will be any better for the Filipinos. Despite the huge influxes of money sent home from overseas Filipinos, the population is increasing too fast. Despite the beauty of the country, and its size, few tourists go there -and too many of them for the wrong reasons (sex). The country has few resources. However, the lovely Filipinos continue to smile.
As I previously mentioned, there are the problems of the fishermen who have dreams of less poverty (and often some help from technology like cyanide) and thus over-exploit resources, like fish. is it even possible, fair or desirable to restrict this -their dreams or their futures? Balancing short-term needs and long-term needs makes sense, but in reality (as Game theory tells us), is it possible for us to accept limits and not try to 'grow'? We'll see how the modern world does now that the word 'growth' is a bad word, not a good one, in the context of profits, sales, market shares and economies.
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